You're 18 to 24 and you've just done something that used to take a team and a year of funding: you've used AI to turn an idea into a real product. The Old Fashioned exists to help you take it to market — with the advice, the introductions and the discipline that come from doing this the long way round. We're the sister initiative to Ribbit Consulting, built specifically for your generation of founder.
We're called The Old Fashioned because the way we back founders hasn't changed in decades: real relationships, real introductions, real accountability. What's changed is you — you can now go from idea to shipped product faster than any founder generation before you. We make sure the business side keeps up.
We're looking for a small number of founders each year, particularly those from underrepresented and underprivileged backgrounds who now have the tools to build but not always the network to grow.
Four ways we work with founders — mixed and matched to what your product actually needs, not a fixed package.
Regular one-to-one time and a seat at the table when it matters — pricing, hiring, fundraising, and the calls that are hard to make on your own at 22.
Hands-on help finding your first real customers and closing them, without carrying the cost of a full-time hire before you can afford one.
Direct lines into investors, partner ecosystems and buyers who take a warm introduction seriously — the kind of access that usually takes a decade to build.
Events built around your product and your story, put in front of the people who can actually move it forward.
Building a company in your early twenties tests more than your product roadmap. We support MIND and other charities focused on youth mental health, because the people backing young founders should say so plainly — and because we've seen what the pressure of this journey can do.
September 2026
We're delighted to welcome Toby Hayles to The Old Fashioned as an Ambassador. Toby will help us spread the word to young founders building with AI, and connect them with the mentoring, introductions and support we offer.
Tell us what you're building. We read every application ourselves and reply to all of them.
