{"id":8075,"date":"2014-12-31T11:14:15","date_gmt":"2014-12-31T19:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/?p=8075"},"modified":"2018-08-28T18:14:42","modified_gmt":"2018-08-29T01:14:42","slug":"2014-recap-peer-mentorship-tech-founders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/2014-recap-peer-mentorship-tech-founders\/","title":{"rendered":"2014 Recap: The Year of Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8099 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/2014infographic3-1024x853.jpg\" alt=\"Founders Network 2014: The Year of Engagement\" width=\"676\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/2014infographic3-1024x853.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/2014infographic3-300x250.jpg 300w, https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/2014infographic3-676x563.jpg 676w, https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/2014infographic3.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><br \/>\nThe\u00a0founding insight of\u00a0Founders Network was that <a href=\"http:\/\/fndrs.net\/2014fnrecaptweet\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>strong social groups have driven the major\u00a0technology adoption curves of our\u00a0industry <\/strong><\/a>(<a href=\"http:\/\/fndrs.net\/2014fnrecaptweet\" target=\"_blank\">tweet<\/a>). \u00a0From <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Traitorous_eight\" target=\"_blank\">The Traitorous 8<\/a> of the Semiconductor Era to the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Homebrew_Computer_Club\" target=\"_blank\">HomeBrew Computer Club<\/a> of the PC Era and\u00a0the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/PayPal_Mafia\" target=\"_blank\">PayPal Mafia<\/a> of the present Web 2.0 era through today, strong social\u00a0networks have proven\u00a0a key determinant of startup success.<\/p>\n<p>In 2014, we made great strides towards realizing our vision of building a tight-knit, highly engaged community of tech founders who support one another&#8217;s work and one day might be counted among the groups listed above (see infographic). \u00a0We plowed back membership dues, driving expenses\u00a0up 73% YOY\u00a0in order to staff\u00a0up and\u00a0launch a completely redesigned\u00a0<a title=\"Now Live! Online Mentorship Platform Launches\" href=\"http:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/2014\/08\/new-online-mentorship-platform-launch\/\" target=\"_blank\">Online Mentorship Platform<\/a>\u00a0and several new programs.<\/p>\n<p>Our goal with\u00a0the redesign was to move engagement from primarily email driven experience to the web,\u00a0and particularly mobile. \u00a0In addition to responsive design, we included a ton of new features like an\u00a0interactive home feed, notification and message center, forum @mentions, anonymous posting, html emails, as well as more mundane account management features.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, here&#8217;s what logins look like after our Q3 launch:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8077\" style=\"width: 527px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8077\" class=\"wp-image-8077 size-full\" title=\"Online Mentorship Platform Login Trend 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Login-Trend-.jpg\" alt=\"Online Mentorship Platform Login Trend\" width=\"517\" height=\"397\" srcset=\"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Login-Trend-.jpg 517w, https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Login-Trend--300x230.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 517px) 100vw, 517px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-8077\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Impact\u00a0of Online Mentorship Platform Redesign on Login Trend 2014<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Logins lead all other interactions. \u00a0In 2014, Forum activity increased 26% YOY, Function RSVP&#8217;s increased 75% YOY,\u00a0deal redemptions increased 123% YOY. \u00a0Mobile usage was up over 200% YOY. \u00a0Our web team did a superb job this year of increasing overall utility of the network and has even more exciting updates coming for 2015. \u00a0We&#8217;re also staffing up so if you&#8217;re a Full Stack Developer (Python Django) or Front End developer, please email your resume to careers@foundersnetwork.com.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/106310151?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0&amp;color=336666\" width=\"676\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #999999;\">Impact of our Peer Advisory Board Programs. \u00a0Credit: Angela Chou, Utterly<\/span><\/p>\n<p>We also launched 3 new programs in 2014, highlighted by our <a href=\"http:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/#PeerAdvisoryBoards\" target=\"_blank\">Peer Advisory Board <\/a>program (See video above). \u00a0Peer Advisory Boards offer\u00a0an in-person confidential advisory board for discussion and support from a small curated group of fellow members. \u00a0Members gain insights, vital connections, added accountability and consistent encouragement. \u00a0In addition, we launched <a title=\"Announcing New Sector Groups at Founders Network!\" href=\"http:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/2014\/10\/fnsectors-startup-problem-solving-groups\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sector Groups<\/a> and <a title=\"Announcing New Regional Groups\" href=\"http:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/2014\/11\/announcing-new-fn-regional-groups\/\" target=\"_blank\">Regional Groups<\/a>\u00a0headed by 53 Chairs who\u00a0help facilitate deeper, more relevant conversations around our sector or region.<\/p>\n<p>In summary, 2014 was a big year for us and the theme was engagement. \u00a0We&#8217;re excited for what 2015 will bring and are\u00a0grateful for the trust, support and encouragement from all of our founders, partners and investor friends. \u00a0 Thank you one and all and see you in 2015!<\/p>\n<p>Cheers!<\/p>\n<p>Kevin Holmes<br \/>\nFounder &amp; CEO<br \/>\nwww.foundersnetwork.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0founding insight of\u00a0Founders Network was that strong social groups have driven the major\u00a0technology adoption curves of our\u00a0industry (tweet). \u00a0From The Traitorous 8 of the Semiconductor Era to the HomeBrew Computer &#8230; <\/p>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/2014-recap-peer-mentorship-tech-founders\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":8099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7170],"tags":[18],"table_tags":[],"class_list":["post-8075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-startup-mentorship-programs","tag-mentorship"],"acf":[],"featured_image_data":{"src":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/2014infographic3.jpg","alt":"2014infographic3","caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8075"},{"taxonomy":"table_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/table_tags?post=8075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}