Eligibility

You must be able to answer YES to the following questions in order to apply:

• Is your venture addressing a massive social or environmental problem? By social or environmental problem, we mean things like global poverty, the spread of infectious disease, the oppression of women, etc.
• Are you 18 years of age or older?
• Do you have a relentless entrepreneurial spirit and are you hungry to ensure your venture reaches global scale?
• Are you currently working full-time on the development of your venture? A full-time commitment is defined as a minimum of 40 hours per week.
• Do you have at least one team member who is currently full-time and will continue to work full-time on your venture while you are at the Unreasonable Institute? A full-time commitment is defined as a minimum of 40 hours per week.
• Is your venture a for-profit company? While in the past we’ve worked with both non-profits and for-profits, we’ll only be accepting for-profit ventures for our 2012 Institute. If you’re curious, you can read about why we made this decision in our FAQs.
• At minimum, do you have a prototype to market or have you run a pilot? We do not select ventures at an idea stage. You must have a prototype or have completed a pilot program to be accepted.
• Has your venture generated at least $1 in revenue from selling a core product or service? (important: we make exceptions to this criterion. Read below). We hold the ventures that apply to the Unreasonable Institute to this standard unless there is a compelling reason that they have not yet sold their product or service (for example, they are required by law to run multiple pilots to meet safety standards). You may still answer NO to this question and be considered eligible. Curious why? Read the answer in our FAQs.
• Are you a Founder or Co-Founder of your organization?
• Are you able to make key, high-level, direction-shifting decisions (such as investment and major partnerships) on behalf of your organization? Typically, this is the role of a President or CEO, but doesn’t necessarily have to be.
• Can you read, write, and speak in English fluently?
• If accepted, will you be able to attend the ENTIRE Unreasonable Institute from June 12th – July 25th, 2012 with no more than 4 days absence?

Your application is NOT eligible for consideration if:

• Your proposal is intended to expand an existing organization that is past its start-up phase. We define typically define a start-up as an organization that has been in existence for no more than 5 years.
• Your proposal is for a research project.
• Your proposal is for lobbying activities.
• Your proposal is for a charity based and/or foundation based organization. We do not select ventures that are planning to rely on donations and grants as their main source of revenue.
• Your proposal is for a faith-based initiative. In this context, faith-based implies that your venture is associated with a religious institution or is promoting a specific faith. If your work has a spiritual basis but is not tied to any specific religion or faith, you may be eligible for consideration.

Most Importantly…Will You Ever Stop?

• Are you completely obsessed with meeting the social or environmental need you are addressing? Do you refuse to allow any setback, any criticism, and any seemingly insurmountable obstacle to prevent you from measurably improving the lives of at least one million people? If so, welcome! We are excited to read your application!

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at wisdom@unreasonableinstitute.org