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April 14th, 2021
Early stage founders: Set yourself up for success with tangible tools to move your business forward in one day.
Gain knowledge, connect 1:1 with experts, and build community.
Get Tickets:Agenda
Workshop: Early Stage Financing Options with Silicon Valley Bank(9a PT / 12p ET)
Workshop: Equity Compensation Best Practices with Carta (9:45a PT / 12:45p ET)
1:1 Mentorship and Founder to Founder Networking (11a PT / 2p ET)
Inspirational Fireside with Maxeme Tuchman, CEO & Cofounder, Caribu (1p PT / 4p ET)
Community Networking (2p PT / 5p ET)
FFA Founder Day will run from 9a PT to 2:30p PT
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Connect with experts in meaningful 1:1 mentorship sessions, build community with fellow founders, and be inspired by those who have walked your path. Our goal is for you to leave Founder Day with new knowledge, new network, and actionable insights so you can move your startup forward.
Speakers and Mentors
Maxeme Tuchman
CEO & Cofounder, Caribu
Maxeme (Max) Tuchman is the CEO and Co-Founder of Caribu, an interactive video-calling platform that helps kids have virtual playdates with family and friends when they can’t be physically together. Caribu is one of Apple’s 15 “Best Apps of 2020”, one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions, made Fast Company’s list of World Changing Ideas, was named one of the ‘Top Ten EdTech Companies to Watch’ in Forbes, and became one of the most innovative startups in the world by winning the 1776 Global Challenge Cup. Max has been the winner or finalist in 30+ pitch competitions, is the 59th Latina in the US to raise over $1M in venture funding and the first Latinx founder, male or female, to raise $1M in Equity Crowdfunding, and was named one of Inc. Magazine’s Top 100 Female Founders.
Before co-founding Caribu, Max was appointed by President Obama to serve as a senior policy advisor and White House Fellow at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In this position, she worked on issues of financial inclusion and student loans. Prior to that, Max served as the Executive Director of Teach For America Miami-Dade and was responsible for overseeing daily regional operations for 26 staff members and cultivating over $15M of private and public support in service of over 500 teachers and alumni.
Earlier in her career, she served in Mayor Bloomberg’s bullpen where she co-created the NYC Civic Corps and managed The NYC Waterfalls art installation, bringing in $69M of economic impact to the city. Her commitment to educational equity began as a Teach For America corps member, teaching 480 high school students in inner-city Miami, and has led to working on educational innovation projects with organizations such as the Harlem Children’s Zone, DC Public Schools, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Max was named a Toyota Mother of Invention by Women In The World and Female Tech Leader of the Year by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. She is a graduate of the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs, the Miami Fellows Leadership Program, and Babson WIN Lab for Female Founders. Maxeme received her B.A. from New College of Florida and holds an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Ben Nahir
Principal, Elevate Capital
Ben is a neuroscientist-turned-investor who uses a data-driven approach to identify, research, and recommend investment opportunities. Ben joined the Oregon investment community in 2016 following a 12-year career in academic research. In four years as Program Manager for TiE Oregon Angels and TiE Global Angels, Ben has helped deploy over $7.5 million in global angel capital to 45 startups.
At Elevate Capital, Ben participates in all aspect of investing, from deal sourcing through diligence, negotiation, execution, portfolio management, and fundraising. Ben received his BS in Mathematical Biology from Harvey Mudd, his MBA from PSU, and a Doctorate in Philosophy and neuroscience from University of Florida.
Claire White
Partner, K&L Gates
Lisa Nicole Bell
Podcaster, Investor
Spurred by a cocktail of curiosity, philosophy, and polymathy, Lisa’s body of work melds creativity and commerce as she uses media and technology to shift and shape culture. She curiously explores themes of identity, philosophy, and self-actualization as a multidisciplinary creator who has produced more than 300 hours of content. Lisa’s work spans scripted, unscripted, and digital verticals. She is the creator, executive producer, and host of Behind the Brilliance, a weekly long form podcast featuring conversations with an eclectic mix of creatives, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Leveraging her signature blend of smart perspectives and humorous takes, the show has been downloaded more than 1 million times and is syndicated on iHeartRadio.
Lisa’s recent entertainment projects include The Emerging Artist Series, a digital docuseries she directed and produced with Academy-award winning actress Viola Davis. Lisa recently served as a creative producer on Fair Game, the highly anticipated Australian feature length documentary about race, identity, culture, and coming of age. The film premiered to record viewing numbers and is now being used in schools as a tool to start critical conversations about race and culture. Among a stable of past projects is The American Dream Revised, a four part docu-series she created, directed, and produced which was licensed to Procter & Gamble. Her other work has been commissioned by Google, BET, and more.
Prior to her current ventures, Lisa started a standardized test preparation company, which was acquired. Leveraging her success in business, Lisa applies her passion for storytelling and her analytical prowess as an advisor and investor in startups and as a mentor with DigitalUndivided, Propellant Labs, and Day One. Her portfolio includes brands in beauty, wellness, and digital media. She is a former advisory board member for EmpowHer, a gender-responsive social and education enrichment organization that decreases dropout rates among young women.
Named a Woman Making a Difference by the Los Angeles Business Journal, Lisa and her work have been seen in dozens of media outlets including Fast Company, Inc, Forbes, Refinery29, Essence, and more. Her awards and accolades include the Cable Positive Award, the NAACP Theatre Award, and more.
Lisa earned a degree in Business Law from California State University where she graduated with honors. She later continued her studies in entertainment business at UCLA.
Originally from Huntsville, Alabama, Lisa currently resides in Los Angeles. When she’s not working, she can usually be found plotting travel adventures, flying Cessnas, or devouring a book.
Madison Elkhazin
Investor, Georgian
I’m an Investor at Georgian – a fintech company focused on investing in high growth technology companies that harness the power of data in a trustworthy way.
At Georgian, we believe in the opportunity to offer more value to founders and CEOs by taking a digital-first, data-driven approach to growth-stage investing. Georgian’s platform provides the insights and automation to accelerate growth and augment how our team supports CEOs. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Georgian’s team brings together software entrepreneurs, machine learning experts and investment professionals.
As a member of the Investment Team, I’m responsible for supporting the due diligence process and providing operational support to our portfolio companies post-investment.
Rob Eldridge
Tapas Capital
Hands-on leader with deep product management, operating, finance and advisory experience with technology companies in US and Asia.
Catherine Mulcahy
Portfolio Development, M12
With more than 10 years of experience in business and corporate development I enable companies of all sizes—from startups to market leading enterprises—to scale and succeed. I specializes in creating stakeholder structures that push partnerships forward and am skilled in envisioning and executing transformational strategies. As a strategic advisor for Seed to Series C startups, I foster collaboration between startup leadership and the enterprise, balancing stakeholder needs and business results to build trust and accelerate success.
Michael Frederick
Flatirons Development
Michael has 17+ years of experience building and managing software with projects ranging from startup MVP development to managing complex systems for Fortune 500 companies. Michael is passionate about eliminating waste in the software development ecosystem, and he started Flatirons Development with the mission of improving the efficiency and quality of product development.
Maria Hess
Madrona Venture Labs
I am an executive marketing leader, technology product expert, and startup advisor; leveraging over 20 years’ experience to successfully bring consumer and business software products to market. Armed with an entrepreneurial spirit, I am a builder and operator who combines deep product and marketing expertise to quickly accelerate growth. With verified success in startup idea validation/vetting, consumer behavior, business growth drivers, user acquisition, engagement, and retention strategies, I’ve been entrusted to spearhead the marketing, product, and product-led growth initiatives in both big tech (Google, Amazon, and Expedia) and successful startups (Picnik, PicMonkey, Likewise).
Throughout a series of strategic senior leadership roles, I’ve led the aggressive launch of new products, built talent acquisition pipelines/processes, and created media engagement, partnerships, and social media program strategies. Currently, I am Partner and Head of Growth, for Madrona Venture Labs, where I act as adviser and doer to validate and build multiple startups while initiating the development and testing of the growth playbook.
Prior to joining Madrona Venture Labs, I drove the successful marketing launch of the social recommendations app, Likewise, and built and grew the marketing and monetization functions at PicMonkey and Picnik (subsequently acquired by Google).
I have been recognized for my ability to see the big picture at a highly strategic level, yet also be agile enough to have a strong tactical and executional perspective. I am passionate about building a positive and collaborative work culture where I can lead teams to consistently outperform growth goals, fostering integrity, teamwork, and operational excellence.
Chuck Stonecipher
Trilogy Equity Partners
Chuck Stonecipher, Managing Director, is a member of Trilogy’s investing team. Prior to joining Trilogy, Chuck served in various executive capacities, including President and COO, with Advanced Digital Information Corporation (NASDAQ: ADIC) from 1995 to 2006, when it was sold to Quantum (NYSE: QTM). During his tenure, ADIC grew from less than $20MM to over $400MM in annual revenues. Prior to ADIC, Chuck served as Chief Financial Officer of Interpoint Corporation and as a manager and consultant with Bain and Company in San Francisco. He began his career as a design engineer with Boeing Aerospace and then Korry Electronics.
Chuck holds BS, Phi Beta Kappa, and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is part of a five-generation wheat farming family from Walla Walla, WA.
Tim Porter
Madrona Venture Group
Tim is focused on investing in B2B software companies in the Pacific Northwest. He currently is particularly interested in the areas of intelligent applications and SaaS, cloud native software, ML and data analytics, and security. He is a board member of numerous Madrona portfolio companies.
In addition to his work at Madrona, Tim is a member of the Investment Committee for the Alliance of Angels Seed Fund I and is on the board of the Technology Alliance. Tim also serves on the Investment Committee for Global Partnerships’ Social Venture Fund.
PAST LIVES
Prior to joining Madrona in 2006, Tim was a key member of Microsoft’s Corporate Development group, where he shared responsibilities for sourcing, structuring, and negotiating Microsoft’s acquisitions, strategic investments and joint ventures. While at Microsoft, Tim focused on enterprise software, security, and mobile and closed 14 transactions for over $850 million. Notable transactions included Microsoft’s acquisitions of Softricity, FrontBridge Technologies, ProClarity, Whale Communications, and Giant Company Software. Earlier in his career, Tim worked nearly five years for broadband satellite start-up Teledesic, spending his last year there also working for Craig McCaw’s Eagle River Investments.
Sam Simas
Relationship Manager, Silicon Valley Bank
A Northwest native, Sam returned to the greater Seattle ecosystem in 2017 after stints in Boston and Denver, joining SVB mid-2020. Sam was drawn to SVB for its position in the marketplace, with the largest market share in the Seattle technology ecosystem, and the breadth of its clients. At SVB, Sam specializes in early stage consumer technology and B2C businesses, with a particular passion for edtech, fintech & social impact companies. She also spearheads SVB’s Women in Tech initiatives in the greater Seattle area.
Prior to joining SVB, Sam worked with early and mid-stage SaaS companies at Lighter Capital and became an expert on non-traditional financing. She started her career as an edtech consultant after graduating from Middlebury College.
Reach out to Sam for help on early stage financing, brainstorming investors & market experts to connect with, banking insights, and to learn more about water polo and the best gluten free restaurants in Seattle.
Michael Louie
Investor, CPA
I am a CPA who helps families seeking solutions to their unique challenges and issues related to their wealth and their businesses, including the succession of their business.
Investments – I work with families in business and help to evaluate investments (due diligence) and am highly selective, to ensure that those with whom I associate have demonstrated common values. Succession planning and real estate are long term focused, so developing trust and ensuring transparency throughout the relationship are very important to me.
I have meaningful and extensive hands on and practical experience investing and advising in a number of areas, including:
1. real estate. understand the risks and address them or actively work to mitigate those risks.
2. succession of family-enterprises. Facilitating families to work through existing or potential conflict for a successful succession.
3. Technology – a fast moving area where I can bring value to the entrepreneur, building systems and helping to seek financing when appropriate.