Startup Membership: Refer your Startups

Note: The Startup Membership is now completely FREE for Accepted Startups!

Note: Find your personal golden ticket referral links in the Airtable below. You have an unlimited number of referrals, so refer as many as you can!
Referral Window: 13th May to 30th June, 2021

TL;DR

The Startup Referral Program is a way for chapter directors to be able to give startups in their networks access to the startup membership program, between May 13- June 30. This document summarises everything you need to know about the program and includes the following:

  1. Case studies of how startups have benefitted from the membership in the past
  2. How you can refer startups
  3. Benefits and prizes for Chapter Directors which refer the most startups 
  4. Email and Social Media Templates
  5. Creatives and Designs to use while promoting the membership to your network
  6. Startup Selection Criteria 
  7. Personalised Golden Ticket Referral Links

Why refer startups to the membership?

To see what startups get when they apply, please go here: about.startupgrind.com/membership/

Important: To see case studies of how existing startups have benefited from the membership, please click here (including case studies of startups previously referred by chapter directors)

Plus, here are some examples of what's been going on and how we have been supporting startup members (during the first 10 months of the membership):

  • Female Founder Office Hours + Black Founder Office Hours - In just the first 6 months, we have hosted 2 large Office Hours events for our members and had 500+ meetings booked
  • Startup Summit at Global 2021 was attended by 814 startups on the membership, who got access to exclusive sessions, workshops, roundtables and networking during a half-day bootcamp
  • During Global 2021, 10 startup members pitched at a Demo Day event, which was attended by 100+ investors. 54 successful startup-investor introductions made as a result of Demo Day
  • 1500+ double opt-in introductions between startup members & investors + partners
  • Roundtable summits exclusively for startup members, run by experts from top partners like Oracle
  • Warm introductions between startup members + we regularly host ‘Startup Mixer Events’
  • Startup Members can also post their startup offers on this page
  • Exclusive Partner Offers from top companies like AWS, Oracle, Twilio etc.
  • Bi-weekly startup newsletter for members which contains top opportunities, curated content and reminders about how they can leverage the membership better
  • Lots and lots of exposure for the startup members as well - 2 startups chosen each week for ‘Startup of the Week’ (featured on SG Twitter + Instagram) ; Startup Spotlight features on SG Medium & a whole lot more

We will continue with all of these and have many more initiatives to support startups coming up. We would love for all your local startups to be a part of this ever growing membership (we have 3000+ registered members from 106 countries already - as of April, 2021).

Want to offer startups from your local community priority access to this free membership and all it’s benefits? All you need to do is ask them to apply using your personal referral link, that can be found below!


When and How to Refer Startups:

When?

  • You will be able to refer startups between 13th May - 30th June, 2021
  • All your referrals need to be done during this time frame
  • We will open these links to refer once more, later in 2021 (exact dates TBC)

How?

  • Use your personal referral links found in the Airtable below
  • Use email/social media templates + creatives below
  • Unlimited number of referrals per Director
  • Referred startups are fast-tracked to the final vetting stage (subject to eligibility criteria below)
  • Accepted startups get free access to all the membership benefits (no credit card needed)

What do Chapter Directors get for Referring Startups?

  • Top Chapter Directors with maximum referrals (between 15th May - 30th June ‘21) will be interviewed on the SG Medium Channel as ‘Super Connector Directors’
  • These ‘Super Connector Directors’ will also be featured on the Global Newsletter + Directors Newsletter in July/August
  • ‘Super Connector Director’ certificate will be awarded to the director
  • A LIVE Leaderboard of Director Referrals can be accessed here (for applications between 13 May - 30 June ‘21)

Referral/Golden Ticket: Email Template for Directors to share

Hi [NAME],

As your local Startup Grind Chapter Director, I am able to refer top early-stage startups in my region, which fast-tracks each startup to the final vetting stage for free access to our Startup Membership. I am super happy to say I’d like to nominate [COMPANY] for this opportunity!

Our Startup Membership will offer you unique value across the following areas throughout year year: 

  • Access VCs through exposure & direct introduction opportunities
  • Learn directly from Tier 1 VC Partners + Unicorn Founders across a minimum of 52 exclusively tailored private events
  • Drive brand awareness & lead generation through promotion in SG articles
  • Reduce burn rate with exclusive credits from partners like AWS, Google, Mailchimp, Oracle, Twilio, Freshworks + more 
  • Network with & receive support from a global community of other startup founders & leadership teams on the online forum 

Please fill out this 2-minute form [ Insert golden ticket referral link] ASAP and the Startup Team will get in touch with you to let you know if you have been approved!

Let me know how it goes!

[NAME]

Director Referral: Email & Social Media Templates for Director to share

Text for Post-Event Emails to Promote Personal Referral Link

Looking for a community that helps startups level up? Check out Startup Grind’s Startup Membership and join us now. Use my personal referral link to apply and get priority access! → [add PERSONAL REFERRAL LINK]

Social Media Templates to Promote Personal Referral Link

Big news from @startupgrind – we just created a new online membership to support #startups! Get access to curated content, intimate roundtables, investor intros, partner discounts, and more. Use this link to apply and get free access now (if accepted) → [ add PERSONAL REFERRAL LINK]

Looking for a community that helps startups level up? Check out Startup Grind Membership and join us now. Use my personal link to apply and get free access (if accepted)! → [ add PERSONAL REFERRAL LINK] #StartupGrind #startupgrindmembership #startup

Membership Creatives + Design

Minimum Expected Startup Criteria:

This program is designed for startups, not services. i.e. this is not for accountants or freelancers etc.

  • Product must have launched 
  • There must be a full-time team of 2 or more people
  • Venture-backed is a bonus, but not absolutely necessary
  • Bonus points:
    • A meaningful number of active users
      • Eg if it’s a B2B SaaS startup, it’s good if they have paying customers (or, at minimum, companies on active free trials)
      • If it’s a B2C startup, then monthly active user numbers at least in the high 100s/1000s would be expected
    • They are revenue-generating
      • Eg if B2B SaaS, they have paying clients. The better B2B SaaS companies we’ve had in the past have been generating monthly revenues of at least $10k+ 
      • Eg if B2C, the revenue doesn’t matter as much provided that they have a large number of initial users as above

Please find your personalised Golden Ticket Referral Links here - use search button on top right to find your name quickly.

Please Note: 

  • This only applies to Directors
  • If your name is not below, please reach out to ford@startugrind.com so that we can figure out what went wrong, and send you your links

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