sponsored by

“As we host 100+ events a year at Work-Bench, I know how much goes on behind such a well-produced event, end to end—organized comms, beautiful venue, and most important of all—high-quality founders, companies, really thoughtful content and speakers who spoke openly and honestly about what it means to start and scale a company. I even met one of our Work-Bench founders sitting next to her at this event. Cannot recommend this Summit enough!”
— Jessica Lin, General Parter (Work-Bench)

investors

SPEAKERS

Liz Zalman, Co-founder & (original) CEO of Strongdm

Liz is an infrastructure and information security expert and founder of strongDM. She is a two-time founder / CEO of venture-backed companies—building the first company to a successful exit and the second one to a multi-hundred-million-dollar business.

Elizabeth has raised more than $100 million in venture capital from the most renowned investors in the world such as Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures and Tiger Ventures. She is a frequent speaker and guest at industry events and tech podcasts, in addition to being an investor and advisor herself. 

Her book, Founder vs Investor: The Honest Truth About Venture Capital from Startup to IPO, comes out this September.

“I learned a ton about the VC fundraising process, and met incredibly talented founders and investors. ”
— Annabel Lawee, Founder
“One of the best formats I’ve been to!”
— Tyler Forte, Founder

Schedule of Events

7:45-8:30 Breakfast and Check-in

8:30-9:30 Panel: Getting to a Series A

9:30-9:45 Sponsor Brief on Financial Planning: From Back of the Envelope to Series A Budget

9:45-10:35 Small Groups: Open Questions on Fundraising Strategy

10:35-10:45 Coffee Break

10:45-11:35 Founder Interview: Liz Zalman of strongDM

11:35-12:15 Panel: Filling Your Funnel and Pre-Raise Prep

12:15-12:30: Sponsor Brief

12:30-1:15 Lunch

1:15-2:00 Small Groups: "Not a Pitch" Investor Feedback

2:00-2:40 Panel: Getting the Raise Over the Line

2:40-2:50 Coffee Break

2:50-3:45 Panel: Projections and Hockey Sticks

3:45-4:00 Sponsor Brief

4:00-4:45 Small Groups: Environment and Cycle Discussion

5:00 Leave for Cyclones game in Coney Island (Optional)