Founder Poker Toronto

Thanks to Fasken, Boast AI, and Gurulink, Founder Poker includes a sick venue, woodfire pizza, and drinks at no cost.

Apply To Join The Club

Establishing Culture - A Letter From Derek, the creator of Founder Poker Toronto.The goal of FPT (Founder Poker Toronto) is that this community becomes an always-available in-person group of friends for any founder in Toronto. We play poker but, let's be honest, it's not a very serious poker night. Poker's just way more fun than doing yet another "cocktail hour".We're an inclusive group that treats each other like friends, not business prospects. FPT is a haven to unwind and experience the people behind the companies. FPT is reliable; we'll always be here on the 2nd Tuesday of the month. If you're a part of FPT, you're also reliable, and won't no-show if you say you're coming.Our attendance is actually pretty killer for a 'networking event', often in the 90%+ range. Especially amongst members who have been to at least 1 event, where there have really only been a handful of no-shows since we started. FPT however, is not a just some 'networking event'. We're a friend group, so I'll continue to push that 100% of you are accounted for every month. You don't ghost your friends; and I expect you wont ghost us.Why do I do this? Simply because I care about accountability. I feel bad turning away the waitlist when no-shows occupy spots they could have showed up with.FPT is not for profit, and it's not even a not-for-profit. It's a friend group. So, if you contextualize the decisions that FPT makes, a lot of things will make more sense.There's no fee to come (i.e. would you pay a door ticket to see your friends?)There's no Slack group (we're only meant to exist for 1 day each month; the expectation is that for founders on the other days, you're building).There's no official social media (the only way to experience FPT is to actually show up).There's no 'name-tags' (single events in time have name badges; FPT exists each month, and it won't take long before you know your new friends by name).That if you don't show up, expect I'll be in touch to let you know that your no-show made me sad (because I care about my friends, and you wouldn't ghost your friends).Fill out the below to apply to join Founder Poker Toronto. If you're a founder/VC... welcome to the club.

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What is a Founder? Who is this for?

We are an exclusive hangout for founders in Toronto to share resources, make friends, and to figure out how to best support each other. We also allow select VC/Angel investors to join our club, as they play an integral part in the tech-ecosystem.So, what is a Founder? Or at least, how do we define it?We define a Founder as: You are the person who created a tech or tech-related company, and you pursue this company as your sole full time focus....okay, what's a tech or tech-related company?It all comes down to how a venture scales. Tech companies (vs. a 'normal business') can create scale by producing more technology; instead of say, hiring humans to do serve the core function of the business. This technology is typically unique and defensible; generating IP, etc.Because of the nature of how tech companies scale, they can achieve billion dollar status in 5 years or less; whereas more traditional businesses can take multiple decades to do the same. This means that tech-companies have vastly different problems, desires, and need a different set of resources to win. These are the people we're trying to support.A 'normal business' is like a cafe, a construction company, a real estate firm; all of these can only achieve scale by hiring more people. These people provide a service, and the service is dependent on how the people are trained. If you change out all the staff in a 'normal business', you likely have a completely different business. If you change out all of the people in a tech-company, the product remains the same. Normal businesses are awesome ventures to build, and are way more likely to actually be profitable/successful. But the needs are different; we're trying to cater to Toronto's tech ecosystem.So, who's allowed in?-Startup Founders of Tech Companies who are building full time.
-VCs and Angels who invest in such Tech Companies (subject to approval by FPT).
-Founders of agencies that support the Toronto Tech ecosystem (subject to approval by FPT, and requiring a referral from an active founder who's already in the community)Approval is a privelege, not a right: We review everyone who applies to join and if we sense something is off, we won't let you in. If we sense that you're just joining to try and sell something, we're going to say no. We may ask for referrals / references from founders who are in the community if we don't know you.If you don't see yourself in those categories above, but you feel you should be allowed in anyways? Well, apply below to join! We'll consider you and respond 100% of the time to all inquiries.

The Poker

BUY-INIt's a community; not a casino.There's an optional $2 buy-in. Otherwise, come prepared for a 2.5 hour tournament. There is no cash gambling.YOU GET:-Dinner - veg, vegan, meat options
-Drinks - beer, bar rail, or non alcoholic beverage
-Toronto's most exclusive hat... but only if you winSCHEDULE:6:00PM - 6:45PM: Poker 101 for First Time Poker Players
6:45PM - 7:00PM: Arrival time if you know how to play Poker
7:00PM - 7:30PM: Dinner / Networking
7:45PM - 11:00PM: $2 Tournament Starts (15 minute blind levels)THE POKER-We teach Poker 101 before every meetup from 6pm to 645pm
-Texas Hold'em Style (~7 players/table) + 1 dealer.
-If you place top 3, you'll win an entry into the yearly $3k Freeroll Finals.

Upcoming Dates

We (usually) play on the 2^nd Tuesday of every month

Title Sponsors

Fasken truly knows how to assist founders with the legal hurdles and challenges that they face in the earliest days up to having the depth of talent to assist you when you grow. If you're looking to talk to lawyers that understand what it's like to found in Toronto? Talk to Kate Grant, she'll set you up with the right folks.Learn more at fasken.com

Boast helps companies easily capture more of their eligible R&D tax credits with its scalable, intelligent software and expert services. Governments give away $20 billion in R&D tax credits each year but applying has been difficult and slow. Not with Boast. Thousands of innovative companies leverage Boast to get more money, faster, and with less risk.Learn more at boast.ai

GuruLink delivers recruitment services and software with the goal of simplifying the recruitment process and making it more efficient, satisfying, and enjoyable for all those involved.Learn more at gurulink.ca

Ticket Availability

For transparency, here is how we do it. First of all, the venue capacity is ~64 people.The first people to be emailed the password are active startup founders. They will have a week to claim their spotThe second group to be emailed the password are aspiring startup founders & agency founders. They have a week to claim their spot.Then, everyone (i.e. including ecosystem partners, VCs, etc.) will be emailed the password.Our meetup first and foremost caters to tech founders - so they get priority! Hope that's cool with you.

2025 Glory

We play for glory, not for money. These points earn you a right to play for the big prize at the Big December Finale. Tiebreaks will be decided by how many events you came to, and then further tiebreaks will be given in favour of our dealers.

*Qualified for Yearly Finals

2024 Winners

2024 Glory

2023 Winners

2023 Glory

2022 Glory