Panel Description:

The angel/seed and Series A stage capital market can be tricky for first-time fundraisers. If you are considering raising external capital for your startup, you need to understand the market landscape in order to efficiently navigate this inefficient capital market.

This panel consists of entrepreneurs and investors who have raised and deployed capital and who will share their perspectives and experiences they have developed from both sides of the table.

This session will focus on:Understanding different capital products and their implicationsIdentifying what types of investors to target whenCrafting what kind of story to tell to which kinds of investors

Panel Participants:

Moderator:

Lee Mayer - Co-Founder & CEO @ Havenly

Lee is the Co-Founder and CEO of interior design startup Havenly. She started the company in 2014 to make decorating a home easier - and more affordable- for all of us. Previously, Lee was the VP & GM of the Auto division at Bankrate here in Denver. She moved to Denver from New York City, where she worked at Bain & Company and was in the M&A and strategy function at Canon, USA. Lee has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS from Columbia University.

Panelists:

Jim Franklin - Board Member, Investor, Limited Partner

Jim has brought VC’s to Colorado such as Bessemer SV (SendGrid), Sigma Partners Boston (Vericept) and William Blair Chicago (Vericept). He has also raised money from local angels and VCs such as Sequel Venture Partners. After exiting Decisioneering to Hyperion/Oracle, Jim became a limited partner in local venture funds (Tahoma, Galvanize, Bullet Time, FG Angels) and does direct angel investing (Sphero, SlamData, Stream.io). Jim also serves on several venture-backed company boards such as Cloud Elements, Parkifi, Section.io and Yonomi.

Chris Onan - Angel Investor and Managing Director @ Galvanize Venture Fund

Chris has invested in over 200 early/growth stage businesses. He is a Co-Founder and former COO/CFO at Galvanize where he raised over $85 million of capital to support Galvanize’s growth and expansion from concept to a nationwide presence and manages Galvanize Venture Fund I, LP. which has made over 60 investments since inception. Previously, Chris was a Partner with Appian Ventures where he supported multiple companies to exit, including: Ping Identity, mPay Gateway and Auctionpay. Chris is a limited partner in Bullet Time Ventures and a current board member and former President and Chairman of the Rocky Mountain Venture Capital Association.

Natty Zola - Managing Director @ Techstars

Natty Zola is a Managing Director for Techstars Boulder, where he has invested in 34 companies over the past three years. Previously, Natty was Head of Consumer Products for MapQuest, where he helped MapQuest return to profitability and year-over-year growth for the first time since 2007. Before MapQuest, he was a Founder of Everlater.com, a travel blogging platform and CRM system for tour operators, which participated in Techstars (2009) and was acquired by AOL (2012). He has also worked with Jim Collins on the best selling books "Great by Choice" and "How the Mighty Fall".

Brian Parks, CFA - Co-Founder and Managing Partner @ Bigfoot Capital

Brian leads the strategic vision and direction of Bigfoot Capital, a seed-stage capital provider for SaaS companies, where he is primarily responsible for capital raising and deployment and market development. Prior to forming Bigfoot, Brian spent six years in early-stage technology companies in Denver in a host of operating leadership roles, including serving as Co-Founder and CEO of Brandfolder. Before joining the startup community, Brian was an M&A investment banker conducting middle-market transactions across industries.