OUR WORK
Turning more human potential into possibility.
01
Give more people the chance to build.
Expand access to the experiences, resources, and support that help people turn ideas into action.
Expand access to the experiences, resources, and support that help people turn ideas into action.
Builders + Backers Foundation works to build a more entrepreneurial America by expanding who gets the chance to build and generating the knowledge needed to help more people succeed.
WE FOCUS OUR WORK IN TWO AREAS
02
Learn what works, for whom, and why.
Build the evidence to understand how entrepreneurial capability develops and how more people can succeed.
01 — EXPAND ACCESS
EXPANDING ACCESS
Go where entrepreneurial potential is being overlooked.
Talent doesn’t arrive neatly packaged as a startup. It exists everywhere. In people with ideas, insights, lived experience, and problems they want to solve. Yet much of that potential remains invisible to traditional entrepreneurship systems. Builders + Backers Foundation uses philanthropic capital to reach beyond those systems, opening the opportunity to build to people and communities they too often overlook.
PLACES:
Where entrepreneurial opportunity is harder to access.
Rural communities. Neighborhoods outside traditional innovation hubs. Community colleges and campuses. Military communities. Places navigating economic change.
Philanthropic capital allows us to reach beyond traditional boundaries to unlock talent, ideas, and possibilities that might otherwise never get the chance to become something more.
PEOPLE:
POSSIBILITIES:
Who traditional entrepreneurship systems often miss.
People with ideas who don't yet call themselves entrepreneurs. Skilled workers and tradespeople. Students. Veterans and military families. Parents and caregivers. Career changers. People looking for new ways to create economic opportunity.
Where something worth building begins.
A problem encountered every day. An unmet need in a community. Expertise gained through years of work. A technology opening a new door. An idea someone has carried for years. A better way that no one has tried.
02 — ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE
Build the evidence for the future of entrepreneurship.
Despite decades of research, we still know surprisingly little about the journey from idea to successful venture. Better data can help us understand how entrepreneurial capabilities develop, what drives progress and success, and how new technologies like AI are changing who can build and how.
FOUNDERS:
How do (more) people become better builders?
We aim to understand how entrepreneurial capabilities develop over time: what people learn, how their behaviors change, and which experiences help them progress. What distinguishes those who persist, adapt, and ultimately succeed?
VENTURES:
What turns (more) ideas into viable ventures?
We study the journey from idea to venture: the experiments people run, how they engage with customers, and the decisions they make along the way. Which behaviors and interventions actually increase the likelihood of progress and success?
How AI is changing who can build, and how?
AI fundamentally changes the economics and process of entrepreneurship: lowering barriers, accelerating experimentation, and making capabilities accessible to more people. Who benefits, how Builders use these tools, and which AI-enabled interventions actually improve outcomes?
The goal is not just to understand entrepreneurship better. It’s to use what we learn to improve how Builders are supported, help communities make smarter investments, and create more economic opportunity in more places.
AI-ENABLING:
