Bull City Venture Partners (BCVP) hosted its Founders First event (formerly called Entrepreneurs’ Series) yesterday at the Carolina Theater in downtown Durham. The event’s mission is to connect national investors to entrepreneurs throughout the Southeast, especially in the Triangle.
Since its first event in 2009, attendance has grown from 75 to over 700 attendees, ranging from nationally recognized investors and entrepreneurs to key figures of the Triangle startup ecosystem, all who believe in the power of community and the region they serve. Attendees had the opportunity to network with some of the top tech leaders in the nation, to hear about the current mindset from some of the most active national investors and to better understand some innovative growth strategies.
Opening remarks were led by BCVP’s David Jones and Jason Caplain, Co-Founders and General Partners, and Michael Lee, Principal. Jones remarked on the event’s name change from Entrepreneurs Series to Founders First, emphasizing the importance of founders and that without them, investors would be out of business.
Lee went on to transition into the following panel by comparing an important theme prevalent in the currently venture market to the Charles Dickens quote: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Which perfectly summed up much of the sentiments on raising capital that followed afterward.
The speakers, featured panelists and topics they discussed included, in order of presentation:
- Brian Shield, on “Unleashing Potential: Navigating Enterprise Opportunities in Age of AI.” As the Chief Technical Officer for the Boston Red Sox, Shield shared his experience with emerging technologies and how companies now and in the future need to embrace the inevitable change, as AI starts to become more mainstream. By being able to quickly adapt your company to the future filled with AI, it can unlock benefits and potential that impact productivity and business even further, faster and easier.
- Mindy Isenstein (Andreessen Horowitz), Haley Bryant (Hustle Fund), Ryan Moore (Accomplice), a panel on the state of seed and early-stage VC: Hailing from VC firms based in D.C., Silicon Valley and Boston, these three partners discussed what founders should keep in mind while looking for investors. They emphasized the importance of keeping true to your company’s mission and having a clear idea on what your company needs for funding, rather than raising money just to have money. Even with an extremely rocky market, it’s essential for founders to build deep relationships with investors they trust.
- Joanna Arras, Allen Mask and David Greenberg, a panel on growth-stage financing: Arras is a partner at Chicago-based Baird Capital, Mask an investment partner at New York-based Westcap Group and Greenberg a general partner at Baltimore-based JMI Equity. These three shared their experiences from previous and current companies to advise founders on how to effectively prepare for innovative growth. They advised founders to have coaches, peer mentors and others who they can be vulnerable with, to know every inside and outside detail and growth opportunity for their company and to have diversity of voices in the boardroom.
- Shiv Narayanan, on “Creating Enterprise Value Through Marketing: Lessons Learned from Working with Leading PE Firms and Scaling Their Portfolio Companies.” As the CEO of How To SaaS, a marketing strategy consulting firm that works with CEOs and revenue leaders, Narayanan emphasized the importance of SaaS companies spending more time and money on marketing—and how to get the most bang for their marketing spend buck.
- Delisa Alexander and L.J. Brock on “7 Steps to Make Culture a Strategic Advantage.” Alexander, the former Chief People Officer at Red Hat, and Brock, the current Chief People Officer at Coinbase, shared seven pieces of advice for founders to keep in mind when building a vibrant and authentic work culture. From defining the culture your company needs to always making sure you’re curating and modeling that culture, they called attention to how a great internal culture can lead to an even greater external success.
