Institute for Young Founders

Mentoring is our calling and our students mean everything to us. That's why we keep our mentor-student ratio at 1:1. Our mentors genuinely care about their mentee's success as well as happiness. Most all of the students will become good friends with their mentors because we intentionally cherry-picked each mentor for their passion for mentoring. Become friends with a distinguished mentor, not just on Facebook, but in real life. 

The experience of working in a global team to design and launch your own company is priceless. Students are pushed to think and explore outside the boundaries of norms. Fast failure towards success is encouraged. Money becomes irrelevant by-products. And passion to impact the world for the better becomes more than a mantra. The company you and your teammates startup will challenge you to become comfortable with the uncomfortable and believe in yourself like you've never believed in yourself before. 

​ 

Proudly show off your newly minted Stanford University or University of California Certificate to your family, friends, and teachers. It demonstrates to world that you not only got accepted into one of the most selective high school summer programs, but more importantly, that you successfully completed a rigorous and advanced interdisciplinary 21st Century Skills program designed for future global leaders.

You and your teammates will have a chance to pitch your startup venture to a panel of real investors for real cash investment(s). It doesn't matter whether you are a natural born extrovert or introvert, this three-person team based experience will improve the way you approach people and present your ideas. The mentors will coach your team to play to your strengths and neutralize your weaknesses to persuade people to believe and invest in your startup venture. 

You will have more to write and show-off in your college application or life story than you will from any other high school summer program. You will meet-greet, work-sleep, and eat-drink with a three-person team; your teammates will be from all over the globe; you will launch an impact driven company/organization; you will regularly meet with your very own distinguished mentor; you will pitch your idea to a panel of Silicon Valley investors; and you will receive personalized road-mapping on how to translate all that you did this summer for colleges, employers, and family/friends.

We understand that it's difficult and awkward for high school students to muster up the courage to ask for recommendation letters. So we made the process easy for you. Thanks to our 1:1 mentor-student ratio, you and your mentor will naturally get to know each other well; very well. Moreover, our mentor-student matching algorithm will help ensure great chemistry between you and your mentor. At the end of the program it will be painless for you to ask (and it will be expected of you to ask!) for a letter of recommendation from you mentor. 

One of our core missions is to "Bring the World to Silicon Valley and Silicon Valley to the World." Thus we make a pointed effort to select at least half of our high school fellows from outside the USA. Innovation requires the convergence of multiple angles and perspectives. The next cure for cancer, for example, might be discovered simply because high school students from Korea, South Africa, and Germany met and became friends in Silicon Valley.

Late-night talks with designers, lawyers, engineers, e-commerce CEOs, poets, professional translators, doctors, and college professors. Your mentors and colleagues will be from diverse and varied industries. Starting an impactful company/project could mean finding the cure for cancer or designing a better baby-sitter platform; it could mean creating healthier shampoo for pregnant mothers or using machine learning to program a better teaching tool. Whatever you launch, entrepreneurship requires plenty of advice and late-night discussions with people from all backgrounds.

In addition to behind the curtain looks into Google and Facebook, get to know the Silicon Valley that seasoned veterans love and enjoy. Explore and hike up Los Gatos Creek Trail and Montalvo. Have a picnic at near the Oval at Stanford University's campus. Hang out at Santana Row and enjoy a cup of fresh fruit boba tea. Your mentors will show you all the secret spots!

You are NOT too young to make a difference for our world. Like a mustard seed, entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley start small, but eventually, with a great team and plenty of hard work, they grow to make a larger and larger impact. This summer/semester at Silicon Valley is a real opportunity for you to actually begin changing the world. You can start what you always dreamed of but never got a chance to start. The world needs you and during your time spent at Silicon Valley we will be sure that you are heard.