The power of peers is greatly underestimated…
Fledge is based around cooperation and support between fledglings, not competition. That is part of the Fledge culture, and is seen repeatedly on a daily basis for all ten weeks of the program.
The result of this culture is an additional source of advice, beyond the Managing Director and mentors. Given 7 teams per cohort, this is not an insignificant well of experience. More so as the median age of a fledgling founder is around 30, and thus the group typically includes a combined few centuries of varied business experiences to draw upon.
This benefit of Fledge is the most difficult to describe to both potential participants and potential investors. It needs to be seen to be fully understood.
Nonetheless, here is an example to help explain. Imagine you are trying to start a business, and are unsure about which of three business models will most likely work with a specific customer segment. You have just one business partner, and the two of you do not agree. Earlier today, you met with three mentors, and received three different opinions. You now turn to a group of 7 advisors, all entrepreneurs with similar questions about their business plans. You spend 5 minutes setting the context, and 15 minutes in an open, supportive discussion of the options. These excited, experienced, intelligent advisors ask questions you’ve not thought about, listen to the opinions of both you and your co-founder, and after a total of 20 minutes, either a consensus emerges from the conversation, or an idea for a test emerges to find an answer from the market.
Such conversations happen in every session, sometimes weekly.
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