Meetings Every other Thursday 3:30 p.m. Room 0108

Founders Club.

A student-run club at Bellevue High School

Start something... before you graduate.

Founders Club is for students who want to start a company, an app, a nonprofit or a small business while they’re still in high school. We meet every other Thursday and work on them together.

Join Founders Club See how it works
  • No experience needed
  • Come with or without an idea
  • Work solo or on a team

Founders Club is where Bellevue High students build the future.

What we do

What counts as a project.

Almost anything, as long as someone besides you wants it.

  • A startup.A product you want to turn into a company.
  • A small business.Something people will pay you for.
  • A nonprofit.A problem you’d work on for free.
  • A service.Tutoring, editing, fixing laptops.
  • An app.iPhone, Android or web.
  • A website.A site people come back to.
  • A side project.Something you’d build anyway.

How it works

Six steps. Most projects repeat steps 3 to 5 a few times.

  1. Find a problem

    Start with something people already complain about.

  2. Plan a small test

    Work out the cheapest way to see if anyone cares.

  3. Build a first version

    It doesn’t have to be good yet. It has to work.

  4. Test it on strangers

    Your friends are too nice to tell you what’s wrong.

  5. Improve it

    Fix what didn’t work, then go back to step 3.

  6. Demo it

    Show it at a pitch night, or launch it.

Inside the club

What you get.

At meetings

  • Workshops

    Short, practical sessions: talking to customers, building apps and sites with AI tools, marketing, pricing and pitching.

  • Build time

    Time to work on your project, with people nearby who can help when you’re stuck.

  • Check-ins

    Every project gets a board member to check in with. They’ll tell you honestly how it’s going and help you decide what to do next.

  • Cofounders

    If you need a cofounder or a team, this is the place to find one.

Planned for this year

  • Guest speakers

    Founders and people from industry talk about decisions they actually had to make, then take questions about your project. Speakers to be announced.

  • Mentor introductions

    When you’re stuck on something specific, we’ll try to connect you with someone who has done it before.

  • Pitch and demo nights

    Two or three pitch nights during the year, then a final showcase. We’re inviting industry judges, and prizes depend on sponsors.

If you want it

  • Competitions

    The Congressional App Challenge, Blue Ocean, the Diamond Challenge and others. If you want to enter, we’ll help you choose one, prepare the entry and practice the pitch.

Who it’s for

Who should come.

  • “I have an idea.”

    Good. We’ll help you find out if anyone wants it before you spend months building it.

  • “I want to build, but I don’t have an idea.”

    Join a team that needs help, or start from a problem you’ve noticed. Most good ideas start that way.

  • “I’ve never coded or started anything.”

    Most people haven’t. You’ll learn by building, and AI tools now do a lot of the coding.

What we ask

Come to meetings and work on your project in between. That’s the only requirement.

Get involved

Come to the next meeting.

You don’t need to apply or sign up first.

When
Every other Thursday 3:30 p.m.
Where
Room 0108 Mr. Hong · Bellevue High School

How to join

  1. Come to a meeting. Bring an idea if you have one. It’s fine if you don’t.
  2. Sign up. Online sign-up isn’t open yet. Until then, coming to a meeting is enough.
  3. Follow us. @bellevue_foundersclub

Mentors, speakers, staff

We’re looking for founders and people who work in tech to speak at a meeting or mentor a student project.

Message us on Instagram, or find us in Room 0108.