2026 Founder Factory

Date & Time
November 19, 2026 from 9:30AM to 7:30PM EST
Location
Momentum Entrepreneurship Hub
510 Main St
South Bend, IN 46601

Founder Factory brings local entrepreneurs to Momentum for one day of connection. Keynote speakers share what it takes to build a business, with time for your questions. Four professional workshops give you time with people who have built and funded businesses. In the evening, founders pitch live to a panel of judges. 

The room is full of people building in this region: first-time founders and established business owners, investors and funders, and mentors from the organizations that back local entrepreneurs. 

Featuring

  • <p>Theresa Fette</p>

    Theresa Fette

    Theresa Fette is a founder and CEO of Provident Trust Group, a leading self-directed retirement plan administrator and alternative-asset custodian. In six short years, she has created exponential growth, increasing the organization’s assets under custody from $300M to more than $5B. Her unique managerial and entrepreneurial style has been recognized by Fortune, honoring her as one of its most powerful women entrepreneurs for 2012. She is a board member of Venovate Holdings, Inc., and co-founder of Keystone Acquisition which further establishes her role as a thought leader in the alternative asset industry. Theresa holds a LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Missouri - Kansas City, a Juris Doctorate, a Masters in Accountancy and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, each from the University of Arkansas.

Schedule

  • 9:00 AM

    From Story to Strategy: Turning Your Expertise into a Growth Engine

    Join us for a workshop with Lauren Steffes, a publishing & legacy media expert who helps high-performing founders and executives transform their expertise into enduring authority and business growth. Learn how to turn your story, expertise and methodology into intellectual property that creates new revenue, and how a book can become the backbone of your sales and marketing.

    Light breakfast will be provided.

  • 12:00 PM

    INVESTED Founder Readiness Workshop

    Every founder is investing in something. The question is whether they can name what they need next — and ask for it clearly. In this interactive lunch experience, Kristi Straw helps founders identify the investment their next move requires: Capital, Capacity, Connection, Visibility, or Structure. Founders leave with a clearer 90-day priority, a specific next yes, and stronger language for the ask.


    Lunch will be provided.

  • 5:00 PM

    Keynote with Theresa Fette

    Theresa Fette, founder and CEO of Retired.com, shares what it really takes to build and sell companies: the bets she made, the obstacles she worked through, and the lessons she learned along the way.  Theresa was named by Fortune Magazine as one of the 10 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs

  • 6:30 PM

    Food, Drinks, and Networking

    Food and an open bar. Catch up with the speakers and mentors, swap contacts, and close out the day with the people building businesses in South Bend.

Registration

  • All Access

    Price $40.00

  • An Evening with Theresa Fette

    Price $20.00

  • Founder Readiness Workshop (Luncheon)

    Price $15.00

  • From Story to Strategy (Breakfast)

    Price $15.00

Payment Info

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Totals

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