Is your website increasing your close rate or is it just a fancy brochure?
A website is arguably your most important sales and marketing asset. It works around the clock—nights, weekends, and holidays. But many websites don't pull their weight in the sales process. From lead generation to conversion, learn how your website can be your most powerful sales enablement tool. When built with revenue-generation as the primary goal, you won’t need to hire a huge sales team right away—you can let your website do the heavy lifting. Join 25-year industry veteran, Kitty Hart, for fresh takes on how to build a powerful, sales-focused website that drives growth for your business.

Following this session join the speaker(s) in the Community Lounge for a 15 minute Q&A.

Join us for a fast-paced overview of the necessary legal steps startups should take in order to be successful. Panelists from Fredrikson & Byron will cover the basics, providing attendees with answers to key questions they face when running a startup and answer questions like: 

•    Does entity choice matter, and why?

•    When raising money, what do you need to do to ensure you comply with securities laws??

•    What kinds of rights should I give investors? 

•    How do I decide who will be an employee and who will be a contractor?

 •    Why do I need to get IP assignments, and when?

Following this session join the speaker(s) in the Community Lounge for a 15 minute Q&A.

From startups to Fortune 500 companies --  every business needs to build a leadership team that is public policy literate for both compliance and delivering on their growth strategy. Join Shawntera M. Hardy, Cofounder + Chief Strategy Officer at Civic Eagle, in a discussion about the core principles to building a public policy engagement strategy that empowers businesses to track, analyze and influence the policies that matter most to their bottom line. No matter if it’s people, profit and/or planet.

Real companies. Real investors. Real feedback. Minnesota founders will pitch their startups for experienced investors, including Brett Brohl and Mary Grove, from Bread and Butter Ventures. The investors will give feedback and provide insight into what investors are thinking when listening to a pitch.

Join the speaker(s) in the Community Lounge at 4:30 for a 30 minute Q&A.

An inside scoop from VCs on what's changed, and how to stand out

Following this session join the speaker(s) in the Community Lounge for a 30 minute Q&A.

Learn how career, top-level executive assistants integrate into their principal's lives to free up their time and increase their productivity.

Mix up your favorite cocktail and join the speakers of The Real Pitch MN and Fundraising During COVID-19 for Q&A!

Join us as we take our Pitch Night virtual! The Summer gBETA St. Thomas companies will each present a five-minute pitch followed by Q&A. Come prepared to learn all about these companies' innovative ideas and enter to win a variety of prizes!

Out-of-school time programming has been consistently underfunded in Minnesota, and disparities in access to these activities is one of the leading drivers of the achievement gap. Learn how Youthprise and Venn Foundation, two local nonprofits, combined their expertise to leverage two underutilized tools—program-related investments (PRIs) and the K-12 Education Tax Credit—to pilot and implement an innovative financing model to help low-income families pay for afterschool and summer activities. But the innovation didn’t stop there. Hear how the organizations pivoted in the midst of a global pandemic to use their model to rapidly respond to the distance learning needs of low-income students as well.

Following this session join the speaker(s) in the Community Lounge for a 15 minute Q&A.

Minnesota Innovates welcomes the Founders of five companies as they share insights and their experiences funding the growth of nationally and internationally successful companies.

Hear from the founders of education startup Schoolz as they merge tech, art, and media to bring culture to Google Classroom, in an effort to drive student engagement and support teachers

Following this session join the speaker(s) in the Community Lounge for a 15 minute Q&A.

Each founder will have a few minutes to showcase their education startup and tell us about their personal background and entrepreneurial journey. Then, we'll talk about adjustments and pivots we've been making in light of COVID-19.

Following this session join the speaker(s) in the Community Lounge for a 15 minute Q&A.

What is a “cap table”? What agreements should be in place with your co-founders, employees and independent contractors? How do you prepare a slide deck?  What does a typical financing term sheet look like? Hear from a panel of experienced lawyers, as well as a veteran angel investor, about what you need to do to prepare your startup for fundraising.

Following this session join the speaker(s) in the Community Lounge for a 15 minute Q&A.

Learn about the new OnRamp Education & Workforce Innovation presented by ECMC Group and gener8tor

Following this session join the speaker(s) in the Community Lounge for a 15 minute Q&A.

While early stage healthcare companies may seek resources from established healthcare companies, they often want to remain independent while they pursue their healthcare-related vision and build value. 

Established healthcare companies expand and enhance existing product portfolios by acquiring early-stage technologies. They also want certainty that, if they help nurture an early-stage company, they will be able to acquire it once it is ready to exit without risk of being outbid by a competitor. 

To balance these issues, companies often use a structured acquisition, in which the established healthcare company invests in the early-stage company, often obtains some degree of commercial rights and negotiates an option to acquire the company at a pre-agreed price. Join attorneys from Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. as they explain the rationale for, structure of, and pros and cons of a structured acquisition.

We will cover important topics such as entity structure, options and equity compensation, pre-transaction (acquisition or IPO) planning, and more! Whether you are just starting to form your company, looking to optimize equity awards, attract and retain talent, or have your eye on a potential exit, this session is for you!

For many entrepreneurs, independence is more valuable than anything. There are new models emerging that enable founders to get started more efficiently than ever and get funded while preserving options and control. This session will be an overview of some of the new models (indie.vc, Earnest Capital, Tiny Seed), tools (Zapier, Airtable, Glide) and examples of entrepreneurs who are charting a different path.

The microscope on the structural and systemic issues that have been laid bare and/or exacerbated by the realities of COVID and racial inequity have never been more important in our communities or in our healthcare system. Join us for a panel discussion to hear about strategies, challenges and innovations from policy, payor, provider, and community perspectives. Opportunities for entrepreneurs exist as vendors and service providers, changemakers, and community supporters. Connecting entrepreneurs to the accelerator and investment community will be critical to driving change, increasing equity and expanding opportunity along the way.

Victor Hugo, the renowned French writer, famously said: "There Is one thing stronger than all the armies In the world, and that Is an Idea whose time has come.”  

This is a rapid fire, engaging session to bring intellectual property (IP) principles out of the legal stratosphere down to the level of the fired up entrepreneur looking to blaze a trail into the future.

We'll explore at least 5 insider secrets about IP law that can fuel greater enthusiasm of your investors, team members, and customers as you build lasting businesses with greater differentiation, profit margins, and exit potential.

Learn how patents actually do encourage innovation from you and your team.

Learn how the classic boy-meets-girl romance can improve your understanding of patent law.

Learn how to go from patent filing to patenthood in 6 months or less.

These and other insights will leave you with a new sense of possibility for leveraging IP to supercharge your business results.

Minnesota has a burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem complete with a healthy pipeline of emerging startups from a variety of industries, mentor networks, accelerators, competitions, and more. The State of Minnesota is also home to tens of thousands of professionals who meet the Fed's description of an accredited investor.

In this session leaders from Gopher Angels & Groove Capital will be focusing on how to connect angel investors with investment opportunities in the area's top early stage startups.

If you've ever thought about angel investing, but have not yet taken the leap, this session is for you. The session will cover high level topics like qualifications for investing, reasons to include venture in your investment portfolio, how to assess an early stage investment opportunity, best practices for writing your first check, and options for investing alongside other angels.

Learn about Program-Related Investments (PRIs), what they are, how they fit with your fundraising plans, and what to expect when pursuing PRI capital.  Hear first-hand from a social enterprise about its experiences with PRIs and how it effectively uses them.

Whether targeting impact investments or growing new revenue streams, organizations need to think differently about partnerships, finances, and change. It can be difficult for mission-driven leaders to know where to start. 

Join this workshop as experts from 20 Degrees, provide a systematized approach to growing revenue and acquiring new impact capital. The team from 20 Degrees helps nonprofits and social enterprises add complementary revenue streams to their existing income, enabling organizations to test holistic revenue models and bring more predictability to income. 

Together we will walk through the key steps to unlocking how an organization can blend charitable and non-charitable dollars into one cohesive approach. Walk away with tangible ideas that can ensure that your mission is driving the budget, not the other way around.

Join us for a panel discussion to listen and learn from three social enterprise founders their lessons on bruising shins, empathy and humility, and harnessing the power of outcomes and impact and the value it provides in ops, strategy, and marketing & communications.

Are you trying to move your organization, or even your community, out of the status quo? Are you looking for effective ways to disrupt while keeping your credibility and social capital? If yes, join us for practical strategies on how to successfully move toward more innovation and more modernization. That is, how to disrupt without being disruptive.

Are you building a business as a force for good? One that balances purpose and profit? B Corps are driving a global movement of business as a force for good. Join us for a panel discussion with three Minnesota B Corp founders and hear about their journeys becoming B Corps, benefits and challenges, and their recommendations for businesses considering B Corp certification.

During this pandemic, we hear the refrain over and over “I can’t wait to get back to normal.”  There is an honest and earnest feeling behind that sentiment, however, we have been asking ourselves - is “normal” what we want to get back to? In many ways our past “normal” was not nearly good enough and even exasperated many of the problems we are facing during this pandemic.  In this session we’ll outline some of those not-so-good “normals,” how they put us in a worse situation relative to an international crisis and how we have the opportunity to “get back to better” through acknowledging the bad, identify technology and non-technological solutions to address a better tomorrow by making our cities smarter and more responsive to our communities. “Smart North” is a collaboration of people working in and around smart city development thinking deeply around how our cities and communities can better work together and more efficient in building a better normal.

COVID 19 has further exposed the catastrophic
gaps in equity to digital access that in
turn impact access to healthcare, education,
employment among-st many others. In this session
we will explore the role of 5G in making this a reality.

The Twin Cities have come together to build smart and sustainable collaboration centers to foster entrepreneurial-ism and innovation around energy solutions that deliver resiliency, minimize climate impact and assure healthy sustainable working environments. Join entrepreneurs and sustainability leaders from the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul as they share how their city plans, development and implementation have leveraged smart, sustainable technologies for climate and human livelihood.

The Midway area of St. Paul has a rich history, combined with the diverse surrounding communities, aging infrastructure, and the busiest intersection in the state (at Snelling & University). Many stakeholders have been working to create a more resilient and vibrant community in Midtown, in addition to heightened near-term demand from 2020 COVID-19 and social justice unrest along University Avenue. Minnesota entrepreneurs bring a wealth of offerings to the equation, leveraging connected technology and data to help (re)build a better community.

Ever wonder how to get funding for your startup before you have launched a product? While crowd-funding works for some businesses, it’s not a one-size-fits all solution. If you have a software product or you are building a platform business, you will likely need to access capital before you launch. In this session, you’ll learn how to put together a plan and a pitch to attract early capital.

Join Village Bank’s panel of financial industry experts as they dispel common business banking myths, discuss common financing options, and provide valuable financial tips for entrepreneurs just like you! Panelists will be diving deep into discussion topics including: 

-What role does a community bank have in your entrepreneurial path, and how they can be a gift to entrepreneurs and the community as a whole 

-Demystifying SBA lending; misconceptions will be addressed, benefits will be highlighted, and tips will be shared to determine whether this option would benefit you 

-Pitfalls to avoid as you balance the management of your personal finances alongside your business finances 

Whether you’re just starting up or gearing up for growth, this panel conversation is for you.

Understanding Bitcoin, debunking "blockchain" hype, and exploring the separation of money and state. No technical experience required.

It's no secret companies with more diversity are more successful. So why are the venture capital and tech startup sectors lagging behind in funding and hiring? In this panel discussion, we discuss the importance of equal access and the best ways entrepreneurs and VC's can promote diversity.

Listen to our panel as they discuss various experiences and advice they have relating to financing of startups. Our panel includes a founder with firsthand experience going through various funding activities recently for their startup, as well as an investor who has invested in various startup companies over the years. They will cover a wide range of topics including how to prepare for financing, when should you begin considering searching for outside funding, and what investors are looking for among others topics during the session.

Learn about how we leverage our positions as students to make investment decisions and add value for our portfolio companies, as well as how we navigate the modern VC world.