founding_up Capabilities Statement

Who We Are

founding_up is a workforce-readiness and talent-exchange platform built on a single thesis: there is a unique genius in every student. We help young people develop clarity about who they are becoming — and connect that clarity to employers and educators willing to invest in that becoming.

Core Competencies — Four Integrated Layers

• Layer 1 — Identity Formation Accelerator: 12-week experience built around the student's own imagination. Uses imagination to understand where she's going, then works backwards to name the genius she already carries.
• Layer 2 — SIGNAL: talent verified, not claimed. Proprietary algorithm recognizing soft skills and personality traits that emerge through weeks of work with CLEO, not typed into a profile. Dimensions: Velocity · Imagination · Genius · Resonance · Gusto · Launch Signal. 31 matching algorithms across 7 clusters; Identity Clarity Index built on decision coherence, follow-through stability, capacity to act under uncertainty, quality of exploration.
• Layer 3 — Exchange Layer: live marketplace where six actors transact (students, employers, universities, HS ISDs, foundations, workforce development boards). Privacy is the architecture, consent is the bridge — candidates anonymized (Candidate #47 / Jordan R.) until mutual opt-in. Draft Day pre-commitment: employers pre-commit with sign-on bonus + 18-month commitment.
• Layer 4 — CLEO: the AI in each student's corner. Not a chatbot, not a task manager — think Jarvis to Iron Man. Conversation state machine, age-appropriate guardrails, crisis-signal classifier. Built on Anthropic's Claude; wrapping architecture is founding_up IP.
• Compliance backbone: built-in Perkins V / ESSA / WIOA outcomes reporting with K-anonymity enforcement at read layer. No competitor has this built in.

Differentiators

• Identity-first vs. outcomes-first — measurement is patterns, not points
• Scholarship investment is the loyalty mechanism, not the side dish
• Branded as founding_up (lowercase, underscore) — designed for Gen Z trust signals
• Accredited university partner network in formation — TAMUCT institutional partner, Post University committed (paused), UNT-led DFW cohort
• Advisory bench: Ricardo Berckemeyer (Cintana, 33 universities), Dr. Richard Rhodes (TAMUCT), Roy Spence, Richard Rhodes, Molly Beth Malcolm, Steve Moore (UNT System)
• Eligible for small business + minority-owned + small disadvantaged + Hispanic American owned set-asides — direct procurement advantage
• Ryan LLC tax-guidance partnership integrating DOL/VA/SBA veteran-hire benefits into the employer dashboard — proactive activation of federal incentives

Active Engagements

• Cintana Education advisory — Ricardo Berckemeyer (33 universities, 28 countries)
• Texas A&M University–Central Texas — institutional partner; Temple College visit pipeline
• Luna Data Solutions (Dana Jones) — employer-side stakeholder demo completed
• The Phoenix Group — federal BD representation partner (active, NDNC in place)

Inaugural Cohort — DFW Corridor (in formation; launch Q1 2027)

• UNT (University of North Texas) — verbal commitment; serving as connector across the cohort
• Texas A&M–Tarleton · SMU · Fort Worth ISD — active conversations via UNT introductions
• Ryan LLC (Brint Ryan) — anchor employer + tax-guidance partner integrating federal veteran-hire benefits
• Sid Richardson Foundation · Amon Carter Foundation — foundation co-investors in active dialogue
• Post University — committed; currently paused while focus is on DFW launch
• State endorsement: TX Commissioner of Education Mike Morath

NAICS & PSCs

NAICS: 611430 · 611710 · 611691 · 541611 · 541612 · 541715 · 541990 · 519290 · 624310
PSCs: U008 · U009 · U099 · B505 · R408 · R425 · DA01