Young Entrepreneurs

The Young Entrepreneur Program is SFBI's 2026 pilot cohort for founders under 40 who are already in motion — running a business, actively launching, or making early traction — and who are done feeling like they're figuring it out alone. Santa Fe has real entrepreneurial talent. What young founders here often lack is a trusted peer group, a consistent accountability structure, and practical tools calibrated to where they actually are. This program is built to fill that gap. The format is simple by design: ten monthly in-person sessions per year, roughly two hours each, with a cohort of twelve to twenty founders. Every session blends a short tactical lesson, a working session, and peer discussion — so you leave with progress, not just notes. The cohort is intentionally stable. The same group of people, month after month, builds the kind of trust that makes honest feedback possible and peer accountability real. AI gets deliberate attention throughout the program — not as a trend, but as a practical force multiplier for small teams. Participants learn concrete AI workflows for customer research, marketing copy, operations documentation, and financial modeling. The framing is consistent: AI speeds up the work, it does not replace your judgment. The Young Entrepreneur Program is a pilot and is designed to evolve. Session themes are shaped in part by the cohort itself. As the program matures, it can grow into a sponsored or membership model — and its graduates can become the next generation of SFBI mentors, advisors, and community leaders. The 2026 cohort is sponsored by the City of Santa Fe Office of Economic Development.