I joined FoundersCard one year ago (July 13th, 2010). It may have been the best purchase I made in the last 12 months. This program is for a certain kind of person, not a “special” kind of person as nothing about my lifestyle is “special” but I’ve benefited from this program in many ways. FoundersCard is not a unique concept when there are hundreds of programs where you pay a company $$$ and they provide you a concierge experience with discounts and freebies on products and brands. However, FoundersCard is the first program that I’ve been a member of that has appealed to me the entrepreneur.
I pay $199 a year and am designated a “charter member” and have benefited in many ways from this program. Renewing my contract in June for another year was a no-brainer. While a member of FoundersCard, I’ve benefited in the following ways:
- American Airlines Gold Status (Priority Boarding, Free Bags, 1st Class Upgrades, Complimentary Drinks, Priority Bag Placement at baggage claim)
- 10% off all American Airlines Flights
- Free GoGo Inflight Wi-Fi
- 15% Savings on my AT&T Wireless Account (for me and my family)
- Savings on Apple Computers (along with my own direct concierge line to order from Apple)
- Hotel discounts and upgrades at thousands of hotels world-wide (including a bottle of wine and welcome package from FoundersCard at check-in on most hotels)
- Discounts on my ZipCar membership (18% off while I was living in SF)
- Free events in NYC, Boston and SF for FoundersCard members which has helped me meet some very cool people
- Discounts on web services like WineLibrary, Shopify, RackSpace, 99Designs, BackBlaze, GigaOM Pro, Moo, FreshDirect and more
- Free membership to Hertz Gold, discounts on Uber cab service and various Limo Services
- There are many more that I’ve used that I can’t even begin to list as your brain would probably explode.
I’m not allowed to share the specific discounts you get with FoundersCard (this blog does post a few screenshots though) but I feel that, sometimes, the company does a poor job at giving that sneak peek into what you can actually get by joining. It’s remarkable what you can benefit from by joining FoundersCard. The benefits change all of the time but, the changes have always been for the better. Deals that leave are usually replaced by better deals from competing companies.
FoundersCard has just reached 5,000 members.
If you’re not an entrepreneur, you can still sign up but you won’t receive the same excitement that I have about this. Beyond the freebies and discounts, there is this angle that is strictly startup. Most of the deals come from startups, most of the conferences, meet and greets and connections you’ll make via FoundersCard are strictly startup. You don’t have to be a founder but you should be an entrepreneur. Then again, getting free shipping on orders from WineLibrary and getting deals on FedEx shipping is pretty nice especially when the entry price is only $199 a year.
Today (7/18/11), I was gifted 19 additional invites to FoundersCard. Each time I invite someone to FoundersCard, I’m given points. Every 10th person that joins FoundersCard from my invite, I’m given a gift certificate to a retailer of my choice. This is a pretty sweet deal. It’s certainly had me more excited to sign up my friends and colleagues. However, I would still be writing this post even if there were no incentive to offering invites. Anyone who pays $199 a year for a loyalty program that gets you discounts on JFK to London flights on Virgin Atlantic probably wouldn’t care too much about a dinky gift card to Apple. This is the case with me as well.
I do love FoundersCard and would like to invite a few of my readers to the program but only if you’re in the tech business, founded a company or are an entrepreneur. The regular sign up price is $499 a year. With my code, it’s $199 a year for life. If you have an iPhone, buy Apple Gear and travel 4 weeks a year, you’ll be paying back the membership price easily.
My email is Adam@Adam-Jackson.net. Drop me a note with your website URL and I’ll send you an invite. It’s a terrific service. Thanks for reading!