Summary:

Companies need more than one kind of capital to succeed. The notion that successive rounds of equity can (or should!) fund a company from concept to scale, at the exclusion of other forms of capital, is total farce. If the world is filled with a variety of capital tools, and most healthy companies are using them, why do startup educators, mentors and investors rarely seem to mention them? Why is everyone so obsessed with teaching founders only about how/when/where to chase venture? 

Join RevUp Capital Managing Partner Melissa Withers for a conversation about how to think more dynamically about capitalizing your growth and how fundraising myths can kill a company in a heartbeat. Melissa, an experienced fund manager and business builder with 100+ investments under management, has spent the last few years working to drive innovation in investment and build new ways to help founders create successful companies. Melissa began her career working at the intersection of science, education, and public policy at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT, work that built on her experience as a graduate student studying technical and science communications. She began her journey as an entrepreneur as co-founder of the Business Innovation Factory, an organization dedicated to the design and testing of new business models in industries of high social significance. She has also worked in government and economic development—experiences most aptly described as "public sector sabbaticals."  In addition to her role at RevUp Capital, Melissa is entrepreneur-in-residence at Tech Stars Boston and a strong advocate for expanding investment in women, people of color, first-time founders and those living outside top-tier markets. If not for her family, love of gin drinks, and preference for indoor plumbing, she'd likely spend her remaining days hiking in the mountains. 

Date:  Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Time:  12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT

Location: Zoom Virtual Event

Keynote Speaker:

Melissa Withers:  Co-Founder & Managing Partner, RevUp