Grep-a-palooza returns for its second year on Thursday, June 1, at the Durham Convention Center. The full-day conference will focus on early-stage tech startups in the Triangle.

We couldn’t put on Grep-a-palooza without our great sponsors, which include Robinson Bradshaw, Wyrick Robbins, Bank of America, ExtensisHR, NC State and the City of Raleigh, plus a grant from NC IDEA. You should stop by the sponsors’ tables at the event to thank them in person and learn more about them.

AGENDA

8:30 a.m.
Registration, Coffee and Networking

9:10 a.m.
Opening Remarks

9:15 a.m.
Opening Keynote
Main Ballroom
Erkang Zheng is the Founder and CEO of Morrisville-based cybersecurity startup JupiterOne, which zoomed to unicorn status less than two years after it was launched in 2020. We profiled Erkang in July, 2022, and he was also a For Starters guest this February. You can find all of our JupiterOne coverage here.

10:00 a.m.
Morning Networking Break

10:30 a.m.
Breakout Sessions #1 (choose one)

Panel: Finding The Exit Door
Breakout Room I
Moderator: Kevin Mosley, General Partner, Jurassic Capital, and host of Exit Stories
Panelists: Glen Caplan, Partner, Robinson Bradshaw; Michael O’Hare, Managing Director, KeyBanc; Brian Reale, Executive Chairman, ProcessMaker
What It’s About: Many founders—and pretty much all investors—are thinking from the start about a potential exit down the road. What’s the best way to get there? What should you be thinking about and doing years ahead to make a successful exit more likely? What should you expect when you’re in the middle of it, and beyond?

— OR —

Panel: Are Accelerators Worth It?
Breakout Room D
Moderator: Jenn Summe, Director, Primordial
Panelists: Cara Borenstein, Co-Founder and CEO, Stashpad; Sonja Ebron, Co-Founder and CEO, Courtroom5; Steve Klein, Co-Founder of Statuspage.io
What It’s About: The title pretty much says it all. Accelerators like Techstars and Y Combinator can certainly point to some splashy success stories, but they’ve also had many participants that don’t see a huge bump or go on to riches. Are such programs a fit for everyone? Can they be more of a distraction than a launching pad?

11:15 a.m.
Breakout Sessions #2 (choose one)

Panel: Let’s GO! Scaling From $1M ==> $10M+
Breakout Room I
Moderator: Scot Wingo, CEO of Spiffy
Panelists: Patti Key, Chief Revenue Office, TPx Communications; Susan Wall, COO, Corevist; Adam Yeatts, Principal, The Leap Company
What It’s About: O.K., you’ve found some level of product-market fit and are approaching $1M in ARR. Now what? These GTM (Go-to-market) ninjas will help walk you through—and leap over—the hurdles at the growth stage, when you’re trying to go from $1M to $10M and beyond.

— OR —

Panel: Finding Product-Market Fit
Breakout Room D
Moderator: Anil Chawla, Founder and former CEO of ArchiveSocial (now Optimere) and host of For Starters
Panelists: Tai Hunyh, CEO, Acta Solutions; Drew Schiller, CEO, Validic; Ricci Wolman, CEO, Written Word Media
What It’s About: No stage of startup life is easy, but arguably the toughest is to go from zero to six figures in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and beyond. Getting there means finding some level of product-market fit. Well, how the heck do you do that? That’s what this panel will explore.

12:00 p.m.
Lunch

1:00 p.m.
Panel: Early-Stage VC Funding Outlook
Main Ballroom
Moderator: Hunter Young, Head of Capital, CED
Panelists: Jason Caplain, General Partner, Bull City Venture Partners; Lister Delgado, Managing Partner, IDEA Fund Partners; Tobi Walter, Partner, Cofounders Capital
What It’s About: We’ll discuss the latest trends in the funding outlook for early-stage startups. Because everyone wants to get funded, right? Actually, VC funding isn’t the right path for every startup, but if that’s a path you’re hoping to take, you’ll want to be all ears for this panel.

1:45 p.m.
Breakout Sessions #3 (choose one)

Panel: Sell It, Ship It: Ecommerce/Online Retail
Breakout Room I
Moderator: Suzanne Miglucci, former CEO of Charles & Colvard and CMO of ChannelAdvisor
Panelists: Kristen Baileys, CEO, Bake Eat Love; Lauren McCullough, CEO, Tromml; Niki Shamdasani, CEO, Sani
What It’s About: This panel will cover the unique challenges and opportunities in ecommerce and online retail. Unlike software startups, companies in this space are typically dealing with physical products, which bring a whole new set of concerns ranging from managing inventory to mastering shipping to handling returns to building a brand.

— OR —

Panel: Going Green For The Planet And Profit
Breakout Room D
Moderator: Helen Whiteley, Executive Director, Women+ in Climate Tech Global Network
Panelists: Tony Atti, CEO, Phononic; Josh Dorfman, CEO, Plantd
What It’s About: Climate change is arguably the biggest existential issue facing mankind. It can also be a big business opportunity for startups that aim to help both the planet and their bottom line.

2:30 p.m.
Afternoon Networking Break

3:00 p.m.
Closing Keynote
Main Ballroom
Bill Spruill is the former Co-Founder and CEO of Global Data Consortium, which was acquired last year by London Stock Exchange Group for $300M. He hasn’t slowed down at all, launching 2ndF to help grow the Triangle ecosystem and taking over as Board Chair at CED, to which he donated $4M in January. We’ll talk about all that and more.

3:45 p.m.
Closing Remarks
Main Ballroom

4:00 p.m
After-Party
At Bull McCabe’s, 427 W Main St

Please join us at Bull McCabe’s, which is just a few hundred yards from the Durham Convention Center at 427 W Main St. Attendees will receive two tickets in their registration packet that they can cash in for free drinks at the event. But the After-Party will also be open to all, whether or not they attended Grep-a-palooza.