Friday6:30 PM-7:00 PM30 min

The Opening Session

Set the frame. Get off stage.

The point

Every kid leaves knowing the five things they walk out with on Sunday and how to get there.

Time blocks

4 sections · 30 min
  1. 0–5Why this weekend
  2. 5–15Five outputs
  3. 15–25How the room works
  4. 25–30Clarify and hand off

Facilitator cue sheet

Run this block

30 min · 7 cues

Friday · block 01

Opening session

6:30 PM-7:00 PM · Lead: MC

30 minutes

Timebox

0 → 30 min
  1. 0–5Why this weekendNo slides. Establish that this is real work with real people, then move.
  2. 5–15Five outputsName the idea, MVP, offer, customer evidence and 90-day plan in student language.
  3. 10Mentor checkScan every table for a student without a working device, login or clear place to sit; assign help before Idea Generation begins.
  4. 15–25How the room worksSet the twenty-stranger goal, laptop signals and who to ask for help.
  5. 20Room callTen minutes remain: move to setup and the handoff.
  6. 25–30Clarify and hand offTake only questions that unblock participation; start Idea Generation at 7:00.Finish check: Five outputs named · Twenty-stranger goal understood · Laptop needs visible
  7. 25Room callFive minutes: finish housekeeping and start Idea Generation on time.

Say this

“By Sunday, you'll have a live page, something to sell, twenty customer conversations and a filmed pitch. You'll also know what to do next.”

Finish line

Hand off to Idea Generation at 7:00 without a break.

If late: Cut prize detail to one sentence; never cut setup or the handoff.

The deck · 7 slides

PDF ↓
Slide 1 of 71 / 7

Speaker notes

Slide 1

0:00Welcome — Five minutes. Name the five Sunday outputs.

Say this “Welcome to Founders Weekend. By Sunday at six, each of you will have started a business and tested it with people outside this room.”

0:02Introductions — Ten seconds each: name and what you build.

0:03Alpha — Two academic hours, top 1% results; afternoons build real-world skills.

0:04Founders School — Four years building businesses. Goal: $1M profit by graduation.

1In the roomCallouts
You're at 20 minutes and only on slide 3
Cut the prize slide to a sentence and skip to housekeeping. Ending late costs more than any content you'd add.
Room is flat after dinner
Get them making noise once: hands up for who's already built something. Any participation resets attention.
Parents linger in the student room
Ops lead moves them out before Idea Generation starts. Families come back for the evening fireside, and where the schedule combines it they sit with the students.
A kid has no laptop and hasn't said so
Scan the room during housekeeping. Assign a spare or a deliberate partner before Saturday's whole-room build.
  • No work block, so no feedback yet; nothing has been produced. Resist responding to ideas shouted from the floor.
  • Mentors circulate during team building and learn names. Ten names each before the deck starts.
  • If a kid tells you their idea early, the only answer is: run the exercise anyway and see if you find better.