TechCrunch’s first Early Stage event goes down in exactly one week, and we’re pretty freakin’ amped about it!
Early Stage is unique in that it’s more of an entrepreneurial bootcamp, smashed into a two-day virtual format, than a traditional conference. Experts from across the industry will give presentations on a specific topic, from How To Draw Up Your First Contracts (James Alonso and Adam Zagaris) to How to Get People Obsessed with your Brand (Emily Heyward), and attendees will be able to participate in a live Q&A following each presentation.
We’ll also have several ‘main stage’ chats that are available to all attendees, including fireside chats with founders Dylan Field (Figma) and Mariam Naficy (Minted.com) and investors James Buckhouse and Jess Lee (Sequoia) and Reid Hoffman and Sarah Guo (Greylock).
There are upwards of 35 breakout sessions happening concurrently over the two days of the event. If you’re an early stage founder, you really can’t miss it.
Alongside core competencies like recruiting, brand building, PR, legal, and growth marketing, we’ll also have a great many breakout sessions focused on early stage fundraising.
Take a look:
How to get your first yes with Cyan Banister
Fundraising can be a bit like dominoes. Once you get one investor on board, it’s much easier to bring others along for the ride. But getting that first ‘yes’ can be the most difficult part. Hear the do’s and don’ts of hyper early stage fundraising from Cyan Banister, seed-stage investor and partner at Founders Fund.
How to avoid 1000 landmines with Garry Tan
When you’re starting your company, there are thousands of small, avoidable mistakes that can turn success into failure. Learn how to navigate around those and maximize your chance of success with key learnings from Garry Tan, founder and managing partner at Initialized Capital.
How to get your company acquired, not sold with Priti Choksi
Learn how to think about M&A as a possible exit opportunity from a former Facebook corporate development executive turned investor. Understand what acquirers are looking for and what questions you should be asking. Create optionality for yourself as you build and grow your company.
Think like a PM for VC pitch success with Lo Toney
Your pitchdeck is not just a reflection of your business, it’s a product unto itself. Your startup’s success, and avoiding the end of your runway, depends on the conversion rate of that product. Hear from Plexo Capital founding partner Lo Toney about how thinking like a PM when crafting your pitch deck can produce outstanding results.
How and when to take debt with Josh Brody
As tech takes over more and more industries, debt is becoming not only a viable option for some startups, but, in some cases, an optimal financing path. Hear from WTI Venture Partner Josh Brody on how to evaluate equity vs. debt, the right and wrong ways to take on debt, and how to pick a lender that understands and embraces the inherent risks associated with lending to early stage businesses.
The business of bootstrapping with Arun Mathew and Vlad Magdalin
Webflow was bootstrapped and profitable for seven years before co-founder and CEO, Vlad Magdalin trusted Accel’s Arun Mathew as their first institutional investor. Hear how Magdalin designed a sustainable, high-growth business without institutional investment, and the surprising factors that led him to take VC investment.
When it comes to fundraising, timing is everything with Jake Saper
There are some shockingly common timing mistakes founders make that can turn an otherwise successful fundraise into a failure. We’ll talk through how to avoid them and how to sequence efforts from the time you close your seed to ensure you find the right partner (at the right price!) for Series A and beyond.
SaaS fundraising and growth with Saam Motamedi
As a Partner at Greylock, Saam Motamedi invests in the next generation of enterprise software entrepreneurs at the seed and early stages, and is the first partner to entrepreneurs as they navigate product-market fit and go-to-market scale. He’ll share the three things enterprise founders should focus on to successfully get their early stage companies to product market fit, and why making early stage investments often comes down to betting on the founding team.
How to get into Y Combinator with Dalton Caldwell
The seed-stage venture firm has come to form its own startup economy over the years, with its network of companies and founders interconnecting across the tech industry and beyond. Find out how Y Combinator works today, and how you can become a part of it, in this discussion with head of admissions Dalton Caldwell.
How to sell an idea when you don’t have a product with Charles Hudson
It takes money to make money. But first, you must get the money on board. Hear from seed-stage investor Charles Hudson about what it takes to convert investors when all you have to show is a great idea and an understanding of the market.
How to structure your fintech startup with Rebecca Lynn
With the disintermediation of banks, and financial services more broadly, startups that are well structured can really have major advantages entering those markets. From benchmarking growth metrics that matter to navigating regulatory changes, learn more about Canvas Ventures partner Rebecca Lynn’s approach towards evaluating founding teams and equipping companies with what it takes to make the most of opportunities in fintech.
Seed funding tips and tricks with Jeff Clavier
There are now a thousand micro-VCs entrepreneurs can raise capital from, creating confusing market dynamics. Learn tips and tricks on fundraising from Uncork Capital’s Managing Partner, Jeff Clavier.
How to move fast and find the right VC investors with James Currier
Learn the right and wrong ways to find and approach the right investors for your startup. Discover the 6 elements VC’s look for that will make your process fast, in this lightning talk with James Currier, investor in over 130 startups and Managing Partner at NFX Capital.
And that’s just fundraising. We have dozens of other sessions focused on marketing and operations. The event goes down July 21 and 22.
You can grab your ticket to TC Early Stage right now; find more details on our event page.
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