Our Genius Founders have reached the final chapter in our Alumni Venture Seed Fund: the Investor Readiness Phase. Over the last four weeks, our young entrepreneurs focused on refining their pitch decks and business models, while learning how to raise funds from within the venture capital (VC) industry. With the support of expert coaches, this phase also provided them with the opportunity to identify and create their own fundraising roadmaps to target key investors using best practices.
GENIUSES KEY TAKEAWAYS
Kevin Butler, OAK4 Hidden Genius Alum
“In this phase, I have learned how to find potential investors, how to pitch to them, and how to make the best out of getting a no response.”
Ian Bundy-Weiss, OAK5 Hidden Genius Alum
“In this phase I learned the importance of fundraising and how the inner workings of a pitch are focused around the ideals of my company.”
Ndene Diallo, OAK5 Hidden Genius Alum
“This phase helped me make my business more presentable and gave me the confidence to find, approach, and pitch investors.”
Jayden Cummings, RICH2 Hidden Genius Alum
“During this Investor Readiness Phase, I learned how to adequately put together a pitch and how to communicate with investors.”
Desmond Paré, OAK3 Hidden Genius Alum
“I’ve learned the importance of investor relationships vs. user relationships. I learned that it is important to differentiate both as separate entities when it comes to developing an application for my users.”
Click HERE to learn more about our Hidden Genius Alumni and their business ventures.
INVESTOR READINESS PHASE COACHES & GUEST SPEAKERS
Jackson Georges, Jr.
President, Capital G
Janine O’ Neill
Director, Talent, Sequoia Capital
Jason Norman
Partner, Concrete Rose Capital
Frederic Kerrest
Executive Vice Chairman, COO & Co-Founder, Okta
Author, Zero to IPO
Allison Baum Gates
General Partner, SemperVirens Venture Capital
Kyle Holm
Vice President, Total Rewards Advisory at Sequoia Consulting Group
Megan Holston-Alexander
Partner, Andreessen Horowitz Cultural Leadership Fund
Theo Williams
Senior Manager, Portfolio Development, Salesforce
