FI Network members from 40 countries joined us in Silicon Valley for FounderX 2023.
Event Speakers
FounderX 2023 featured talks from top global experts on startups and venture capital.
EVAN GOLDBERG: Evan Goldberg is a Co-Founder of NetSuite, which was acquired by Oracle in 2016 for approximately $9.3BN. Evan now leads the Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit. He and his team are responsible for the product strategy, development, and delivery of NetSuite’s unified business management suite, encompassing ERP/Financials, CRM, ecommerce, and more. In 1998, Evan co-founded NetSuite and it was the first cloud computing company – ushering in the new era of cloud computing. Prior to Oracle’s acquisition of NetSuite, Evan was CTO and Chairman of the NetSuite board.
JASON CALACANIS: Jason Calacanis is an entrepreneur, author, and angel investor in over 250 startups, including 7 "unicorns". He also hosts the popular podcasts 'This Week in Startups' and 'All-In'. Named “arguably the world’s greatest angel investor” by The Twenty Minute VC, Jason was among the early investors in companies such as Uber, Robinhood, Wealthfront, Thumbtack, and Trello. He is the author of "Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups" (Harper Collins, 2017) and serves as Founder & CEO of LAUNCH (which encompasses the LAUNCH Festival and the LAUNCH Incubator). Additionally, he is the Founder & CEO of Inside.com, among other ventures.
PETER PHAM: Peter Pham is the Co-Founder of startup studio/incubator Science, which was behind Dollar Shave Club ($1B exit to Unilever), Liquid Death, and more. Peter leads the effort to raise money for Science incubated companies which has totaled $400M. By focusing on business development throughout his career and building a robust and strong network, Peter has sharpened his skills in identifying the best talent behind strong brand identity, as seen with his hands-on work with PlayVS, Liquid Death, and Mammoth Media. Previously as an operator, he has helped companies like Photobucket as employee No. 5, spearheading growth and corporate development, thereby leading the company to its $300M acquisition of MySpace, as well as lending his insights as co-founder and CEO of BillShrink, which was acquired by MasterCard in 2012.
EREN BALI: Eren Bali co-founded Udemy (Silicon Valley FI Alum) in January 2010 and has served as a member of Udemy’s board of directors since then. Mr. Bali also served as Udemy’s Chief Executive Officer from January 2010 to April 2014. Mr. Bali currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Carbon Health, a technology-enabled healthcare provider, which he co-founded in October 2015. Carbon Health operates more than 125 brick-and-mortar clinics in 13 U.S. states along with virtual care services, and provides care for more than a million patients. Mr. Bali serves on the boards of directors of various private companies.
BARBARA BELVISI: Barbara Belvisi is the Founder and CEO at Interstellar Lab, which develops food production and habitation modules for sustainable living on Earth and space. She is also a Co-founder of Hardware Club, the first community based investment firm dedicated to hardware startups. Barbara started her career in finance at 22, investing in tech companies worldwide, and launched several global initiatives to foster scientific innovation and entrepreneurship. Youngest woman founder of a venture capital fund at 26, she is in the top 1O Women in Tech in France and Forbes Top 1OO in Europe in 2O18. Self-taught in engineering and architecture, Barbara is passionate about space, biology, and AI.
JED KATZ: Jed Katz is a Co-Founder & Managing Director at Javelin Venture Partners, where he sits on the boards of Thumbtack, SmartAsset, HighArc, Landed, Fello, Arrive and Linqia, and is a board observer for MasterClass, Carbon Health and Homeward. One of the true pioneers of online commerce, Jed has spent his career developing, advising, and investing in early-stage technology ventures, including founding four companies. He was also appointed by President Biden to be on the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
GEORGE PLOSS: George Ploss is the Head of Venture Capital Practice and Head of Oracle NetSuite Startup Accelerator, where he takes the resources of Oracle-NetSuite and uses them to accelerate the success of startups in incubators. He was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago and attended the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign where he received his MBA in finance and strategic leadership along with his bachelor's in African American studies and Political Science. While in undergrad, George enlisted in the Marine Corps, Reserves where he served a total of nine years.
NICHOL BRADFORD: Nichol Bradford is a Co-Founder and Partner at Nirmeia Collective, a seed-stage venture fund; and Co-Founder of TransformativeTech.org, a global ecosystem dedicated to educating, gathering, and activating wellbeing of tech founders, investors, and innovators – with 9000 members in 72 countries. Nichol is a pioneer, innovator, investor, and thought leader at the intersection of technology and human transformation. She shapes global thinking as a speaker, futurist, strategist, and author. She is also a senior interactive entertainment executive. Nichol has been responsible for strategy, operations, marketing, and production roles at major brands that include: Epic Games, Activision Blizzard, Disney, and Vivendi.
KAMAL HASSAN: Kamal Hassan is a Managing Partner at Loyal VC, a global venture fund designed to offer above-average returns while preserving capital, through diversification and a unique gate-stage investing process that reduces bias. Loyal is the fund Kamal wished he had available during his 20-year career as an entrepreneurial CEO, and 15 years as an angel investor. It draws upon his professional and philanthropic experiences and networks formed as a Global Director with the Founder Institute accelerator, former INSEAD Alumni Association President, a consultant at Bain & Co, and as an engineer at IMAX. He has an INSEAD MBA and a degree in engineering physics from Queen's University. He has traveled to over 100 countries and speaks 5 languages.
ADEO RESSI: Adeo Ressi is CEO of Decile Group, which runs the leading venture capital accelerator VC Lab and operates the Decile Hub platform. Adeo is also Executive Chairman at the Founder Institute. Adeo has launched 14 VC funds and founded 11 startups, having nearly $2 billion in exits before the age of 30. He previously served on the Board of the X Prize foundation to pursue his interests in space exploration, and studied architecture and spent time living on a commune to explore his interests in designing better ways to live. Adeo is passionate about inspiring people to achieve their potential.
DANIEL SYLVESTER: Daniel Sylvester is an attorney in Holland & Knight’s Chicago office and a member of the firm’s Financial Services Team. Mr. Sylvester’s practice focuses on the representation of borrowers and lenders in senior secured credit facilities, second-lien credit facilities, real estate finance and syndicated credit facilities. Mr. Sylvester is a member of Holland & Knight’s Diversity Council and serves as a co-chair of the firm’s DiverseAbility Affinity Group. Mr. Sylvester served as chair/co-chair of the firm’s Veterans Group for 10 years. Mr. Sylvester began his career by serving more than 10 years as an army officer. Mr. Sylvester served on the U.S. humanitarian operations into Bosnia and the Dayton Peace Accord’s multinational NATO logistics command for the former Yugoslavia.
CLIFF DEGROOT: Cliff DeGroot is a Partner at Holland & Knight. He focuses his practice on counseling startups on governance and general corporate matters from formation to financing to eventual sale. He has extensive experience forming and structuring corporations, limited liability companies and limited partnerships, and frequently advises clients on mergers, acquisitions and private placements of convertible notes, preferred stock, limited liability company interests and limited partnerships to angel investors, venture capital groups and private equity funds.
GENEVIEVE LEMARCHAL: Genevieve LeMarchal is the Managing Partner of Suncoast Ventures. She spearheaded Expert Dojo’s healthcare program, overseeing three full cohorts of health tech and medtech startups. This led her to become one of Southern California's most active early-stage VC investors (as recognized by Crunchbase, 2022) and the winner of the 2022 Biocom Lifescience Catalyst Award. Genevieve is passionate about innovating financial models and discovering optimized ways to structure and finance companies and deals. In her illustrious career, she has served as a Partner at a science-focused advisory and fund formation, held the position of General Partner at the Oregon-based FoundersPad VC Fund II, and co-founded the XXcelerate Fund. She also hosts the AdVentureous Podcast.
MARTIN TOBIAS: Martin Tobias is the founder of Incisive Ventures, a Pre-Seed Fund based in Seattle. Incisive Ventures invests in technology companies that reduce friction at scale, leveraging the vast network Martin built as an angel investor in over 60 companies in the sector. Among these, 4 stand out as unicorns that have collectively secured $2.5B+ in follow-on financing. Martin's entrepreneurial journey is extensive. He has invested in over 250 companies as an angel, partnered with a major VC firm, and has become a limited partner in over a dozen VC funds. Additionally, he founded the leading Angel network, Element8. With experience from Microsoft, Accenture, and as a three-time venture-backed CEO, Martin has successfully secured over $500M in funding for his companies, marking two of them with successful IPOs.
ALI JAMAL: Ali Jamal is a founding partner at First Check Ventures. With over 10 years of experience, he has held various Product and Growth roles at companies like Zynga, RockYou, Agoda, Rappi, and most recently at PayClip, one of LatAm's fastest-growing FinTech companies. He is also an accomplished angel investor, having completed more than 200 deals.
JUKKA ALANEN: Jukka Alanen is the Managing Partner of Rebellion Ventures where he focuses on helping entrepreneurs build revolutionary AI and Automation companies. Rebellion Ventures is a Silicon Valley based seed/pre-seed investment firm that helps entrepreneurs build AI and Automation startups that revolutionize operations and business models. Previously, Jukka was a senior operating executive and built three VC-backed companies to $3.5B in IPO and M&A exits. Most recently, he was SVP of Strategy, Business & Corporate Development at PagerDuty, where he helped take the company public ($2.8B IPO) and led the strategy to revolutionize digital operations with AI and Automation.
LEAH EDWARDS: Leah Edwards is the Director of Investment at Lighter Capital. She is deeply passionate about supporting startups and entrepreneurs. Leah's startup journey began as a pivotal member of the founding team of a digital marketing platform named Post Communications. Under her guidance, the platform was successfully sold for $380 million in two years. Her continued career as a serial co-founder in Enterprise Software, Marketing Automation, and Sustainability sectors led to several influential positions. Today, she dedicates her expertise to funding emerging companies, mentoring founders and executives, and providing invaluable advice to individuals, corporates, family offices, and VCs with a keen interest in startups.
ADAM SPECTOR: Adam Spector is the founder and CEO of Levy. Levy serves as the back-office operations team for founders, handling HR, finance, compliance, and equity. In his past roles, Adam was a product leader, CEO, company founder, and operations jack-of-all-trades, ensuring the engineering team could remain focused. An accomplished investor and founder, he has established four companies and invested in over 100. He takes pleasure in building stellar teams, streamlining processes, and crafting stories that unify a company around a shared mission. Helping others build successful businesses brings him joy, and he believes it positively impacts the world.
TORREY SMITH: Torrey Smith is the co-founder and CEO of Endiatx. He started his career in several medtech startups as an R&D engineer. After a decade of bringing other people's dreams and visions to life, he decided to make his own mark in the industry. His passion for sci-fi inspired him to develop the PillBot™, an innovative device set to transform the endoscopy devices market. He is also an accomplished designer and artist, with features both internationally and at the Smithsonian.
MERCEDES BANKSTON: Mercedes Bankston is the Director of the FI Silicon Valley program and an Advisor to Loyal VC. She specializes in jump-starting new business units, re-launching failed units, and rolling out new products, primarily in innovative technical companies. She is also an expert in global investments in high-potential tech startups.
MIKE SHERBAKOV: Mike Sherbakov serves as General Partner at The Veteran Fund, a pre-seed venture capital fund in Silicon Valley, and Managing Director of the FI San Diego program. As the CEO of Greatness Ventures, he led the organization to thousands of investor members and hundreds of companies in their portfolio. Their venture philanthropy arm has built homes in underdeveloped communities since 2014 and continues to lead impact trips open for the community to join. Mike previously founded three startups, helped grow two companies from $0 to over $20M, and consulted with leading brands including Fitbit, lululemon athletica, Equinox, and Qualcomm.
IHAR MAHANIOK : Ihar Mahaniok is a Managing Partner at Geek Ventures, a venture capital firm that emphasizes backing immigrant founders building US tech companies. Companies he has supported at pre-seed and seed stages include unicorns such as Instacart, PandaDoc, People.ai, Chainalysis, Airbyte, and Jeeves, among a roster of 100+ other enterprises. Ihar is deeply passionate about identifying and bolstering talented entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds, helping them realize their vision, and making a significant impact.
LISA SONG SUTTON: Lisa Song Sutton serves as a General Partner at the $20M pre-seed venture capital fund, The Veteran Fund, which invests in veteran and military spouse-led companies in the technology and dual-use spaces. Lisa Song Sutton is an entrepreneur, real estate investor, and former Miss Nevada. She began her business career working in a top Las Vegas law firm, specializing in business litigation, and subsequently ventured into creating her own companies. As a diversified entrepreneur, Lisa has scaled multiple 7- and 8-figure companies.
GUC OZENCI: Guc Ozenci is the Managing Director of the FI Washington DC program. He is a seasoned entrepreneur, technology professional, and thriving leader with strong, harmonizing people skills and a proven track record in connecting business needs with technology and innovation. Guc has co-founded a SaaS startup, raised two rounds of VC funding, and led its exit through acquisition. He is also an angel investor and advisor to multiple early-stage ventures, with valuations of follow-on rounds ranging from 3x to 7x.
JULY ANDRAOUS: July Andraous is a Managing Partner at Jambaar Capital, an inclusive, female-led fund that boosts African tech start-ups in both revenue growth and positive social impact by providing founders access to capital, networks, and partnerships. Jambaar Capital believes that unlocking the economic potential of the African continent will generate global benefits, ultimately leading to a more equitable and sustainable world.
JONATHAN GREECHAN: Jonathan Greechan is Co-Founder and CEO of the Founder Institute, the world's largest pre-seed startup accelerator. Since 2009, Jonathan has grown and scaled the organization to chapters in over 200 cities and 95 countries, which have produced over 6500 portfolio companies with nearly $2 billion in venture funding. He also serves as an Advisor to Oxford Entrepreneurs (Oxford University), Horasis, and the USC Incubator (University of Southern California). Previously, Jonathan was a Partner of TheFunded.com; Executive Producer of the Founder Showcase; and Product Manager at RealNetworks (RNWK), a company he joined after its acquisition of Game Trust (a startup that raised $18M+ in venture capital, where he built and led all marketing and content).
FounderX 2023: Agenda
FounderX was an ‘unconference’ that combined traditional conference elements in a fun and informal environment.
Day One Agenda: Wednesday, November 1st
10:30AM - 5:30PM PT @ WeWork San Mateo (400 Concar Drive) - see travel & parking info
The first day of FounderX is all about making connections in an informal setting. We will convene at WeWork for the whole day, and there will be small facilitated workshops, matched meetings, office hours, and co-working.
Please note Day 1 is not open to Enrolled Founders that were invited to FounderX.
10:30AM – 5:30PM PT:
ALL-DAY CO-WORKING AND FACILITATED OFFICE HOURS/ MEETINGS (4TH FLOOR NETWORKING SUITE)
The FounderX Networking Suite on the 4th Floor serves as the home base for the day. Coffee and drinks are available in the lobby common space.
11AM – 12PM PT:
SPEED NETWORKING (4TH FLOOR)
12PM – 1PM:
LUNCH, BY HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP (4TH FLOOR)
Holland & Knight LLP is a global law firm that provides representation in litigation, business, real estate, healthcare and governmental law.
FOURTH FLOOR NETWORKING SUITE
1PM – 2PM: Office Hours & Matched Meetings
2PM - 2:30PM: Fundraising Heuristics Workshop
Featuring Kamal Hassan (Managing Director of Loyal VC)
2:30 - 3PM: Funding and Legal Negotiations Workshop
Featuring Kamal Hassan (Managing Director of Loyal VC) and Cliff DeGroot (Partner at Holland & Knight LLP)
3PM - 4PM: Office Hours (4th Floor)
SECOND FLOOR MEETING SUITE
1PM – 1:30PM: Non-Dilutive Financing Workshop
Featuring Leah Edwards (Investment Director at Lighter Capital)
1:30PM - 2PM: ‘Managing the Unsexy Side of Startups’ Workshop
Featuring Adam Spector (Founder & CEO of Levy)
2:15PM – 4PM: Founder Institute Local Leader Summit
A private planning and discussion meeting for FI Accelerator Leaders from across the globe. Invite-only.
4PM – 5:30PM:
HAPPY HOUR NETWORKING, BY HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP
Holland & Knight LLP is a global law firm that provides representation in litigation, business, real estate, healthcare and governmental law.
DINNER:
While Founder Institute Accelerator Leaders convene for a private dinner, we recommend others dine at The Barrel Bistro & Wine Bar (246 S B Street, San Mateo) at 7PM.
Day Two Agenda: Thursday, November 2nd
8:30AM - 5:30PM PT @ Oracle Conference Center, Redwood Shores CA (afterparty 7:30 - 11PM) - see travel & parking info
The main ‘un-conference’ day takes place on Day 2, with 300 people in attendance. This single-track event will feature top Keynote speakers, engaging panels and group discussions, and plenty of opportunity for networking. The day will end with an afterparty.
8:30AM - 9:15AM PT
WELCOMING BREAKFAST, BY FIRSTBASE
Firstbase helps startups worldwide expand into the United States and confidently navigate ongoing compliance. Since YC in '21, they have helped 35,000 founders from over 175 countries to launch and grow their companies in the US.
Breakfast Menu: Scrambled eggs (cheddar cheese, chives), Potatoes, Sliced bacon, Chicken sausage, House made granola (gluten free), Sliced fruit, Yogurt, Assorted pastries
9:15AM – 9:45AM:
WELCOME & OPENING REMARKS
With Jonathan Greechan and Adeo Ressi
9:45AM – 10:15AM:
BUILDING IMPACT WITH INTERSTELLAR LAB
A presentation and Q&A discussion on building impactful companies with Barbara Belvisi (Founder & CEO at Interstellar Lab)
10:15AM – 10:25AM:
MICROROBOTICS IN THE HUMAN BODY
A demonstration by Torrey Smith (Co-Founder & CEO of Endiatx)
10:25AM – 10:35AM:
SPEED PITCHING SESSION 1
A quick-hitting showcase of pre-seed & seed-stage startups
10:35AM – 11:15AM:
INVESTOR PANEL/ GROUP DISCUSSION
With Jed Katz (Co-Founder & Managing Director at Javelin Venture Partners), Martin Tobias (Founder of Incisive Ventures), Mercedes Bankston (Director at FI Silicon Valley & Advisor at Loyal VC), July Andraous (Managing Partner at Jambaar Capital), Jukka Alanen (Managing Partner of Rebellion Ventures), and Lisa Song Sutton (General Partner at The Veteran Fund) as the moderator.
11:15AM – 12PM:
FIRESIDE CHAT WITH EVAN GOLDBERG, CO-FOUNDER OF NETSUITE
Jonathan Greechan will host a discussion with Evan Goldberg: Co-Founder of NetSuite, which was acquired by Oracle in 2016 for approximately $9.3BN. Evan now leads the Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit. He and his team are responsible for the product strategy, development, and delivery of NetSuite’s unified business management suite, encompassing ERP/Financials, CRM, ecommerce, and more.
12PM – 1PM:
BUFFET LUNCH RECEPTION, BY LOYAL
Loyal (Loyal.vc) is a global semi-liquid venture fund, designed to offer above-average returns while preserving capital, through diversification and a unique gate-stage investing process that reduces bias.
Lunch Menu: Chicken Yassa (chicken thigh, pomegranate vinegar, lemon, onions, pomegranate seeds), Spicy tofu (kale curry, potatoes, onions, masala, coriander, turmeric, tomatoes (vegan)), Steamed jasmine coconut rice (bell peppers, tomato, onions, garlic (vegan)), Akara (black eyed pea fritters, bell peppers, onions, garlic confit, flour (vegan)), Sliced baguette, Romaine salad (artichoke hearts, black olives, croutons, creamy lemon/ balsamic)
1PM – 1:45PM:
FIRESIDE CHAT DISCUSSION WITH EREN BALI, CO-FOUNDER OF UDEMY AND CARBON HEALTH
Adeo Ressi will host a discussion and open Q&A with Eren Bali. Eren co-founded Udemy in January 2010 (Silicon Valley FI Alum) and has served as a member of Udemy’s board of directors since then. He currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Carbon Health, a technology-enabled healthcare provider, which operates more than 125 brick-and-mortar clinics in 13 U.S. states.
1:45PM – 1:55PM:
WHEN STARTUPS (AND THEIR INVESTORS) SHOULD START THINKING ABOUT AN ERP
With George Ploss (Head of Venture Capital Practice and Head of Oracle NetSuite Startup Accelerator)
1:55PM – 2:05PM:
SPEED PITCHING SESSION 2
A quick-hitting showcase of pre-seed & seed-stage startups
2:05PM – 2:30PM:
HUMAN PERFORMANCE & TECHNOLOGY
A presentation and Q&A discussion with Nichol Bradford (Co-Founder and Partner at Nirmeia Collective, and Co-Founder of TransformativeTech.org)
2:30PM – 2:40PM:
QUICK BREAK & STRETCH
2:40PM – 3:20PM:
INVESTOR PANEL/ GROUP DISCUSSION
With Kamal Hassan (Managing Partner at Loyal VC), Genevieve LeMarchal (Managing Partner of Suncoast Ventures), Ali Jamal (Founding Partner at First Check Ventures), George Ploss (Head of Venture Capital Practice and Head of Oracle NetSuite Startup Accelerator), Mike Sherbakov (General Partner at The Veteran Fund), Ihar Mahaniok (Managing Partner at Geek Ventures), and Guc Ozenci (Managing Director of the FI Washington DC program) as the moderator.
3:20PM – 4PM:
FIRESIDE CHAT DISCUSSION WITH PETER PHAM, CO-FOUNDER OF SCIENCE
Adeo Ressi will host a discussion and open Q&A with Peter Pham: Co-Founder of the startup studio/incubator Science, which was behind Dollar Shave Club ($1B exit to Unilever), Liquid Death, and more. Previously an operator, he has helped companies like Photobucket as employee No. 5 (acquired by MySpace for $300M) and BillShrink as Co-Founder & CEO (acquired by MasterCard). He is also an angel advisor to companies like Nextdoor, Ring, and Medium.
4PM – 4:30PM:
FIRESIDE CHAT DISCUSSION WITH JASON CALACANIS, ANGEL INVESTOR
Adeo Ressi will host a discussion and open Q&A with Jason Calacanis: an entrepreneur, author, and angel investor in over 250 startups, including 7 "unicorns". He also hosts the popular podcasts 'This Week in Startups' and 'All-In'. Named “arguably the world’s greatest angel investor” by The Twenty Minute VC, Jason was among the early investors in companies such as Uber, Robinhood, Wealthfront, Thumbtack, and Trello.
4:30 - 5:30PM:
HAPPY HOUR RECEPTION, BY GRASSHOPPER BANK
Grasshopper Bank is a client-first digital bank built to serve the business and innovation economy.
Happy Hour Menu: Turkey romesco meatballs, Impossible meatballs (gluten free), Fresh roma tomato and basil bruschetta (vegan), House made guac and tortilla chips (vegan), Beer, Wine
7:30PM – 11PM:
AFTERPARTY, BY HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP @ DEVIL’S CANYON BREWING COMPANY (935 WASHINGTON STREET, SAN CARLOS CA)
The day ends with a Casino-themed afterparty, featuring Texas Hold’em Poker, Craps, and Blackjack (for entertainment purposes only). Light food will be available from two food trucks (TBA).
Unregistered attendees will NOT be allowed in the premises.
Holland & Knight LLP is a global law firm that provides representation in litigation, business, real estate, healthcare and governmental law.
Day Three Agenda: Friday, November 3rd
11:30AM - 2:00PM PT @ Venue TBA (Palo Alto, CA)
Please note Day 3 is not open to Enrolled Founders that were invited to FounderX.
11:30AM - 2:00PM
FAREWELL COOKOUT RECEPTION
The event will culminate with a catered, outdoor barbeque and networking event in the hills of Palo Alto. Venue is hidden and address will be shared with attendees privately via email. Parking is not available at the venue so we recommend sharing a rideshare with other attendees.