Angel Pitch: Funding Roundtable 

June 4th from 6:30 - 9:00 pm

Complimentary beer, wine, and appetizers will be served

Through countless sleepless nights and cans of Red Bull, you've worked tirelessly on your product that's all set to change the world.  You've got your first 50 users or maybe your first 1000, but you could do so much more...if you just had some funding.  

To help you, General Assembly has assembled a panel of angels, early stage VC investors, and entrepreneurs that you can pitch to and get direct feedback on your start-up.  They've been through the entire funding cycle and they're here to help you refine your pitch and maybe even get a dollar or two.  

WANT TO PITCH? - MAY 23rd DEADLINE

If  you're a interested in pitching, please send a quick 5 minute pitch with a description of the company to arnold@generalassemb.ly.  Preference will be given to companies with a prototype and user traction.  May 23rd is the deadline, so get the pitches in before then!  The earlier you apply, the better your chances.

Selected start-ups will also get a chance to get 1-on-1 pitching advice before the event from McAdory Lipscomb Jr., mentor and official pitch coach for NY Angels, IBM Smart Camp, ASTIA, UltraLights NYC and Entrepreneurs Roundtable Acceleratorso.  The winner of the pitch event will also be given a chance to pitch direct to the NY Angels, one of the most active Angel Groups in the country.

SCHEDULE & PANEL MEMBERS

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Wan Li Zhu joined Fairhaven Capital in 2009. He was previously the global product manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM where he led product marketing for Microsoft's flagship business software application. Prior to that, Wan Li was a program manager at Microsoft where he drove product development in SQL Server and Dynamics.

Wan Li has also held roles at Google as a general manager in Online Sales and Operations in Asia Pacific and Morgan Stanley in technology investment banking. Wan Li holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, and M.Eng. and B.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.

Fabrice Grinda is an Internet entrepreneur and investor.  Fabrice has successfully transposed, adapted and invested in business ideas between the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America.  He is a prolific angel investor with over 75 active investments in various companies including Viajanet, Peopleperhour, Brightroll, and many others.

In March of 2006, Fabrice co-founded OLX, Inc. with business partner Alec Oxenford, in the hopes of building the largest free local classified site in the world. As co-founder and co-CEO, Fabrice drives the company’s business development, investor relations, M&A and product development efforts. OLX now has 200 employees and is present in 90 countries and 40 languages with over 150 million unique visitors per month.

McAdory Lipscomb Jr. is a strategist for startup companies. Mac helps early stage CEOs develop and deliver their funding pitches & company building strategies to angels, VCs and the market. Former Operating Partner at RRE Ventures, mentor and official pitch coach for NY Angels, IBM Smart Camp, ASTIA, UltraLights NYC and Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, Mac created and teaches the Master Pitch Workshop and is a member of the faculty of New York City’s General Assembly.

A management consultant to executives in private and public companies, he previously held global leadership positions as CEO of The Political Channel, was an Accenture partner, EVP of Showtime Networks, SVP of WorldSpace/xM direct radio, and worked as a marketing/communications/production strategist in two presidential campaigns.

He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Annenberg Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California and has an MBA from University of Colorado, Boulder, an MA in Speech Communications from Auburn University, and a BA in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park, where he currently serves on the Board of Visitors for the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences.

Tom Wisniewsk is an active early stage investor and advisor to start-ups, venture capital, private equity and growth-stage companies. He is a member of the board of directors for New York Angels, an early stage investment group and serves as a board member and advisor to a number of early stage ventures. In addition, Tom is a Partner at the management consulting firm Baldwin Bell Green (BBG) where he focuses on Financial Services, Technology and Private Equity firms.

Brian Cohen serves as the Chairman of the New York Angels who has invested over $45 million in more than 70 early stage companies.   Brian launched a next generation self-publishing PR news platform called Launch.it in May 2012 with the belief that all new products should be easy to discover, find and share.  Brian is considered the father of science & technology strategic communications and founded Technology Solutions, Inc. in 1983 supporting startup technology companies in computing, communication, software, education, and entertainment.  .