Founded in South Park in 2008
A founder community built through proximity and practical help.
Founder's Dojo grew from a shared San Francisco workspace into a network of founders, operators, makers, and community leaders. The residency gives a new six-company cohort the same advantage: capable people working close together and helping one another move.
How it began
A shared workspace became a long-running founder network.
The Dojo grew through proximity, useful introductions, direct feedback, and people giving one another practical help.
Founder's Dojo began in 2008 as a shared workspace near South Park, San Francisco, where founders and operators could work side by side and trade practical help.
Over the years, hundreds of founders, technologists, makers, and community leaders have moved through the Dojo and stayed connected through companies, initiatives, events, and shared projects.
Today, the residency brings six companies at a time into that wider network for two focused months in San Francisco.
Companies in the community
Different paths, connected by people who help one another build.
Selected companies and projects associated with the wider Dojo community over time.
DTC exit
Native Co
Native Co is part of the Dojo company story. Its direct-to-consumer personal-care business later sold to Procter & Gamble in a $100M outcome.
(opens in a new tab)Decentralized infrastructure
Akash
Akash is part of the Dojo's decentralized infrastructure work and helped establish a decentralized cloud-computing category.
(opens in a new tab)Developer tooling
Scout Monitoring
Scout Monitoring built a distributed application-monitoring platform and later sold to SolarWinds.
(opens in a new tab)Global consumer brand
Linjer
Linjer grew into a global consumer brand with a significant direct-to-consumer presence across the Pacific Rim.
(opens in a new tab)Media exit
The Hustle
The Hustle built a business and technology media brand that later sold to HubSpot.
(opens in a new tab)Web3 security
Quantstamp
Quantstamp brings blockchain-security experience to the Dojo's long-running work around decentralized infrastructure.
(opens in a new tab)Healthcare infrastructure
TalkDoc
TalkDoc works to expand access to mental healthcare through telehealth.
(opens in a new tab)Early support
Product Hunt
Product Hunt was not founded in the Dojo, but members of the network supported Ryan Hoover's platform early in its development.
(opens in a new tab)Since 2008
The Dojo has changed shape without losing its working style.
Three chapters connect the original South Park space to today's focused residency.
South Park beginnings · 2008
The Dojo began at 480 Second Street near South Park, where a larger-than-needed office became shared workspace for founders and engineers connected to UserVoice, SFBETA, Scout Monitoring, Kickstarter, and other early companies.
An open-door founder community
The space moved away from paid desks and toward an open-door community. Over the next decade, founders, technologists, leaders, and makers used the Dojo as a place to work, exchange ideas, and help one another build.
A focused residency today
The community now extends across companies, cultural projects, and public-interest initiatives around the world. The San Francisco residency gives each new cohort a focused way to enter that network.
Explore the wider story
Places, programs, and ideas that shaped the network.
A few deeper routes into the Dojo's history and present-day work.
Home
How a South Park startup studio grew into a far-reaching founder community.
Dojo Lake Tahoe
A Tahoe-area setting for team off-sites, focused sprints, and resets.
Dojo San Francisco
The San Francisco home base for focused work, events, and the residency.
Our Community
Companies, people, and moments from nearly two decades of community.
Dojo Start Up Program
The operating principles behind the Dojo's hands-on work with founders.
Community gallery
A small visual record of people building together.
Selected moments from work sessions, events, gatherings, and the spaces around them.
The next chapter
Join a community that has been helping founders since 2008.
The residency offers more than a place to work. It brings founders into a long-running network built around useful feedback, trusted relationships, and shared momentum.
