TechCrunch Early Stage 2024
April 25, 2024 — Boston
Speakers
Tom Blomfield
President Monzo
Sara Choi
Partner Wing Venture Capital
Jake Cohen
Partner at Vinyl Capital Vinyl
Tobi Coker
Partner Felicis
Kristen Craft
VP, Partnerships Fidelity Private Shares
James Currier
General Partner NFX
Christopher Dube
Chief of Strategy + Innovation Prepare 4 VC
Peter Gladstone
Senior Advisor Harvard Innovation Labs
Sergey Gribov
Partner Flint Capital
Monique Guimond
Vice President Engine Ventures
Paris Heymann
Partner Index Ventures
Dan Kang
VP of Finance Mercury
Alex Kayyal
Partner Lightspeed Venture Partners
Emily Knight
President The Engine Accelerator
Jason Kraus
CEO Prepare 4 VC
Jess Lee
Partner Sequoia
Rebecca Lee Whiting
Fractional General Counsel for Early-Stage Startups Epigram Legal P.C.
Dana Louie
Senior Manager, Corporate Development HubSpot
Lily Lyman
Partner Underscore VC
Gabi Monico
Senior Associate Primary VC
Oliver Palnau
Co-Founder & CEO HomeHQ.ai
Stephen Ranere
Partner Latham & Watkins LLP
Spencer Ricks
Partner Latham & Watkins LLP
Vinny Romano
Co-founder and COO HomeHQ.ai
Rachel Weston Rowell
SVP, Onsite Product & Tech Center of Excellence Insight Partners
Dr. Nabiha Saklayen
CEO and Co-founder Cellino
Susan Schofer
Partner & Chief Science Officer SOSV HAX
Rudina Seseri
Founder and Managing Partner Glasswing Ventures
Naomi Smith
Counsel Latham & Watkins LLP
Brad Stanton
Managing Director Sand Technologies
Laura Stoffel
Partner Gunderson Dettmer
Sabriya Stukes
SOSV Partner and IndieBio Chief Science Officer SOSV
Alicia Tulsee
CEO and Founder Moxie Scrubs
Duncan Turner
General Partner & Managing Director SOSV HAX
Freddie Vargus
CTO Quotient AI
Melissa Withers
Founder & Managing Partner RevUp Capital
Edith Yeung
General Partner Race Capital
Tom Blomfield is the CEO of Monzo, a new kind of bank, designed for smartphones. Tom previously founded GoCardless, a fintech startup that has gone on to raise $25m. In 2013, he was nominated as one of the Top 5 Entrepreneurs Under 30 by the European Commission. He gives talks regularly about the future of banking and fintech.
Tom's Sessions
How to Raise Money and Come Out Alive
There’s an art to raising your first round — especially if you want to do it right and not look back years later and regret terms, conditions or side-letters. In this session, Tom Blomfield, Y Combinator group partner and Monzo co-founder, will lay out how investors think, the common gotchas that might come back to haunt you later, and how you can put your company in the strongest possible position to raise. After all, who wants to enter the 2024 fundraising hunger games with outdated information?
As a Wing partner, Sara brings her first-hand experience as the founder and COO of Airfox to her partnerships, investing in very early-stage companies—half of her 12 investments are in stealth mode—at the exciting intersection of bio and data. Before founding Airfox, which was acquired by ViaVarejo, Sara was head of product at Ciao Telecom, where she co-founded a new wireless carrier. Sara began her career at Google, leading teams as YouTube’s media lead and Google Partners’ product marketing lead. Sara holds a BA in biological anthropology from Harvard University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Sara began and continues to run the Harvard Founder Network, a community of Harvard-affiliated CEOs.
Sara's Sessions
The VC Pitch Blueprint: Strategies for Success
Uncover the secrets of successful VC pitching with Sara Choi, partner and biotech investor at Wing Venture Capital. Drawing from her background as a founder turned investor, Sara will reveal the most common misconceptions when pitching a VC, key elements investors want to see in your pitch deck, preparation strategies, ideal presenters and more. This session will arm you with the tools needed to captivate investors, refine your pitch approach and ultimately secure funding.
Jake was raised by advertising agency founders and found his true calling in software. As a cofounder of Privy (acquired by Attentive) and one of the first employees, first head of product and longest tenured leader at Klaviyo (NYSE: KVYO), he has learned what it takes to start, scale and exit software businesses. He is now a partner at Vinyl.vc and invests in early stage companies that help people buy and sell more stuff. He is extremely passionate about product and marketing strategy, loves sweating technical details and is known to exist with his sleeves rolled up. When not geeking out over software, you might find him in an apron, on a mountain or putting finishing touches on his latest spreadsheet master piece.
Jake's Sessions
Never Raise VC Money (and how to keep more of your company if you do) (Waitlist Only)
In my first exit, we raised $8.3M in VC and sold ~60%+ of the company before Series B. Founders and employees took less than ~$45m. In my second exit, we raised $778M VC and only sold ~40% of the company almost entirely after Series B. Founders and employees took home more than $4.2B. Raising venture capital means you’re selling your equity – do it wrong and you can lose control of your company and make little or potentially nothing when you exit. Do it right and it can be the accelerant you need to pursue your vision and create a life changing outcome for thousands of people.Learn what you can do to not raise Venture Capital and, if you have to, how to make sure you do it in a way that makes you and your loyal employees successful.
Never Raise VC Money (and how to keep more of your company if you do) (Waitlist Only)
In my first exit, we raised $8.3M in VC and sold ~60%+ of the company before Series B. Founders and employees took less than ~$45m. In my second exit, we raised $778M VC and only sold ~40% of the company almost entirely after Series B. Founders and employees took home more than $4.2B. Raising venture capital means you’re selling your equity – do it wrong and you can lose control of your company and make little or potentially nothing when you exit. Do it right and it can be the accelerant you need to pursue your vision and create a life changing outcome for thousands of people.Learn what you can do to not raise Venture Capital and, if you have to, how to make sure you do it in a way that makes you and your loyal employees successful.
Tobi Coker is a Partner on the Investment team at Felicis. He works with the investment team to source and evaluate investments, conduct diligence, and work with existing portfolio companies. Previously, Tobi was an investor at The Production Board (TPB), a Bay Area-based early-stage venture firm, where he helped found and seed six companies in life sciences and human health. Before TPB, Tobi started his career in the Investment Banking and Capital Markets division at Morgan Stanley, providing coverage to healthcare and biotechnology companies. Currently, he is a Kauffman Fellow, class of 28, and an active member of BLCK VC. Tobi received a B.S. degree in Biology, with a minor in Economics from Georgetown University.
Tobi's Sessions
How to Intelligently Calculate your TAM and Wow Investors
How big is your market? Every founder pitching investors and early employees has faced the question. How to properly answer it is anything but simple. There are different ways to measure total addressable market (TAM), and varied ways to approach it from different industries. Without a big market, no startup has a shot at becoming big. And a TAM number that is too big to be believed can make a founder appear ungrounded. Coming up with the largest, reasonable figure is the challenge.If you are a founder building out a pitch deck, or just working on a napkin to sort out whether or not an idea is worth your time, this is the session for you. Tobi Coker from Felicis, Freddie Vargus from Quotient AI, and Nabiha Saklayen from Cellino, will be on hand to describe how they approach TAM from both the investor and founder perspective, and answer your questions.
Kristen Craft brings deep startup roots to her work at Fidelity Private Shares. In this role, she’s building out Fidelity’s startup engagement platform, supporting founders and investors with equity management tools, fundraising strategy, and go-to-market best practices. Prior to Fidelity, Kristen was a founder herself, and then a longtime startup operator. She enjoyed working on strategic partnerships and digital marketing, predominantly in B2B SaaS companies. A Boston-area native, Kristen holds a B.A. from Brown University, an M.Ed. from Harvard University, and an MBA from MIT Sloan. She’s particularly passionate about building community, creating connections, and supporting diverse founders.
Kristen's Sessions
Preparing to Raise: Cap Table Best Practices to Help You Close Fast
So, you’re preparing to raise money to fuel your startup. How confident are you that your cap table and data room are squeaky clean? This question should be top of mind for most founders because a messy data room may drag out your raise and could cost you tens of thousands in legal expenses. This session will cover the best practices to help you close easily and efficiently. We’ll equip you with tips from the legal perspective, the investor perspective, and the founder perspective. Founders will leave this session, armed with tangible, actionable guidance.
James Currier is a co-founder and partner of NFX Guild, an early-stage fund with a three-month program for marketplace and network businesses.
James's Sessions
How to build an MVP and navigate the startup-industrial complex
The perfect minimum viable product (MVP) is a dance between building just enough to convince potential customers and users that you have created something that they want and need to use, and no more. The siren-song of adding more features, more polish, and spending more time is ever-present. NFX’s James Currier will provide his insight on the MVP question, and what he describes as the “startup-industrial complex.” For founders still hard at work on their startup’s first product launch, this is a must-attend session.
Christopher is human dynamics performance strategist focused on helping business leaders achieve optimal performance in fast-paced & stressful environments. HIS RESUME: 2+ decades of serial entrepreneurship, executive leadership, executive coaching, professional consulting, mentoring & advising innovative leaders alongside his unique experiences as a former professional + collegiate athlete. Under all that, he feels there may be strong Zen Buddhist roots from some past life empowering him to blend an old-world mindset with new-world innovation.
Christopher's Sessions
Adapt & Thrive: Mastering the Chameleon Mindset (Waitlist Only)
In the dynamic world of startups, the ability to adapt is not just an asset; it’s a necessity. “Adapt & Thrive: Mastering the Chameleon Mindset” is a deep dive into the art of audience adaptation, a crucial skill for entrepreneurs who aim to connect with a diverse customer base effectively. This session explores strategies for actively listening to and learning from customer feedback, enabling startups to understand their audience’s evolving needs deeply. We’ll discuss how to use these insights to make informed decisions about when to pivot or tweak your business model to better serve your market. Attendees will learn practical techniques for identifying signs that indicate a need for change, ways to test new approaches without losing sight of their core mission, and how to communicate these shifts to stakeholders. This session is an essential guide for founders looking to navigate the complexities of market fit and customer satisfaction, ensuring their venture remains resilient and responsive in a competitive landscape.
Adapt & Thrive: Mastering the Chameleon Mindset (Waitlist Only)
In the dynamic world of startups, the ability to adapt is not just an asset; it’s a necessity. “Adapt & Thrive: Mastering the Chameleon Mindset” is a deep dive into the art of audience adaptation, a crucial skill for entrepreneurs who aim to connect with a diverse customer base effectively. This session explores strategies for actively listening to and learning from customer feedback, enabling startups to understand their audience’s evolving needs deeply. We’ll discuss how to use these insights to make informed decisions about when to pivot or tweak your business model to better serve your market. Attendees will learn practical techniques for identifying signs that indicate a need for change, ways to test new approaches without losing sight of their core mission, and how to communicate these shifts to stakeholders. This session is an essential guide for founders looking to navigate the complexities of market fit and customer satisfaction, ensuring their venture remains resilient and responsive in a competitive landscape.
Peter Gladstone is an entrepreneur, marketing leader, and investor, with more than 25 years of experience working with startups as well as Boston’s largest and most successful companies. As the senior advisor for B2C startups at the Harvard Innovation Labs, Gladstone leads programming and mentoring for hundreds of student-led ventures every year. In addition to his role at the Harvard Innovation Labs, Gladstone is the founder of Mass Hole Donuts (Boston Magazine’s Best of Boston for Donuts in 2020), men’s grooming company BLADELIFE, and nonprofit The Blue Feet Foundation. He also holds a number of advisory board positions for Boston consumer startups, including Nix Biosensors and CaviSense. Gladstone was formally the head of advertising and innovation for Boston Beer Company, and business manager at Gillette. Gladstone received his BA from Brandeis University, and MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
Peter's Sessions
Validating Consumer Demand: How to Make the Most of Your Expertise (Waitlist Only)
Join Peter Gladstone, Harvard Innovation Lab’s senior advisor for startups to learn how founders can become experts in the problems they want to solve. An experienced operator and founder, and former head of innovation for Boston Beer Company and Gilette, Gladstone will help you with ideas for testing solutions and developing your product in this hands-on workshop.
Sergey Gribov is Partner at Flint Capital, an early-stage venture fund that invests across Israel, USA, and Europe. Sergey is an investor and board member at Socure, Cyolo, Sensi.ai, Quantori, and others. Sergey is a technology entrepreneur and investor with more than 20 years of experience. Over the years he participated as a founder or top manager in many startups in USA and Israel. Sergey has a lot of experience in IT, across such sectors as software development, cybersecurity, digital health, fintech, and others. Sergey holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and B.Sc. in Computer Science, Cum Laude from Beer-Sheva University.
Sergey's Sessions
Grabbing Investors' Attention in a Competitive Market: Tips for Early-Stage Startups (Waitlist Only)
Sergey will share tips to founder on how to catch investors’ attention in the situation of limited funding. As the market situation is getting tougher, understanding the nuances that can help in the battle for an investor becomes increasingly relevant. Sergey will share his observations on what exactly, besides obvious factors like traction, team background or product competitiveness, can tip the scales in your favor and discuss elements and figures to avoid in your pitch deck in 2024. He will also reveal the specific criteria he personally currently considers when evaluating potential early-stage investments.
Grabbing Investors' Attention in a Competitive Market: Tips for Early-Stage Startups (Waitlist Only)
Sergey will share tips to founder on how to catch investors’ attention in the situation of limited funding. As the market situation is getting tougher, understanding the nuances that can help in the battle for an investor becomes increasingly relevant. Sergey will share his observations on what exactly, besides obvious factors like traction, team background or product competitiveness, can tip the scales in your favor and discuss elements and figures to avoid in your pitch deck in 2024. He will also reveal the specific criteria he personally currently considers when evaluating potential early-stage investments.
Monique is a Vice President at Engine Ventures. She serves as board observer for Pascal, Hyfé and Foundation Alloy. She received her MBA from MIT Sloan in the Spring of 2017, where she was involved with the entrepreneurial ecosystem as the Managing Director of the MIT $100K Competition. Prior to Sloan, she was one of the first employees at a social enterprise specializing in healthcare design, MASS Design Group, where she built out operations and expanded the business model abroad. Monique earned a BA in International Health from Georgetown University.
Monique's Sessions
Women in Tech Sunrise Breakfast: How AI is Impacting Founders (open to female registrants only)
This breakfast is open to female registrants only. AI is the latest buzzword to captivate the mind, body, and soul of Silicon Valley. However, aside from changing the world, it’s clear that AI is also changing the game. This panel will look at how AI is impacting founders, those who are rushing to implement it in their technology, or those bending to the pressure of trying to attract investors. AI is changing the way we think, the way we do — or don’t do — everyday life; the next wave of innovation will be built around this new reality — so what are founders starting to prepare for? Please join us for a networking breakfast and this enriching session.
Paris Heymann is a partner at Index Ventures, where he invests primarily in B2B SaaS and data.
Paris's Sessions
Scaling Through Chaos: The Art & Science of GTM
You start a company because you’re obsessed with solving a problem. But from the very beginning, you’ll discover that 50% of your time is taken up by people-related activities – hiring, retaining, organizing and inspiring your team. Based on the most extensive research ever performed into the growth of VC-backed businesses, including 200,000 career profiles of 200 companies such as Airbnb, Datadog, Figma, Stripe, and Wiz, Paris Heymann, Partner at Index Ventures, shares his top tips for today’s early stage founders building out their SaaS GTM function.
So You Think You Can Pitch?
Please join us for “So You Think You Can Pitch” where three promising early stage startups will have 4 minutes to wow a panel of judges, who will then provide feedback. Participating startups include Ti¢ker, GovGPT, and ChargeBay.
Dan Kang is the VP of Finance at Mercury, a fintech company that offers banking services for startups of all sizes through its partner banks. He oversees accounting, strategic finance, capital markets, corporate development, credit underwriting. Dan built the Mercury finance department from the ground-up and scaled the team from 0 to 19 people in nine months. Prior to Mercury, Dan spent 8+ years building and scaling fintech companies, most recently at Digit, a financial health focused neobank that was acquired in 2021. Prior to that, he was at Square on the Finance & Strategy team where he saw the company through its IPO. Before startups called, he worked in investment banking at Merrill Lynch and private equity investing at Vista Equity Partners.
Dan's Sessions
Finance Fundamentals Before Your First Finance Hire: A Founder’s Guide to Navigating Early Financial Decisions (Waitlist Only)
Navigating the financial landscape without a dedicated team is a common challenge for many first-time founders. “Finance Fundamentals Before Your First Finance Hire” is a roundtable led by Mercury’s VP of Finance, designed to demystify the core areas of early-stage financial management and empower founders with the confidence to make informed decisions. This interactive session will delve into essential strategies for optimizing cash flow, leveraging the right tools and services to establish a solid financial foundation, and implementing sound business principles to guide spending and investment. Attendees will gain practical insights on managing their resources wisely, from understanding the nuances of cash management to strategic hiring and mindful investment in growth. Prepare to walk away with actionable advice that will prepare you for the financial responsibilities of leadership and set the stage for successful scaling.
With a decade-long venture capital journey, Alex co-founded HGP, led the European fund at Salesforce Ventures, and later managed the London office. At his current role at Lightspeed Venture Partners, he focuses on SaaS investments, leveraging insights gained from backing enterprise disruptors globally. His career began at Merrill Lynch, assisting growth companies through M&A and IPOs. Holding a BA from Boston University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, Alex is committed to supporting mission-driven founders with a values-first approach in the challenging realm of SaaS.
Alex's Sessions
Getting to Series A: Common Pitfalls to Avoid as a Founder
The journey of an early-stage founder is one of the hardest. Plenty of companies with enormous potential fall short before the founder’s vision even has a chance to gain momentum in the market. Alex Kayyal is a former entrepreneur and VC veteran and has seen what it takes for early stage companies to scale to category winners. This session will go in-depth on the most common pitfalls that early-stage founders fall for – and how to ensure your company makes it to Series A and beyond.
Emily Knight is the President of The Engine Accelerator, where she is responsible for shaping the organization’s strategic direction and building partnerships with industry leaders and educational institutions to foster an environment where Tough Tech teams can thrive and innovate. Since 2017, Emily has served in various operational roles at The Engine, including that of COO. Prior to The Engine, she spent time managing general operations, strategy, and product development at Workbar coworking spaces. Emily’s commitment to fostering collaboration and innovation in Tough Tech has made The Engine a premier destination for an ecosystem coming together to tackle the world’s biggest challenges. Emily holds a BS from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration.
Emily's Sessions
Selecting the Right Accelerator or Incubator
Incubators and accelerators often provide support structures for early-stage startups. For founders transitioning from academia, specific programs are often tailored to their unique needs, as these founders often seek assistance in defining the potential commercial viability of their research. Academia-sourced founders face unique challenges departing from institutions of higher education and national labs. Selecting the right startup program can help ensure that young companies seamlessly navigate known hurdles post-formation. Here’s what you need to know today.
Jason Kraus is a serial entrepreneur, startup strategist, and the founder of Prepare 4 VC, a founder-first startup platform built to accelerate execution, growth, and fundraising readiness. Jason’s entrepreneurial journey began in college, launching his first business and sparking a lifelong passion for how startups are built—and scaled. Through Prepare 4 VC, Jason has worked with thousands of early-stage entrepreneurs around the world, guiding them through the challenges of product-market fit, investor positioning, and market validation. He also co-founded Equity Venture Partners and is a partner at the EQx Fund, helping startups gain access to alternative funding pathways. Jason leads community-driven innovation as Chapter Director for Startup Grind Boston, Program Director for Boston New Technology, and the force behind the Startup Oasis Network and Startup Weekend Boston. He is the architect of the Breakthrough Program, a 10-week founder development experience focused on overcoming execution barriers and building investment-ready ventures. Featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Boston Voyager, All Business Media, and more, Jason is known for turning entrepreneurial vision into traction. His book Venture Forward draws on lessons from seasoned founders to inspire the next generation of startup leaders. At his core, Jason is driven by a single mission: to make entrepreneurship less isolating and more empowering—for everyone bold enough to pursue it.
Jason's Sessions
Adapt & Thrive: Mastering the Chameleon Mindset (Waitlist Only)
In the dynamic world of startups, the ability to adapt is not just an asset; it’s a necessity. “Adapt & Thrive: Mastering the Chameleon Mindset” is a deep dive into the art of audience adaptation, a crucial skill for entrepreneurs who aim to connect with a diverse customer base effectively. This session explores strategies for actively listening to and learning from customer feedback, enabling startups to understand their audience’s evolving needs deeply. We’ll discuss how to use these insights to make informed decisions about when to pivot or tweak your business model to better serve your market. Attendees will learn practical techniques for identifying signs that indicate a need for change, ways to test new approaches without losing sight of their core mission, and how to communicate these shifts to stakeholders. This session is an essential guide for founders looking to navigate the complexities of market fit and customer satisfaction, ensuring their venture remains resilient and responsive in a competitive landscape.
Adapt & Thrive: Mastering the Chameleon Mindset (Waitlist Only)
In the dynamic world of startups, the ability to adapt is not just an asset; it’s a necessity. “Adapt & Thrive: Mastering the Chameleon Mindset” is a deep dive into the art of audience adaptation, a crucial skill for entrepreneurs who aim to connect with a diverse customer base effectively. This session explores strategies for actively listening to and learning from customer feedback, enabling startups to understand their audience’s evolving needs deeply. We’ll discuss how to use these insights to make informed decisions about when to pivot or tweak your business model to better serve your market. Attendees will learn practical techniques for identifying signs that indicate a need for change, ways to test new approaches without losing sight of their core mission, and how to communicate these shifts to stakeholders. This session is an essential guide for founders looking to navigate the complexities of market fit and customer satisfaction, ensuring their venture remains resilient and responsive in a competitive landscape.
Jess Lee is Partner at Sequoia Capital. She is a board director at Ironclad, Maven Clinic, Wonolo, Squint, and Flagship. In addition to investing, she is also Chief Product Officer and leads the engineering, product, design, and data science teams at Sequoia. Prior to Sequoia, she was Co-Founder & CEO of fashion app Polyvore (acquired by Yahoo in 2015) and a product manager for Google Maps. Jess is also a founding and board member of All Raise, a non-profit dedicated to improving diversity in the tech industry. Jess has a B.S. from Stanford in Computer Science and loves manga, drawing, and cosplay.
Jess's Sessions
Archetypes for Product-Market Fit
Finding product-market fit is the central quest of every early-stage startup, and there are many ways of thinking about and approaching this quest. In this session, Jess Lee, Partner and Chief Product Officer at Sequoia, will walk through a framework from Sequoia that outlines three distinct archetypes of PMF which help founders understand their product’s place in the market and determine how their company operates.
Rebecca Lee Whiting is the principal attorney and founder of Epigram Legal P.C., where she serves as a fractional General Counsel, corporate secretary, and legal advisor to pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A startups in the AI, tech, and biotech sectors. She also provides general corporate, labor and employment, and commercial contracting legal services and advice to individual founders, executives, and nonprofit organizations, including serving as a member of the Board of Directors for several 501(c)(3) organizations. Over the course of her career, Rebecca has served as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel to multiple early-stage startups, and has represented and advised a variety of for-profit and nonprofit organizations and state and local public entities in contract negotiations, legislative matters, and high-stakes impact litigation at all levels of the state and federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court. A graduate of Yale College and the U.C. Berkeley School of Law, Rebecca began her legal career as a federal law clerk on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, both in San Francisco.
Rebecca's Sessions
Early Stage Fundraising: Convertible Notes, SAFE and Series Seed Financing
Learn from an early stage fractional General Counsel about different funding mechanisms for early stage companies, including convertible notes, Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFE) and Series Seed financing rounds. This session will cover pros and cons of these alternatives, demystify standard terms, note potential pitfalls to avoid and suggest some key points to consider when negotiating.
Prior to HubSpot, Dana spent time at a venture-backed startup and in consulting before receiving her MBA from Harvard Business School in Boston, MA, where she and her husband still reside. Outside of the office, Dana is an accomplished artist (www.danalouie-apartmentart.com) and long-distance runner.
Dana's Sessions
Exiting via M&A: What Acquirers Are Looking For and How You Can Prepare for a Successful Acquisition (Waitlist Only)
The dream of going public is what keeps startup leaders and venture-backed companies motivated. The reality, however, is that most will find success through alternative exit routes. In a world where M&A activity serves as an increasingly attractive exit path, leaders need to know how to equip themselves with the knowledge and tools needed to strategically prepare for an exit that makes the most sense for their company’s future.During this roundtable, hear from HubSpot’s Dana Louie as she uncovers:– Key factors that influence companies’ evaluation of acquisition opportunities– Real-world perspectives and strategies that drive acquisition decisions – Practical insights and guidance founders need to know to navigate their exit strategy and maximize the likelihood of a successful acquisition – from financial readiness to due diligence
Exiting via M&A: What Acquirers Are Looking For and How You Can Prepare for a Successful Acquisition (Waitlist Only)
The dream of going public is what keeps startup leaders and venture-backed companies motivated. The reality, however, is that most will find success through alternative exit routes. In a world where M&A activity serves as an increasingly attractive exit path, leaders need to know how to equip themselves with the knowledge and tools needed to strategically prepare for an exit that makes the most sense for their company’s future.During this roundtable, hear from HubSpot’s Dana Louie as she uncovers:– Key factors that influence companies’ evaluation of acquisition opportunities– Real-world perspectives and strategies that drive acquisition decisions – Practical insights and guidance founders need to know to navigate their exit strategy and maximize the likelihood of a successful acquisition – from financial readiness to due diligence
Lily joined Underscore VC to lead us in identifying investment opportunities in companies that will define categories, reshape industries, and change the world. To achieve this, she drives our investments in Future of Work, Digital Transformation, Vertical SaaS, Customer Experience, and Commerce, while also playing a critical role in the management and active evolution of Underscore VC as a firm. Luckily for us (and the world!), Lily is ideally suited to identify and support companies with global potential, as she offers a truly global perspective, having lived and worked in more than 75 countries. Regardless of where on Earth she is, Lily’s true passion remains digging in alongside founders to help turn their vision into reality by supporting go-to-market strategy, product positioning, and growth development. Her globe-spanning experience allows her to connect and work with individuals from all walks of life. (It’s also taught her to speak Spanish and walk on her hands – some skills are more useful than others). Lily has been a founder, investor, and operator in mobile technology. She came to Underscore VC from Facebook, where, as a growth leader, she launched products that drove 100M new users in 4 years. Prior to Facebook, she held strategy, operational, and entrepreneurial roles, including co-founding an Agtech & CPG startup while at Stanford. Today she is a Board Director for the New England Venture Capital Association, MIT Sandbox Funding Board, and is a leader of the Boston All Raise chapter. Lily earned her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and her MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. She also holds a Certificate in Entrepreneurship from Columbia Business School and a Certificate in Public Management from Stanford GSB, and was a founding member of the Yard Venture’s Investment Committee.
Lily's Sessions
Women in Tech Sunrise Breakfast: How AI is Impacting Founders (open to female registrants only)
This breakfast is open to female registrants only. AI is the latest buzzword to captivate the mind, body, and soul of Silicon Valley. However, aside from changing the world, it’s clear that AI is also changing the game. This panel will look at how AI is impacting founders, those who are rushing to implement it in their technology, or those bending to the pressure of trying to attract investors. AI is changing the way we think, the way we do — or don’t do — everyday life; the next wave of innovation will be built around this new reality — so what are founders starting to prepare for? Please join us for a networking breakfast and this enriching session.
Building the Investor Relationships You Need—Before You Need Them and In The Right Way
Are you looking to raise funding for your startup? Building strong relationships with the right pre-qualified investors is crucial for your success. This session will provide you with a crash course on how to strategically manage inbound interest, effectively nurture these relationships, and share just enough to showcase your momentum while leaving investors hungry to hear more.
Gabi is a Senior Associate at Primary, where she focuses on Built World, SMB Tech, and Consumer businesses. Prior to joining Primary, she was an investor at Fractal Software where she led incubations of vertical software companies. Gabi started her career as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, spending the bulk of her tenure in the Technology, Media, and Telecom practice area. She holds an AB in Economics from Harvard University. Originally from Brazil, she’s always on the search for a decent Brazilian Steakhouse in New York. Outside of work, Gabi enjoys traveling, cooking, workout classes, and reading great novels.
Gabi's Sessions
From Inception to Cash. How I Wandered into an Idea and Jumpstarted a Company
You’ll see exactly how we rapidly went from absolute zero to paying customers. How to ignite interest from customers and investors. How to get your first deals. How to build an MVP that captivates. How to raise initial capital from investors. How to pick a cofounder and build a team. How to build momentum. How to know when to double down and go all in. How to leverage every opportunity for success and generate momentum for your new company. This zero-fluff session is meant to show you how it can actually happen for you if you just start now.
Oliver Palnau is a co-founder of HomeHQ.ai along with Vinny Romano. Oliver’s entrepreneurial journey accelerated at the age of 23, diving into the real estate market by flipping his first house. This initial venture led him to redevelop over 20 properties, gaining invaluable insights into the housing industry’s intricacies and potential for innovation. Feeling burned out from building in real estate, Oliver started building in robotics with the goal of building a fleet of humanoid and quadruped robots designed to bring efficiency and innovation to the building process. This exploration into robotics served as a basis into the world of applied AI, tying together his hands-on experience in homebuilding with the cutting-edge possibilities of AI. His approach is grounded in practicality, leveraging AI to create tangible solutions that enhance the lives of millions. He is currently building AI Assistants and AI Analytics for Real Estate Agents and Brokerages at HomeHQ.ai
Oliver's Sessions
From Inception to Cash. How I Wandered into an Idea and Jumpstarted a Company
You’ll see exactly how we rapidly went from absolute zero to paying customers. How to ignite interest from customers and investors. How to get your first deals. How to build an MVP that captivates. How to raise initial capital from investors. How to pick a cofounder and build a team. How to build momentum. How to know when to double down and go all in. How to leverage every opportunity for success and generate momentum for your new company. This zero-fluff session is meant to show you how it can actually happen for you if you just start now.
Stephen W. Ranere is a partner at Latham & Watkins, where he represents technology and life sciences companies, as well as venture capital and private equity firms, across a diverse array of growth industries. His practice spans early-stage formation and strategy, venture and growth financings, mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, corporate governance, and public company representation. He assists clients in various sectors such as fintech, climate tech, digital health, and AI-enabled drug discovery, and leverages Latham’s global platform to deliver tailored, business-focused solutions at every stage of corporate development. A recognized leader within the firm, Stephen serves on the Digital Health Task Force and previously served on the Associates Committee. He is ranked by Chambers USA for Private Equity: Venture Capital Investment (Band 3) and Technology (Band 2) in Massachusetts, and recognized by The Legal 500 US for Venture Capital and Emerging Companies.
Stephen's Sessions
The Ins and Outs of Seed Funding (Waitlist Only)
Join us in discussing challenges and considerations for different types of early-stage funding rounds, including convertible notes, *SAFEs and Series Seed financings. (*SAFEs: Simple Agreement for Future Equity)
Spencer B. Ricks is a partner at Latham & Watkins, where he focuses his practice in advising entrepreneurs, start-ups, and emerging companies across the technology, life sciences, and clean energy sectors. With a comprehensive approach, Spencer guides companies through their entire corporate life cycle, from early-stage formation and strategy to venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, and public offerings. His practice extends to mature companies, where he facilitates strategic investments and commercial collaborations. Beyond his professional achievements, Spencer is deeply committed to community service, offering pro bono representation to asylum petitioners, U visa applicants, and survivors of domestic violence. His leadership roles include serving as Massachusetts Chair of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society and contributing to the Boston Bar Association’s Private Equity & Venture Capital Committee.
Spencer's Sessions
The Ins and Outs of Seed Funding (Waitlist Only)
Join us in discussing challenges and considerations for different types of early-stage funding rounds, including convertible notes, *SAFEs and Series Seed financings. (*SAFEs: Simple Agreement for Future Equity)
Vinny is the co-founder of HomeHQ.ai, an innovative AI tool for real estate agents, offering personalized AI assistants and insights to help agents work more efficiently and close more deals. With a rich background in digital media, focusing on analytics and paid media, Vinny previously played a crucial role in evolving a TV company into a digital media leader with highly successful social media and direct-response ads businesses. Passionate about demystifying data for better business decisions, Vinny combines his expertise in analytics with technology to transform real estate practices, proving his commitment to driving success through data-driven solutions.
Vinny's Sessions
From Inception to Cash. How I Wandered into an Idea and Jumpstarted a Company
You’ll see exactly how we rapidly went from absolute zero to paying customers. How to ignite interest from customers and investors. How to get your first deals. How to build an MVP that captivates. How to raise initial capital from investors. How to pick a cofounder and build a team. How to build momentum. How to know when to double down and go all in. How to leverage every opportunity for success and generate momentum for your new company. This zero-fluff session is meant to show you how it can actually happen for you if you just start now.
Rachel joined Insight Partners in March 2021 as a Senior Vice President in the Onsite Product & Technology COE. She partners with Insight’s portfolio company executives to enhance their organizational discipline so they can successfully scale their teams, strategies and companies while staying aligned to the startup culture they have cultivated and love. Prior to joining Insight, Rachel ran her own consulting firm for 5 years where she coached executive teams of ScaleUp companies across multiple tech industries including robotics, cybersecurity, HRIS, fintech, energy, edtech, and more. Before going out on her own, she was an Agile Fellow and led Professional Services at Rally Software. Her deep experience and passion with Agile and Lean practices guide her coaching and mentoring approach. Rachel holds a master’s degree in Computational Linguistics from the University of Colorado and a BA in Mass Communications from UC Berkeley.
Rachel's Sessions
Product Myth Buster: The (Actual) Right Time to Hire a Product Leader as an Early-Stage Company (Waitlist Only)
Founders and CEOs of early-stage startups inevitably encounter the same hurdle while mapping out their company’s ScaleUp journey: when to hire a head of product. Companies at the earliest stages are centered around a core founding team, or “first leaders,” who typically set the corporate structure (CEO), define the product (CTO), and find the first customer (head of sales). But at what point does it make sense to hire for product leadership? In this discussion, Rachel Weston Rowell, SVP of Product & Technology at Insight Partners, will unravel the mystery around product leaders, including when to hire one, the “just right” level of expertise, and the partnership between product leaders, CEOs and the broader executive team.
Product Myth Buster: The (Actual) Right Time to Hire a Product Leader as an Early-Stage Company (Waitlist Only)
Founders and CEOs of early-stage startups inevitably encounter the same hurdle while mapping out their company’s ScaleUp journey: when to hire a head of product. Companies at the earliest stages are centered around a core founding team, or “first leaders,” who typically set the corporate structure (CEO), define the product (CTO), and find the first customer (head of sales). But at what point does it make sense to hire for product leadership? In this discussion, Rachel Weston Rowell, SVP of Product & Technology at Insight Partners, will unravel the mystery around product leaders, including when to hire one, the “just right” level of expertise, and the partnership between product leaders, CEOs and the broader executive team.
So You Think You Can Pitch?
Please join us for “So You Think You Can Pitch” where three promising early stage startups will have 4 minutes to wow a panel of judges, who will then provide feedback. Participating startups include Ti¢ker, GovGPT, and ChargeBay.
Nabiha Saklayen, PhD, is co-founder and CEO of Cellino, where she is using Yamanaka factors to rebuild the body from your own cells, one replacement part at a time. A Harvard-trained physicist, she spent her PhD using pulsed lasers to edit individual cells, the work that became Cellino’s autonomous reprogramming platform. Cellino won TechCrunch Disrupt’s Startup Battlefield in 2021, the first biotech company to do so. It has since received the FDA’s first Advanced Manufacturing Technology designation for personalized stem cell manufacturing, launched a Parkinson’s cell therapy collaboration with Mass General Brigham, raised over $95M from investors including Khosla Ventures, 8VC, and Felicis, and earned $25M from ARPA-H. Nabiha’s life’s work is proving that manufacturing, not biology, is what stands between regenerative medicine and the people who need it
Nabiha's Sessions
How to Intelligently Calculate your TAM and Wow Investors
How big is your market? Every founder pitching investors and early employees has faced the question. How to properly answer it is anything but simple. There are different ways to measure total addressable market (TAM), and varied ways to approach it from different industries. Without a big market, no startup has a shot at becoming big. And a TAM number that is too big to be believed can make a founder appear ungrounded. Coming up with the largest, reasonable figure is the challenge.If you are a founder building out a pitch deck, or just working on a napkin to sort out whether or not an idea is worth your time, this is the session for you. Tobi Coker from Felicis, Freddie Vargus from Quotient AI, and Nabiha Saklayen from Cellino, will be on hand to describe how they approach TAM from both the investor and founder perspective, and answer your questions.
Susan Schofer is a Partner at SOSV and Chief Science Officer at SOSV HAX, the world’s premier venture program accelerating early stage hard tech startups. She works with new startups via early stage investment, defining key milestones and go-to-market strategies, and is responsible for scientific oversight and building capabilities to support portfolio companies. Prior to joining SOSV, Susan served as SVP Business Development for Modern Meadow and a member of the executive leadership team for over 7 years, developing new sustainable materials inspired by leather without any animals, where she led product, partnership, and go-to-market strategy and execution from early ideation through to commercialization. Before that, Susan spent 10 years in Silicon Valley working in roles spanning R&D, product development, product management, and business development for Amyris, a pioneer in synthetic biology, and Symyx Technologies, utilizing proprietary high-throughput robotic workflows to accelerate polymer and material discovery and development. Susan also worked as an analyst for management consulting company Mitchell Madison Group. Her passion is working closely with scientific and technical innovation to craft product and business strategy and partnering with founders and the broader ecosystem to implement and commercialize solutions to make a positive impact on people and planet. Susan was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at Stockholm and Uppsala Universities, where she worked to develop catalyst systems for artificial photosynthesis. She holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Caltech and an Sc.B. in chemistry from Brown.
Susan's Sessions
Hard Tech for Early-Stage Founders: HAX Invests in Startups Solving the Hardest Problems in Climate, Industrial Independence, and Healthcare
There’s no tougher, early stage startup category than hard tech, and no one knows that better than SOSV’s HAX team, which has backed more than 300 startups with capital and intensive design, scientific advancement and commercial engineering over the past 12 years. In this session, Duncan Turner, SOSV GP and HAX Managing Director, and Dr. Susan Schofer, HAX Chief Science Officer, discuss the hard tech / physical sciences ecosystem today, how HAX’s full-stack technical team turns unique IP from research into commercial reality, and what hard tech investing categories excite the HAX team. Duncan and Susan will also provide an update on HAX’s new, 35,000 sq foot office in Newark, NJ, where 30 startups are currently at work.
Rudina Seseri is founder and managing partner of Glasswing Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm dedicated to investing in the next generation of AI-powered technology companies. With over 20 years of investing and transactional experience, Rudina has led technology investments and acquisitions in startup companies in enterprise SaaS, IT software and data, marketing technologies, and robotics. Rudina’s investments include Asepha, Basetwo, Celtra, CrowdTwist (acquired by Oracle), Inrupt, Iris Finance, SocialFlow, Verusen, and Reprise. Rudina is a Harvard Business School Executive Fellow and previously was appointed a Rock Venture Capital Partner and Entrepreneur-In-Residence. She is also an MIT Connection Science Fellow and a member of the Business Leadership Council of Wellesley College.
Rudina's Sessions
Women in Tech Sunrise Breakfast: How AI is Impacting Founders (open to female registrants only)
This breakfast is open to female registrants only. AI is the latest buzzword to captivate the mind, body, and soul of Silicon Valley. However, aside from changing the world, it’s clear that AI is also changing the game. This panel will look at how AI is impacting founders, those who are rushing to implement it in their technology, or those bending to the pressure of trying to attract investors. AI is changing the way we think, the way we do — or don’t do — everyday life; the next wave of innovation will be built around this new reality — so what are founders starting to prepare for? Please join us for a networking breakfast and this enriching session.
Racing the Clock to $1M In ARR: Best Practices for Learning Fast from Launch Partners
After securing your seed round, the race is on to prove product-market fit and scale ARR. With the clock ticking, limited seed dollars and a challenging macroeconomic environment raising the bar to secure your next round, founder margin for error is slim and execution is critical. This session delves into best practices for rapidly iterating on the lessons learned from your launch partners (e.g., your early customers). Learn how to ask the right questions, get actionable answers, respond efficiently and avoid spinning your wheels at this critical juncture in your company’s growth.
Naomi Smith is a counsel at Latham & Watkins, specializing in representing life sciences and technology startups, as well as venture capital investors, through strategic transactions. Her pragmatic approach ensures clients receive comprehensive advice on company formation, governance, venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, and exit strategies. Naomi’s expertise spans the technology, healthcare, and life sciences industries, where she advises leading venture capital firms. Prior to joining Latham, she supported public company clients with Exchange Act filings and corporate governance matters. Naomi is actively involved in Latham’s recruiting, mentoring, and training programs, serving on the firm’s Associates Committee. Her commitment to pro bono work includes assisting with asylum cases, reflecting her dedication to both professional excellence and community service.
Naomi's Sessions
The Ins and Outs of Seed Funding (Waitlist Only)
Join us in discussing challenges and considerations for different types of early-stage funding rounds, including convertible notes, *SAFEs and Series Seed financings. (*SAFEs: Simple Agreement for Future Equity)
Brad Stanton is Managing Director of Business Development at Sand Technologies. He has more than 25 years of consulting and software-development experience with leading global brands including Dell, Accenture and Hewlett-Packard. Brad has led high-performing teams in a number of capacities, from staffing and engineering process design to RevOps and channel formation. Based in Texas, he helps companies looking to harness AI talent and solutions in India, LATAM, Eastern Europe, Africa and the USA.
Brad's Sessions
How to Evolve Your Tech and Staff Strategies for Future Rounds
Discover how to be an operational unicorn, not just a commercial one, even when your team and tech feel strapped. This session will explore practical but meaningful strategies early-stage companies can use to meet technical and staffing needs that will stay in flux across their growth journey. Attendees will come away with actionable insights to overcome their skills gaps, maximize the productivity of small teams, and ensure the agility to adapt quickly to meet market and investor demands.
Laura Stoffel is a partner at Gunderson Dettmer, the preeminent international law firm with an exclusive focus on the innovation economy. Laura represents entrepreneurs as they form and structure new businesses, counsels companies through equity and debt financing rounds, and executes complex M&A transactions. Laura specializes in representing emerging growth companies, frequently starting from formation and continuing through their achievement of scale and an M&A event. Laura is highly experienced with governance and venture financing matters, advising early and late-stage start-ups on everything from day-to-day matters to material strategic events. Laura also represents venture capital, growth and private equity investors on investment transactions and portfolio company matters.
Laura's Sessions
Preparing to Raise: Cap Table Best Practices to Help You Close Fast
So, you’re preparing to raise money to fuel your startup. How confident are you that your cap table and data room are squeaky clean? This question should be top of mind for most founders because a messy data room may drag out your raise and could cost you tens of thousands in legal expenses. This session will cover the best practices to help you close easily and efficiently. We’ll equip you with tips from the legal perspective, the investor perspective, and the founder perspective. Founders will leave this session, armed with tangible, actionable guidance.
Sabriya is a Partner at SOSV and Chief Scientific Officer for IndieBio NY. Prior to joining, she was Operations Director for Stellate Therapeutics, a biotech company developing microbiome-derived therapeutics to treat neurodegenerative diseases. After earning her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, she was the founding Associate Director for the Master’s in Translational Medicine (MTM) program at The City College of New York, NYC’s first and only graduate degree that educates and trains scientists and engineers in the hands-on process of medical technology commercialization and healthcare innovation. A microbiologist, educator, and science communicator, her expertise is in working with individuals to identify unmet community needs, design sustainable clinical solutions, think critically about the world around them, and craft compelling scientific narratives. She also has worked for over a decade in fostering equitable and inclusive environments in the STEM disciplines and thinks deeply about how we can build sustainable healthcare solutions that work for all and not just some.
Sabriya's Sessions
Hard Tech for Early-Stage Founders: HAX Invests in Startups Solving the Hardest Problems in Climate, Industrial Independence, and Healthcare
There’s no tougher, early stage startup category than hard tech, and no one knows that better than SOSV’s HAX team, which has backed more than 300 startups with capital and intensive design, scientific advancement and commercial engineering over the past 12 years. In this session, Duncan Turner, SOSV GP and HAX Managing Director, and Dr. Susan Schofer, HAX Chief Science Officer, discuss the hard tech / physical sciences ecosystem today, how HAX’s full-stack technical team turns unique IP from research into commercial reality, and what hard tech investing categories excite the HAX team. Duncan and Susan will also provide an update on HAX’s new, 35,000 sq foot office in Newark, NJ, where 30 startups are currently at work.
Alicia Tulsee is a native New Yorker and Harvard alum, based in Boston, MA, and is the founder of the first direct-to-consumer medical apparel brand for nurses, Moxie Scrubs. In awe of all of the amazing nurses who cared for her loved ones, Alicia felt a calling to do something meaningful for the nursing profession and founded Moxie Scrubs out of Harvard University’s Innovation Lab with the passion to create a brand dedicated to giving nurses the sense of fashion, professionalism, and respect that they want and deserve.
Alicia's Sessions
Preparing to Raise: Cap Table Best Practices to Help You Close Fast
So, you’re preparing to raise money to fuel your startup. How confident are you that your cap table and data room are squeaky clean? This question should be top of mind for most founders because a messy data room may drag out your raise and could cost you tens of thousands in legal expenses. This session will cover the best practices to help you close easily and efficiently. We’ll equip you with tips from the legal perspective, the investor perspective, and the founder perspective. Founders will leave this session, armed with tangible, actionable guidance.
Duncan is a General Partner at SOSV and the Global Managing Director of SOSV HAX, the world’s first and largest VC-backed program for hard tech. He has invested in over 100 hard tech companies and serves on multiple boards in the climate, industrial, and healthcare sectors. Duncan has an extensive entrepreneurial background and deep experience fundraising and growing businesses across the globe. He has taken numerous technologies to market in various industries. Before joining SOSV, he led design and engineering strategy projects for Fortune 500 companies at the global innovation firm IDEO. Duncan obtained his Master’s from the Royal College of Art & Imperial College. His design and engineering work has won multiple awards and is included in the permanent collection at The Museum of Modern Art. He has a deep passion for new technologies and engineering breakthroughs that can benefit our planet.
Duncan's Sessions
Hard Tech for Early-Stage Founders: HAX Invests in Startups Solving the Hardest Problems in Climate, Industrial Independence, and Healthcare
There’s no tougher, early stage startup category than hard tech, and no one knows that better than SOSV’s HAX team, which has backed more than 300 startups with capital and intensive design, scientific advancement and commercial engineering over the past 12 years. In this session, Duncan Turner, SOSV GP and HAX Managing Director, and Dr. Susan Schofer, HAX Chief Science Officer, discuss the hard tech / physical sciences ecosystem today, how HAX’s full-stack technical team turns unique IP from research into commercial reality, and what hard tech investing categories excite the HAX team. Duncan and Susan will also provide an update on HAX’s new, 35,000 sq foot office in Newark, NJ, where 30 startups are currently at work.
Freddie is co-founder and CTO of Quotient AI, a venture-backed startup focused on AI evaluation. Before Quotient, he built the evaluation systems for Copilot, GitHub’s AI pair programmer. In his spare time, developed a state of art multilingual LLM Cohere For AI’s Aya Project. Freddie started his tech journey building Machine Learning systems at Indigo Ag and Quantopian. He has a BA in Computer Science from Boston University. When not debugging code, he loves to spend time cooking and playing soccer.
Freddie's Sessions
How to Intelligently Calculate your TAM and Wow Investors
How big is your market? Every founder pitching investors and early employees has faced the question. How to properly answer it is anything but simple. There are different ways to measure total addressable market (TAM), and varied ways to approach it from different industries. Without a big market, no startup has a shot at becoming big. And a TAM number that is too big to be believed can make a founder appear ungrounded. Coming up with the largest, reasonable figure is the challenge.If you are a founder building out a pitch deck, or just working on a napkin to sort out whether or not an idea is worth your time, this is the session for you. Tobi Coker from Felicis, Freddie Vargus from Quotient AI, and Nabiha Saklayen from Cellino, will be on hand to describe how they approach TAM from both the investor and founder perspective, and answer your questions.
RevUp Capital Founder and Managing Partner Melissa Withers is one the most experienced female early stage investors in the U.S.. She is also a bullish advocate for innovating the ways in which new companies are funded and supported throughout their lifecycle. In 2016, Melissa and her partners created RevUp—one the first revenue-based funds in the world to serve earlier stage companies. In freeing themselves from the “exit or bust” constraints of equity, the team pioneered a powerful new way for investors and founders to define success. In 2023, RevUp began deploying its 7th Fund. For Melissa, the progression of the RevUp portfolio— and the results these companies have produced for investors—is proof enough that the only barriers to innovation in investing are the ones that investors set for themselves. Beyond building new economic models for investing, Melissa is also committed to efforts that direct more entrepreneurial funding to those underserved and overlooked by traditional VC. With a background in life sciences and a graduate degree in science communications, Melissa started her career at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, working at the intersection of basic research, communication, and public policy. She’s also spent time in public service at the state and municipal level. Most importantly, she’s a proud mom, an amateur boxer (with a title belt!), and a lover of the great outdoors.
Melissa's Sessions
Preparing to Raise: Cap Table Best Practices to Help You Close Fast
So, you’re preparing to raise money to fuel your startup. How confident are you that your cap table and data room are squeaky clean? This question should be top of mind for most founders because a messy data room may drag out your raise and could cost you tens of thousands in legal expenses. This session will cover the best practices to help you close easily and efficiently. We’ll equip you with tips from the legal perspective, the investor perspective, and the founder perspective. Founders will leave this session, armed with tangible, actionable guidance.
Edith Yeung is a partner at 500 Mobile Collective.
Edith's Sessions
PR 101 for Founders: Branding Strategies to Win Over Investors, Customers and Partners (Waitlist Only)
Don’t just exist, stand out! This roundtable gives you the roadmap to a powerful, unforgettable brand that opens doors and fuels your startup. We’ll explore how to craft messages that resonate with your target audience, attract investors and customers, and create lasting partnerships. You’ll learn about leveraging media, managing your online presence, and using storytelling to make your brand unforgettable. Get ready to transform your approach to PR and take your brand to new heights! This is a crash course in branding strategies that captivate investors, customers, and partners. Join Edith Yeung, General Partner at Race Capital, investors of Databricks, Vectara, Otter.AI and Solana as she shares insights on how to enhance your startup’s PR strategy.
PR 101 for Founders: Branding Strategies to Win Over Investors, Customers and Partners (Waitlist Only)
Don’t just exist, stand out! This roundtable gives you the roadmap to a powerful, unforgettable brand that opens doors and fuels your startup. We’ll explore how to craft messages that resonate with your target audience, attract investors and customers, and create lasting partnerships. You’ll learn about leveraging media, managing your online presence, and using storytelling to make your brand unforgettable. Get ready to transform your approach to PR and take your brand to new heights! This is a crash course in branding strategies that captivate investors, customers, and partners. Join Edith Yeung, General Partner at Race Capital, investors of Databricks, Vectara, Otter.AI and Solana as she shares insights on how to enhance your startup’s PR strategy.
So You Think You Can Pitch?
Please join us for “So You Think You Can Pitch” where three promising early stage startups will have 4 minutes to wow a panel of judges, who will then provide feedback. Participating startups include Ti¢ker, GovGPT, and ChargeBay.