Founder infrastructure built on Silicon Valley experience, opening doors to global opportunities for local founders
We spoke with Omon Sultonov, founder of Founders Hub — a founder infrastructure built on San Francisco experience designed to unlock global opportunities for local founders — about the project’s goals and shifts in the startup ecosystem.
Where did the idea come from?
The concept of Founders Hub was born inside WeWork offices in Silicon Valley — San Francisco and Palo Alto. Being embedded in the startup ecosystem there revealed one fundamental truth: strong founders never work alone.
In Silicon Valley, founders are in constant communication — at co-working spaces, cafés, or events. That’s exactly where partners are found, investors are met, and first employees are hired. Being in the right place, among the right people, accelerates growth. In Uzbekistan, however, many founders work alone — at home or in cafés. Founders Hub was created to solve precisely that problem.
What kind of project is Founders Hub?
This is not just another office or another incubator. It is infrastructure built specifically for founders — one that genuinely understands their pain points and needs.
The project’s philosophy is straightforward:
“Building a startup means constant change, mistakes, and relentless searching. Founders sometimes pivot, sometimes fall, but they’re always moving. We don’t constrain them with rigid plans or templates. Instead, wherever a founder is struggling — that’s exactly where we show up to support them.”
That’s why events and workshops at Founders Hub are voluntary and flexible. Whatever a founder needs — building a team, raising investment, or entering the US market — they receive hands-on support in that specific area, and nothing else.
12-Week free residency for 20 startups
During the selection process, the founder’s potential matters more than the product’s current state. Disciplined, goal-driven, fast-moving teams can be accepted even if their product is still at the MVP stage. Having startups at different stages in one place gives early-stage founders the chance to learn directly from more experienced ones.
Practical support and requirements
The project’s core focus is saving founders’ time. Support is provided across the following areas:
- Marketing and international mentorship
- Accounting and legal consulting
- Investor relations
In return, founders are expected to put in serious work: improving the product daily, talking to customers, and submitting weekly progress reports.
The most common founder mistakes
Based on Omon Sultonov’s observations, three mistakes consistently hold local founders back:
1. Not observing. Founders often jump straight into building a product without deeply studying the problem first. The right starting point isn’t “what can we build?” — it’s “what pain point are we solving?”
2. Building for imaginary users. Creating a product based solely on your own assumptions — without ever talking to customers or validating market demand — is the single biggest mistake. Founders need to have real conversations with real people and shape the product around actual needs.
3. Let’s perfect the product first, then sell. This mindset wastes time. Revenue model and sales strategy must be thought about from day one, and market demand must be tested early.
“The most important advice for founders: focus on the problem, not the product. Talk to customers as early as possible — and start selling from day one.”
Going global: the road to the US
Founders Hub’s core mission is to serve as a bridge for Uzbek founders to the US market. The first destination is San Francisco. Plans are in place to later open pathways to Boston (academic hub), Chicago (developed business infrastructure), and New York (capital center).
The goal is to make Founders Hub the most important platform for raising startup quality in the country — by first building a solid model in Uzbekistan, then scaling internationally.
Apply now: https://foundershub.uz/
