After launching Founder Institute Texas, Martín Martinez is now the state's executive director - a first-of-its-kind role for the organization.
Martinez helped to open all three Texas chapters of the entrepreneurial training and support organization over the past four years and will now serve as the executive director of the Lone Star State. He will also take up the mantel of entrepreneur in residence, working closely with the headquarters on things like events, expansion and recruitment.
“We want to really show not just the state what Founder Institute can do, we want to show the world what Texas can do,” Martinez said. “Let’s pool our resources together, lets pool our powers that be together, and let’s have our lead directors really show… what we do collectively as a state together."
Dallas, Houston and Austin are three of more than 225 global branches of Founder Institute. Based in Silicon Valley, the Founder Institute was launched by Adeo Ressi and Jonathan Greechan 12 years ago. The program is meant to propel business ideas into startup companies. According to its website, the organization’s alumni have raised more than $1 billion, including notable portfolio companies Udemy, Appota and Gridblaze.
In Texas, the organization has graduated close to 100 founders, and Martinez said he expects the top state grads to begin raising Series A funding rounds in the next 18 months.
“The whole purpose of the program is to help first-time entrepreneurs or even second-time entrepreneurs figure out what not to do and execute quickly,” Martinez said. “Anybody can be an entrepreneur. Basically, as an entrepreneur, you’re creating a job and an opportunity for yourself… but to be a founder is to not just create a job for yourself, it’s to create jobs."
With Martinez’ role change, Molly Walsh, former director of operations for Venture X’s coworking space in Uptown and founder of management consulting firm MW.Consults, and former Zirtue investor and Javannah Capital International Co-founder Javier Martinez will be co-leads of Founder Institute in Dallas. Austin local director Elisa Sepulveda will take over the managing director role in the state’s capital, while James Phelan is managing director of Houston’s Founder Institute chapter.
“Ideally, what I would like to see Founder Institute do more consistently statewide is be that first go-to,” Martinez said. “There are so many entrepreneurs that immediately go to Techstars, they immediately go to MassChallenge… and they’re not ready, they don’t know of all of the things they should be doing."
Martinez, a member of SXSW’s advisory board, said the only other place with a similar position is in Brazil, where Executive Director Nima Kaz oversees around 18 chapters. As Texas’ executive director, Martinez said he has the opportunity to connect founders with the organization’s around 350 mentors statewide (about 20% of which is based in DFW), while hinting at more programming and opportunities throughout the state. As entrepreneur in residence, he said the opportunity will allow him to connect Texas with other graduates of the program and mentors across the globe while working more directly with Founder Institute’s corporate offices.
We talked with Martinez more about the move.
What does the creation of this role in Texas mean for the startup ecosystem and what do you view as your responsibilities?
Our goal as a startup development organization in Texas began by simply providing community and direction to aspiring company builders before they knew they needed it. After nearly five years of that focus, we've built a sizable portfolio of alumni graduates that are now in the pre-seed and seed stages, and it's important we continue to nurture them so they connect with the right early-stage SDO's and receive relevant introductions to national partners and investors. This is where I see this role providing the most value to our portfolio and the wider Founder Institute community. A lot of my work will focus on showcasing our portfolio companies on the national and global level while demonstrating to the Texas startup and investment community why the Founder Institute is one of the best places for entrepreneurs to launch their businesses.
Why do you see Texas as a hub for innovative activity?
Just look at the news coming out every week announcing another tech company or high-profile VC firm moving their headquarters to Texas. Tax incentives aside, the collaborative nature of our state is something that is envied by players on the coasts — I've personally heard from colleagues moving from Silicon Valley who speak fondly of how our current ecosystems remind them of the late 2000s and early 2010s, when scores of unicorns were being born under the ruins of the 2008 financial crisis. From founders sharing fundraising insights to investors sharing deals, there's something magical going on in the Lone Star State right now.
On the flipside, where can Texas improve?
I've said this in the past and I'll say it again — while we're doing great at giving underrepresented founders visibility to grow and get in front of investors, we're not seeing the same on the venture capital side, which is still largely homogenous in overall representation of backgrounds. Through initiatives like our VC Lab program, we hope to fundamentally change that equation by empowering emerging fund managers to launch VC firms with the knowledge and community that's been historically reserved to a very small group of individuals.
What are your future plans in the state?
Continued expansion into more Texas cities is a major priority for us. San Antonio has been on our radar for some time and we're bullish on the prospects of that local ecosystem over the next five years. We're also building a larger corporate partner network — a great example is our newest partnership with the Dell for Entrepreneurs Program — so that our portfolio has access to more resources as they continue to grow. Lastly, with our VC Lab program, we're working to empower emerging fund managers to launch VC funds that are oriented to Texas-based founders with thesises that benefit the region.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
A previous version of this article misspelled the name of Founder Institute Co-founder Adeo Ressi and Houston Managing Director James Phelan.
