About
Founder Buddies brings together purpose-driven entrepreneurs through Community, Coaching, and Cohorts—creating spaces where founders grow through goal-setting, strategic networking, and collaborative learning. We provide peer support, expert guidance, and a strong network to help them thrive. Founder Buddies was created to support female entrepreneurs—offering a trusted community, flexible programs, and real peer connection. While women remain at the heart of our mission, we welcome all founders who share our values of equity, collaboration, and purposeful growth.
- Propel Program Cohort #1 (January–April 2024)
Our specialized matching system ensures the right synergy for collaboration and accountability. Our first cohort brought together entrepreneurs from 35 countries, resulting in 150 successful matches. This global community fostered invaluable knowledge-sharing and built lasting, mutually beneficial relationships.
- Your Path to Growth
Whether through the Propel Program Cohort, PowerPod, coaching, or advising, we provide targeted support to help you move from idea to impact.
By combining community-driven experiences, expert guidance, and ongoing accountability, Founder Buddies equips founders to thrive—at every stage of their journey—with a focus on equality and access.
Team
Amanda Fornal
LinkedInFounder
Amanda has 25 years of experience as a technology professional and business consultant. She has diverse industry experience implementing software, optimizing processes, and executing change management strategies with her company Orange SFM, LLC. She is also a startup advisor, board member, mentor, executive coach, director at an early stage startup accelerator, and the founder of Women in Exploration (WiE).
Leander Neiss
LinkedInCofounder
Leander is a software engineer with experience in full stack web development, database technologies, graphics programming, and machine learning. He has a Masters degree in IT-Systems Engineering from the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam. In his free time, he works on projects to help make the world just a little bit better.