Why We Started Founders Live Center Stage
Beginning at the world’s very first Founders Live event back in March of 2014, my vision has been to reveal the best up-and-coming creative entrepreneurs on the biggest stages possible.
I frequently think about the fact that there is so much talent in this world - you can point to a city and a country anywhere in the world - and you would discover tremendously talented teams creating products and services urgently needed for their communities to move forward.
The problem is 99.9999% of the world has no idea who these people are and why their vision would positively impact the world. Another problem is when you realize those people simply aren’t provided the opportunities and resources needed to get them there.
I often wonder what would happen to our society if we elevated another 500 million or 1 billion people who can and could be successful entrepreneurs. It’s an inspiring feeling.
And although the COVID-19 pandemic was in many ways frustrating for us at Founders Live, it provided a moment of pause to really evaluate this global issue as well as time to experiment with new methods of bringing our experience to a larger global audience.
A path started to emerge to showcase the next generation of incredible entrepreneurs around the world.
First, due to the fact that people could not gather and hold in-person experiences, we quickly shifted to fully virtual livestreamed events. We adapted to the livestream experience on YouTube, which allowed the brand to flex its virtual muscles as well as reach random corners of the world we might not otherwise have been able to access. In Indonesia alone Founders Live has sprouted up in more than 20 cities in the last 14 months.
Now, as we transition back into the real world with in-person gatherings and events taking place once more, we are excited to announce our newest addition to the Founders Live experience.
Founders Live Center Stage is our weekly entrepreneurial celebration livestreamed to our global audience, highlighting talented startup founders, our global partners, and an engaging viewer experience to build the creative entrepreneurial community.
Each week we bring you a new show with new guests highlighting a new city somewhere in the world. And each week you the viewer can connect with and interact with other creatives from different regions of the world.
Center Stage will help us give even more exposure to even more talented founders and great companies. It is a much more authentic Shark Tank-like experience, where we are showcasing REAL entrepreneurs, in their REAL environments, with their REAL pitches and REAL nervous energy.
Center Stage combines an entertaining pre-show with company updates, knowledge and educational segments, special guest speakers, fun previews of the startups that will compete in the pitch competition the next hour, and prediction voting of who the viewers think will win!
The coolest part is then the next hour we drop into a real Founders Live event taking place *somewhere* in the world, with cameras in the room livestreaming it to the viewers watching online. It's like sports where there's the pregame show and then on to the main event.
Center Stage will happen each Wednesday - with the times shifting due to the changing time zones of the local cities in which the events are held.
Check out the 2022 schedule. Simply incredible.
THIS WEEK - Join us for Center Stage on Wednesday at 6pm ET / 3pm PT / 10PM UTC
Watch us talk about entrepreneurship, host a Winner’s Circle interview with a previous Founders Live Dallas winner, and preview the 5 startups pitching at Founders Live Washington DC. Then stick around to watch the fun DC pitch competition.