Built for every brain: How LaunchMe and LaunchPad were designed with autistic founders in mind
We are also reflecting on the thinking behind LaunchMe and LaunchPad this World Autism Acceptance Month, and why building something that works for autistic founders means it works better for everyone.
When we designed LaunchMe, Firstport’s investment readiness programme for social entrepreneurs, we kept coming back to one question: who gets left out when support is only available in one format, at one time, in one place?
The honest answer is: a lot of people. And autistic founders are disproportionately among them. Not because they can’t engage with business support. But because so much business support wasn’t designed with them in mind.
What the barriers actually look like
Traditional business support, workshops, group sessions, in-person cohorts, can present real challenges for autistic founders. Some are practical: a set time and place that doesn’t account for sensory needs, energy variability, or the reality of managing an organisation alongside everything else in your life. Some are social: group environments that require a lot of unspoken navigation, or formats where asking questions feels exposing.
Some are about information processing. A two-hour workshop covering six topics in sequence, with no way to pause, revisit, or go deeper on the bit that matters most to you, is genuinely harder to get value from if you process information differently. That’s not a personal failing. It’s a design problem.
LaunchMe and its digital platform LaunchPad were built to address that design problem. Here’s what that looks like in practice.
Meeting people before you’re in the room with them
Uncertainty is one of the biggest barriers to participation for neurodivergent founders. Not knowing what a session will be like, who will be there, what will be expected of you takes up cognitive and emotional energy before you’ve even started.
LaunchPad helps address this in a very practical way. Before any live session with an expert, participants can watch that expert’s pre-recorded workshop on LaunchPad first. You get to meet them, hear how they explain things, get a feel for their style — all on your own terms, in your own time, with no pressure to respond or perform and time to prepare your questions. By the time you’re in the room with them, they’re already familiar.
That familiarity matters. Arriving at a session knowing who the facilitator is, what they cover, and how they approach it changes the whole dynamic. You can focus on engaging rather than managing the uncertainty of a new situation.
Watching in your own way, at your own pace
The pre-recorded workshops on LaunchPad aren’t just there to introduce you to the experts. They’re a genuinely flexible resource you can use however works for you.
Watch at 1.5x speed if you process quickly. Watch it twice if you want to let it settle before the live session. Pause and take notes at your own pace. Go back to the bit that didn’t land the first time. Share it with your co-director or a board member so the knowledge isn’t sitting with one person alone — reducing the burden on the individual who’s attending the programme to carry everything back to their team.
For autistic founders who need more processing time, or who find it hard to take in complex information in a live group setting, having the content available in advance can make the difference between getting something from a workshop and feeling like you missed most of it.
Multiple formats, your choice
LaunchPad doesn’t assume everyone learns the same way. Alongside the pre-recorded video workshops, the platform includes written guides, downloadable resources, and podcasts — so if you process written information better than video, or prefer audio when you’re on the move, there’s a format that suits you.
The goal is always the same: practical knowledge you can use in your organisation. But the route to that knowledge doesn’t have to be identical for everyone.
No surprises: clarity about what to expect and when
Alongside LaunchPad, every LaunchMe participant receives a comprehensive programme guide before the programme begins. It introduces everyone involved, what each live session covers, and how the programme flows from start to finish. It’s designed to remove as much uncertainty as possible before you begin.
We’ve also worked hard on transparency about what participants can access and when. Knowing what’s available to you, how to find it, and who to contact if you need something different removes a layer of navigation that can be disproportionately tiring for autistic people. You shouldn’t have to spend energy working out how to access support when that energy could go towards your organisation.
People who understand, because they live it too
Inclusion isn’t just about formats and structures. It’s also about who’s in the room with you.
Renae, our Social Investent Relationship Manager, is neurodivergent. So are several of our expert workshop facilitators. That’s not a coincidence – it’s a reflection of our commitment to building a programme where founders can see themselves reflected in the people supporting them. When your relationship manager understands from personal experience what it’s like to navigate systems that weren’t built for your brain, the support they offer is shaped by that understanding in ways that are difficult to manufacture.
Autistic acceptance in practice
World Autistic Acceptance Month asks us to look at the systems and structures we build and ask: do they work for autistic people, or are they requiring autistic people to adapt to something that was never designed for them?
LaunchMe and LaunchPad are our attempt to answer that question with action. Pre-recorded workshops to reduce uncertainty and allow flexible engagement. Multiple content formats. A clear programme guide. Transparent access to resources. Neurodivergent people on both sides of the support relationship. None of this is complicated. But all of it is intentional.
When you build for the people most likely to be left out, you usually end up building something better for everyone. We think LaunchMe is proof of that.
Want to find out more?
Learn more about LaunchMe or book a chat with Renae, our Social Investment Relationship Manager.