Techstars DC Startup Week: Full Schedule

DC Startup Week is free and open, but you must register here (Eventbrite) to attend. Already registered? Log in here (scroll down afterwards).

Create a profile and start building your schedule. Events are expected to fill up, so make sure to RSVP.

3:00pm EDT

Kick Off DC Startup Week!

Limited Capacity filling up

Kick off DC Startup Week 2018 with drinks, good food and great networking. We will announce the location in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Sponsors

Upside Business Travel

Upside Business Travel is the first online travel service built just for business travelers, particularly the "do-it-yourself" (DIY) business travelers who can't access special pricing or quality customer service.

Sunday September 23, 2018 3:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
Rooftop Bar - Eaton Hotel 1201 K St NW, Washington, DC, USA

Founder

9:00am EDT

Power up Breakfast

Limited Capacity seats available

Monday September 24, 2018 9:00am - 10:00am EDT
Logan Exchange 1509 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20036

Founder

10:00am EDT

Starting a Nonprofit in College: Turning Adversity Into Opportunity

Limited Capacity seats available

This session addresses the logistics, obstacles, and opportunities that arise when starting a nonprofit in college. I will draw upon my personal story to both illuminate these key points and provide a more tangible model of success. As an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I founded a nonprofit called Survivor's Best Friend (SBF) that unites shelter animals with survivors of sexual assault and/or domestic violence one adoption at a time. In this presentation, I will share how adversity can be transformed into something magical, looking at the formation of SBF as an exemplary case. I will also highlight the logistical tools necessary for beginning a nonprofit. The goal of this speech is to inspire young people to bounce back from adversity and pursue their entrepreneurial ventures no matter how far out of reach they may at first seem.

Speakers

Sophie Capshaw-Mack

Founder, Survivor's Best Friend

Sophie Capshaw-Mack is completing a post-baccalaureate program at Columbia University on United Nations Studies. In her undergraduate career, she studied philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, specializing in ethics. Her passion is for human rights and advocating... Read More →

Monday September 24, 2018 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Logan Exchange 1509 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20036

Social Impact

10:00am EDT

Building Inclusive Ecosystems with Intentionality: A Strategy to Enhance Support for DC's Women Founders

Limited Capacity filling up

The DC Women Founders Initiative will present findings on DC's entrepreneurial ecosystem and offer a series of recommendations designed to enhance support for women and new majority founders. Following a series of interviews with local resource providers and over eighty women business owners, the report's findings highlight existing best practices and offer recommendations for improved stakeholder coordination, engagement and on-ramps of support for women and minority founders. Access the full report online: bit.ly/inclusiveecosystems

Speakers

Deloris Wilson

Head of Strategy and Operations, Beacon

Deloris is an ecosystem builder, strategist, and social entrepreneur committed to promoting equity and inclusion worldwide. She has performed strategic policy, impact investment, and economic development work across six countries, impacting a range of socio-economic issues including... Read More →

Monday September 24, 2018 10:00am - 11:15am EDT
In3 2301 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001

Founder

10:00am EDT

Mentor Hours: Writing/Editing GURU

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

How can I attract more ideal clients with my web copy?
How can I use storytelling to amplify the impact of my work?
What can I do to make my technical content sound juicier?
How do I stop procrastinating and start writing?
What’s a super easy way to come up with 10+ blog or article topics related to my specialty?

Speakers

Sandra Yin

Writer, editor, and content strategist

Sandra Yin is a writer, editor, and content strategist who helps entrepreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofits that want to make a bigger difference in the world.She loves playing with words, shaping ideas, and smoothing rough edges. Her goal is to help you more powerfully convey... Read More →

Monday September 24, 2018 10:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Hera Hub DC 5028 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20016

Founder

10:00am EDT

DC GOV DAY

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

As part of DC Startup Week, 202Createsteamed up with various DC Government agencies to bring you DC Gov Day! Similar to the Co-working Day format, DC Gov Day will feature an array of workshops, networking opportunities, and drop-in sessions all hosted by various DC Government organizations. See below for the full schedule, list of speakers, & more!

https://dcgovday.splashthat.com/

Monday September 24, 2018 10:00am - 5:00pm EDT
202Creates 200 I STREET SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON DC

Founder

11:00am EDT

HireHer Panel: The Minority Majority

Limited Capacity filling up

Minorities will be the majority in 2050 according to the US Department of Labor. Embracing this inevitable change in how you develop content and scale your business will make companies more competitive. In order to remain innovative, industries must develop workplace cultures that value inclusion, and are supportive of diversity of thought and background. Leverage the insights of diverse leaders to take your firm to the top. While women and minorities in high-level executive positions serve as a pipeline to the underrepresented, its time to change the game significantly by increasing the presence of this group in the C-Suite and delivering products and services with mass appeal.

Key Takeaways:
1 Gain greater competitive advantage through the strategic recruitment of diverse talent and opening up the leadership pipeline to the C-Suite.
2 Get an ally and be an ally. Women and minorities can benefit from having an ally as a mentor, sponsor or coach to move beyond the mid-career level or jump start a business.
3 Profit matters. Build strategies to engage, retain, include, and train diverse talent to prepare for the realities of tomorrows minority majority.

Speakers

Eboné F. Bel

Editor-in-Chief, Tagg Magazine

Eboné F. Bell is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Tagg Magazine. Tagg is a to serving “everything lesbian, queer, and under the rainbow.” For the past three years, Tagg has been named Top LGBTQ-Owned Companies by the Washington Business Journal. Eboné has been immersed in... Read More →

Ruth Chandler Cook

Founder & CEO, HireHer

Ruth is an entrepreneur who leads HireHer’s efforts to connect diverse talent with innovative industries faster. Through the HireHer technology and services Ruth enables employers to recruit, engage and retain diverse talent. Likewise, STEM+ talent is positioned to find a job, mentor... Read More →

Mary DePaolo Haddid

Attorney, Helsell Fetterman LLC

Mary is a litigator from Helsell Fetterman, LLC, a 130 year old Seattle law firm. She has practiced law for 18 years and focuses on personal injury, professional-liability, construction and employment claims at the trial and appellate level. For the last two years, she has served... Read More →

Adam Mutschler

Partner, Kedar Group

Adam brings a fresh approach to Organizational Transformation. With over a decade of experience in the technology and startup space, he has an excellent understanding of how teams and leaders work in the startup world. Adam has a passion for working with aspiring leaders and teams... Read More →

DeShuna Spencer

Founder/CEO, kweliTV,

DeShuna Spencer is the Founder/CEO of kweliTV, a video streaming network that curates undiscovered and award-winning indie films, documentaries, web series and children’s programming of the global black community; and she’s a radio host/producer of emPower Hour, a weekly social... Read More →

Monday September 24, 2018 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Logan Exchange 1509 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20036

Founder

11:30am EDT

Lunch & Learn: Building Your Own Career: From Student to Entrepreneur featuring graduates of Howard University

Limited Capacity seats available

The student-hustle isn't for the faint of heart. For some, choosing to pursue entrepreneurship in or immediately following school was borne out of necessity, while for others, an opportunity opened the door. But undoubtedly for all, the Bison education and exposure helped pave the way for business success. Tune in to find out how local Howard grads have grown businesses and non-profit initiatives through experiences and networks at Howard University.

Panelists will be added this week!

Speakers

Sydne DʼLes Barard

Founder, The Baldie Revolution

Sydne DʼLes Barard is a senior at Howard University, working toward a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems. Originally from Baton Rouge, LA, Her honors and awards include a Howard University Freshman Scholarship Capstone award, a Marketing Summit Scholar, a Howard University... Read More →

Whitney Griffith

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Seamless Money

Ms. Whitney Griffith is currently a Senior Computer Science major at Howard University from Trinidad and Tobago, where she serves as the 2018-2019 Vice President of Upsilon Pi Epsilon, the only Computing and Information International Honor Society, a Howard University International... Read More →

Curry Hackett

Principal, Hackreative

Curry Hackett is a 2013 graduate of the Howard University School of Architecture, and the principal of Hackreative, an ecologically-minded studio established in 2015. Hackreative works with municipalities to promote public awareness of and accessibility to the built environment—primarily... Read More →

Evan Ward

Founder, Butler Personal Services

Evan Ward is recent graduate of Howard Universityʼs School of Business with a B.B.A. in Finance.During his tenure at Howard, Evan was actively involved in the school of businessas a member of the School of Business Executive Leadership Honors Program, the InternationalFraternity... Read More →

Deloris Wilson

Head of Strategy and Operations, Beacon

Monday September 24, 2018 11:30am - 1:00pm EDT
In3 2301 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001

Founder

1:00pm EDT

Value Mining & Saboteur Wrangling

Limited Capacity filling up

Are you just starting out or have you reached a plateau and wish to expand an area of your life? Nurture your growth mindset & make decisions that impact personal and professional relationships.

Speakers

LaTanya Eggleston, M.A.

Engagement Coach

Communication Skills Trainer & Engagement Coach. An experienced higher education professor who teaches interpersonal communication skills and public speaking skills. Extensive experience with public speaking and training globally with diverse audiences at colleges and universities... Read More →

Monday September 24, 2018 1:00pm - 1:45pm EDT
Logan Exchange 1509 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20036

Growth

1:00pm EDT

China, the Rise of Asia and Other Emerging Markets: Challenges and Opportunities for US Enterprises

Limited Capacity filling up

This workshop conducted by a top international markets and finance expert will give all attendees an opportunity to understand and discuss the dynamics at the foundation of some of the world’s fastest growing economies.

What lessons can be learned from Asian best business practices?
What will tomorrow’s global economy look like?
How can American entrepreneurs be better prepared for a new environment featuring new competitors, large and small?

Speakers

Sheldon L. Ray, Jr.

Certified Portfolio Manager and Sr. Vice President, Raymond James

Sheldon is a Certified Portfolio Manager and Sr. Vice President at Raymond James in Washington, DC. He and his partner manage a global balanced portfolio of equities and fixed income for individuals and institutions (www.rrglobalassetmanagement.com). Sheldon's analysis focuses... Read More →

Monday September 24, 2018 1:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
BAU International University

Growth

1:30pm EDT

How to Turn Your Idea Into a Money Machine

Limited Capacity filling up

Many Entrepreneurs think that sales begin once you have a perfect product to take to market. They’re wrong. Selling needs to be a consideration from the moment you have your idea. Your very next question should be how will this make money. This course will focus on all the things you need to do when your business is in the pre revenue stage to prepare you to maximize your sales when you start selling. You will leave this seminar knowing what you need to get set up to start making money in your business.This class is especially targeted to any entrepreneurs who haven’t started selling their products and are at any phase of “pre-revenue” in their company though it would also serve as a good review for any founders that have started selling their products as well.

Speakers

Richard Rothstein

Rothstein Consulting

At Rothstein Consulting, your sales success is our number one priority. Richard Rothstein has over a decade of sales experience and has sold millions of dollars as a sales person and manager in both inside and outside sales.Richard Rothstein started in retail sales in high school... Read More →

Monday September 24, 2018 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT
In3 2301 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001

Growth

2:00pm EDT

5 Questions to Ask Before Your Next Startup

Limited Capacity filling up

Whether you want to join a rockstar team or start your own company, confronting tough questions before you take the plunge is critical. Get practical tips from a DC startup veteran about how to set yourself up for success and minimize surprises in your next adventure. This session promises to include examples of gritty victories and battle scars alike.

Speakers

Lacey Loehr

Lacey Loehr is an entrepreneurial sales & marketing leader. She has worked with multiple high-growth DC startups, and is passionate about growing purpose-driven, tech-enabled companies. Lacey is a proud Hoya, obsessed with ClassPass, and her ultimate dream is to be an HGTV star.

Monday September 24, 2018 2:00pm - 2:45pm EDT
Mindspace 1301 K St NW, Washington, DC 20071

Growth

2:00pm EDT

Women = Change

Limited Capacity filling up

Businesses ignore gender at their peril. This is important externally, as you develop new products and services, and internally, as you seek to retain talent. Gender broadens perspective, so that products reflect the differential experiences of women and men. Importantly, this helps create items/services useful to more potential customers: women and men, boys and girls. It also ensures that you are developing structures that value talent and skill no matter the person’s gender.

Speakers

Stephenie Foster

Founding Partner, Smash Strategies

Stephenie Foster is a founding partner of Smash Strategies, which provides strategic advice to corporations, institutions and philanthropists to ensure that their investments in women and girls are effective and transformational. For the last five years, she served at the United... Read More →

Susan Markham

Susan Markham is a passionate advocate for gender equality and female empowerment speaking often about the essential role of women in politics and development. With experience in over 50 countries, she is a strategic leader who is appreciated for her energy, straight talk and insight... Read More →

Deloris Wilson

Head of Strategy and Operations, Beacon

Monday September 24, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Logan Exchange 1509 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20036

Growth

2:30pm EDT

Minorities in Technology: Navigating through the tech industry

Limited Capacity seats available

Want to change the game? Get in on the discussion and Q&A about the challenges of building a tech startup as a POC. Where do you begin and how do you get funding as a minority in business when less than 1% gets an opportunity.

Speakers

Mollie Q. Coleman

VP of Marketing, Noirbnb

Mollie Q. Coleman is a growth and branding architect and a leader in amplifying brands. She is a philanthropist first, socially driven entrepreneur, and experiential marketing professional with over 10+ years in her industry. She is the Founder of High Caliber Events, currently the... Read More →

Jide Ehimika

CFO & Co-Founder, Noirbnb

Jide’s passion is building innovative digital solutions for interesting problems. His entrepreneurship journey began 20 years ago when he started a neighborhood delivery service in his underserved Baltimore community while in middle school. This spirit of helping solve problems... Read More →

Stef Grant

CEIO & Co-Founder, Noirbnb

Stefan is the Founder & CEO of Noirbnb, a vacation and short-term rental company created for the African diaspora and other people of color. Stefan was inspired to start Noirbnb due to discrimination he and others faced while using Airbnb. Noirbnb is meant to be a safe and welcoming... Read More →

Monday September 24, 2018 2:30pm - 3:30pm EDT
In3 2301 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001

Technology

3:00pm EDT

The Path to MVP: Building Software with Limited Resources

Limited Capacity filling up

You have a brilliant idea for the next big app. But before you spend tens of thousands of dollars into it, you want an MVP to show off and validate your assumptions.

At Hatch Apps, we’ve been there. When we started the company, we had limited resources and a huge vision, so we learned to start small: With an MVP. By leveraging pre-sales, contract labor, and getting everyone to contribute to the codebase, we were able to build out a product that got us to our next step. All it takes is a little creativity.

Join us for this talk on strategies to get you to that almighty MVP, and to get on the path to achieving your vision.

Speakers

Param Jaggi

CEO, Hatch Apps

Param is the CEO of Hatch Apps, a company working to democratize the software development industry. Before Hatch, Param invented and sold a patented device that reduces carbon dioxide emissions from the exhaust pipe of a car.Param has been listed twice as one of Forbes’ 30 Under... Read More →

Monday September 24, 2018 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
Mindspace 1301 K St NW, Washington, DC 20071

Founder

3:00pm EDT

Learn How to Maximize Mentorship Relationships

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

We already know that mentorship relationships can be game-changers in our personal and professional lives, but rarely do we hear what to look for and how to effectively engage to yield the greatest benefit. Hear from some of DC's most successful female mentors (who are also mentees in many cases) about their best practices experienced list of Do's and Don't's for engaging and enlisting mentors. Getting this right could mean the difference between "celebrating five years in business!" and "well, at least I tried..." #womenhelpingwomen

Moderators

Lindsey Mask

Founder, Ladies America

Lindsey Mask recently joined G2 Global Solutions, a multi-certified provider of comprehensive solutions to federal, state, and private sectors and the nation’s intelligence community as a communications specialist to support the Office of Security and Strategic Information (OSSI... Read More →

Speakers

Amy Banocy

CEO, Ignite Your Passion

Amy is the CEO of a Million Dollar International organization. She is an experienced leader, a self-proclaimed personal development enthusiast and mom to 3 boys who keep her on her toes. Amy has coached thousands of women in business, toward greater personal and professional success... Read More →

Janice Omadeke

CEO & Founder, The Mentor Method

Janice Omadeke is the CEO and Founder of The Mentor Method, an enterprise SaaS platform that's helping companies increase their inclusion and retention of diverse talent. Her company is a MassChallenge Texas Gold Winner and has been featured in The Washington Business Journal, Entrepreneur Magazine, is a Startup to Watch in 2018 from DC Inno, and a 2018 Tech.Co Startup of the Year nominee. Janice served as a DC Ambassador at SXSW, was selected to attend The White House Summit on Buildi... Read More →

Jean Schindler

Chief of Staff, Muslim American Leadership Alliance (MALA)

Jean Schindler serves as Chief of Staff for the Muslim American Leadership Alliance (MALA), a national organization committed to promoting individual freedom and diversity, and to celebrating Muslim American heritage. She has over a decade of experience driving organizational growth... Read More →

Monday September 24, 2018 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
Logan Exchange 1509 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20036

Growth

4:00pm EDT

Where do I Start with My Start-Up?

Limited Capacity seats available

Starting a business in 2019? Started a business and want a refresher on key legal considerations for your business? This workshop will discuss key legal issues for your small business to consider to limit your legal risks. The following topics will be discussed:

-Which business structure should your company choose?
-What legal documents do you need to complete to start a business in DC?
-What factors go into classifying workers as independent contractors vs. employees?
-What steps can you take to protect your intellectual property?
-What should you consider before hiring employees?
-What legal requirements should you consider when securing grant funding?

Speakers

Toya Carmichael

Toya Carmichael, Esq. is a grant writer with a true passion for service organizations. Toya is a Past Chair of the Washington Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. Currently, Toya fulfills her civic duties as a Commissioner for The DC Commission for Long Term Health, a Board... Read More →

Jessica Childress

Managing Attorney and Founder, Childress Firm PLLC

Ms. Childress is the managing attorney and founder of the Childress Firm PLLC, an employment law firm based in Washington, D.C. Ms. Childress holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government and African American Studies from the University of Virginia and a Juris Doctor from the University... Read More →

Lucrecia P. Johnson

Founder & Managing Attorney, LPJ Legal PLLC

Lucrecia P. Johnson, Esq. LL.M. brings a breadth of legal experience to her position as the managing attorney and founder of LPJ Legal, a law firm based in Washington, DC.As a solo practitioner, she represents clients in all aspects of business law and education law. Ms. Johnson handles... Read More →

Kendell Renee Kelly

Lifestyle Lawyer, Heather Beverly

Kendell Renee Kelly is a Lifestyle LawyerTM and strategist specializing in the intellectual property, business, sports and entertainment industries.On the road to creating that area of practice, Kendell was accepted into a dual-degree program on a NASA scholarship and went away to... Read More →

Monday September 24, 2018 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Mindspace 1301 K St NW, Washington, DC 20071

Founder

4:00pm EDT

Panel: How to build a B2B sales team

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

How do you hire your first sales reps? How do you manage them? What resources will you need in order to enable their success? These are critical questions in the early days of any B2B startup. In this panel, we'll hear from sales leaders who have built sales teams from the ground up. We’ll chat about keys to success, and what they would have done differently if given the chance. You'll walk away with an understanding of how sales leaders think about building high-impact sales operations, and ready to start building your own sales team.

Speakers

Lizzie Baird

Director of Sales, WeddingWire

Lizzie Baird is the Director of Sales at WeddingWire for the North American CORE New Business Team. She started with the company in 2009 as a Sales Associate during its start up phase. 9 years later, WeddingWire is the largest global online marketplace for the wedding industry. WeddingWire's... Read More →

Tripp Brockway

Vice President of Sales, TrackMaven

Tripp Brockway is the Vice President of Sales at TrackMaven, a marketing analytics firm in DC. Tripp manages the sales team and leads growth through new customer acquisition and partnerships.He has held various sales roles at TrackMaven since he joined the company as a sales development... Read More →

Amelia Friedman

COO, Hatch Apps

Amelia is co-founder and COO at Hatch Apps, an automated software development company enabling business leaders to launch a custom app on iOS, Android and web for a fraction of the cost of hiring a software development firm. Hatch Apps is funded by Revolution’s Rise of the Rest... Read More →

Kalliopi Vlastos

VP of Sales, Hatch Apps

Kalliopi Vlastos is VP Sales at Hatch Apps, a platform that empowers businesses and entrepreneurs to deploy native apps without coding. Prior to joining Hatch Apps, she was VP Sales at GoCanvas, a company she joined in 2011 as their first sales rep. Kalliopi played a key role in growing... Read More →

Monday September 24, 2018 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Logan Exchange 1509 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20036

Growth

4:00pm EDT

#MondayMotivation Happy Hour

Limited Capacity filling up

There is no better way to start of the week than with a Happy Hour! Join us for a #MotivationalMonday with networking and Happy Hour at HalfSmoke for 50% off drinks and 20% off food.

Happy Hour is brought to you by WorkChew.

Monday September 24, 2018 4:00pm - 6:30pm EDT
HalfSmoke 651 Florida Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001

Growth

5:00pm EDT

Inaugural Day Happy Hours !!

Limited Capacity filling up

Kick of DC Startup Week with drinks, food and networking with Mindspace and AtWork Systems. You will be able to check out Mindspace’s first office in DC, and learn how AtWork Systems is offering an innovative back office solution to its members.

Monday September 24, 2018 5:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Mindspace 1301 K St NW, Washington, DC 20071

Growth

8:30am EDT

Meeting the challenges of hiring service providers and gig economy professionals

Limited Capacity filling up

Start the day off with coffee, croissants and session on how to meet the challenge of hiring service providers and gig economy professionals.

A recognized trend in business today is the growing use of outsourced service providers and gig economy workers to augment their full time staff. Navigating through the variety of options for identifying and bringing onboard qualified and vetted professionals (CFO’s accountants, PMs, Legal, Marketing, HR, etc.) can be a challenge. Effectively integrating them into your organization can be an even greater challenge. Join Ron as he describes the best practices he has learned during his years as an entrepreneur and as a Fortune 100 executive.

Speakers

Ronald Lewis

Founder, AtWork Systems

Ronald Lewis is a serial entrepreneur with experience in IT and management consulting. In 2015, after 20 years of working as a CIO and CTO at various Fortune 100s he co-founded his first company, Intelligent Technologies, Inc.. ITI is a cyber security and operational consulting... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 8:30am - 9:45am EDT
1776 DC

Growth

9:00am EDT

202Creates Co-Working Day!

Limited Capacity seats available

Apply

Each month, the 202Creates team invites the District's creatives and entrepreneurs to work out of OCTFME's Southeast office, meet fellow creatives & folks in our Residency Program, attend skill-building sessions, tinker in our Podcast and Photography Studios, get drop-in support for specific business or legal questions, share thoughts & experiences during round tables, and more!

Find out more here!

Tuesday September 25, 2018 9:00am - 8:00pm EDT
202Creates 200 I STREET SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON DC

Growth

9:30am EDT

Grow, Build Sustain: A Peer and Resource Exchange for African American Women Founders

Limited Capacity filling up

D.C. is one of the fastest growing jurisdictions for women-owned businesses. Despite starting new businesses at higher rates, African American women, in particular, face the widest discrepancies; earning the least amount of revenue, and closing their businesses at a faster rate. Alternative investments, peer exchanges and local policies are emerging to close these gaps. During this session, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc.

Metropolitan Washington DC Chapter invites women founders of color and those who support their journey, to join an intimate session amongst women entrepreneurs who are making an impact in their community and the resource providers supporting their journey. Come learn, share and access a network that can take your vision and talent to the next level.

Moderators

Mariko Bennett

Founder and president, COCO B.

After a successful career spanning nearly two decades, Mariko was ready for a new challenge. She transitioned her career as a corporate political affairs leader in Washington, D.C. for Fortune 500 companies and built her next career from the ground up. As founder and president... Read More →

Speakers

Yvette M. Alexander

Member, Council of the District of Columbia

The Honorable Yvette M. Alexander has been a member of the Council of the District of Columbia since 2007. In 2015-2016, she served as Chair of the Committee on Health and Human Services, which has oversight of a $4.5 Billion budget that includes the following agencies; Department... Read More →

Sharon Jackson Bland

President, Indigo Mid-Atlantic

Ms. Bland has more 20 years of project management and consulting experience in the DC area engineering, real estate development, and construction and program management markets. Of particular note is her expertise with various DC Government agencies, the U.S. General Services Administration... Read More →

Lauren Buckner

Owner, Body By Buckner

Lauren is the owner of Body By Buckner, a boutique fitness studio located in the heart of DC on Benning Road, NE where she specializes in customized, small group training. As a competitive collegiate track and field sprinter and professional dancer in both the U.S. and South America... Read More →

Natalie Cofield

Founder, Walker's Legacy

An honors tech graduate (where she was mentored by CIOs of two of America's leading Fortune 500 companies) Natalie has leveraged her experience coding to build a career centered on empowering businesses, entrepreneurs, women, and underrepresented communities. From Google to the... Read More →

Camille A. John

Senior Vice President Business Strategy, Global Commercial Bank

Camille has contributed 15 years of leadership to the financial services industry. She leads as a SVP; Business Strategy and Initiatives Manager within the Global Commercial Bank at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. In this role, Camille influences GCB revenue growth through new client... Read More →

Camille Kashaka

Director, Anacostia Arts Center

Camille Kashaka is the Director of the Anacostia Arts Center, a project of ARCH Development Corporation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the revitalization of Historic Anacostia in Washington, DC. She obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Administration from Howard... Read More →

Melissa Resil

Business Certification Manager, DC Department of Small and Local Business Development

Ms. Resil has served in the District of Columbia Government for fifteen years. She is currently the Business Certification Manager for the Certified Business Enterprise (CBE) program within the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD). Prior to her assignment... Read More →

Ayris T. Scales

Director, Office of Partnerships and Grant Services

Ayris is a highly sought after policy leader and strategic initiatives activator, with a knack for quickly assessing structural challenges and navigating organizations through periods of rapid change, re-alignment and establishing credibility to authentically expand operations, investments... Read More →

Angela Chester –Johnson

Chief Executive Officer, Plum Good LLC

Angela Chester –Johnson currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Plum Good LLC. (www.plum-good.com) where she creates flavors for life with herbs, spices, sauces and teas. Before launching her business, Angela enjoyed a career in international affairs; as a technical writer, policy analyst, Africa advocate, and trade and business development consultant. She specialized in building cap... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 9:30am - 11:30am EDT
Anacostia Arts Center 1231 Good Hope Rd SE, Washington, DC 20020

Founder

10:00am EDT

Scale Yourself From Founder To CEO

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Scaling your business is a well worn topic but in order to scale your business you have to be ready to scale yourself. Join Adam as he shares skills and behaviors founders should practice to evolve from found to executive as their business grows.

Speakers

Adam Mutschler

Partner, Kedar Group

Tuesday September 25, 2018 10:00am - 10:45am EDT
1776 DC

Growth

10:00am EDT

Building culture in the age of Social Media

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

It’s no secret we live in a digitally infused world. Not convinced? Put your phone down, lift your head up, and observe your surroundings. Whether on a city sidewalk, at a restaurant, in an office, or even in the home, people are consistently connected to their smart devices. Remember a world when the phrase “do it for the gram!” wasn’t a thing? Although that time isn’t too far in past, the rate at which digital connectivity is accelerating means we have to evolve to manage (better, leverage) this new facet of society, or else it will become a burden. So what does this all mean for startup founders and their teams? Let’s take a deep dive!

Speakers

Grant Leonard

Founder, The Grant Leonard Group

Alexandria, VA born and raised. Graduated Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business in 2014 with a Marketing Management degree. Became the 7th employee at a Tysons startup as Marketing Associate in August 2014 with the core task of managing the company’s social media presence... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Spaces, Arlington, VA 1101 Wilson Blvd, 6th, 8th and 9th Floors Arlington, VA 22209, USA

Growth

10:00am EDT

Microsoft's Magic Toolbox: Data Management, Data Visualization and Process Automation to Streamline Everything!

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Have you ever daydreamed about what life would be like if you could clone yourself, or have your own personal assistant? In this workshop, you will make a simple version of the system that I used in a previous role to transform myself from a beleaguered IT asset manager overwhelmed by countless requests, to the confident administrator of an automated system managing over a million dollars of IT procurement requests for 18 field offices across 4 continents. Image what this technology could do for you!

This workshop you will learn Microsoft tools: SharePoint for data management, Power BI for data visualization, PowerApps for user-interfaces and Flow for automation.

Speakers

Tammie Harrison

IT consultant, North Highland

Tammie Harrison, an IT consultant at North Highland, is a passionate advocate for data-driven decision making and business process improvement to propel positive transformation for organizations. She has over 7 years of experience applying a philosophy of data transparency and process... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
General Assembly

Growth

10:00am EDT

Mentor Hours: Setting Bolder Goals GURU

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Sign up for a 30-minute mentor session with Emily here: https://settingboldergoalsmentorherahubdc.eventbrite.com

You may want to ask Emily questions related to:

How can I overcome the obstacles that hold me back from growing my business?
What are 3 things I can do to change my mindset?
How do I set bolder goals?

Speakers

Emily Barrosse

Emily Barrosse is a business coach who specializes in helping entrepreneurs set bolder goals for themselves by developing the skill of confidence and bold self-belief. Emily works with her clients to not only set bolder goals, but actually implement them through identifying those... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 10:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Hera Hub DC 5028 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20016

Founder

11:00am EDT

Adopting a Coaching Mindset

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

This session is about the importance of creating a culture of mindful feedback so you can get best results from your team. It starts with making a distinction between ‘coaching’ & ‘supervising’ and the different results you get from each. You will learn about the importance of learning to let go and allowing others to create / lead.

Speakers

Leigh DeWulf

Chief Coach, HR.Coach

Leigh DeWulf is an executive-level human resources professional and a master coach with a passion for building profitable companies by creating highly effective people programs. She takes a hands-on approach to establishing systems that readily adapt to a company’s evolution. Leigh... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 11:00am - 11:45am EDT
Spaces, Arlington, VA 1101 Wilson Blvd, 6th, 8th and 9th Floors Arlington, VA 22209, USA

Growth

about www.HR.coach

11:00am EDT

Pitch Deck & Fundraising Consideration

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

This session will review through content & design considerations for the various types of decks you should have before fundraising.

Speakers

Gira Wieczorek

Founder & Managing Partner, Aleberry

Gira is a Founder & Managing Partner of Aleberry where she helps startups navigate the fundraising process. Aleberry has helped companies raise over $200M and works alongside VCs, accelerators, and founders.

Tuesday September 25, 2018 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
1776 DC

Growth

11:30am EDT

What Makes My Startup Investable?

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Seed-stage founders share their thoughts and experiences on getting their first round of recent funding.

Speakers

Amu Fowler

Startups Ignite

Where vision meets doingness. An ecosystem creating programs and communities to accelerate #startup ventures.

William Goulding

Founder, BlackbookApp

Founder of BlackbookApp which brings mobile ordering to busy bars and venues. Prior experience working in private equity, design and banking.

Samantha Scott Ph.D

Founder, JuneBrain

Founder of a start-up company developing a wearable imaging device that provides non-invasive measurement of retinal pathology to help monitor eye and brain health in multiple sclerosis patients.

Kendrick Pullen

Co-founder, LifeTagger

Kendrick Pullen is the co-founder of LifeTagger, a content sharing platform that augments our users connection to their community based on their proximity to any person, place, thing, or idea.

Tuesday September 25, 2018 11:30am - 12:30pm EDT
Industrious, Bethesda, MD 7200 Wisconsin Ave NW Suite 500 (5th floor) Bethesda, MD 20814

Growth

12:00pm EDT

Founder & Investor Lunch

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Founders: Are you looking to raise capital?
Investors: Are you looking for the next startup to invest it?

If yes, this is the event for you! We will be bringing together investors and founders for lunch at Industrious.

Tuesday September 25, 2018 12:00pm - 1:30pm EDT
Industrious, Bethesda, MD 7200 Wisconsin Ave NW Suite 500 (5th floor) Bethesda, MD 20814

Founder

12:00pm EDT

Lunch & Learn: How to Create Team Culture

Limited Capacity filling up

Join us for Wiseguy's pizza and a panel discussion on best practices on how to create a team culture.

Lunch is sponsored by Justworks.

Moderators

Sara Ashman

Account Executive, Justworks

Sara Ashman is an Account Executive at Justworks who has been on the DC regional team at Justworks for over a year. Justworks takes the busyness out of running a business. Founded in 2012, Justworks, the fastest growing HR technology company, helps entrepreneurs and businesses grow... Read More →

Speakers

Shanaz Chowdhery

General Manager, Alternative Education, Vemo Education

Shanaz firmly believes that education is the most powerful vehicle of economic mobility after experiencing firsthand the transformative power of education. The first in her entire family to attend college, Shanaz earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology with Honors from Yale. After... Read More →

Chris Cummings

CEO, Curiosity Media

Chris is the founder and CEO of Curiosity Media, a leader in online language education. Curiosity Media’s flagship property, SpanishDict.com, is the world’s largest Spanish reference and learning website, helping over one hundred million people improve their Spanish or English... Read More →

Torin Ellis

Diversity strategist, TORINELLIS

Torin is a diversity strategist, published author, and contributor on SiriusXM.As a tenured practitioner, he addresses diversity strategy through the leadership lens. Engagements range from surgically sourcing and securing high impact talent, curating conversations around bias/race... Read More →

David Stillman

CEO, ExecVision

David Stillman is an experienced entrepreneur and executive who has spent building and scaling companies with sales focused service offerings. After graduating from University of Michigan, David began his career in sales at CEB, but quickly moved on to found Vorsight. Under David’s... Read More →

Kalliopi Vlastos

VP of Sales, Hatch Apps

Tuesday September 25, 2018 12:00pm - 1:30pm EDT
Spaces, Arlington, VA 1101 Wilson Blvd, 6th, 8th and 9th Floors Arlington, VA 22209, USA

Growth

12:00pm EDT

Lunch & Learn: Machine Learning with Amazon SageMaker

Limited Capacity seats available

In this session you will learn how to use Amazon SageMaker to build, train, test, and deploy a machine learning model. We will use a real life use case to share the simplicity of building and deploying ML models on Amazon SageMaker.

Speakers

Mona Mona

Associate Solutions Architect, Amazon Web Services

Mona is a Solution Architect working with AWS Worldwide Public Sector customers.She has her interest in Big Data Analytics and Machine learning . She is currently involved in writing blog post for AI/ML based services. She has been actively involved in AI/ML immersion days and AWS... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 12:00pm - 1:30pm EDT
AWS - Washington DC

Technology, Developer

12:15pm EDT

Lunch!

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Join us for lunch and old ole networking as a break in between sessions!

Lunch sponsored by Venture Count.

Tuesday September 25, 2018 12:15pm - 1:45pm EDT
1776 DC

Growth

1:00pm EDT

Techstars Presents: How to Give a GREAT Elevator Pitch

Limited Capacity filling up

Speakers

Ryan Kuder

Managing Director, Techstars

Ryan is Managing Director at Techstars, the global startup ecosystem that helps entrepreneurs build great businesses. He currently runs Techstars’ first virtual accelerator, Techstars Anywhere. Previously he launched and ran both the Qualcomm Robotics Accelerator, powered by Techstars... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Google

Founder

1:00pm EDT

Mentor Hours: Website GURU

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Sign up for mentor hours with Archana here: https://websitementorhoursherahubdc.eventbrite.com

You may want to ask Archana questions related to:

Am I effectively communicating what I want to my intended audience?
Would you review my website and provide me with some tips?
What can I do to reach more people through my website?

Speakers

Archana Mehta

Owner and principal, AM Strategies, Inc.

Archana Mehta is owner and principal of AM Strategies, Inc., a Washington, DC-based marketing and communications firm designed to make your business more innovative and competitive in the new digital marketplace. Ms. Mehta has worked in a number of companies, including Fortune 100... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 1:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Hera Hub DC 5028 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20016

Founder

2:00pm EDT

How to know what your customers want before building your product

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

In this session you will:
1) Discover the The Five Step process you must follow before building your first product.
2) Learn the right technique to differentiate your product from competitors
3) Discover the method to assign value and price to your product before building it
4) How to use "My Amazon Process" to learn what customer are looking for!

Speakers

Ebong Eka

President, Ericorp Consulting, Inc.

Ebong is a certified public accountant, business growth & digital marketing entrepreneur and small business expert who regularly appears on MSNBC, Fox News, Fox Business Channel, China Global Television Network, i24News and CNN.He is a keynote speaker in business and leadership in... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 2:00pm - 2:45pm EDT
1776 DC

Founder

2:00pm EDT

Risky Business: Developing Risk Management Plan for New Startups

Limited Capacity seats available

Do you have a plan for when your systems are down or your supplier doesn’t deliver? What risk components are critical to meet your business objective? This session teaches entrepreneurs the importance of risk management. This includes risk appetite, how to prioritize risks and not get bogged down by it all.

Speakers

John Morada

Head of Marketing, Agile Stacks

John is a Computer Science graduate from a DC university and did his MBA in Chicago. He started his career at the National Institutes of Health. The majority of his career was in management and technology consulting for several Big 4 firms. What he really enjoys is the amazing growth... Read More →

Kelly Siu

Multifamily Assurance & Monitoring Manager, Freddie Mac

Kelly Siu holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems and Master of Science in Management from American University. Kelly is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners to reduce the incidence of fraud and white-collar crime. Upon graduating from American... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Spaces, Arlington, VA 1101 Wilson Blvd, 6th, 8th and 9th Floors Arlington, VA 22209, USA

Growth

2:00pm EDT

Techstars Presents: A Fireside Chat with Marcus Bullock

Limited Capacity seats available

Speakers

Marcus Bullock

founder and CEO, Flikshop

Marcus Bullock is a justice reform advocate, public speaker, and entrepreneur. Following his 2004 release from prison, he launched a painting company and is now CEO of Perspectives Premier Contractors, which employs other returning citizens. Bullock is founder and CEO of Flikshop... Read More →

Ryan Kuder

Managing Director, Techstars

Tuesday September 25, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Google

Growth

3:00pm EDT

How to Make the Right Software Development Choice for your Business

Limited Capacity seats available

By 2020, global mobile app downloads will reach 284 billion, making mobile apps even more of an industry standard than they are today. Whether you’re an entrepreneur launching your company from the ground up, an established business leader looking to reach new audiences, or a manager seeking to enrich internal operations, mobile and web apps can offer powerful solutions - if implemented effectively. This talk covers explanations of the software development options available (e.g. dev firm, in-house developers, freelancers, offshore, online tools) as well as key evaluation criteria such as time, cost, maintenance, reliability, and customization. Come with questions– this is intended as an actionable discussion to help you move your development projects forward.

Speakers

Amelia Friedman

COO, Hatch Apps

Tuesday September 25, 2018 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
1776 DC

Growth

3:00pm EDT

Techstars Presents: Raising Money When There's Not A Lot of Money Around

Limited Capacity filling up

Speakers

Warren Katz

Managing Director, Techstars

Warren Katz is Managing Director of Techstars Autonomous Technology Accelerator with the US Air Force, a partnership to increase engagement between startups with state-of-the-art counter-drone technologies and the Department of Defense.Immediately prior to that, he was President of... Read More →

Ryan Kuder

Managing Director, Techstars

Tuesday September 25, 2018 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
Google

Growth

3:00pm EDT

Personalized Digital Marketing

Limited Capacity filling up

Lay the foundation for 1:1 marketing and would like to share what personalization means to us from a marketer’s perspective.

Speakers

Dipen Patel

Director of Marketing & Data Platform, Capital One

As the Director of Marketing & Data Platform for Capital One Card, Dipen Patel leads large-scale marketing platform initiatives, proactively driving and executing both direct and digital marketing data products, platforms and strategies to advance the customer experience. He provides... Read More →

Naveen Singhal

Head of Marketing Technology, Capital One

Head of Marketing Technology at Capital One, driving the transformation of Digital Marketing Technology infrastructure supporting the Card business at Capital One.

Tuesday September 25, 2018 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
Spaces, Arlington, VA 1101 Wilson Blvd, 6th, 8th and 9th Floors Arlington, VA 22209, USA

Technology, Developer

4:00pm EDT

Techstars Presents: Non-Dilutive Funding from Government and Grants

Limited Capacity seats available

This session will go over the basics of the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR),
including a new, less cumbersome variant pioneered by the Air Force."

Speakers

Warren Katz

Managing Director, Techstars

Tuesday September 25, 2018 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Google

Founder

4:00pm EDT

Panel: How to build and manage an engineering team

Limited Capacity filling up

So you’re gearing up to build your engineering team. You’ve got an idea, and maybe even a couple developers. But now you’re ready to invest in really building out your engineering team. So where do you find developers? How do you get them excited about a role at your company? And how do you vet their technical chops? Our panel of CTOs and engineering leads will help you understand their processes for recruiting and interviewing, and share their advice on how to make a engineering successful hire.

Speakers

Devin Andrews

Lead Developer, Hatch Apps

Devin leads the engineering team at Hatch Apps, and is responsible for architecting the product, contributing the codebase, and leading the engineering team. For the past 7 years he has worked on several engineering teams for companies ranging in size from start-ups to large businesses... Read More →

Emily Dresner

CTO, Upside Travel

Prior to joining Upside, Emily held the role of Director of Product Engineering for Luminal, Inc. (DBA Fugue), a forward-thinking Cloud Computing startup where she was responsible for Product Engineering teams, DevOps, QA and IT. At Luminal, she focused on hiring, engineering process... Read More →

Amelia Friedman

COO, Hatch Apps

Julia Poladsky

Director of Front End Engineering, Wireless Registry

Julia Poladsky is the Queen of Software Development and Director of Front End Engineering at Wireless Registry. She oversees a team of awesome engineers and designers working on web apps and data visualizations. Julia first got into software development as a teenager. Since then... Read More →

Swamy R

CTO, Sandboxx

Swamy began his career in India as a teacher in 1998 before he moved to the United States in 2001. He joined Xceedium Inc, a New York based startup specializing in network security software and identity management solutions. In 2002 He joined the University Of Louisville to pursue... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
1776 DC

Growth

4:00pm EDT

Using entrepreneurship to assist refugees and vulnerable communities

Limited Capacity filling up

Using entrepreneurship as a means of including (financially and socially) traditionally marginalized communities in business models when creating new startup. The workshop draws from Lina's experience in building dafero, a consumer packaged goods startup employing refugee women to make dates-based delicacies such as date spread. The session will cover how to create a high-growth startup and a product consumers love, while including practices such as refugee employment and social assistance in your business model.

Speakers

Lina Zdruli

Social Business Strategist

Lina Zdruli is a Social Business Strategist (TM), helping international development institutions, companies, NGOs and governments collaborate to develop technology and thinking-by-design-driven solutions to solve their greatest global challenges. By managing value chains, developing... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Spaces, Arlington, VA 1101 Wilson Blvd, 6th, 8th and 9th Floors Arlington, VA 22209, USA

Social Impact

4:30pm EDT

Become a Kidpreneur!

Limited Capacity seats available

As an entrepreneur, it can be hard to describe exactly what you do to your kids. We provide that the best way to explain what their parents do is by teaching the young ones how they can be entrepreneurs themselves. We outline some basic concepts and strategies kids to understand and build a foundation of entrepreneurship. We will go through the concept but also the values and characteristics for an entrepreneur, we take a look at the importance of building teamwork from a young age and the most important to continue the ethos at home.

This program is intended for children between the ages of 7 years and 12 years old.

Speakers

Yurani Sandoval

Founder, SingleParentPower

Yurani Sandoval is the Founder of SingleParentPower, the only one-stop-shop bilingual, diverse and inclusive community for single parents in the greater D.C. area. SingleParentPower designs an entrepreneurial workshops for kids as a strategy to support entrepreneur parents and single... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 4:30pm - 5:30pm EDT
Hera Hub DC 5028 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20016

Founder, Kidpreneur

5:00pm EDT

Does business school make sense for you?

Limited Capacity seats available

Does business school make sense for those pursuing entrepreneurial routes?

Business schools have steadily been developing entrepreneurial programs yet some Venture Capitalists and other Silicon Valley denizens claim they won't invest in startups led by MBAs. Who's right?

Does an MBA make sense for you? Come see and hear our panel of entrepreneurs with MBAs tell how the degree helped--or maybe hurt--them.

Speakers

Maurice Bakley

Chief Revenue Officer, Education Week

Maurice Bakley currently serves as Chief Revenue Officer at Education Week, where he leads the organization's growth strategy in the media and information sector, and is active in NextGen Venture Partners, a network driven investment firm. Prior to joining Education Week, he was President... Read More →

Stefan Bielski

Founder, Professions on Purpose

Stefan Bielski caught the startup bug early, at 18 joining one as its first full-time employee. He covered entrepreneurship as a journalist, served as an AmCham Small Business co-chair, with Entrepreneur in Residencies at GU and aboard Coboat. His own founded companies include magazines... Read More →

Adam Segal

Co-Founder and CEO, Cove

Adam is the cofounder and ceo of cove, a startup on a mission to make work more local and friendly by building a network of neighborhood workspaces. In five years, cove has gone from a graduate school business plan to a multi-city company with thousands of users, Series A venture capital, and a great team of 40+ peopl... Read More →

Francie Wasser

CEO and Founder, FranciePants

Francie Wasser is the CEO and Founder of FranciePants, a line of body-positive, size-inclusive 100% cotton undergarments for women which are are not only healthy, but also beautiful, so that women need not compromise on style in order to care for their bodies. Francie is the creator... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
1776 DC

Founder

5:00pm EDT

Techstars Accelerators Meet and Greet and Q&A with Techstars Managing Directors

Limited Capacity seats available

Meet & Greet with Techstars Managing Directors and explore startup opportunities.

Speakers

Warren Katz

Managing Director, Techstars

Ryan Kuder

Managing Director, Techstars

Tuesday September 25, 2018 5:00pm - 6:15pm EDT
Google

Founder

5:00pm EDT

Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality & the Future of Content Marketing

Limited Capacity filling up

Join us for happy hour and demos of the latest VR/AR technologies. You will hear from thought leaders discussing how content marketing for enterprise business is changing rapidly.

They will discuss how businesses are using these new, auspicious technologies to engage their audiences with meaningful media and what will the Content Marketing landscape look like in the future.

Moderators

Benjamin Ross

Chief Executive Officer, Metamer Productions

Ben was an early adopter of Virtual Reality and Spherical Video, helping to pioneer best practices while developing some of the medium’s first graphics-heavy, interactive, high-quality work. He continues to be an emerging technology obsessive, managing development of Machine Learning... Read More →

Speakers

David Bittner

Director of Immersive Technology, Metamer Productions

David produces, directs, shoots, and edits Traditional Video and VR content for national and international brands including Discovery Communications, NASA, Capital One, the Washington Wizards, and Deloitte. David has been at the forefront of VR technology for its existence, and helped... Read More →

Joey Cathy

Founder & Chief Experience Designer, Capitol Interactive/DCVR

Joseph has created VR, AR, and 360 experiences for Discovery Communications, US Postal Service, and AARP. He has lectured on the use cases of virtual reality for numerous events and organizations, as well as on User Experience Design for VR at UMBC and on VR as a tool for public diplomacy... Read More →

Rob Cloutier

Founder, Digital History Studios

Rob Cloutier, owner of Digital History Studios has been a 3D cinematic animator and compositor for the past 25+ years, 12 of which had been in the computer gaming field. He has worked on several high profile games such as Sid Meier's Civilization IV, Sid Meier's Pirates, Sid Meier's... Read More →

Emma Mankey Hidem

Founder & CEO, SunnysideVR

Emma has been producing media for over a decade, specializing in non-fiction media of all kinds, including documentary, news, corporate, and interactive media. She has had the privilege to work with and learn from talented documentarians such as Ross Kauffman (Born Into Brothels... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 5:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
Alley powered by Verizon 2055 L St NW suite 400, Washington, DC 20036

Developer

6:30pm EDT

Fuck Up Nights

Limited Capacity filling up

FuckUp Nights is a global movement where stories of failed businesses and projects are shared, questioned and celebrated. Attendees and presenters are not afraid to use the f* word. Events bring together three (3) speakers ready to share their failure stories with an audience of people ready to be inspired by these.

Light food & drinks will be served.

Moderators

Vanessa Ferragut

Founder, Greenease

Vanessa Ferragut, CMP is a Sustainable Event and Meeting Planner in Washington, DC. She is the founder of Ferragut Event Group, LLC, an event planning company that focuses on sustainable meetings and events. Vanessa is also a local foods enthusiast and Founder of Greenease, Inc... Read More →

Speakers

Andrew Garcia

CTO/Co-Founder, Goodshuffle

Andrew's experience ranges from running a sound & lighting rental company in Austin to a specialization in big data analysis and data visualization. A diversity of experience, from co-founding a record label to graduating with a degree in Computer Science, seems to be a recurring... Read More →

Josh Lewis

JGL

Josh Lewis started JGL a few years after graduating Engineering school hoping to make a positive difference in the way customers are treated in the roofing world. His vision was to create an honest company you would have no problems referring to your mother. He also leads JGL in giving... Read More →

Philip DiMuro & Dave Phelan

Co-Founders, Loople

Philip DiMuro and Dave Phelan attended the same college, joined the same fraternity, studied abroad together, and now have started two businesses together. After graduation, Phil was working in sales for Boston Beer in Baltimore and saw a missing opportunity in the market. There was... Read More →

Alexandra Shaw

Senior manager of nonprofit development, Good360

Alexandra Shaw is the senior manager of nonprofit development for Good360 (Alexandria, VA), a nonprofit that helps retailers donate excess consumer goods to charity. She has attended many FuckUp Nights in DC over the last two years and is passionate about helping others overcome their... Read More →

Tuesday September 25, 2018 6:30pm - 8:00pm EDT
1776 DC

Founder

8:30am EDT

1 Million Cups DC: Week 40

Limited Capacity seats available

We are proud to bring 1 Million Cups to Washington, D.C. weekly. Be part of a global movement to caffeinate our ecosystem and make a profound impact on a weekly basis, every Wednesday morning 8:30am-10:00am at 1776 D.C.

You'll also enjoy coffee and make connections with others who are interested in supporting local entrepreneurs. Come early to get through building security and have a chance to chat with the organizers and attendees.

We will start promptly at 8:30am.

Transportation: McPherson Square Metro Stop (Blue/Orange/Silver Line) or Farragut North (Red Line). Check out Parkopedia for parking garages [launch].

AGENDA
Each week will start with time to network and make connections with D.C.'s movers , shakers, and local business owners then at 9:00am hear from one business owner or company on their most current business challenge while having the opportunity to ask questions and offer feedback to the founder(s).

Moderators

Steven A. Rodriguez

Director of Latinx Programs, 1863 Ventures

Entrepreneur. Traveler. Futurist.

Speakers

Ashley Artrip

SVAcademy

I'm on a mission to close the gap between education and the workforce. Changes in the 21st-century workforce require changes in the way we educate current and future students to succeed in the workforce. While working on Gallup's higher education team, we consistently found that students... Read More →

Wednesday September 26, 2018 8:30am - 10:00am EDT
1776 DC

Growth

9:00am EDT

Founder Speed Dating

Limited Capacity seats available

Join us for coffee and muffins for Founder Speed Dating. This won't be your typically "speed dating" event but you will meet a variety of founders from diverse industries.

Breakfast brought to you by ThinkNimble.

Wednesday September 26, 2018 9:00am - 10:00am EDT
National Building Museum- Auditorium 401 F St NW, Washington, DC 20001

Founder

9:30am EDT

DevFestDC: Keynote: Kubernetes and KNative

Limited Capacity seats available

Ray Tsang will be give the keynote and explaining the container and microservices ecosystem, with the new services Knative.

Speakers

Ray Tsang

Developer Advocate, Google

Ray is a Developer Advocate for the Google Cloud Platform. Ray had extensive hands on cross-industry enterprise systems integration delivery and management experiences during his time at Accenture, managed full stack application development, DevOps, and ITOps. Ray specialized in middleware... Read More →

Wednesday September 26, 2018 9:30am - 10:30am EDT
Spaces, Arlington, VA 1101 Wilson Blvd, 6th, 8th and 9th Floors Arlington, VA 22209, USA

Technology, Teenpreneurs

Conference DevFest DC

10:00am EDT

How to win the heart of Angel Investors

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

George Farha, Co-founder of GSP Financial and Advisory, will discuss the increasingly competitive startup investment landscape. Higher investor expectations make it exceedingly important for startups to learn tangible tactics to attract a wide variety of investors including angel investors, venture capitalists, and private equity firms. As an angel investor himself, George will delve specifically into the inner-workings of an angel investors mind and share which factors, including passion, persistence, and traction, will help to attract high net worth individuals to a startup. George will also add an international spin on attracting investment as another option for startups to consider as they continue to grow. Participants will understand how to “know” and make connections with investors, and how to best attract them to their businesses.

Speakers

George Farha

Co-founder, GSP Financial and Advisory

George is Chairman and Founder of GSP Group, a private office investing in real estate and private equity.Before starting GSP, George used his entrepreneurial approach to tap into the business services industry and, from an initial modest catering and laundry business, expanded to... Read More →

Wednesday September 26, 2018 10:00am - 10:45am EDT
National Building Museum- Auditorium 401 F St NW, Washington, DC 20001

Founder

10:00am EDT

Innovation Marketplace

Limited Capacity seats available

Apply

DC Startup Week and WeDC Innovation Marketplace will showcase and celebrate the region's most innovative companies and their products. DC Startup Week will be providing 40 booths for DMV startups to showcase their products, ideas and innovations. Please apply by filling out this form above by September 9th, 2018.

Wednesday September 26, 2018 10:00am - 3:00pm EDT
National Building Museum- Auditorium 401 F St NW, Washington, DC 20001

Founder

10:15am EDT

Netwalking: The next evolution of networking

Limited Capacity filling up

Netwalk (networking while walking) to the National Building Museum for the WeDC Fest Innovation Marketplace! The netwalk will start from the 1776 DC in the lobby at 10:15am sharp.

Each Netwalk features curated interactive activities shaped to energize, connect, and engage participants in thinking creatively and fostering genuine relationships. Netwalks are individually crafted to that no two Netwalks are alike. No prior knowledge is necessary. Each Netwalk will include a specific Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) route made to maximize the time and resources available ensuring inclusivity for all fitness levels.

Speakers

Steven A. Rodriguez

Director of Latinx Programs, 1863 Ventures

Entrepreneur. Traveler. Futurist.

Wednesday September 26, 2018 10:15am - 11:00am EDT
1776 DC

Growth

10:30am EDT

DevFestDC: Build Your Own Voice Interface with Google Actions

Limited Capacity seats available

With the rise of voice assistants, voice is becoming another surface area for users to interact with your product or service. We can now start to blend this new technology with our existing offerings to improve user experience, engagement, and satisfaction.

In this session, we'll learn about the Google Actions platform and how it works to provide you all the tools you need to build your own conversational interfaces. We'll also spend time looking at how to design a conversation interface, including thinking through the various phases of dialog and sketching out expected flows. Finally, we'll look at how to review and improve your Action by using the analytics and AI training tools available from Google.

Speakers

Jeremy Wilken

Google Developer Expert

Jeremy Wilken is a software engineer and Google Developer Expert for Angular and the Google Assistant. He is the author of Angular in Action and Ionic in Action, as well as a regular speaker at events around the world. Jeremy lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and daughters. When... Read More →

Wednesday September 26, 2018 10:30am - 11:30am EDT
Spaces, Arlington, VA 1101 Wilson Blvd, 6th, 8th and 9th Floors Arlington, VA 22209, USA

Technology, Developer

11:00am EDT

How to sell when you don't want to

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Startups are fun! Sales are not. However, they are an essential part of a startup. No sales = no company. This session is here to give you practical advice on how to make sales automatic and turn you from someone who hates sales to someone who enjoys them.

Speakers

Ellie Thompson

CEO, Venyou

Ellie Thompson is the founder of two DC-based startups, Money Therapy and Venyou. Before her startup experience, she was an employee of HelloWallet at J.P. Morgan mastering all things money... Read More →

Wednesday September 26, 2018 11:00am - 11:45am EDT
National Building Museum- Auditorium 401 F St NW, Washington, DC 20001

Founder

11:30am EDT

DevFestDC: Supercharge your Data Studio dashboards with BigQuery, Firebase, and Apps Script

Limited Capacity seats available

Data Studio is Google’s serverless business intelligence and data visualization platform. As an easy and free-to-use reporting solution, Data Studio helps businesses and individuals to understand their data, derive key insights, effectively communicate measurements, and make better informed decisions. In this session, we will use the Chrome UX report dataset in BigQuery as an example and show how you can build scalable, cost effective dashboards by creating a custom solution with Apps Script and Firebase Realtime Database.

Speakers

Minhaz Kazi

Developer Advocate, Google

Minhaz Kazi is a Developer Advocate for Google Data Studio. A business intelligence veteran, Minhaz is always exploring new ways for developers to collect, analyze, and visualize data. He is available for long discussions on circular reference errors, benefits of pie charts, SQL commas... Read More →

Wednesday September 26, 2018 11:30am - 12:30pm EDT
Spaces, Arlington, VA 1101 Wilson Blvd, 6th, 8th and 9th Floors Arlington, VA 22209, USA

Technology

Conference DevFest DC

12:00pm EDT

Lunch & Learn: Leveraging Media Relations to Get Your Startup to the Next Funding Round

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Join us for a lunch and learn at the National Building Museum.

From initial funding to company launch to rolling out new features, products and services, discover how a strategic approach to media relations can build your brand, reinforce your story and attract customers and investors. A seasoned team of tech PR pros takes you through the dos and don’ts of launching a media strategy.

Speakers

Nick Horowitz

Senior Director, Waxman Strategies

Nick brings more than a decade of public relations and public affairs experience working with a broad portfolio of technology brands. He has managed and executed public relations campaigns for globally-recognized technology leaders including Panasonic, Huawei, ARM, and Samsung. In... Read More →

Kirsten Maynard

Senior Vice President,, Waxman Strategies

Kirsten Maynard is known for developing and communicating important narratives about the innovations and disruptions shaping our future. With a range of experience across services and sectors, she specializes in using targeted messaging and top-tier media coverage to build movements... Read More →

Wednesday September 26, 2018 12:00pm - 1:15pm EDT
National Building Museum- Auditorium 401 F St NW, Washington, DC 20001

Growth

12:30pm EDT

DevFestDC: Lunch & Network: Meet Google Engineers

Limited Capacity seats available

Join us for lunch and network with fellow developers including Google Engineers flying in from San Francisco to meet with you at DevFest DC: Fall Edition (Mini)!.

Lunch is sponsored by Flatiron School!

Wednesday September 26, 2018 12:30pm - 1:30pm EDT
Spaces, Arlington, VA 1101 Wilson Blvd, 6th, 8th and 9th Floors Arlington, VA 22209, USA

Technology

1:00pm EDT

Mentor Hours: Scale and Growth GURU

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Speakers

Sarah Djamshidi

Sarah has over 18 years of successful experience providing fiscal, strategic, operations and M&A leadership to board members, business owners and executives of more than 200 companies on growth, merger and acquisitions and business succession plans. Sarah has worked with government... Read More →

Wednesday September 26, 2018 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Hera Hub DC 5028 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20016

Founder

1:00pm EDT

What is your startup worth?

Limited Capacity filling up

The "One Thing" all funded Founders do well

Why the story matters
Whats a great story
Why you need to turn it into your value proposition
Why this will attract investors

Speakers

Mark Modica

Founder, MODScore

Mark Modica is the founder of MODScore, the first platform to bring the VC process online. Mark is the founder of the Cooley Capital Call and has 25 years of venture capital experience with millions in fundings. He is also an investor and was CEO of venture backed companies. Mark... Read More →

Wednesday September 26, 2018 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
National Building Museum- Auditorium 401 F St NW, Washington, DC 20001

Growth

1:30pm EDT

DevFestDC: How to Erase Unconscious Bias from your AI Datasets

Limited Capacity seats available

“A young child defines the world purely on the small amount they can see…This is the root of dataset bias: intelligence based on information that’s too small or homogenous.” Advances in AI technologies like machine learning and deep neural networks have potential to save time and boost productivity. But what if we train these technologies using datasets that exclude large portions of the population?
For example, some facial recognition software doesn’t acknowledge dark skin. Why? People of color were excluded from the datasets that were used to train the software. If AI isn’t designed with inclusion upfront, its rewards won’t equally benefit us all. This talk shares the risk of unconscious bias in algorithmic datasets, and how developers can overcome it.

Speakers

Lauren Maffeo

Analyst, GetApp

Lauren Maffeo has reported on and worked within the global technology sector. She started her career as a freelance journalist covering tech trends for The Guardian and The Next Web from London. Today, she works as a senior content analyst at GetApp (a Gartner company), where sh... Read More →

Wednesday September 26, 2018 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT
Spaces, Arlington, VA 1101 Wilson Blvd, 6th, 8th and 9th Floors Arlington, VA 22209, USA

Technology, Developer

Conference DevFest DC

2:15pm EDT

Strategic Partnerships: A growth engine for your startup

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

The topic is hot. Corporates and start-ups are looking to team up in their constant chase for innovation. However, these partnerships aren’t without their pitfalls. Letting each party maintain its own identity and independent priorities is tough, and keeping two very different - and demanding - partners happy in a long-term union takes being relationship savvy. What may initially seem like an odd combination, is often a complementary alliance waiting to happen.

Turns out, much of what we know about healthy romantic relationships can be adapted to apply to these sorts of business partnerships, too. During this session, the presenter will leverage of his experience overseeing many such partnerships from both a startup and corporate perspective; answering the five must ask questions for startups looking for a corporate mate.

Speakers

Andrew Lendnal

Senior Vice President, Strategy and Financial Wellness

Andrew Lendnal is a financial wellness (fintech) expert and international personal finance author that lives in Washington D.C. He was born and educated in New Zealand and worked internationally in a variety of senior management positions including that of Chief Marketing Officer... Read More →

Wednesday September 26, 2018 2:15pm - 3:00pm EDT
National Building Museum- Auditorium 401 F St NW, Washington, DC 20001

Growth

2:30pm EDT

DevFestDC: Google + AI

Limited Capacity seats available

This session covers Google’s products, services and strategies on AI

Speakers

Naveen Nigam

Head of Developer Relations - North America, Google

Naveen Nigam is currently the Head of Developer Relations for Canada and East Coast USA. Previously, Naveen was on Google Play - driving strategic policy and operations to build a trusted marketplace for Android users. He has over 11 years of experience in building successful App... Read More →

Wednesday September 26, 2018 2:30pm - 3:30pm EDT
Spaces, Arlington, VA 1101 Wilson Blvd, 6th, 8th and 9th Floors Arlington, VA 22209, USA

Technology, Developer

Conference DevFest DC

3:30pm EDT

The Healthy Hustle

Limited Capacity filling up

Striving to get ahead in your business doesn’t have to look like sleepless nights and take-out on repeat. Learn how to slow down, manage stress and set critical boundaries in honor of your time and wellbeing for the sake of your own health and the exponential growth of your business.

Join certified health coach Megan Sanchez of UpSwing Health Coaching as she sheds some light on self-care tips that will help you chase edgy career goals while staying true to your mind, body and soul along the way.

You’ll learn how to identify your stuck-points and act on simple, 1% shifts in your daily routine that allow you to practice self-care and continue to kill it in your startup. You’ll be surprised that the two go hand in hand. Because it’s not about doing more, it’s about optimizing how you do it.

Speakers

Megan Sanchez

Megan is a certified Holistic Health Coach for busy professionals who want to double their energy and revamp their lifestyle. She works with people who want to live big and stay edgy, but feel like maintaining healthy habits can feel like a daunting, arduous task. Megan helps people... Read More →

Wednesday September 26, 2018 3:30pm - 4:00pm EDT
National Building Museum- Auditorium 401 F St NW, Washington, DC 20001

Growth

3:30pm EDT

DevFestDC: Launching a Voice Application - Field Lessons from a Product Manager

Limited Capacity seats available

What does it take to launch a far field voice experience such as an Amazon Alexa skill or a Google Action? Navya walks through the various steps that take the product manager from engaging with field and market researchers, from identifying the initial functional requirements for the skill to engaging with UX designers, developers, voice experiences testers, beta testers, and then marketers through the launch and the post launch of the skill. She provides specific examples and shares learnings from real client deployments of conversational experiences.

Speakers

Navya Nayaki Yelloji

Product Manager - Voice Platforms, Gannett - USA TODAY NETWORK

Navya is a Product Manager of Voice Platforms at Gannett. Previously, Navya was a Product Manager at Witlingo and has overseen the deployment of several of the enterprise skills, including the Motley Fool, Meetup, Fish & Richardson, and Cooley LLP. Navya holds a Master's Degree... Read More →

Wednesday September 26, 2018 3:30pm - 4:30pm EDT
Spaces, Arlington, VA 1101 Wilson Blvd, 6th, 8th and 9th Floors Arlington, VA 22209, USA

Technology, Developer

Conference DevFest DC

4:00pm EDT

General Assembly: Web Developer Talent Spotlight

Limited Capacity seats available

You’re invited to GA’s exclusive private hiring event to meet our latest cohort of web developers, who have honed their skills in General Assembly’s Web Development Immersive Program.
Hiring managers, recruiters, and anyone hiring web developers are welcome.
Think of this as a reverse career fair, where you can see students’ final projects and talk individually with them. This is open house style, so come whenever you can and stay as long as you’d like - drinks are on us!

Register here.

Wednesday September 26, 2018 4:00pm - 6:30pm EDT
General Assembly

Growth

about https://www.eventbrite.com/e/general-assembly-web-developer-talent-spotlight-tickets-47273665807

5:00pm EDT

Are you ready for the spotlight?

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Think your startup is ready for the limelight? Not sure about timing? Wondering how to break down the PR process? Well, this session is for you! Our partners at SilverStrategy will talk with local media personalities about what to know before going to the press, industry tips & tricks, and what constitutes news.

Speakers

Michelai Graham

Market Editor, Technical.ly DC

Michelai Graham is the Market Editor of Technical.ly DC. She has a master's in investigative reporting from American University. Originally from Sacramento, Calif., Graham covered arts and culture in Lansing, Mich., during her undergraduate career at Michigan State University. Before... Read More →

Kieran McQuilkin

DC Editor, DC Inno

Kieran McQuilkin joined American Inno as DC’s editor two months ago, and launched Richmond Inno in August. The Connecticut native previously worked as web editor for two online news publications, Richmond BizSense and BusinessDen in Denver, where last year he redesigned both websites... Read More →

Rob Pegoraro

Contributor and Columnists, Yahoo Tech and USA Today

Rob Pegoraro writes about interesting problems and possibilities in computers, gadgets, apps, services, telecom and other things that beep or blink. He covers tech policy and contributes reviews at Yahoo Finance, writes a weekly personal-tech Q&A column for USA Today, offers telecom... Read More →

Tara Silver

Founder and Managing Director, SilverStrategy

Founded in 2008, SilverStrategy has become known as the region’s premier strategic communications and marketing agency, specializing in creating problem-solving campaigns for emerging businesses. Tara is an award-winning strategist and entrepreneur, with over 17 years of experience... Read More →

Wednesday September 26, 2018 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
Mindspace 1301 K St NW, Washington, DC 20071

Founder

5:00pm EDT

Office Hours with SI Mentors

Limited Capacity seats available

Have a burning startup question, or hit a startup roadblock? Talk to a startup mentor in a private 1-on-1 session and pave a path forward.

Wednesday September 26, 2018 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
Mindspace 1301 K St NW, Washington, DC 20071

Founder

5:00pm EDT

Small Businesses v. Startups: Who We're Helping, Who We're Hurting and Why It Matters

Limited Capacity filling up

Small businesses are the cornerstone of our economy - representing nearly half of all businesses in the U.S. Yet within some ecosystems, support can be skewed towards "startups" and a tone that venture capital is only (or "best") way to go. What is the difference between startups and small businesses? What unintended effects may occur through misalignment in resources and support?

Let's discuss who's starting, who's scaling, and what we can do to take more new majority founders from micro-enterprises to high-growth. This panel is produced by Alice and NEUPRINT and will be moderated by Deloris Wilson, Head of Strategy and Operations at BEACON: The DC Women Founders Initiative.

Speakers

Sibyl Edwards

CEO and Co-Founder, Black Female Founders

Ms. Edwards is currently CEO and co-founder of Black Female Founders (#BFF), an organization whose mission is to provide awareness, support, resources and a platform for Black women entrepreneurs, in 2017 she developed #BFF Labs, a 10-week pre-accelerator program for aspiring early-stage... Read More →

Aaron Saunders

Founder/CEO, Inclusive Innovation Incubator

David Smith

Co-Founder/Chief Operations Officer, Dissertation Decoded

David Smith currently serves as Senior Regional Organizer for the Southern Region and the Co-Founder/Chief Operations Officer of Dissertation Decoded, an educational consulting firm providing professional coaching services to doctoral students who struggle to complete their dissertation... Read More →

Stephanie Thomas

Director of Programs & Small Business Services, Washington Area Community Investment Fund

Stephanie Thomas is the Director of Programs & Small Business Services for the Washington Area Community Investment Fund (Wacif). She oversees the design, development, and execution of Wacif's capacity building programs and partnerships, regional community development agenda, and... Read More →

Deloris Wilson

Head of Strategy and Operations, Beacon

Wednesday September 26, 2018 5:00pm - 6:15pm EDT
In3 2301 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001

Founder

6:00pm EDT

Start Ignite: Happy Hour

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Join Startup Ignite for a happy hour filled with networking with local founders.

Speakers

Amu Fowler

Startups Ignite

Where vision meets doingness. An ecosystem creating programs and communities to accelerate #startup ventures.

Wednesday September 26, 2018 6:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
Mindspace 1301 K St NW, Washington, DC 20071

Founder

6:00pm EDT

Starup Grind DC - Walt Mossberg & Steve Clemons

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Startup Grind DC has given 10 Free tickets to DC Startup Week attendees. Please grab them using this link ( https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-washington-dc-presents-walt-mossberg-steve-clemons/#/code-StartupWeek104 )

Walter S. Mossberg is an American journalist. He is widely credited with pioneering the modern, consumer-focused, technology review and commentary.

From 1991 through 2013, he was the principal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He also co-founded AllThingsD, Recode and the D and Code Conferences. From 2015 to 2017, Mossberg was Executive Editor of The Verge and Editor-at-Large of Recode, web sites owned by Vox Media. Mossberg wrote a weekly column for both and also had a weekly podcast, Ctrl-Walt-Delete. Mossberg was also co-executive producer of the annual Code Conference.
Mossberg became a podcaster and host of conferences run by his publications. One of the few writers to truly have an “in” with Jobs, Mossberg famously got the chance to do one of only two joint interviews the Apple co-founder gave with Bill Gates (the other one was a far less chummy 1991 print interview for Fortune magazine.)

Mossberg’s 2007 discussion was one of the most out-of-his-comfort-zone interviews of Jobs’ career. It ended with the Apple chief quoting The Beatles to describe his relationship with Gates.
In April 2017, Mossberg announced his plans to retire. He serves on the board of The News Literacy Project and is writing a book for St. Martin’s Press.

The Interviewer will be Steve Clemons (Editor at Large of the Atlantic)
Steve Clemons is Washington Editor-At-Large for The Atlantic and National Journal; and Editor-in-Chief of AtlanticLIVE, National Journal LIVE, and QuartzLIVE. He is also Editor-at-Large for Quartz and an MSNBC contributor. At AtlanticLIVE, The Atlantic’s premium events division, Clemons develops concepts and editorial content and leads programs as an interviewer, moderator, and host.

Speakers

Steve Clemons

Washington Editor-At-Large, The Atlantic

The Atlantic Steve Clemons is Washington Editor-At-Large for The Atlantic and National Journal; and Editor-in-Chief of AtlanticLIVE, National Journal LIVE, and QuartzLIVE. He is also Editor-at-Large for Quartz and an MSNBC contributor. At AtlanticLIVE, The Atlantic’s premium events... Read More →

Walt Mossberg

Founder, Recode

Walt Mossberg is a veteran technologist columnist, commentator, reviewer, and conference producer. He is widely credited with pioneering the modern, consumer-focused, technology review and commentary at The Wall Street Journal. He also co-founded AllThingsD, Recode and the D and Code... Read More →

Wednesday September 26, 2018 6:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
Alley powered by Verizon 2055 L St NW suite 400, Washington, DC 20036

Founder, Teenpreneurs

6:30pm EDT

Vinetta Project Venture Challenge Final Showcase

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Cheer on 4 spectacular female founders as they compete for Vinetta's $20k cash prize. Register here and use the code "DCSW" for 10% off your ticket.

Wednesday September 26, 2018 6:30pm - 8:00pm EDT
Booz Allen Hamilton's Innovation Center 901 15th Street NW Washington, DC 20005

Founder

6:30pm EDT

5G Future Dinner Series: First Responder Tech

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Gather insights from executives from the first responder ecosystem about how 5G might evolve their businesses & communities. It'll also be an opportunity to build relationships with potential partners.

Wednesday September 26, 2018 6:30pm - 8:30pm EDT
TBA

Founder

9:00am EDT

Bias Breakers and Being an Ally

Limited Capacity seats available

Join Aryis, Diego, Raquel, and host Adam as they explore and discuss the impacts of bias, how to break through it, and create allies.

Speakers

Raquel Breternitz

Senior Designer, Pivotal Labs

Raquel Breternitz is a designer and writer with experience across diverse mediums, problem spaces, and domains. Her work is connected by a passion for research-driven design thinking and a hunger for tackling complex problems. She believes design should be approached content-first... Read More →

Diego Mariscal

Founder, 2Gether-International

Diego Mariscal is disabled and proud! He is also very passionate and strategic about the relationship between disability advocacy, entreprenurship, and sustainable impact. At the age of 18, Diego started “Limitless Prepa Tec” a disability education program for students in Monterrey... Read More →

Adam Mutschler

Partner, Kedar Group

Ayris T. Scales

Director, Office of Partnerships and Grant Services

Derrick Jakolby Washington

Director of Programs, Byte Back

Derrick Jakolby Washington is the Director of Programs of Byte Back, a Washington, DC based nonprofit connecting communities with inclusive tech training and pathways into living-wage careers. Under Derrick’s leadership, 60 Byte Back graduates were hired last year, earning more... Read More →

Thursday September 27, 2018 9:00am - 10:00am EDT
1776 DC

Founder

9:00am EDT

Startup Finance 101

Limited Capacity filling up

Are you ready to debunk myths, clear the smoke and understand your financing options? Join BEACON: The DC Women Founders Initiative, capital providers and entrepreneurs to break down the funding landscape, connect with experts, and improve your understanding of fundraising options that best fit your business. Speakers include Penny Lee - Chief Strategy Officer (1776), Dale Pfeifer - CEO (Goodworld), Danielle Tate - CEO (MissNowMrs.com), Deborah Owens - Financial Expert an Author, Diana Radu - Business Development and Relationship Manager (HSBC), Fonta Gillam - CEO (InvestSouSou), and William Manger - Associate Administrator/Office of Capital Access (U.S. Small Business Administration).

Registrants must complete a full registration form to attend. Information gathered will be used to inform the second workshop series and align speaker/panel comments to your particular needs.

Seating is limited, early registration and arrival are suggested.

Thursday September 27, 2018 9:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Mindspace 1301 K St NW, Washington, DC 20071

Founder

about startupfinance101.splashthat.com

9:00am EDT

"Negotiation Skills for Business" Workshop:

Limited Capacity seats available

This presentation will focus on the principles of structuring and negotiating a specific international commercial transaction. The goal is to make the participants focus on the architecture of international transactions, and negotiating strategies, techniques for implementing such transactions.

The workshop will be collaborative and dynamic with discussion, analysis of readings and negotiation simulations. The teams will be reviewing documents and developing their own negotiating positions on how to present their points to the opposing side. The exercise illustrates rather vividly how business and legal teams must work together to achieve success.

Speakers

Theodore Boone

Assistant General Counsel, Ernst & Young LLP

Theodore Boone is an Assistant General Counsel at Ernst & Young LLP (EY) and an Adjunct Professor and Georgetown University Law Center. At EY Theodore Boone he advises on complex contractual, transactional and policy matters involving EY firms and operations throughout the globe... Read More →

Thursday September 27, 2018 9:00am - 12:15pm EDT
BAU International University

Growth

10:00am EDT

Marketing on a Shoestring

Limited Capacity seats available

Your awesome product is ready! Now how does your target audience actually find out about you? This workshop will cover some of the low-cost or no-cost approaches to getting some visibility with your buyers. Whether you have a B2B or B2C product or solution, you’ll hear about some of the tactics you can deploy to get up and running in your relevant markets. And equally important, you’ll hear about some of the approaches that you should avoid-- so you don’t waste time or the little budget that you do have. Every founder wants to go viral. But it’s all about the important steps you take that could actually make that a reality.

You'll hear about when to best engage the media to cover your innovative solution -- why social media may not be the optimal channel for your products -- and how targeted digital ads could yield great market traction than Google adwords.

Liz Sara will run this workshop. She is a 25+ year tech Marketing professional and former software company entrepreneur herself. She’ll share some best practice approaches to Marketing on a Shoestring that she’s deployed for more than 85 tech companies since 2001.

Speakers

Liz Sara

Founder and President, Best Marketing LLC

Liz has more than 25 years of experience in the DC area high tech community as an entrepreneur, business leader, angel investor and strategic marketing executive. In 2001, she founded Best Marketing, LLC to provide emerging and growth stage software companies with strategic marketing... Read More →

Thursday September 27, 2018 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
1776 DC

Founder

11:00am EDT

Superpower: Creating a Community of Power through Entrepreneurship

Limited Capacity seats available

Dr. Angela Reddix, Founder and Chairman of Envision Lead Grow, presents “Superpower: Creating a Community of Power through Entrepreneurship.” Using a business model based on “The 8 Seeds to Success in Business,” Dr. Reddix has successfully implemented her program, Envision Lead Grow, in multiple impoverished communities including Memphis, Baltimore, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Richmond, Greensboro, and Norfolk. Envision Lead Grow was intentionally designed for young girls with consultation and collaboration from adult experts in the business industry and allows communities to build sustainable businesses and improve economic stability.

Speakers

Dr. Angela Reddix

President & CEO, ARDX

Dr. Angela D. Reddix is a visionary and innovative thinker with global perspective and entrepreneurial drive. As a passionate mentor and advisor to the next generation of young girls and women, Dr. Angela is a leading advocate for entrepreneurship as a way of creating positive transformation... Read More →

Thursday September 27, 2018 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
1776 DC

Founder

11:00am EDT

Restaurant Entrepreneurs: Dishing on DC’s Food and Beverage Startup Scene

Limited Capacity seats available

A new restaurant or bar seems to be popping up every day in DC, but how did these delicious digs go from concept to culinary sensation? In DC Startup Week's first ever restaurant entrepreneurs panel, we're taking a deep dive into DC's thriving food and bar scene and giving you the inside scoop on how to succeed in the industry.

This two-part panel explores the ins and outs of breaking into both the food and beverage scene, with one hour devoted to food concepts and one hour dedicated to spirit, beer and wine entrepreneurship. From innovative fast casual concepts to modern luxury restaurants, to cocktail creators to beer brewers, our panelists will provide insight into the ideation, funding, challenges and successes in building a profitable food and beverage startup.

Moderators

Paul Dahm

Co-Founder, WorkChew

Paul is an entrepreneur, food and beverage sector investor and most recently was the CEO of a D.C. nonprofit in the food and job training space. Paul has more than 20 years of experience in fundraising, relationship management, team development and public speaking/media appearances... Read More →

April Johnson

Founder, Happied

April is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Happied, a web (soon-to-be mobile) app allowing users to find and explore top happy hours in DC through a searchable happy hour database and premium extended happy hour subscription program. She left her career as a real estate finance... Read More →

Speakers

Matt Baker

Chef, Gravitas

What sets Chef Matt Baker apart from others in his field is his consistent passion for cuisine, hospitality and all things local. In his life, food and dining have always come first. His obsession with food started at an early age. During holidays in Houston, Texas, he assisted with... Read More →

Pia Carusone

Co-Founder, Republic Restoratives

Originally from Saratoga Springs, NY, Pia is a graduate of Bard College and has been proud to call DC home since 2009. After years of winning tough campaigns, Pia joined Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' team, becoming the Hill's youngest female Chief of Staff. After the stunning... Read More →

Nick Freshman

Mothersauce Partners, Founder

After graduating from Emory University, Nick followed his heart and stomach into the restaurant industry. Over his 20-year career, Nick has worked in almost every capacity, leading multiple restaurants from the concept stage to thriving businesses. He is currently the co-owner of... Read More →

Michael McGarvey

CEO/Co-Founder, 3 Stars Brewing Company

Co-founded 3 Stars Brewing Company in 2011, looking to create a “local” option in the District for craft beerResponsible for the strategic planning and implementation of all brewing capabilities: staffing, physical plant, brewing processRaised capital through equity and bank financing... Read More →

Don Morton

Founder, Shrub District

Don is the owner and founder of Shrub District. He is a bartender, WSET trained wine nerd, cocktail geek, fermentation enthusiast, and eager host. After 10 years working in public policy, Don founded Shrub District to bring a little more happiness into the world. Before Shrub District... Read More →

Sahil Rahman & Rahul Vinod

Co-Founders, Rasa

Thursday September 27, 2018 11:00am - 1:30pm EDT
Prequel DC Restaurant Incubator 919 19th St NW, Washington, DC 20006

Founder

11:30am EDT

Lunch & Learn: Maximize your New LLC Startup: Tips on Taxes, Retirement, & Accounting

Limited Capacity filling up

Are you a sole proprietor or single-member LLC? Join us to learn how to lower your taxes, create your own retirement plan, and avoid IRS/bookkeeping nightmares.

Speakers

Alvin Carlos

Co-founder and CEO, District Capital Management

Alvin Carlos, CFA, CFP® is the co-founder and CEO of District Capital Management in Washington, DC – a financial planning and investment management firm for the everyday people. Alvin hopes to build a multi- generational advisory firm that provides holistic, top-notch, and affordable... Read More →

Lisa Hodges

Founder, Shift to Impact

Lisa Hodges founded Shift to Impact (shifttoimpact.com), which provides financial planning and educational resources to young changemakers on matching their money with their values, and reclaiming their personal power as investors— no matter how much they have. She runs workshops on community development banking and other sustainable inves... Read More →

Thursday September 27, 2018 11:30am - 1:15pm EDT
Alley powered by Verizon 2055 L St NW suite 400, Washington, DC 20036

Founder

1:15pm EDT

Digital and Physical Product Development at The White House and in E-commerce

Limited Capacity seats available

As a stakeholder in www.whitehouse.gov during the Obama Administration, and currently Head of Products at e-commerce floral delivery company UrbanStems, Cameron Hardesty breaks down the similarities between digital and physical product development, and the unique challenges of e-commerce merchandising for a perishable product with an international supply chain.

Speakers

Cameron Hardesty

Head of Products, UrbanStems

Cameron Hardesty left The White House in 2015 to join D.C.-based e-commerce start-up UrbanStems, where, as Head of Products, she manages the company's product line and sourcing. She designs UrbanStems’ monthly product collections while managing UrbanStems’ supply chain and working... Read More →

Thursday September 27, 2018 1:15pm - 2:00pm EDT
1776 DC

Founder

1:45pm EDT

Fireside Chat: How To Raise Money As A Restaurant Entrepreneur

Limited Capacity seats available

If you are thinking of starting a restaurant, food business or beverage startup, this session you cannot miss. Brandon, Founder of The Caged Bird, will share how he built and raised funding for The Caged Bird, a new restaurant and bar in Dupont Circle.

Come prepared with questions for Brandon!

Speakers

April Johnson

Founder, Happied

Brandon Rule

President, Rule Enterprises

Brandon is a developer, entrepreneur, public speaker, philanthropist, and a change agent who at the age of 23 left his job as a banker to follow his passion. He then went on to launch Rule Enterprises, an investment firm which uses commercial real estate as its primary tool of investment... Read More →

Thursday September 27, 2018 1:45pm - 2:30pm EDT
Prequel DC Restaurant Incubator 919 19th St NW, Washington, DC 20006

Founder

2:00pm EDT

Winning Over A Retail Food Buyer

Limited Capacity filling up

Growing a food and beverage business in the face of an ever-changing retail climate is complicated. How do you set yourself up for success when navigating B2B (business-to-business) relationships? What are the materials you need to be prepared? Join the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) and Cureate for our Tips on Winning Over a Retail Buyer workshop plus a discussion with an area Retail Buyer who will answer your questions on pricing, product needs, and what they look for when deciding who to bring into their stores.

Speakers

Kim Bryden

Founder & CEO, Cure[ate]

Kim Bryden is the CEO & Founder of Cureate. She has worked in the food and beverage industry from government to Fortune 500 retail management, to food-tech startup. Cureate provides services to emerging food and beverage business owners to assist with their growth and scaling initiatives... Read More →

Caroline Howe

Professor, The University of the District of Columbia

Caroline Howe supports emerging entrepreneurs in food, farming and food recovery in the DC area to launch their ideas, specifically those with a focus on increasing food access, enabling sustainable agriculture, and reducing food waste. She is working to leverage university, community... Read More →

Stacey Price

Consultant

Stacey Price has over 18 years of experience activating community. Currently acting as a Washington, DC based consultant, she nurtures independent business and closely advises municipalities, developers, and non-profits to plan, create and manage projects that grow the local economy... Read More →

Thursday September 27, 2018 2:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
Alley powered by Verizon 2055 L St NW suite 400, Washington, DC 20036

Growth

2:15pm EDT

Panel: Creating Beautiful and Intuitive User Experiences

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

What goes into creating exceptional User Experiences? How do they get produced? How do we know they are intuitive? In this panel, we’ll chat about process and principles that inform intuitive experiences. We’ll dive into some of our favorite examples, and lessons learned from building experiences from the ground up. We’ll end with tips for collaborating with designers, developers and product teams in pursuit of creating great experiences for your startup.

Speakers

Emily Brannon

UX designer, WeddingWire

Emily Brannon is a UX designer on the Product team at WeddingWire. Every day, she helps launch cutting-edge initiatives to better connect engaged couples with top industry vendors in order to simplify the wedding planning process overall.

Maxim Leyzerovich

Senior Experience Lead, Capitol One

Maxim is the Senior Experience Lead at Capital One where he partners with leadership and multidisciplinary teams to drive UX design strategy across product lines – with a focus on Commercial Banking integrated experience & branding.Previously, Maxim was the Senior Experience Designer... Read More →

Selina McPherson

VP Marketing, Hatch Apps

Selina McPherson is the VP Marketing at Hatch Apps, an automated software development platform empowering non-technical leaders to build their own apps. Selina launched her career at a brand and marketing consultancy, working with executive teams at behemoths like Coca Cola and Godiva... Read More →

Jennifer Noinaj

UX Designer, USDS

Jenn is a user experience designer passionate about civic tech, design for social good projects, and empowering organizations to embrace user-centered design. Currently, she works at the United States Digital Service where she focuses on making government services easy to use and... Read More →

Emily Rasowsky

Customer Experience, Sparkfund

Emily is a leading customer experience and marketing strategist. She currently runs customer experience work at Sparkfund, an energy fintech company in DC, where she is responsible for creating holistic customer experiences and building on customer insights to drive powerful and relevant... Read More →

Thursday September 27, 2018 2:15pm - 3:00pm EDT
1776 DC

Founder

3:15pm EDT

How to get started without a technical co-founder

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Several non-technical founders struggle to find the right technical help to bring their idea to fruition. My session will discuss best practices for non-technical co-founders to develop their product. I will cover what works and what doesn't when it comes to taking outside help to build a product. And what is ultimately required to have a sustainable revenue generating product. I will share my own experiences of bootstrapping a SaaS product offering over the last three years and what it took (from a technical perspective) to bring it to the market and to have paying customers.

Speakers

Gaurav Harode

Founder & CEO, Enablix

Gaurav is obsessed with driving productivity and business efficiency. It is this passion that compelled Gaurav to leave his corporate career of over 16 years and dive into a startup venture.Gaurav is the founder of Enablix, a knowledge management and sales enablement startup that... Read More →

Thursday September 27, 2018 3:15pm - 4:00pm EDT
1776 DC

Founder

3:15pm EDT

Perspectives from Migrant Founders

Limited Capacity seats available

Immigrants bring a fresh perspective that can translate into new fresh business ideas. This panel, featuring founders with immigrant backgrounds, will allow them to share their journeys and experiences in the creation and development of their businesses.

The panel will cover the following topics:

(1) How they got inspired to start their business(es);
(2) What challenges they faced as immigrant founders in establishing and growing their business(es);
(3) How they were able to build their network, attract talent and capital, and increase sales;
(4) What strengths were drawn from their backgrounds to succeed;
(5) What lessons they would like to share with other entrepreneurs.

Speakers

NZOGU KULYA

Managing Director, NICOGER Group LLC

A business consultant, Nzogu is currently the managing director of the NICOGER Group, a Fairfax, Virginia, US-based firm specialized in IT consulting, business advisory services, and management training programs. At this “boutique firm”, he manages the daily operations of the... Read More →

Shizu Okusa

CEO, Wellthy & Co

Shizu Okusa is the CEO of Wellthy & Co, DC’s largest direct-to-consumer wellness company, including brands such as JRINK and Apothékary. Bootstrapping the business from the ground-up – she's led the company's growth from 0 to soon 7 stores and now employing over 35 staff... Read More →

Silvana Quiroz

Director, Zoom Latino

Silvana Quiroz, Director, Editor in Chief, Host and Producer of Zoom Latino, has over 15 years of experience in broadcasting and communications. Born and raised in Bolivia, Silvana began her career at an early age in her native Bolivia and later emigrated to the United States where... Read More →

Amita Shukla

Founder & CEO, VITAMITA

Amita Shukla is an innovator and entrepreneur focused on creating transformative innovations for human health, well-being, and potential. She is the founder and CEO of Vitamita and the author of Enduring Edge: Transforming How We Think, Create and Change. Amita regularly advises companies and organizations and has been invited to present over 100 keynotes, lectures, and workshops to innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders in industry, academia, and government. Her work and talks focus on mastering mindset agility for individual, team... Read More →

Thursday September 27, 2018 3:15pm - 4:00pm EDT
BAU International University

Founder

4:00pm EDT

The Power of Teenpreneurs

Limited Capacity seats available

Think you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? In this session, we will put your ideas to the test. You will have the opportunity to work with a team to create a business idea that combines your passions with a meaningful problem. In the end, teams will create a prototype and pitch to the group!

Speakers

Anyssa Reddix

Program Manager, Envision Lead Grow

Anyssa Reddix is the program manager at Envision Lead Grow. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied business administration. She has been working with envision we grow to use entrepreneurship to break the cycle of poverty since it’s sounding... Read More →

Thursday September 27, 2018 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Alley powered by Verizon 2055 L St NW suite 400, Washington, DC 20036

Founder, Teenpreneurs

4:00pm EDT

Hire DC: A Conversation of Workforce Development

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Technology and productivity improvements are rapidly transforming the local workplace leading to an increased demand for a skilled and adaptable workforce. As D.C. develops its R&D, advanced manufacturing, and innovation capacities, it also begins transitioning the city’s development prospects which will increasingly hinge on successful education and training programs to build, adapt, and validate.

Join us as Technical.ly a niche news publisher based in the mid atlantic, hosts a conversation with prominent local organizations which have a role in the local development of job skills and identify resources to support your business growth.

Speakers

Paul Klein

Chief of Staff, Hatch Apps

Paul Klein is Chief of Staff at Hatch Apps, where he supports every part of the operation as the company scales. With over a decade of experience managing operations and leading teams, he is focused on the development of our people and processes. Prior to joining Hatch Apps, Paul... Read More →

Lori Leadingham

Chief of Staff, GSP Financial

Lori has been with GSP Financial for two years, currently in the position of chief of staff. She acquired many necessary skills during her six years of service in the U.S. Navy, where she served in a variety of capacities including at sea, in the shipyards, and at shore installations... Read More →

Matt Lozada

Senior Account Executive, PYPE

Matt currently serves as a Senior Account Executive for PYPE, a construction technology start-up based in Northern Virginia that pioneers machine learning and natural language processing technology to automate mission-critical tasks for the construction industry. Prior to that, Matt worked as an Account Executive and Co-Chair of the... Read More →

Mawulom Nenonene

Director of Talent Acquisition, Nava Public Benefit Corporation

Mawulom is the Director of Talent Acquisition at Nava Public Benefit Corporation. He is passionate about pairing thoughtful people with careers that help them grow and create a better future. A family man and adventurer at heart, he thrives when adding value to the world.

Christopher Wink

Publisher and CEO, Technical.ly

Christopher Wink is the Publisher and CEO of local tech news network Technical.ly, which helps professionals navigate their careers. In 2017, Folio magazine listed him as one of the 100 most innovative media leaders in the country. Previously, he worked for a homeless advocacy no... Read More →

Thursday September 27, 2018 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
1776 DC

Growth

4:00pm EDT

Stop Staying Up at Night: Addressing Business Risk

Limited Capacity seats available

Are you taking good care of your employees? Are your benefit packages TRULY competitive? What if one of your key employees LEAVE? What will happen if something happens to YOU? Will YOU be able to meet payroll? In this presentation, you will learn how to address business risk so that these questions will STOP keeping you awake at night. You will leave this presentation with solutions and resources that are available to address concerns related to smoothly building, operating, and maintaining a business.

Speakers

Tyler Helms

Financial Advisor, Northwestern Mutual

Tyler Helms is a financial advisor based in Rockville, Maryland. Tyler and his Northwestern Mutual team work closely with families, business owners, attorneys, medical professionals, and sales executives throughout the country. He especially enjoys working with business owners because... Read More →

Danny Lee

Wealth Management Advisor, Blueprint Financial Group

Danny Lee is a Wealth Management Advisor with Blueprint Financial Group, an investment and business consulting group operating within Northwestern Mutual. Danny assists businesses, individuals, and families with a variety of financial objectives ranging from Risk Management, Wealth... Read More →

Thursday September 27, 2018 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Alley powered by Verizon 2055 L St NW suite 400, Washington, DC 20036

Growth

5:00pm EDT

Young Entrepreneurs Panel: How To Start and Grow Your Business

Limited Capacity filling up

Hear from young entrepreneurs on how they started their businesses at a young age

Speakers

Sophie Capshaw-Mack

Founder, Survivor's Best Friend

April Johnson

Founder, Happied

Anyssa Reddix

Program Manager, Envision Lead Grow

Thursday September 27, 2018 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
Alley powered by Verizon 2055 L St NW suite 400, Washington, DC 20036

Founder, Teenpreneurs

5:00pm EDT

Office Hours with Startup Ignite Mentors

Limited Capacity filling up

Get a one-on-one session with a mentor from Startups Ignite's accelerator community and get your startup questions answered, and navigate through startup challenges. Mentors in Technology, Revenue Models, Customer Acquisition, Legal, Leadership Development.

Thursday September 27, 2018 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
Office Evolution

Growth

about https://beaconawards.splashthat.com/

6:00pm EDT

How They Built It: A Conversation with Industry Leaders

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Please join Attorney Joshua Radbod and Cogent Law Group as they host a panel of five founders from five different industries to discuss how they built their company's from the ground up, their struggles, and their successes. The panelists include Michael Echols from EnterCyber Inc., Eugene Poverni from Poverni Sheikh Group, Andrew Nashed from Crypto Capital Investments, LLC, Evan Smith from Cogent Law Group, and Heather Flannery from Obesity Prevention, Policy, and Management, Inc. and Cogent Law Group's Blockchain and Healthcare Practice. There will be an hour for networking accompanied by catered food and drinks. After the panel feel free to network and enjoy the rooftop. We look forward to seeing you there!

Thursday September 27, 2018 6:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
WeWork K St 1875 K St NW Fourth Floor Washington, DC 20006

Founder

6:00pm EDT

Startup Ignite: Happy Hour

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Join Startup Ignite for a happy happy to network with founders.

Please note this happy hour is in Tysons Corner, VA.

Speakers

Amu Fowler

Startups Ignite

Where vision meets doingness. An ecosystem creating programs and communities to accelerate #startup ventures.

Thursday September 27, 2018 6:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
Office Evolution- Startup Ignite 8609 Westwood Center Drive #110, Vienna VA 22182

Founder

6:00pm EDT

BEACON Awards Celebration

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

BEACON: The D.C. Women Founders Initiative invites you to celebrate #ladybosses and women entrepreneurs from across the District as they publicly announce the 2018-2019 BEACON Grant recipients. Join us for food trucks, entertainment, bites & beverages and networking with some of DC's most innovative companies and initiatives.

RSVP Here: https://beaconawards.splashthat.com/

Thursday September 27, 2018 6:00pm - 9:00pm EDT
Pepco Edison Gallery

Founder

about https://beaconawards.splashthat.com/

6:30pm EDT

5G Future Series: Balancing Community Safety & Tech in a 5G World

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

The 5G Future Series by Verizon 5G Lab was created to inspire communities, companies, creatives, and technologists about a future with 5G so that we can shape it together. 5G is the next generation of wireless technology, but its much more than 4G +1.

This month we’re joining forces with DC Startup Week for a special event exploring “Balancing Community Safety & Technology in a 5G world.” You’ll see and hear first-hand from the companies building incredible first responder technology to better protect crowds and communities. We’ll discuss and debate the potential of this technology through a product showcase and engaging conversation with our audience.

Join us for inspiring talks and plenty of networking as part of DC Startup Week.

Speakers

Douglas Britt

VP Product, Patrocinium

Nicholas Nilan

Director of Product Development, Verizon

Nicholas Nilan is the Director of Product Development for Public Sector at Verizon. He is responsible for the development and deployment lifecycle of innovative and mission impacting products and solutions for Federal, State and Local, and Education customers. Previously, he led Federal... Read More →

Carol Politi

President and CEO, TRX Systems

Carol Politi is President and CEO of TRX Systems, delivering location and mapping indoors, underground, and in dense urban areas without reliable GPS. TRX delivers indoor and GPS-denied location solutions for the industrial markets, federal agencies, state and local governments, and... Read More →

Steve Ressler

President, Callyo

Steve Ressler is a serial public sector entrepreneur. He is the Founder of GovLoop.com, the “Knowledge Network for Government” which connects and fosters collaboration among over 250,000+ members of the government community. GovLoop was acquired by Granicus, the leading the... Read More →

Thursday September 27, 2018 6:30pm - 8:30pm EDT
Alley powered by Verizon 2055 L St NW suite 400, Washington, DC 20036

Technology

8:00am EDT

Breakfast: Leadership of Self as Impetus for Transformative Organizational Change

This structured breakfast event will focus on the 3 components of self leadership (BE, KNOW, DO) and teach participants:
a) how to identify what type of leader they are
b) figure out their best method to lead
c) articulate their Personal Leadership Philosophy.

Breakfast brought to you by Edlinguist Solutions LLC

Speakers

LaNysha Adams

Founder, Edlinguist Solutions LLC

LaNysha Adams, PhD, a passionate educator, Gates Millennium Scholar, Education Pioneers, & SEED Spot alum founded and operates Edlinguist Solutions LLC, an award-winning minority-owned small business enterprise with social entrepreneurship at the heart of what it does to effect change... Read More →

Cherida Boyles

Chief Talent Officer, Edlinguist Solutions LLC

Cherida Boyles, Chief Talent Officer at Edlinguist Solutions LLC, utilizes her unique background in organizational development and instructional design to take companies to the next level of success and profitability.

Adam Mutschler

Partner, Kedar Group

Marcus Nadel

Chief Innovation Officer, Each One Teach One Educational Foundation

Marcus Nadel, Chief Innovation Officer at the Each One Teach One Educational Foundation, is a brand strategist and innovator with more than 10 years of experience building brands from the ground up. He started his career at AT&T after he which discovered his passion in finding creative... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 8:00am - 9:00am EDT
1776 DC

Founder

9:00am EDT

How can a single person build a million dollar business

Do you dream of ditching the hassles of corporate America and starting your own business? Do you yearn to for the day when you could stop commuting, leave office politics and work on meaningful things that excites you from the comfort of your home… or maybe even a beach in Bali… While earning six-figure income?

Come to join me to know how can you achieve them dream… I’ll share some tips, actionable items, strategies and some amazing stories to help you build a million dollar business by yourself.

Speakers

Nitesh Agrawal

Founder, Indiez

Nitesh started building startups when he was just 20 years old. He has raised $150M in venture funding and has worked with Asia’s two most successful startups. He is the founder and CEO of Indiez. Indiez helps non-tech entrepreneurs become millionaires by building high-quality apps... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 9:00am - 9:45am EDT
1776 DC

Founder

9:00am EDT

Financial Projections: Where to start and how they can help you grow your business

Limited Capacity filling up

Founders are well aware of how difficult it is to secure cash flow, whether that’s from investor fundraising, bank loans, or even your own personal cash. Founders are also well aware of how easily it vanishes. At the end of the day, successful cash management is your lifeline.
Learn from Zach Giegel, co-founder of GSP Financial and Advisory, and his experience advising early stage startups on how to create impactful financial projections that will help you make smart short-term business decisions and set you up for long term growth. Zach will not only walk through how to create a projection but will also give tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your projections and save time so you can work on growing your business.

Speakers

Zach Giegel

Co-Founder, GSP Financial and Advisory

As co-founder of GSP, and with over fifteen years of industry experience, Zach leads a team of specialists, who apply this principle of critical thinking to their mission: Providing support and assistance to business owners by equipping them with innovative, proactive, and practical... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 9:00am - 10:00am EDT
Google

Founder Growth

9:00am EDT

Breakfast: Bagels & Networking

Limited Capacity seats available

Start the day with some bagels & coffee at Cove and network with fellow DC Startup Week attendees.

Friday September 28, 2018 9:00am - 10:00am EDT
Cove

Growth

9:00am EDT

Corporate Partnerships: Community, Connections & Commitments to Closing Equity Gaps

Limited Capacity filling up

Companies are increasingly leading from a more civically and socially driven lens to respond the needs of local residents. Strategic partnerships are critical in supporting their efforts, and nonprofits are the gateway to those community connections. In a city with nearly 13,000 nonprofits, how do organizations stand out to secure public-private partnerships? Hear first-hand, in this two-part session what corporations are looking for and how nonprofit leaders are leveraging their mission to gain corporate partners and sponsors.

Hosted By: The Mayor’s Office for Partnerships and Grant Services

Moderators

Ryan Palmer

Director, Washington DC Community Initiatives, A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation.

Speakers

Jessica Gappa

Director, External Affairs - Community Impact, Comcast

Jessica Gappa is the Director of External Affairs for Comcast’s Beltway Region, which includes the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and parts of Delaware, West Virginia, and North Carolina. In this role, Gappa collaborates with community partners across the region to provide... Read More →

Ivory Johnson

President, 100 Black Men on DC

Ivory Johnson, CFP®, ChFC is the Founder of Delancey Wealth Management, LLC, a financial planning firm registered with LPL Financial, located near the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Ivory graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance... Read More →

Dekonti Mends-Cole

Vice President, Mid- Atlantic, Global Philanthropy, JP Morgan Chase

Dekonti Mends-Cole serves as Vice President for the Mid-Atlantic at JP Morgan Chase Global Philanthropy overseeing strategic grant making in the greater Washington region. Dekonti is an economic and community development practitioner having worked on the ground in the country’s... Read More →

Irfana Jetha Norrani

Deputy Director, 11th Street Bridge Project, Building Bridges Across the River

Irfana Jetha Noorani is the Deputy Director of the 11th Street Bridge Park, a public/private partnership between the District of Columbia and the local nonprofit Building Bridges Across the River to build a civic space that spans the Anacostia River and connects the communities of Capitol Hill/Navy Yard and Anacostia/Fairlawn. Along with fundraising, Irfana works closely with local stakeholders to plan community-driven programs like the Anacostia River Festival and other... Read More →

Monique Rizer

Executive Director, Urban Alliance DC

Monique Rizer is the Executive Director of Urban Alliance D.C. She previously served as executive director of Opportunity Nation, which works to ensure all people in the United States have an equal opportunity to succeed. Under her leadership, the campaign expanded partnerships... Read More →

Eshauna Smith

CEO, Urban Alliance

Eshauna Smith joined Urban Alliance in March 2013. As CEO, Eshauna provides leadership in key areas including development, policy and advocacy, communications, and strategic partnerships. Prior to joining Urban Alliance, Eshauna worked as a Senior Policy Advisor in the DC Office... Read More →

Schroeder Stribling

Chief Executive Officer, N Street Village

Ms. Schroeder Stribling is a social worker by background and has been at N Street Village since 2003 when she initially came as the Director of Programs. Under Schroeder’s leadership, N Street Village has grown significantly – the housing offerings have more than tripled, and... Read More →

Stacey Ullrich

Head of Global Philanthropy & Community Affairs, Under Armour

Stacey M. Ullrich is the head of Global Philanthropy & Community Affairs at Under Armour and the Executive Director of the UA Foundation. Ullrich is responsible for thestrategic direction and implementation of the company’s global investments and outreach programs, as well as oversight... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 9:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Google

Social Impact

9:15am EDT

Netwalking: The next evolution of networking

Limited Capacity seats available

Netwalk (networking while walking) with LaNysha Adams to continue to ask her questions after her morning session.

The netwalk will start from the 1776 DC in the lobby at 9:15am sharp.

Each Netwalk features curated interactive activities shaped to energize, connect, and engage participants in thinking creatively and fostering genuine relationships. Netwalks are individually crafted to that no two Netwalks are alike. No prior knowledge is necessary. Each Netwalk will include a specific Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) route made to maximize the time and resources available ensuring inclusivity for all fitness levels.

Speakers

LaNysha Adams

Founder, Edlinguist Solutions LLC

Friday September 28, 2018 9:15am - 10:00am EDT
1776 DC

Founder

9:30am EDT

Mobile App Building Hackathon + Machine Learning

Limited Capacity seats available

In collaboration with Google Developer Group DC and part of DevFestDC Fall Edition - 2018

Come and build your dream app with distinguished Google Engineers to build Mobile Apps with Machine Learning features using the powerful Firebase Mobile Development Platform ( https://firebase.google.com/ )

Starting the day with a kick-off presentation followed by around 5 hours of hacking time for attendees. We'd expect about 75-100 to be hacking during the day, and we would expect a few community mentors with some Firebase knowledge in addition to our Firebasers to help attendees. Google Engineers will be there in co-ordinating this hackathon.

Tentative Schedule
09:30am - 10:00am Kick-off presentation
10:00am - 11:00pm Hackathon Kick-off
11:00pm - 4:00pm Hacking time
4:00pm - 5:00pm Judging and Prizes

Firebase announced ML Kit. This hackathon designed to to see what developers can build Machine Learning Apps with this product.

Speakers

Adrián Catalán

Google Developer Expert, Innovation Lab, Galileo University

Adrián is an educator, tinkerer and software developer. He's been in the software engineering industry for over ten years, working as a developer (web/mobile), consultant and project manager.At Galileo University (where he leads the Innovation Lab) Adrián is trying to empower as... Read More →

Dong Chen

ML Kit Lead, Google

Dong leads the iOS engineering team of ML Kit, and is responsible for architecting the product and leading the development. For the past 12 years he has been leading several engineering teams across Gmail, Google Maps, and On-Device Machine Learning. Most recently, he helped starting... Read More →

Sachin Kotwani

Product Manager, Google

Sachin is a product manager with a special passion for making software development easy and fun. He has worked on several teams at Google, including Google Cloud, Play, and now Firebase. Before joining product management he worked worked as a strategy & ops manager in Google’s Sales... Read More →

Kalyan Reddy

Developer Programs Engineer, Google

Kalyan is an engineer at Google and has worked on the Firebase team for the past three years. In this role, he focuses on simplifying machine learning so that more people can use it to build awesome apps. Prior to Google, he worked at Medtronic where he helped develop cardiac and... Read More →

Sonakshi Watel

UX designer, Google

Sonakshi is a UX designer at Google who is passionate about designing user-centred interfaces for developers. She wants to combine her software development experience and UX skills to bridge the gap between engineers implementing code and designers building user-centred interfaces... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 9:30am - 5:00pm EDT
Industrious, Bethesda, MD 7200 Wisconsin Ave NW Suite 500 (5th floor) Bethesda, MD 20814

Technology, Hackathon

10:00am EDT

Finding our Authentic Voice

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Everyone can master the art of public speaking and easily leverage the secrets the best speakers in the world use to elevate your public speaking performance, forget the fear, and learn to love the spotlight.

Public speaking is the most common #1 phobia in today's society, and at the same time, our abilities to strongly represent ourselves are becoming more and more of a priority. Whether we are job interviewing, pitching our startup, actively networking, or needing to lead a presentation in a boardroom, confidence, clarity, and communication skills are imperative for success.

In this welcoming and interactive class, you will bring the best out of yourself by learning proven methods that world-renowned speakers utilize in order to develop an authentic speaking style, engage an audience, and leave a lasting impression.

Takeaways
Learn how voice, body, and emotions create your personal speaking style
Clarify your stress response and learn tactics for taking control of your nerves
Learn how the use of space can make you a powerful speaker
Identify the key elements of your personal, authentic speaking style and learn how to develop them further
Prereqs & Preparation
This workshop is designed for anyone interested in improving their public speaking.

What to bring to class:
Just yourself and willingness to take part in group games and exercises.

Speakers

Shahier Rahman

General Assembly

Shahier Rahman is the partnerships specialist for General Assembly DC. He was previously the regional business development manager for DC incubator and venture fund 1776. Before moving to DC, Shahier co-founded Central Florida's first tech incubator, Canvs. When he's not connecting... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 10:00am - 10:30am EDT
1776 DC

Founder

10:00am EDT

Mentor Hours: Business Strategy GURU

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Sign up for mentor hours with Rita here: https://businessstrategymentorherahubdc.eventbrite.com

You may want to ask Rita questions related to:

How can I get more clients?
Where should I be networking for best results?
How can I increase my revenue?
What’s the best way to craft my elevator speech?
How can I grow my list?
Am I taking the right actions to reach my business goals?
How can I create services, packages and programs that my clients will love?
My business has stalled, how can I get it to the next level?
How can I get more visibility?

Speakers

Rita Goodroe

Rita Goodroe is an international speaker and business mentor and strategist to women entrepreneurs, helping them take bold action to realize BIG results in business so they make more money in less time in a ways that feel good!Rita’s clients love how she uses humor and storytelling... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 10:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Hera Hub DC 5028 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20016

Founder

10:15am EDT

PR 101 for Startups: Telling Your Brand Story

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

From messaging and materials development to media relations, this session will share communications best practices for startups, including how to develop a brand story and ensure it resonates with the media. Attendees will also come away with communication strategies to maximize proactive news opportunities, from launches to new product/service announcements and more.

Speakers

Jamie Rismiller

Senior Vice President, Allison+Partners

With more than a decade of experience planning and implementing strategic communications programs, Jamie provides client counsel and leads initiatives ranging from messaging and narrative development to high-level media relations and content creation. Her career has included both... Read More →

Riley McBride Smith

Director, Allison+Partners

Riley specializes in the development of media and engagement strategies designed to position organizations as leaders within their field and ensure their story is heard by those who matter most to their business. Riley handles brand positioning, integrated campaign development, and... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 10:15am - 11:00am EDT
Google

Founder

10:45am EDT

Building Leaders at Every Level

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Do you have a culture of problem-solving that reaches every corner of your organization? Have you unlocked the leadership potential of every member of your team?

The most effective way to accelerate impact across your team is to ensure that every single person - from the bottom to the top - is empowered and equipped with the knowledge and tools to be a leader and solve problems. You and your teammates understand the challenges in front of you - and you know how to solve them better than anyone else.

Our workshop facilitates the development of leadership and problem-solving skills for those at every level of your organization. Hear inspiring stories of cultures that have been transformed - and learn proven strategies for unlocking your own leadership potential and the potential of those around you.

Speakers

Casey Enders

CEO, upleadership

Casey Enders is the Chief Executive Officer at Unlocking Potential. Before joining Unlocking Potential, Casey Enders served as the Chief of Staff to philanthropist and financier Raymond G. Chambers, managing and providing strategic guidance on a portfolio of over 30 for-profit and... Read More →

Jeffrey D. Richardson

Jeffrey Richardson is the Director of Coaching at Unlocking Potential, where he oversees programs development and delivery. Before joining Unlocking Potential, Jeffrey Richardson served as the Principal of Enspired Muse Coaching and Management. In his previous capacity as a senior... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 10:45am - 11:30am EDT
1776 DC

Founder

11:00am EDT

Lessons Learned from Leading Disruptive Innovation: Winning (then Losing) the Fitness Tech Revolution

Limited Capacity seats available

Talk covers lessons learned taking FitLinxx from basement startup to the venture-backed leader in fitness tech, with over 500 locations worldwide (and postscript on how the company lost the wearables space after Keith left).

Speakers

Keith Camhi

General Manager, Americas East, Techstars

Keith oversees a number of accelerators for Techstars, the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed.Prior to joining Techstars, Keith had extensive academic training in technology, management, and operations, started his career at Fortune 500 companies, then founded two... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 11:00am - 11:45am EDT
Google

Founder

11:00am EDT

On the Rise: Emerging Fashion and Retail Trends and Opportunities

Limited Capacity seats available

As the apparel and retail industries are being challenged to respond to changing customer tastes, businesses are looking for new ways to go-to-market, stay relevant, and build loyal, repeat customers. Hear from pioneers in the ever-evolving fashion and retail spaces about trends and opportunities to look out for!

Moderators

Jennifer Sigler

Founder, Cotton Canary

Jennifer has an MBA and MA of Education from Stanford University and has devoted more than 15 years of her professional career helping companies grow and scale their operations. Most of this time was spent right here in Washington, alongside countless women advancing to great seats... Read More →

Speakers

Lauren Dunne

Co-founder and CEO, Varnish Lane

Lauren Dunne is the Co-founder and CEO of Varnish Lane, a natural waterless nail salon and product brand raising the industry standards of nail care in Washington, DC. It is not just about manicures, pedicures and skincare products for Lauren, it’s about the ultimate experience... Read More →

Taylor Kerley

Marketing Director, Twice as Warm

Taylor Kerley has been in the social media and digital marketing world since 2013. As a sophomore in college, studying Fine Arts and Metalworking, she opened a fast-fashion clothing boutique called Shop Olive You. The store was located on Arizona State Universities campus and also... Read More →

Jill Lynn

Head of Sales, D.C., Trunk Club

To say Jill is passionate about the clothing industry is an understatement. Jill came to Trunk Club in 2012 with 5 years experience in the custom clothing world. In addition to helping design, launch and grow Trunk Club’s custom program, Jill helped start Trunk Club's 2nd expansion... Read More →

Syreeta

Founder & Designer, Syreeta C | Fashion.

Syreeta has always been captivated by clothing’s ability to communicate on behalf of the wearer. Fashion was a tool for expression when words eluded her introverted childhood and it grew to be a resource for her development of self-efficacy & self-esteem.These values are what Syreeta... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 11:00am - 11:45am EDT
The Yard

Founder

11:00am EDT

Mentor Hours: Social Media Marketing GURU

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Sign up for mentor hours with Lisa here: https://socialmediamentorherahubdc.eventbrite.com

You may want to ask Lisa questions related to:

Which social media platforms should I use for my business?
How can I get more engagement from my audience?
Am I using Facebook ads effectively?
Am I posting the right information on social media?
Why does no one like, comment on, or share my posts?

Speakers

Lisa Nicholls

Founder, Tira! Strategies

Lisa Nicholls built Tira! Strategies at the age of 50. She was working for a local newspaper when she realized that while most small businesses needed to be on social media in order to grow and thrive, they had no idea how to use social media to promote themselves. Lisa opened Tira... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 11:00am - 1:00pm EDT
Hera Hub DC 5028 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20016

Founder

11:15am EDT

How to Raise Seed Capital of $50K - $200K from Individual Angel Investors

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

One of the biggest challenges for early stage companies is raising the first round of money beyond the initial investments from founders, family/friends and/or crowdfunding.
This period is the “death valley” of financing for companies- you are still in the development/validation phase and likely still pre-revenue or very small revenue. The startup is not on the radar for angel groups and certainly not venture capital firms as you are too early stage. So how do you raise the all important $50K- $200K to move you into growth/revenues? How do you identify and approach the right individual angel investor(s)? What are they looking for in a startup that is likely pre-revenue?
In this panel discussion, there will be 3 – 4 angel investors who will lead an informative discussion about their decision-making process to invest in early stage startup companies. Key issues include what they look for in the team & business model, a due diligence process, typical terms, and how much they typically invest in an early start up.

The primary audience is for founders of early stage startup companies who need to understand the mindset of an angel investor. Those interested in understanding the role of angel investors in the startup ecosystem will also benefit from this session.

Friday September 28, 2018 11:15am - 12:30pm EDT
American University American University, East Campus, Don Myers Technology Building, AUCI – Room 221

Founder

11:45am EDT

Entering the Government Market: When, How, & Why

Limited Capacity seats available

The US government is the largest consumer in the world, and emerging technologies can and should take advantage of the massive market to grow their businesses. Meagan Metzger, CEO & Founder of Dcode, the leading federal technology accelerator, will explain why the federal market is an ideal place to be, when you should start thinking about engaging with the US government, and the nuts and bolts of what you need to do to be successful in growing your business in this vertical.

Speakers

Meagan Metzger

Founder, Dcode

Meagan founded Dcode with the mission of breaking down barriers between private industry and government. For the past 10 years, she has helped small innovative IT firms establish and grow their government business. In her spare time, she provides mentorship for startups through the... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 11:45am - 12:30pm EDT
1776 DC

Founder

12:30pm EDT

Telling Your Story: Why I spent 600 hours for a 7 minute talk

Limited Capacity filling up

Every start up today is competing for time, attention and resources in an increasingly crowded space. With shrinking attention spans and a focus on simplicity, TED Talks have become the gold standard for delivering ideas worth spreading and worth being funded. This session will share insights on impactful storytelling and pitching gleaned from the TED and TEDx experiences of a speaker, speaker coach and the curator of the first ever TEDxCollegePark in MD.

Speakers

Neelay Bhatt

Principal, PROS Consulting INC

Neelay’s career on five continents includes Disney, The Super Bowl, The Olympics, besides several years of consulting, public speaking and training. TEDx, the global platform for ideas, describes him as a business and communications visionary, and his service on the National Recreation... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 12:30pm - 1:40pm EDT
Google

Founder

12:30pm EDT

Lunch & Learn: Flourishing as a Founder: How the Science of Happiness Applies to Entrepreneurs

Limited Capacity filling up

Speakers

Seda Goff

Managing Director, Capital Post

Seda Goff is the Managing Director of the Founders Program at Capitol Post. There, she provides educational programming, mentors, events and cultivates a thriving local network to help military veterans and their spouses start and grow businesses. She works to inspire, educate, and... Read More →

Emily McMahan

Executive Director, Capital Post

Emily McMahan is the Executive Director of Capitol Post. Capitol Post is a nonprofit teaches military veterans and their spouses how to think and act like entrepreneurs, to the benefit of their own businesses or their employer’s. Capitol Post provides the coaching, business acceleration... Read More →

Erica Mohr

Founder, Be Mohr LLC

Erica is the Founder of Be Mohr LLC, a coach and corporate trainer, passionate about empowering others so they may thrive. As the Executive Director of the Sasamani Foundation, Erica builds education, employment, and empowerment programs to stop the cycle of poverty in Tanzania. Throughout... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 12:30pm - 2:00pm EDT
Capitol Post Capitol Post, 625 N. Washington Street, Suite 425, Alexandria, VA

Founder

1:00pm EDT

5 Biggest Legal Mistakes Founders Make When Starting A Company

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Please join Attorney Joshua Radbod from Cogent Law Group as he discusses the 5 Biggest Legal Mistakes Founders Make When Starting a Company. Josh will discuss founders mistakes and ways to avoid them. Come prepared with questions as there will be 15 mins for Q and A.

Speakers

Joshua Radbod

Attorney, Cogent Law Group

Joshua Radbod is a Maryland licensed attorney and co-founder of a start-up. Joshua is a member of the Cogent Law Group FinTech practice and Cannabis practice where he assists clients with corporate/fund formation, fund raising/ICOs, intellectual property protection, licenses, regulatory... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 1:00pm - 1:45pm EDT
1776 DC

Founder

1:00pm EDT

Creating the Double Bottom Line – Impact Entrepreneurship

Limited Capacity seats available

Speakers

Kevin Barrow

CEO, Mark Labs

Kevin Barrow is a former lawyer, banker, and managementconsultant. A serial social entrepreneur, he has worked dealing with education, environmental protection,campus safety, mobile health, and rural broadband access.

Dimitra Hatzudis

External Relations Manager, PeaceTech Accelerator

Dimitra leads the Accelerator’s outreach to prospective participants, partners, and investors, and runs the Accelerator’s communications and marketing arm. Prior to joining C5, Dimitra worked at the United States Institute of Peace on special events and press. She’s worked on... Read More →

Sadaf Lakhani

CEO and Co-Founder, Cognitiks

Dr. Musstanser Tinauli

CEO, Fori Mazdoori

Dr. Musstanser Tinauli is a smart city influencer since 2009. He is an accomplished design thinker, digital evangelist and a traveler. He is a global citizen having lived and worked across the globe in insititutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), Simula Research... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 1:00pm - 1:45pm EDT
Google

Social Impact

1:45pm EDT

Multi-Platform Content Marketing for Startups

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Social media is one of the most effective channels to tell your story in an engaging and interactive way. But, with a myriad of social platforms and finite resources, how can startups convert likes and shares into loyal customers without breaking the bank? Join Cory Lawrence, Multi-Platform Producer and Digital Strategist, as he discusses how startups can utilize social media as a relationship-building tool while maximizing budgets and extending the life of content.

Speakers

Cory Lawrence

Cory Lawrence is a creative wildcard. From Shark Week and Puppy Bowl, to Oprah and Gold Rush, he’s told stories with recognizable names for every major social platform. Cory wears a lot of hats — from digital strategy and content creation to creative production and public speaking... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 1:45pm - 2:15pm EDT
Google

Growth

2:00pm EDT

Scaling Your Impact Globally

Limited Capacity seats available

Speakers

Miishe Addy

Jetstream Africa, CEO & Co Founder

Miishe has 12 years of experience in strategy, analysis & legal transactions, including for Bain & Company and Wachtell Lipton. She has consulted leading development NGOs including TechnoServe and Global Partnerships. Before Jetstream, Miishe returned to her Ghanaian roots as a fellow... Read More →

Sola Amusan

Co-Founder & CEO, Coven Works

Ibraheem Babalola

Co-Founder, Muster

Ibrahim is the Co-Founder/CEO of Muster (An AI powered P2P shared housing marketplace. He has broad experience from working across Financial services, Software solutions and Human Capital management in Nigeria and the UK. His strong suits are in Business Development & Expansion, Strategy... Read More →

Nandini Pandya

Business Development, WeSeeThrough

Mike Ravenscroft

Program Director, PeaceTech Accelerator

Mike manages the day-to-day operations of the PeaceTech Accelerator in Washington, D.C. and oversees C5 Accelerate’s domestic portfolio of early stage investments. In this capacity, he works with C5’s network of mentors, partners, and investors to help its network of entrepreneurs... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 2:00pm - 2:45pm EDT
Google

Social Impact, Teenpreneurs

2:00pm EDT

Fireside Chat: The Startup Scene in Gaza

Limited Capacity seats available

Building a company is tough enough in Washington DC, but doing it with unreliable electricity and conflict at your door? That’s a totally different ballgame. Join us for a relaxed fireside chat with Issam Zinati, Backend Developer at Hatch Apps and Director of Acceleration and Investment at the Gaza-based UCAS Technology Incubator. During his time with UCASTI, he had the opportunity to work with dozens of Palestinian startups, and experienced first-hand the opportunities and challenges that the region presents. Hear him discuss the differences in his experiences with startups there and here.

Speakers

Paul Klein

Chief of Staff, Hatch Apps

Issam Zinati

Backend Developer, Hatch Apps

Issam Zinati is a backend developer at Hatch Apps. Issam is charged with designing APIs, collecting and modeling data, optimizing databases, and enabling secure endpoints. Prior to coming to Hatch Apps, Issam led the new acceleration program at UCASTI where he helped dozens of Palestinian... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
1776 DC

Founder

2:20pm EDT

Video for Startups & Enterprise Business

Limited Capacity filling up

With the Digital Revolution, Video has moved from being a luxury good to an essential tool for business storytelling, customer engagement, and product tutorials. Innovation in video technology (camera equipment, video editing software, and graphics processing) has increased access and reduced price for digital filmmakers and media professionals. The democratization of video has unlocked previously cost-prohibitive opportunities for business. What do businesses need to know as they consider video? What pitfalls should be avoided? And how can professionals recognize and find great video partners?

Speakers

Caleb Gritsko

Director of Video Production, Metamer Productions

Caleb has worked as Director, DP, Gaffer, Editor, and Colorist for award-winning content creators, international corporations, broadcast television, festival-circuit films, and music videos. Caleb previously served as Studio and Location Technician at Interface Media Group (IMG... Read More →

Alex Herder

Co-Founder & CEO, The Duke & the Duck

Alex is an award-winning creative director, video producer, & strategy consultant who co-founded The Duke & the Duck in 2009. Together, The Duke & the Duck is a 7-person motion design and animation studio with non-profit and corporate clients like the ACLU, HPE, the Pew Charitable... Read More →

Ashtan Moore

Co-Founder & Partner, Model B

Ashtan Moore is Partner and Co-Founder of Model B. Leading the creation of Model B’s growth engineering and influence marketing services, he helps companies and entrepreneurs increase sales, communicate with key audiences, and drive influence in the marketplace. With a background... Read More →

Benjamin Ross

Chief Executive Officer, Metamer Productions

Friday September 28, 2018 2:20pm - 3:15pm EDT
Google

Developer

3:00pm EDT

David vs. Goliath: How to Break Into Media Industry Dominated By Corporations

Limited Capacity seats available

Ksenija Pavlovic started her own independent media venture, The Pavlovic Today, that in less than a year established a critical presence in the White House Press Corps.

Pushing against the conventional wisdom that says that entry into the media industry can only be done with $10 million in startup capital, her vision was to create an independent news organization with strong youth involvement that will achieve social impact and safeguard democracy. Upholding foundational principles of the journalism profession and defending the Fourth Estate, The Pavlovic Today is now in a cohort of the biggest corporate media, in the White House Press Corps: CNN, NBC, ABC, FOX, Bloomberg.

The Pavlovic Today is an example of how one can break into the media industry, which is dominated by corporations, by understanding and delivering to one’s niche audience: young, educated Millennials and Generation Z, who want to change the world. The Pavlovic Today focuses on reliable, independent journalism while safeguarding press freedoms and the public’s right to be informed.

Speakers

Ksenija Pavlovic

Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Pavlovic Today

Pavlovic made international headlines and was hailed as a hero by the American public for breaking the White House off-camera ban by streaming the briefing via the Periscope app. She has been featured in The Washington Post, Huffington Post, The Hill, CBC, Grazia, The Independent... Read More →

Friday September 28, 2018 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
1776 DC

Founder

5:00pm EDT

Are We Talking Teams? Moving from Startup to Scaleup

Limited Capacity seats available

The majority of businesses owned by women and people of color are sole proprietorships or partnerships with no paid employees. While teams are essential to move from startup to scale-up, challenges to accessing capital and concentration within low-revenue sectors can stall this progression. Join local entrepreneurs as they share best practices for forming teams, building (and leaving) partnerships, and acquiring competitors to propel growth.

Speakers

Messay Derebe

Co-Founder and Co-CEO, goARTful

Messay Derebe is the co-Founder and Co-CEO of goARTful. goARTful is a first of its kind platform for the rental, sale, and exploration of art. While we are an art store which offers pieces for sale the core of our work is our rental service. Rentals on goARTful work like Rent the... Read More →

Kimberly Moore

CEO and Co-Founder, Go Together

Kimberly Moore, CEO and Co-Founder of Go Together, Inc, is an entrepreneur completely passionate about making an impact in the tech space by doing well and doing good. She's leveraging her experience as an sales executive in the federal wireless space and as an large event producer... Read More →

Jaleel Reed

Co-Owner, The Caged Bird

Jaleel is an economic and workforce developer by profession, passionate about developing innovative ways to create and sustain employment opportunities for underserved communities. Jaleel is also an entrepreneur and co-owner of The Caged Bird - the only black owned bar/restaurant... Read More →

Brandon Rule

President, Rule Enterprises

Ayanna Smith

Co-Founder, WÖC Media

A life-long visionary, Smith found her next "big idea" in the emerging escape room market, launching the first live escape game for children in the country. In both 2018 and 2017, Washington City Paper readers voted the Escape Lounge Best Escape Room in DC before its closing, and... Read More →

Deloris Wilson

Head of Strategy and Operations, Beacon

Friday September 28, 2018 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
National Union Building 918 F St NW, Washington, DC 20004

Growth

6:30pm EDT

Pitch Competition

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Join us as local entrepreneurs pitch their startups to a panel of esteemed judges and compete for cash prizes and other resources to help grow their businesses.

Friday September 28, 2018 6:30pm - 8:30pm EDT
National Union Building 918 F St NW, Washington, DC 20004

Founder