FAQs
Why did you start Telora?
Telora is our second company. Selling our first company gave us the freedom to do what we love. For fun, we started teaching very young founders about startups. We’ve taught hundreds of students at top engineering schools like CMU, Columbia, Harvard, Michigan, MIT, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, UIUC, and Yale.
Working with them made us realize that college students could start very promising startups, but most universities don’t know how to help them start startups. Their startup programs are run by people who’ve never done it. They have the wrong culture, select the wrong students, and give bad advice. Many who could be great founders end up getting jobs they don’t want.
We know the feeling. Had we known what we know now, we would have started our companies much younger. So, we took some of our savings and started Telora. Our goal is to create a new kind of university for the next generation of founders. This is the first step toward that goal.
Do I need to have an idea to apply?
No, but it’s best if you’ve been actively exploring problems or technologies you find interesting.
Can I take classes or work at a job while I’m at Telora?
No, but you can apply up to a year before the start of your fellowship. This is useful for students who are confident they want to start a startup, but are already committed to school for the academic year.
If accepted, at least two cofounders from each team will need to be fully dedicated to starting a startup for at least 3 months from the start of the fellowship. No school, no other jobs.
For fellowships starting in January, this means January through March. For fellowships starting in June, this means June through August.
After about 10 weeks, you’ll have to decide: go all-in or give up. If you want to keep going and decide to raise more money, we’ll help you get it from quality investors on the best possible terms.
We can make exceptions for unusual circumstances, but please let us know as soon as possible.
How should I compare Telora’s deal to those from other investors?
Telora is a good deal if we can improve your chances of starting a successful startup by more than 10%. We define the lower bound of a successful startup as one where the founders make more than the 40-year NPV of a Harvard, Stanford, or MIT degree — roughly $2M per founder.
If you and your cofounders collectively make $4M or more from the sale of your stake in the company, you’ll each pay 10% of whatever you make. Otherwise, you’ll pay nothing.
As far as we know, this investment structure is unique to Telora. Other investors typically structure their deals so they get paid first when you sell your company. Then, if there is any money left over, you get paid last. This incentivizes investors to maximize the value of their stake, often at the expense of yours.
Technically speaking, they buy preferred stock, have pro-rata rights, and keep their equity regardless of how much you make from the sale of your stake in the company. We buy common stock, don’t have pro-rata rights, and forfeit our equity if the founders don’t collectively make at least $4M from the sale of their stake in the company.
The fellowship is not a loan, we don’t take board seats, we don’t charge any fees, and there are no restrictions on how you use this money as long as you treat it with respect to legitimately develop your startup. It gives you the freedom to bet on yourself while enabling Telora to become self-sustaining and fund more people over time.
How is Telora different than YC?
Telora is the best place for ambitious students who don’t yet have ideas promising enough to get funded by YC.
Telora and YC share a common mission of increasing the number of successful startups, but we focus on different stages of the startup process.
YC is the world’s best accelerator. They give startups a disproportionate advantage. Telora focuses on the stage before the startup: going from student to founder. Here, you can find a promising startup idea, become a more formidable version of yourself, and get the money you need to go all-in on your startup.
Telora compensates for the additional risk at this earlier stage by investing less money, but more time and advice for the same price.
Younger founders: Almost everyone at Telora is in college when we fund them. Only ~10% of YC founders are this young.
More time and advice: Telora is at least 6 months. YC is 10 weeks.
Less money: Telora is $40,000. It’s just the right amount of money to get you to the point where you are ready to approach accelerators and VCs. YC is $500,000. That’s enough money to run your startup with a small team for a year or more.
Same price: Both Telora and YC charge ~10% (YC can be a little more or a little less depending on the price at which the MFN safe converts), but Telora only gets paid if the founders make at least $4M.
Technically speaking, YC buys preferred stock, has pro-rata rights, and keeps their equity regardless of how much you make from the sale of your stake in the company. We buy common stock, don’t have pro-rata rights, and forfeit our equity if the founders don’t collectively make at least $4M from the sale of their stake in the company.
If you can get funded by YC, you should probably do it. Our last startup was funded by YC and it changed our lives.
Do you provide visa sponsorship?
No. If you get funded by Telora you’ll work for your own company, not ours, so we can’t sponsor your visa.
You should already be in the U.S or Canada and be legally authorized to work here for at least 18 months from the start of the fellowship.
What is the age limit to be eligible for Telora?
We expect most fellows to be under 24 years old by the application deadline. We can make exceptions at our discretion.
Why Miami?
This is where we want to raise our kids.
We love it here. It’s always summer. There are lots of cool neighborhoods, great restaurants, beaches, and parks. There is a sense of optimism that has been attracting wealth and young people for decades — 60% of Miamians moved here from somewhere else.
We expect founders to live here during the fellowship and spend as much time as possible with their customers, wherever they might be. Afterward, you can move wherever you want.
What does Telora mean?
Telora is the combination of two Greek words: telos and agora. Telos means purpose. Agora is a place where people come together. Telora is where ambitious people come together to achieve their purpose.
Who inspired you to do this?
Paul Graham, Jessica Livingston, Laszlo Polgar, and Peter Thiel. If we can reach higher than others, it is because we are standing on their shoulders.