Richard Cristina

After years of collaborating with founders from diverse sectors, it became clear that they faced significant challenges in securing mentorship outside the structured framework of an accelerator or similar program. For those who sought instant access to mentoring, their efforts to connect with potential mentors via LinkedIn or their personal networks often yielded limited results. Recognising this unmet need, I identified a unique market gap: the need for an on-demand mentoring service, tailored exclusively to the needs of startup founders. And thus, MentorLabs was born.

Founder Institute is the largest pre-seed accelerator in the world. We take founders through the entire process of taking their idea from concept to launch. This includes working on ideation, customer dev, product dev, go-to-market, growth, hiring & funding. Additionally, we engage in substantial pitching work throughout the process, aiding founders in crafting the perfect investor presentation deck. I have run the London chapter for more than 5 years and in that time have helped over 100 founders launch their companies. Many have received funding since.

I played a pivotal role as one of the founding members of Think Group Australia, a consumer electronics company located in Melbourne. When I initially joined, we were an early start-up with fewer than 10 employees and little turnover. As a key member of the senior executive team responsible for overseeing product development and marketing, I played a significant role in shaping the business's growth strategies and ultimately driving its commercial success. A decade later, we celebrated our achievements with a staff of 300 and an annual turnover of 50 million, culminating in a successful buyout by one of the UK brands we had been distributing.