{"id":55219,"date":"2026-09-05T16:53:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T11:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/2026\/09\/05\/founder-being-launchpad-a-16-week-venture-building-program-for-young-founders-in-kochi\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T16:53:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T11:23:51","slug":"founder-being-launchpad-a-16-week-venture-building-program-for-young-founders-in-kochi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/2026\/09\/05\/founder-being-launchpad-a-16-week-venture-building-program-for-young-founders-in-kochi\/","title":{"rendered":"Founder-Being LaunchPad: A 16-Week Venture-Building Program for Young Founders in Kochi"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kochi [Kerala], September 5:<\/strong> Founder-Being LaunchPad has announced the first cohort of its 16-week venture-building program for young people aged 15\u201325 who want to move from an idea to a real-world test.<\/p>\n

Cohort 1 begins on\u00a0Sunday, 4 October 2026<\/strong>, at the\u00a0Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Kochi<\/strong>. Sessions will be held\u00a0once every Sunday from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM for 16 weeks<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Applications close on\u00a025 September 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Founder-Being LaunchPad is built\u00a0around a practical belief: founders learn by doing. Participants are expected to work on one venture throughout the program, speak to customers, test assumptions, build early versions of their solution, measure what happens, and improve based on evidence.<\/p>\n

The Last 1% Push<\/strong><\/p>\n

The program describes its role as the\u00a0\u201c1% push.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0It is not a reference to selecting the top 1% of applicants. Instead, Founder-Being LaunchPad is looking for young people who are already willing to do most of the hard work themselves \u2014 to show up, test an idea, and keep going when the first answer is no.<\/p>\n

The program provides the remaining push through\u00a0structure, mentors, deadlines, accountability and evidence-based execution<\/strong>. The handbook describes this as helping a founder who is already roughly \u201c99% ready\u201d take the final step into disciplined building.<\/p>\n

Applicants do not need a funded company, technical background or polished pitch deck.<\/p>\n

Four Phases. Sixteen Modules. One Venture.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The programme progresses through four stages:\u00a0Discover, Design & Build, Find the Market, and Become Venture-Ready<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The 16 modules cover:<\/p>\n

1- Founder Mindset & Problem Selection;<\/strong><\/p>\n

2- Customer Discovery;<\/strong><\/p>\n

3 \u2013 Idea Validation;<\/strong><\/p>\n

4 \u2013 Business Model & Value Proposition;<\/strong><\/p>\n

5 \u2013 Market Research & Competition;<\/strong><\/p>\n

6 \u2013 Wireframing & User Experience;<\/strong><\/p>\n

7 \u2013 Minimum Viable Product (MVP) & Prototyping;<\/strong><\/p>\n

8 \u2013 Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Founders;<\/strong><\/p>\n

9 \u2013 Branding & Storytelling;<\/strong><\/p>\n

10 \u2013 Marketing & Customer Acquisition;<\/strong><\/p>\n

11 \u2013 Sales & Negotiation;<\/strong><\/p>\n

12 \u2013 Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Retention & Referrals;<\/strong><\/p>\n

13 \u2013 Startup Finance & Unit Economics;<\/strong><\/p>\n

14 \u2013 Legal Foundations & Intellectual Property (IP);<\/strong><\/p>\n

15 \u2013 Fundraising & Investor Relations;<\/strong><\/p>\n

16 \u2013 Go-to-Market (GTM), Pitching & Demo Day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What Happens Between Sundays Matters<\/strong><\/p>\n

Founder-Being LaunchPad is not structured as a weekly lecture series.<\/p>\n

Each week combines a focused working session, practical workshop, fieldwork, a\u00a0build assignment, mentor review, peer feedback, progress tracking and a commitment for the following week. Participants then use the days between sessions to speak with customers, test assumptions, build, sell and bring new evidence back to the programme.<\/p>\n

What Participants Build<\/strong><\/p>\n

By the end of the 16 weeks, participants may have developed customer interview evidence, a validation report, business model, competitor map, user journey, wireframes, an MVP or proof of concept, a responsible AI workflow, marketing experiments, a sales pipeline, financial models, legal and IP readiness materials, an investor narrative, pitch deck and a 90-day execution plan. The programme does not assume every idea should become a company. A founder may decide to continue, modify, pivot or stop after seeing the evidence.<\/p>\n

Built From Founder and Investor Experience<\/strong><\/p>\n

Founder-Being LaunchPad is led by\u00a0Jimmy James and Jithin Mammen<\/strong>, bringing complementary experience across building companies, investment, fundraising, mentoring and startup communities.<\/p>\n

Their experience includes:<\/p>\n