Master The Craft of Company Building Together

GUIDE FOUNDERS PROGRAM

GFP is a community-powered early-stage company building knowledge hub for founders to crack the product-market fit stage in building modern and valuable enterprises.

Neil Cheong
Managing Director/Chief Program Officer

"We strongly believe that risk can be mitigated through clarity of mind.

This program is a perpetual commitment from GUIDE to provide world-class knowledge access for aspiring and emerging founders seeking executional clarity in creating and building early-stage startups. For those who invest in themselves first, aiming to strategize their ventures to run leaner and with less risk, you have come to the right place where an ecosystem is backing you with patient guidance, close support, and an ongoing mission to provide new insights and navigate challenging market dynamics in Asia."

Start right, skip death and scale

BUILDING BLOCKS FOR FOUNDERS

All the essentials in our knowledge hub created by venture practitioners backed by founders, members of GFP are given all the unfair advantages the GUIDE network has accumulated through decades of operating experiences across Asia.

Master Company Building Strategies

  • An ever updating curriculum content developed from battled harden venture principles that guide early-stage executional strategies and priorities.
  • Exclusive and relevant case studies based on rich context and market dynamics that maximize tactical application for early-stage founders.
  • Executive-level and data packed knowledge base (StartupWiki) for founders to be up-to-date on new research reports on trends and market dynamics.

Grow Your Network

  • Motivation and commitment-based tiering with other growth-minded startup founders similar to you. 
  • Regularly scheduled interactions through virtual and in-person gatherings help forge deep and dependable relationships.
  • Come with questions and advice to foster authentic interactions.

Grow Your Presence

  • Interact and build authentic relationships with the vetted early-stage investor community made up of highly seasoned venture individual and institutions.
  • Engage with virtual and in-person education-centric events and workshops to foster authentic interactions.
  • Forge strategic partnership with GUIDE and its affiliates.

Mastering Venture Execution Strategies

GFP CURRICULUM

Ventures operate in the blue ocean by default. GUIDE's curriculum around The Four Venture Risks framework underpins the executional strategy of launching and operating early-stage ventures.

The framework serves as a North Star to guide modern entrepreneurs achieve clarity by tactically managing risks by understanding them, establishing a strategy that aligns with the founder’s own unique competitive strength, and sequencing tactical priorities according to market dynamics. This way, founders can master early-stage company building strategies and put their best foot forward in creating and scaling high-risk and valuable ventures. 

Four Venture Risks Framework

The framework introduces the key threats and risks in operating early-stage enterprises - especially those come with innovative model (product or commercial model). They are Market, Product, Capital, and Operation/Execution. We dive into the mechanics of how typical startups fail, conduct self-evaluation, and showcase ways risks can be mitigated in very tactical way in approaching the process of building startups.

Developing Moat And Differentiator

This lesson deconstructs business components into smaller units and moving parts and guides founders to discover and pinpoint their founder-market fit and problem-product fit in order to create an unique edge around the business.

Creating A Zero-to-One Flywheel

We introduce product-sales cycles, the lifecycle of business in exposing the natural progression of business challenges and natural market forces that challenges the existence and growth of startups. Together, we introduce some law of market dynamics startups required to resolve in each micro-stages plus execution priorities to conserve resources for maximum revenue yield.

Assembling A Cofounding Team

This lesson focus heavily on ways to take advantage social capital, the organic journey of search of co-founders, and tactics in attracting high quality talents to take risks in building career with the idea originator founder. We also deep dive into the motivation and goal alignment process, and preventive measures of founder split.  

Key Business Data, Information And Performance Metrics

You can’t improve what you can’t measure. Informed decisions rely on high-quality, contextualized information. We introduce the key numbers, metrics, and qualitative data startup founders need to build a measurement system to monitor and gain clarity on their company’s performance. We also cover how these measurements can be set up, benchmarked, and configured to fit individual business needs.This system can then be used to manage the firm from two perspectives: internally with the team and externally with stakeholders (existing and potential shareholders).

Scalable Unit Economics, Cost Levers, And Setting Price

This pillar specializes in helping founders establish sustainability while balancing the scalability of high-risk firms from both financial and commercial perspectives. We demonstrate how fixed and variable costs can be strategically leveraged to create innovative business models that drive higher margins on a per-unit sales basis, relative to underlying costs. A key takeaway for founders is the ability to use this information to develop various preliminary pricing or business models aligned with their positioning strategy

Conceptualizing A Minimum Viable Software Product (For non-tech founders)

Designed as a “tech product” crash course for business-oriented founders, this pillar aims to upskill participants into product managers capable of effectively communicating product experiences to software engineers and managing their workflow. Starting with an introduction to architectures, frameworks, and modules, we also explore how highly manual or labor-intensive business function/services can be partially or fully conceptualized and transformed into full-fledged software-as-a-service (SaaS) products.

Growing Enterprise Value And Being Investment Worthy 

Privately-held innovative companies can be highly valuable to current owners, loyal and capable staff, incoming shareholders, and even strategic clients.We cover essential topics related to generating shareholder value, equity distribution and management, the dynamics and processes involved in seeking venture capital investment, and the nuances of private capital markets from the perspective of a startup founder or early-stage business owner. Whether the goal is to finance growth ambitions or create wealth for all stakeholders, we provide comprehensive insights.

ACCESS FASTER TO SMART CAPITAL

We work very closely with some of the best VCs in the region as an extension of their ecosystem-building and venture education arm to disseminate information and uplift the venture space at both the local and regional levels, particularly in emerging markets.

SIGNUP

The program fee grants annual membership access to all our resources, so you can always continue with the network's offer to access knowledge and connections and stay plugged in with GUIDE’s ecosystem.

Access Tier

FELLOWSHIP

Made for early-stage founder looking for an unfair advantage and tapping into a full-fledged knowledge and venture support ecosystem which you can leverage as a coach/mentor, sounding and advisory board to reduce your venture risks to launch and scale your venture.

INCLUSIONS

Tactical-rich Modules and Lessons


With GUIDE cases

Startup Knowledge Base (StartupWiki)


Member access

Peer To Peer Forum Space


Online with private spaces to connect and network

Mentor & Advisory Office Hours


Regional network

Investment Opportunities


Angel, Pre-seed / Seed stage VC

Exclusive Event Access


Member-only huge discount (>70% to FOC)

UPCOMING INTAKE

Mode: Online and in-person, open to Malaysia-based startups
Next intake: Mid-March 2025
Spots: Limited to 5 per cohort

For Nominator

NOMINATE A FOUNDER

APPLICATION NOTE

This tier requires two nominations to complete the application process and candidates will required to go through a selection process to be admitted into the program.

FINANCIAL AID & FINANCING OPTION

We offer an option to waive first year of your membership fee using a 1% Capped SAFE. More details please refer to the FAQ section.

Access Tier

E-LEARNING

Cater to aspiring entrepreneurs and existing business owners who want to leverage our operational expertise and apply venture knowledge at their own pace, anytime and anywhere in the world.

INCLUSIONS

Tactical-rich Modules and Lessons


With GUIDE cases

Startup Knowledge Base (StartupWiki)


Member access

Peer To Peer Forum Space


Online with private spaces to connect and network

UPCOMING INTAKE

Mode: Online, open to entire Asia
e-Learning release date: 31st of January 2025
Spots: Limited

For Founders (Nomination Not Required)

JOIN WAITLIST

APPLICATION NOTE

This tier opens to all members of the public. There'll be no qualifying or selection process. Join Waitlist to secure limited slots to the January 2025 regional intake.

FAQ

  • What’s the distinction between GFP and other startup programs?

    • We are NOT an investment firm. As the name suggests, the Founders’ Program is focused on founders as an individual. Free from the pressure of investment timelines, founders work with us to build resilience, enhance their capabilities, and gain the confidence needed to run valuable ventures. We help them prepare for sustainable growth and taking in investment to fuel their ambitions.
    • We are NOT an accelerator (pre-accelerator). Starting and building a startup to scale is a marathon. Nurturing, developing, and seeing results takes more than three months. GFP bakes that into its structure, fitting into startup cycles. 
    • We are more akin to a venture studio and incubator. All our capabilities and talent network are at your disposal. We are your interim cofounding team as long as you want and until you assemble an official one. You bring in a problem statement only you want to and can solve. We give you the guide, navigation, and resources that you find challenging to accumulate to start a venture.  
    • We operate as a network, a battle-hardened operator community. Isolation stifles innovation. By being part of a program, you plug into a larger network that provides all the business connectivity, knowledge access, case studies, capital, encouragement, and support you need to operate at a regional level. 
    • Venture caliber network. We are highly particular about the caliber of people we bring to disseminate knowledge and work with founders. They went through the same scrutiny as you, so you only get the best and most relevant from the innovation ecosystem to nurture success, nothing less.
    • We are investor/VC agnostic. We present them our best founders at your readiness to raise. 
    • Lastly, we never take money away from founders when they get funded. Our operating principle has been trying to help founders achieve optimum capital efficiencies by stretching every dollar they can for the runway, whether it is their own money, an investor’s money, or an investor’s investor's (limited partner's) money. 
  • What is the 1% Capped SAFE? How can I be considered for this?  

    For very selected few startups throughout a year, we take a bet on the founders potential, ability and character by buffering their first year cost in enrolling into the Fellowship tier through a financial instrument called Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE). Our version is called a 1% Capped SAFE. We use this as a form of a scholarship grant.   

    If your enrolment into GFP Fellowship is accepted via 1% Capped SAFE, you will get:

    • Operating at the principles of a scholarship grant, we buffer your first year of cost in joining our program when we see big potential in you and wish to take a bigger bet on you by working with you on your startup;
    • Application is a two-step process: Direct application by the founder and recommendations by nominators. 
    • The 1% Capped SAFE waives your 1st-year membership-only access to all our resources, and you will get a perpetual 30% off on your annual subscription with us until you exit. You only pay an administration fee of $300 as a document processing fee; 
    • It is conditional to our discretion. 

    What are the key terms in our 1% Capped SAFE?

    • Future Equity and Dilution Cap. This grants GUIDE the right to receive equity on your startup entity when you raise an equity financing (priced round) with share conversion based on the full price of the program and a maximum price-equivalent conversion of not more than 1% ownership of the company. We made it extremely friendly for founders.
    • Conversion Trigger. Immediate subsequent priced round led by the institutional investor(s).
    • Discount Rate. 30% discount on the share price for GUIDE’s fund to participate in the same round.
    • Interest Free. There will be no accrued interest of the amount. 

    Application Process

    • Access is on an individual basis. Please apply at the individual level. You may apply for more than one access from a single startup/company.
    • Application is a two-step process: Direct application by the founder and recommendations by nominators. 
    • To be considered for GFP and eligible for our 1% SAFE option, you will need two recommendations from two separate nominators.  
    • Important Note: The Application and Nomination are separate yet concurrent processes that should be done together by both the Founder and the Nominator. Once you have made the application as a founder, please search for two Nominators. Read our guidelines to search for qualified nominators. We DO NOT review applications that do not come with Nominators’ recommendations. 
  • Who is eligible?

    We accept any full-time entrepreneurs that fits into the Idea Validation stage of company building. See below for how we define that:

    Idea Validation stage of a company is defined by a company which,

    • May or may not have incorporated a business entity (local or abroad)

    • Has zero or unstable revenue

    • Has full-time working and operational founder(s)

    • May not have a specific product or service yet. Has a business idea or hypothesis

    • May or may not yet received any investments or grants from any institution and/or friends and family

    • Solution may or may not be tech product

  • How does the nomination process work for Fellowship?

    The Nomination System
    To GUIDE, an entrepreneur's success is a collective outcome of an healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem. We require all aspiring and existing entrepreneurs that are interested in our guided tier intensive fellowship program to submit their application along with a strong recommendation from those who have been in the process of encouraging and supportive of their early journey.

    The Nomination process is part of a two-step process to complete the
    Application stage, before we start to review all the materials in the Screening & Shortlisting stage where we the Admission Team will reach out for an interview.

    Why do we do this?
    The nomination process allows us to recognise those may have been earlier than us in identifying developmental needs and talents while taking an objective view on the potentials we may missed in processing the program application from the Entrepreneurs. That way, we are able to maximize our program's impact on entrepreneurs' businesses and accelerate entrepreneurs' growth as an individual by taking account of their personal needs and differences. Read more about our values here

    Parallel Nomination And Application Process

    Step 1: Start the application and nomination process

    For Nominator: Start nomination process by filling up the Nomination form.

    For Founder applicants: Start application process by filling up the Application form.

    Step 2: Application stage is done

    You have done your part if the Application and Nomination forms are submitted. Please wait for the Admission Team to reach out for a scheduled interview by the GUIDE team.

  • Further questions? Reach out to us.

    You can reach out admission@guide.works for any inquiry related to GFP.