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.

This made us realize that college students could start very promising startups, but most universities don't know how to help them. 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, you will need to be fully dedicated to your startup for at least six months from the start of the fellowship. No school, no other jobs.

For fellowships starting in January, this means January through June. For fellowships starting in June, this means June through November.

How should I compare Telora's deal to those from other investors?
Most investors give a lot of money and a little help. This made sense when founders were older and startups were expensive. But now, founders are younger and startups are cheap. So we do the opposite.

If you and your cofounders collectively make $4M or more from the sale of your 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.

Telora is a good deal if we can improve your returns from 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 degree from the most selective universities.

How is Telora different from an accelerator?
Telora helps ambitious students start the kind of startup accelerators would be lucky to fund.

Telora and the best accelerators share a common mission of increasing the number of successful startups, but we focus on different stages of the startup process.

The best accelerators help startups move fast - that’s why they’re called accelerators. Telora focuses on the stage before the startup: going from student to founder. Here, you’ll learn how the best founders get things done, find promising customers, and build products people love.

Telora compensates for the additional risk at this earlier stage by investing less money, but more time and advice for the same price.

Technically speaking, accelerators 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.

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.