Our story begins in 2010, when co-founders Scott Gerber and Ryan Paugh first launched Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only brain trust that brought together some of the country’s most elite entrepreneurs 40 and under. Gerber, a serial entrepreneur recognized as one of the top superconnectors in business by Fast Company, wanted to create a vetted group of entrepreneurs in order to facilitate smarter connections to the people and resources they needed -- something he wished he’d had while building his first companies. Paugh, whose work building communities like Brazen Careerist led Mashable to dub him a “cult legend” in the online community-building world, helped set the tone of trust and reciprocation that defines YEC today.

Fueled by word-of-mouth referrals from some of North America’s top young founders, applications poured in. Of more than 16,000 received to date, fewer than 10 percent have been accepted.

YEC’s extraordinary growth showed us we were onto something -- elite young founders wanted more from a membership organization. Better, faster access to each other; smarter technology; a highly curated member list; and a community management team that works like an extension of their own.

More importantly, founders referred their closest friends and colleagues because of the incredible outcomes they experienced. Many members launched new companies together as partners. They helped each other navigate critical business issues over coffee or a confidential call after our concierge team made a warm intro. And nearly all our members took advantage of our ability to save them hours of research (and potential disappointment) by connecting them to service providers that had already been vetted by the community.

After talking to thousands of professionals over the years, it was clear that these outcomes aren’t something just young entrepreneurs want. Our approach could be carefully adapted and customized to serve other professionals who would benefit from a community built to help them grow.

With FounderSociety, we’re taking the next step and realizing our vision for a better kind of community. Think of it as a reboot of the professional organization for the next generation. Simply put, we believe in providing a concierge-level experience to connect you to the right people and resources you need, exactly when you need it.