Dallas
Dallas chapter

Dallas Startup Community

Founders Network connects tech founders in Dallas with a global peer mentorship community. Members get a cohort of founders a stage ahead of them, monthly peer mentoring, and a member directory that reaches well beyond DFW. Membership is by invitation; request one below.

Dallas chapter

Our Local Leadership Team

Khiry Kemp
Chapter Director
Founder, Oppti
FN January 2020 Cohort

Khiry co-founded Oppti, a software platform with the largest database of internships and volunteer opportunities for high school students. He's also the co-author of Starting Your Own Microbusiness, a book that helps young people explore, initiate, and execute business ideas. He also founded a nonprofit, Building BLOC, that provides youth mentorship services for college and career development.

Andrew Schulz
Membership Chair
Cofounder | Chief Growth Officer | Frmr CEO, COO, CTO, NoiseAware
FN February 2016 Cohort

I enjoy helping other motivated and talented founders see their vision become a reality while avoiding many of the mistakes I've made in my own journey

Patrick Smale
Growth Chair
Founder, ClearSight Therapeutics, LLC
FN April 2024 Cohort

I'm a life sciences vet. Majority of my career has been on the commercial side of the business at Alcon in eye care. I was at 2 commercial stage startups (1 IPOed in '21) and have now started my own venture with former R&D colleagues from Alcon.

Nana Richardson
Event Chair
Founder & CEO, Spare Health
FN September 2025 Cohort

Healthcare IT executive known for strategic and digital transformation planning and securing stakeholder buy-in for execution. Significant experience in building global IT operations, secure enterprise apps and platforms for commercial products.

A Founders Network member speaking at an event

The Dallas startup scene

Dallas–Fort Worth has become one of the largest startup markets in the country, and it got there a different way than the coasts. The region’s corporate headquarters — AT&T, Texas Instruments, Southwest, Toyota North America, American Airlines — give early-stage companies enterprise customers close to home, and a growing bench of local funds now backs them. Companies like o9 Solutions, Alkami and Island grew up here. Dallas Startup Week and the DEC Network tie the community together across a metro that is spread wide.

Founders Network in Dallas

Our Dallas chapter brings local founders together in person and plugs them into the wider Founders Network: chapters in 20+ cities, peer mentoring groups matched by stage, and a global directory of founders who have raised, scaled, and exited. Chapter events are listed below, and the leaders who host them are members running companies in Dallas themselves.

Founders listening at a Founders Network sessionFounders talking at a Founders Network eventA Founders Network roundtable
600+
Vetted tech founders
$50B+
In exits by members
55%
Serial founders
100+
Events a year
Next step

Meet us in Dallas

Membership is by nomination and approval. Request an invitation and we'll review your background. If it's a fit, we arrange a nomination and invite you to the Nominee Preview Q&A, a 30-minute Zoom where current members walk through how Founders Network works and take questions. The next one is Thursday, November 19 at 9:30 AM PT.

Request an invitation

Already nominated? RSVP to the Nominee Preview.

Dallas resources and communities

Venture capital: Perot Jain, Goldcrest Capital, Interlock Partners and Green Park & Golf Ventures invest in Dallas-based companies from seed onward.

Accelerators and campuses: Capital Factory’s Dallas campus, Health Wildcatters for healthcare startups, and Pegasus Park for life sciences each run programs and host a steady calendar of founder events.

Community: The DEC Network runs programming for founders across the metro, and Dallas Startup Week is the annual gathering point for the whole ecosystem.

Co-working: Common Desk started in Dallas and has locations across Deep Ellum, Uptown and Plano; Capital Factory and the DEC also offer founder-focused workspace.

Frequently asked questions

What startup events can I attend in Dallas before joining?

The Dallas chapter doesn't have a regular local meeting yet. Members here join the weekly online program and the annual conferences, and local events start once there are enough members to host them. Request an invitation if you'd like to help get one going. Chapter events in other cities are open to guests by invitation, and your first one is on us with a one-time guest pass. Dates are on the events page.

How do I get a feel for the members before I apply?

Listen to our podcast. It features the network's most successful members telling the story of how they built and sold their companies. Most members are somewhere along that journey, from first-time founder to serial founder, and the episodes show the kind of founder they are learning from.

Is Founders Network a Dallas group or a global one?

Global. Founders Network started in San Francisco in 2011 and now has city chapters and sector groups around the world, with the largest concentration of members in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Most of the program is online and runs every week: facilitated peer roundtables, live expert sessions, moderated founder forums, and 1-1 introductions to members in any city. Members meet in person at the annual conferences, fnIRL and fnSummit. Everything above is open to Dallas members from day one, and local meetings come as the chapter grows. The full program is on the mentoring tracks page.

Who are the members?

Founders of tech startups at every point on the journey, from a first company getting to market to serial founders who have exited. Each is nominated and approved, and what we select for is alignment with the network's values and vision rather than stage or sector. Members join to find customers, raise their first rounds, hire co-founders and early teams, and work through the hard parts of running a company with peers who have done it.

Can Founders Network help me raise money?

Founders Network can make you a more competent and better-connected fundraiser. It can't guarantee funding. The Scale plan is built for founders getting to market and raising seed: 1-on-1 pitch mentoring from VCs, a curated investor directory with warm opt-in introductions, and a pass to fnIRL, the annual San Francisco conference. On every plan you can ask the forums and get introduced to members who have raised at your stage. Plan details are on the membership page. Pricing is shared on approval.

How do I join Founders Network in Dallas?

Membership is by nomination and approval. Request an invitation and we'll review your background. If it's a fit, we arrange a nomination and invite you to an info call with current members. All memberships are annual, and we never take equity.

Not a member yet?

Get an invitation to the community.

Founders Network is an invite-only peer mentorship community for tech startup founders. Drop your email — we'll take it from there.

No spam. We review every request individually.