Applications open · closes Mon 5 October 2026
Pivotal Launchpad · London · 26–30 October 2026
Founders Week
Five days at LISA to turn a Project Tailwind idea into a team, a plan and a proposal that Coefficient Giving's grantmakers have already seen.
Coefficient Giving has put $200k to $20m+ on the table for new AI safety organisations. Founders Week puts about 30 selected founders, researchers and operators in one room, forms teams around the strongest ideas, and gets grantmakers in front of them by Thursday.
Decisions by Fri 9 October 2026. Travel and accommodation covered. Free to attend.
- 36initiatives Coefficient Giving wants someone to start
- $200k–2mTailwind pre-seed grants, $2–20m+ at seed
- 10 minpitch chats with CG grantmakers on Thursday, written feedback the same day
- 2–4 wksafter the week to write the full proposal, with Pivotal's support
Why a week
The ideas exist. The teams don't yet.
Tailwind is open now
Coefficient Giving has said what it wants to fund and is waiting for good proposals. The organisations that get started in the next few months will shape the field. Waiting a year is a real cost.
Most applicants are one person
Strong people with half-scoped ideas and no co-founder. A week in a room with the right people is faster than six months of DMs, and we pre-match teams before you arrive.
Feedback before you write
You hear what the grantmakers think on Thursday, in person and in writing, before you spend weeks on a full proposal. Teams they like get a clear path to submit.
The week
Monday you arrive with an idea. Friday you leave with a plan.
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Mon
Kick-off
Tailwind deep-dive with Coefficient Giving. Meet the other funders in the room. Lock in your team.
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Tue
Scope
Theory of change. Why now, why this, why you. Office hours with mentors who have started things.
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Wed
Build the plan
First twelve months, budget, hires, milestones. Office hours with CG on what a fundable proposal contains.
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Thu
Pitch day
Ten-minute pitch chats with Coefficient Giving grantmakers. Written feedback lands the same day.
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Fri
Decide
Iterate on the feedback. Decide who continues and how. Closing session.
After the week
Teams Coefficient Giving flags as promising get two to four weeks and light Pivotal support, with feedback, intros and a bit of runway, to write a full Tailwind proposal. Everyone else leaves with a scoped idea, a team that has worked together, and the network.
Read this before applying
Most teams will not be funded. This is a scoping week with grantmakers in the room, not a funding round. Pivotal makes no grants, and attending is not an application to Coefficient Giving. What you get is their attention, their feedback, and a fast path if they like what they see.
Who should apply
Three kinds of people. One founding team.
We are selecting about 30 people across these three profiles, roughly 40 / 40 / 20. You do not need a team or a finished idea. You need a plausible answer to "why this, and not a job at a lab".
You've built something and want to again
An organisation, a programme, a product, a research agenda. You know what the first hard year looks like and you'd do it for the right idea.
- Prior founder or ops experience weighs heavily
- A track record of shipping, not only advising
- One or two Tailwind areas you'd actually start in
You could lead a research effort outside a lab
You have a research direction that needs an institution around it: a team, compute, a mandate. You'd rather build that than join one.
- Track record in AI safety or an adjacent field
- References from people Pivotal or CG trust
- A research agenda that maps to a Tailwind initiative
You'd be the person a founder needs beside them
Operations, fieldbuilding, policy, security, biosecurity. Exceptional people who make a founding team of two into a team that ships.
- Someone a founder would want to hire first
- Run something, even if it wasn't yours
- Willing to commit if the right team forms
The idea space
Tailwind lists 36 initiatives across seven areas.
You apply with one or two ideas you'd want to work on. Ideally they map to a Tailwind initiative, but Tailwind explicitly welcomes ideas that aren't on the list, and so do we. Teams are matched by idea cluster before the week.
- Independent assessment
- Research institutions
- Evidence generation
- AI security & verification
- Public goods
- Talent acceleration
- Convenings
- Something else you can make the case for
Full list: coefficientgiving.org/tailwind/initiatives
In the room
The people you'd otherwise spend months trying to reach.
- Coefficient Giving grantmakersThursday's pitch chats and written feedback. In the room for the Friday decisions.
- Founders and researchers on callOffice hours from people who have started AI safety organisations and research agendas.
- Other fundersJoin on Monday so you know who else is looking at this space.
- The Pivotal teamSelection, team matching, programme, logistics, and the follow-through afterwards.
What's covered
Everything except the idea.
- Travel to London
- Accommodation for the week
- Venue and food at LISA
- Mentor and grantmaker time
- Two to four weeks of support afterwards for teams that continue
How it works
Selection is fast and shallow. The week is the real filter.
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1
Apply
Under 30 minutes. A short CV summary, which profile fits you, and one or two ideas you'd want to work on.
By Mon 5 October 2026 -
2
Selection
We review the form. Borderline cases get a 20-minute call. Decisions go out fast so you can book travel.
By Fri 9 October 2026 -
3
Pre-work
Read Tailwind properly. We match you into a pre-formed team of two to four by idea cluster, so Monday starts with work, not introductions.
Two weeks before -
4
Founders Week
Five days at LISA. Pitch chats with Coefficient Giving on Thursday.
26–30 October 2026
Questions
The ones we get asked.
No. Most people apply alone and we match teams by idea cluster before the week. If you already have a co-founder, apply separately and tell us.
No. One or two ideas you'd genuinely want to work on, ideally mapped to a Tailwind initiative. Scoping is what the week is for.
Not by attending, and not by Pivotal. Coefficient Giving gives feedback during the week and fast-tracks the proposals it likes. Most teams will not be funded. Apply for the scoping, the team and the access, and treat funding as the upside.
No. The week only works if the whole team is in the room for all five days.
Nothing. Travel to London, accommodation for the week, and the venue and food are covered.
Yes, if you would leave it for the right thing. "Why this and not a job at a lab" is one of the questions we ask, and a good answer is a strong signal.
Possibly. Founders, operators, policy people and biosecurity people are exactly who a research-led team is missing. Read Tailwind first; if an initiative makes you want to start it, apply.
From the form, with a 20-minute call for borderline cases. Decisions go out by Fri 9 October 2026. Selection is deliberately light because the week itself is the filter.
It is tight. Tell us in the form and we will send an invitation letter with the decision. If you already know you would not get a visa in time, write to us before applying.
Applications close Mon 5 October 2026
Start something.
The form takes under 30 minutes. We review as applications arrive. Questions to Tilman any time.