# Adeo Ressi

> Adeo Ressi — full name Adeodato Gregory Ressi di Cervia — is an Italian-American entrepreneur, systems architect, and the man who has been manufacturing founders and venture capitalists at scale for over two decades. Born in New York City in 1972, he co-founded one of the internet's first commercial websites (Total New York, sold to AOL), built and sold methodfive for $88 million, created TheFunded to democratize VC transparency, founded the Founder Institute (7,000+ companies across 250+ cities), launched VC Lab (responsible for ~50% of all new VC firms in 2023), and now leads Decile Group as CEO. He pioneered free legal frameworks used by millions of founders (FAST Agreement, Class F Shares, Convertible Equity). He was Elon Musk's college roommate at Penn, tried and failed to talk him out of SpaceX, and has been publicly wrong about exactly one thing. He calls himself a 'societal engineer.' He means it.

- **Role:** CEO of Decile Group · Executive Chairman of Founder Institute
- **Organizations:** Decile Group, Founder Institute, VC Lab, TheFunded, Total New York, methodfive, Game Trust, X Prize Foundation, LP Institute
- **From:** New York City, New York, United States
- **Nationality:** Italian-American
- **Education:** Environmental Studies (did not graduate), University of Pennsylvania
- **Known for:** Co-founded Total New York — one of the internet's first commercial websites, acquired by AOL (1997), Built methodfive to 250 employees, sold to Xceed for $88 million (2000), Nearly $2 billion in combined exits before age 30

## Career timeline

- **1986** — At age 14, volunteered at Arcosanti — Paolo Soleri's experimental commune in the Arizona desert. Spent four summers as its youngest working resident: welding, carpentry, construction, cleaning sewage pipes.
- **1988–1992** — Attended University of Pennsylvania as an environmental studies major. Tried to create a custom 'Revolution' major (denied). Launched Green Times, an environmental newspaper reaching 30,000 readers. Submitted it as his senior thesis — Penn said no. Left without a degree.
- **1992** — Transferred into an off-campus house at Penn. His new housemate was also a transfer student named Elon Musk. Together they opened an unofficial nightclub that drew up to 500 people in a single night.
- **1994** — Co-founded Total New York — one of the internet's first advertiser-supported websites. A local online city guide before anyone understood what the internet was for.
- **1997** — Total New York acquired by AOL and rebranded as AOL Digital City. First exit at age 25.
- **1995** — Founded methodfive, a web development and services firm backed by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Grew to 250 employees worldwide.
- **2000** — methodfive sold to Xceed for $88 million. Combined with earlier exits, nearly $2 billion in total exits before age 30.
- **2002** — Founded Game Trust, a casual gaming infrastructure company. Co-developed early gamification concepts. Joined the X Prize Foundation board. Drove along the Long Island Expressway with Elon Musk planning 'Life to Mars.' Made dozens of rocket explosion videos trying to talk Elon out of building SpaceX. Failed.
- **2006–2007** — Built TheFunded as a personal weekend project — an anonymous platform for CEOs to rate venture capitalists. Leaked to TechCrunch. 12,000 CEOs joined. Permanently shifted the power dynamic in venture capital.
- **2009** — Founded Founder Institute with Jonathan Greechan. A pre-seed accelerator designed to 'globalize Silicon Valley' and reduce startup failure. Would grow to operate in 250+ cities across 90+ countries.
- **2011–2012** — Pioneered the FAST Agreement (with Orrick) for free advisor relationship formalization, and Convertible Equity financing (with Wilson Sonsini) as an alternative to convertible notes. Also created Class F Shares to protect founder control.
- **2020** — Launched VC Lab — a free accelerator to train new venture capitalists worldwide. Created the Mensarius Oath, an ethical code of conduct required of all VC Lab participants.
- **2021–Present** — Became CEO of Decile Group — a full-stack venture capital platform for emerging managers. Includes VC Lab, Decile Capital, Decile Base (a large language model for VC), and Decile Access.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Total New York — one of the internet's first commercial websites, acquired by AOL (1997)
- Built methodfive to 250 employees, sold to Xceed for $88 million (2000)
- Nearly $2 billion in combined exits before age 30
- Created TheFunded — the platform that democratized VC transparency, attracting 12,000+ CEOs
- Founded Founder Institute — now 7,000+ portfolio companies across 250+ cities in 90+ countries
- Launched VC Lab — helped launch approximately 50% of all new VC firms in 2023
- Pioneered the FAST Agreement with Orrick — free legal framework used by millions of founders
- Pioneered Convertible Equity with Wilson Sonsini — alternative to convertible notes
- Created Class F Shares — super-voting shares protecting founder control
- Created the Mensarius Oath — ethical code of conduct for VC professionals
- Built Decile Base — a large language model specifically for venture capital (2023)
- Instituted 'For Progress' mission — 80% of Founder Institute portfolio must address UN Sustainable Development Goals
- Founded 11 companies across his career
- Launched 14 VC funds through Decile Group

## Latest updates

- **2025** — Featured on TechCrunch podcast discussing the shrinking emerging manager narrative. Continuing as CEO of Decile Group and Executive Chairman of Founder Institute.
- **2023–2024** — VC Lab helped launch approximately 50% of all new VC firms. Decile Base LLM for venture capital deployed. LP Institute reached Cohort 6.
- **2021–Present** — Leading Decile Group as CEO — full-stack VC platform including VC Lab, Decile Capital, Decile Base, and Decile Access.
- **2020** — Launched VC Lab and the Mensarius Oath.

## Links

- Website: https://www.adeoressi.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adeoressi/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/adeoressi

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/adeo-ressi
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-06