Jean-Pierre launched Touche de Finesse, a profitable high-end French catering company that serviced NY Fashion shows, the United Nations, and more, when he was just 19. In 2016, he built Wheeli, the leading carpooling network for college students. He took Wheeli through Techstars and received venture backing.
Cheryl is a director at Republic, a one-stop-shop for founders to raise capital from both accredited and non-accredited investors. She is focused on introducing underrepresented founders to these alternative funding sources in order to help their startups thrive. In addition, she works on partnerships with other venture capital and ecosystem builders while supporting the growing Republic portfolio of 140 companies.
Hadley is a Founding General Partner at Eniac Ventures. He began his career as an engineer and development team lead at Pegasystems, and later served as a product manager at Microsoft and strategist at Samsung. He previously worked on product, strategy & marketing at Vlingo, which sold to Nuance for $225m.Â
Denisha joined Grasshopper in 2019 and is a relationship manager in the early stage practice. Prior to joining Grasshopper Bank, Denisha worked at Silicon Valley Bank focused on founders in New York. Denisha is first-generation Ghanaian American and writes a weekly newsletter on artist/fan relationships called Stan.
Chip is a former FBI Special Agent Hostage/Crisis Negotiator and crisis communications subject matter expert with over 22 years of experience. He has a proven skill set derived from the actual high stakes world of crisis negotiations and critical communications. Chip has trained federal, state and local law enforcement, c-suite executives, and non-profit organizations in these principles.
Slava is Co-founder & Managing Partner at humbition, an early-stage operators venture fund. Slava is also Co-founder of Vincent, an online platform to discover and diligence alternative investments. Slava previously founded Indiegogo, a leading crowdfunding platform. He represented the crowdfunding industry at the White House during the signing of the JOBS Act & helped bring equity crowdfunding to the US.
Irene Ryabaya is the founder and CEO of Warmintro. Warmintro is a SaaS platform that empowers marketplaces of professional connection. Irene is an expert on community, connection and diversity in tech.
Before Warmintro, Irene started her career at Goldman Sachs and spent a decade on Wall St. before founding the Monarq Incubator for women entrepreneurs.
Jorge is a venture capital investor and attorney who works in higher education at Yale University. He was on the founding team at Silas Capital, where he invested in early-stage consumer brands and completed a Kauffman Fellowship. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of HBCUvc, a non-profit whose mission is to increase racial and ethnic diversity in venture capital.
Joey's goal is to positively impact 1 billion people by the year 2039. Part startup coach, part super-connector, he is the Founder of Goodie Nation, Amplify 4 Good, and Co-Founder of the Atlanta Black Tech initiative. Joey received his MBA from Florida A&M University in the Spring of 2003. He is Labs Manager for WeWork Labs' Atlanta office.
with Marvin Liao, 500 Startups
In our opening session, we'll take a closer look at the various types of investors (i.e., angels, family offices, VCs), and how they differ from one another. We'll also learn how VCs are typically structured (GPs vs. LPs, hierarchy within the firm), and how they approach building their portfolio in terms of stage and industry focus. Lastly, we'll analyze their typical decision-making process (thesis-driven vs. opportunistic) and how the workings of investor math affect your business.
with Hadley Harris, Eniac Ventures
On our second day, we'll get hands-on: All of today's knowledge on fundraising strategy can be directly applied to your own business. You'll learn how to set your fundraising timeline and goal, how to determine whether a priced round or convertible/SAFE notes are right for you, and which materials you'll need to have before you can hit the ground running. We'll cover how to identify relevant investors, build your investor list and how to conduct an effective outreach strategy. We'll also cover the infamous elevator pitch as well as your executive summary, pitch deck, and product demo.Â
with Jorge M. Torres, Yale University
On Day 3, we'll get down to the nitty-gritty of the term sheet and clarify what all those complicated legal terms actually mean. At the end of this session, you'll know which sections you should pay most attention to, and which ones could cause tension between you and your investors. We will also look at what impact the terms you're agreeing to might have on any future rounds you might raise down the line.
with Adele Gambardella-Cehrs & Chip Massey, When + How
Today will be all about how you reach your goal - closing the deal! In order to get there, and in order to get there on the conditions you want, your negotiation skills will be put to the test. We're bringing in communications expert and Wall Street Journal contributor Adele Cehrs and former FBI special agent and hostage negotiator Chip Massey to teach you all about negotiating with your investors and successfully closing your round.
To wrap up Week 1 of Foundations of Fundraising, we'll look at alternative sources of capital that you might not have taken into account yet. We'll consider product & equity crowdfunding, non-dilutive grants and competitions, venture debt, revenue-based investors, strategic partnerships, and customer-financed R&D.Â
with Jean-Pierre Adechi, Wheeli
and Irene Ryabaya, Warmintro
moderated by Joey Womack, Goodie Nation
Raising a funding round is never easy - and, unfortunately, the data shows that it's even harder as a member of a traditionally underrepresented group (e.g., PoC, female/non-binary). In this session, we'll hear from a panel of entrepreneurs from traditionally underrepresented groups about their experiences raising a round. What challenges did they face? Did they ask VCs about their commitments to diversity? How can members of privileged groups be better allies to underrepresented founders?
with Jared Gordon, AngelList
How have recent events affected startup funding activity? Who's investing actively, who's announcing new funds? Are dollars and deals down significantly? Are certain stages or industries getting more or less love?
In this session, we'll arm you with the fundraising data you need to understand the environment you're operating in.
 Want the full experience?Â
Apply now for READY TO RAISE!
with Jonathan Axelrod, Entrepreneurs Roundtable Association
New to this whole fundraising thing? Done it before but hoping for a better outcome next time? In this module's expert session we'll walk through the process of raising a round, the assets you'll need, and the decisions you'll need to make, including:Â
- How to build an investor list & manage investor outreach
- One pagers, pitch decks, and blurbs - oh my! All the assets you'll need to raise
- How much runway should you seek? What burn rates and revenue assumptions are appropriate?
- How long *should* it take to raise a round?
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with Craig Vaughan, Vaughan Capital Advisors
What's the difference between a good financial model and a bad one? Do investors even care about models for early stage companies? And what's a Data Room all about anyway? In this module's expert session, we'll provide an overview of what investors look for when they look under the hood of your business.
with Melody Koh, NextView Ventures
What do investors look for in a pitch deck? How do points of emphasis change from the deck you built for your pre-seed round to the one you're building for your Series A? Should you send PDFs or DocSend links? And do you really need "leave behind" decks vs. ones you would deliver live? In this module's expert session we'll cover everything you need to know to make your deck stand out from all the others.Â
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Session 1 with Brad Feld, Foundry Group
Session 2 with Nathan Gold, The Demo Coach
Session 3 with Kat Mañalac, Y Combinator
Your deck is ready. You've got the numbers down cold. You're ready to tell your story - but where do you start? How do you inspire your audience? How do you create urgency? What questions do you need to be prepared to answer? What if there's a curve ball... do you dare say "I don't know"? In our final module expert session we'll cover how to make your pitch resonate with an audience of investors, how to stand out from the crowd, and how to manage your process after the pitch.Â
Ready to Raise is a 10-week program featuring:
Expert sessions with titans of the VC industry
Dedicated 1:1 mentorship from fundraising experts
An opportunity to pitch in front of investors, mentors & industry peers in September
Ready to Raise is exclusive to WeWork members.
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