VENTURE SATURDAY is a full-day event held every quarter for anyone who is interested in either joining a startup, creating their own startup, or investing in startups. Filled with two tracks of speaker panels and workshops, TWO pitch competitions, demo tables, networking lunch (food included in the ticket price), and more! Check out the full agenda and come for the whole day, or just selected portions that may interest you the most. Note that the entire day is put on by mentors from the Venture Mechanics' Catapult Accelerator Program.
The afterparty mixer is a exclusively for founders and mentors to "speed date." If the conversation gets deep they're also welcome to take any open table or office in the building to have a quiet direct discussion.
10:00 - 10:25
Keynote Speaker: Jonathan Shapiro Standing in for Darcy Burner - The Founders Survival Guide
"The last company I built ended in an emergency room. Between its founding in 2013 as my son's 4th grade project and that emergency room, we bootstrapped to millions of dollars per year in revenue, built software that got national press, and served more than a million customers. I'm going to tell you the most important things I learned - not about unit economics or growth hacking, but about the one investment that matters most: your survival as a human being."
10:30 - 11:10
Session 1 - Track 1 [Leonardo Room] Panel: When and How To Find Your Cofounder(s)
The panelists are serial entrepreneurs who were themselves once solo founders, who can speak to their evolved philosophies on how to find the right co-founder(s) at the right time, how to split equity amongst co-founders, how founders can protect themselves against a mismatch in chemistry or if the company pivots into a different direction that requires a different founder team make-up, etc. Moderated by serial entrepreneur Darian Parrish. Panelists: TBA
Session 1 - Track 2 [Airbus Room] Panel: One QA Engineer, 10x Output: How Startups Can Scale Testing with AI by Tatyana Arbouvoza
Hiring a full QA team is expensive—but skipping testing leads to outages, customer churn, and lost trust. What if one QA engineer could deliver the output of ten? In this session, we’ll explore how early-stage companies can leverage AI-driven testing to ship faster, reduce production issues, and avoid the cost of building heavyweight automation frameworks. We’ll walk through practical use cases where AI testing saves time and money, and where human oversight still matters. The session will include a live demo of ContextAI—showing how teams can generate tests instantly, execute across browsers and devices, perform failure analysis, validate PDFs and file uploads, and integrate with existing pipelines. Attendees will leave with: a simple, scalable quality strategy for lean engineering teams, a clear understanding of where AI delivers ROI (and where it doesn’t), and a practical blueprint to accelerate releases without sacrificing quality. Perfect for founders, CTOs, QA leads, and engineers who want enterprise-level quality… on a startup budget.
11:15 - 12:00
Session 2 - Track 1 [Leonardo Room] Marketing Workshop: 90% of Founder-led Content is a Waste of Time (How to actually turn attention into revenue)
by Benjamin Baxter and Nicolas Garfinkel.
Most founder-led content wastes time because it never turns attention into revenue. Join Ben Baxter and Nicolas Garfinkel for a no-BS discussion on how to build a Founder Voice that actually drives trust, authority, and pipeline on LinkedIn.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
- Why not posting on LinkedIn keeps your growth on "hard mode",
- The 4 content types that actually get customers to DM you,
- How to build a simple system that turns posts into paying clients, and
- Real case studies: 200+ inbound leads from a single post.
Session 2 - Track 2 [Airbus Room] Nearly Free IP with Jonathan Olson, Aeon Law
Tired of IP feeling like a four-letter word? Worried your ideas will get swiped before you launch? Then buckle up! In 40 brisk minutes we'll demystify patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets with a focus on pitfalls, measures that don’t cost much, and current events. Jonathan Olson has advised numerous IP clients and written hundreds of patents, including some for Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Satya Nadella. He has created potent IP in cryptographic security, machine learning, computer vision, drone and robotics applications, recommendation and curation systems, medical devices, and Web3/blockchain applications. His clients have used his patents to win licensing revenue, drive off competitors' investors, and navigate successful exits for more than 20 years. In this talk he'll share how startups can leverage practical, early-stage IP strategies for maximum impact.
12:00 - 1:00
Networking Lunch - Opportunity to meet fellow founders, funders and advisors. Lunch is provided or you can bring your own.
1:00 - 1:50
Raw Concept Pitch Competition - This low-stakes pitch competition is an opportunity for aspiring founders to pitch their concept for a venture-scale startup. They get three minutes to pitch and two minutes of Q&A with the judging panel. The judges will cast their votes for the most promising business concept, and the audience will be able to crowdvote their favorite as well. Will the winner of the two votes be the same or different? Come find out! Judges include Heather Zindel, Darian Parrish and Ed Barker.
1:00 Judge Intros
1:05 Ambeince, Jordan Friedman
1:11 Leetcare, Marnel Ramirez
1:17 Lost In Translation, Nalin Singal
1:23 BridgeYield, Smitha Shivakumar
1:29 Spacely, Dom Ciero
1:35 ChekdHealth, Mitch Smith
1:41 Skyrat Robotics, Yuri Kurat
1:47 Brra, Tayler Moore
1:52 Judge vote and crowd vote
1:57 Winners announced
2:00 - 2:45
Session 3 - Track 1 [Leonardo Room] - Panel: How Startups Can Partner With Federal Lab System. Moderated by David McFeeters-Krone.
The federal government has many funding programs to assist small manufacturers, and one of the best, but least understood is … the Federal Lab system. The US funds over 350 R&D centers across the country and they are eager to collaborate with you to help push your technology road map. They spend over $150b a year and have a full complement of testbeds and researchers to assist. The trick is finding the right lab at the right time. David McFeeters-Krone is national expert at tapping in the technologies, capabilities and facilities at these and other federally funded institutions. Attend this crisp session for some tips, tricks and thoughts on tapping into this underutilized resource.
Session 3 - Track 2 [Airbus Room] - Workshop: Branding at the Pre-Seed Stage with Gaurav Malhotra
Branding at the pre-seed stage isn’t about polished campaigns—it’s all about the founder. Your clarity, pitch, and presence shape how the world sees your startup. Long before your product or service becomes the brand, you are the brand. In this 40-minute interactive session, you’ll learn how early-stage branding differs from later-stage efforts, and how to position yourself and your company for success. We’ll break down brand, marketing strategy, and go-to-market—and give you actionable takeaways, real-world examples, and a workbook to help you create buzz, attract VCs, co-founders, early hires, and customers.
3:00 - 3:45
Session 4 - Track 1 [Leonardo Room] - Workshop: Idea Validation and Brand Building with Angie Parker
Learn all about how to conduct a rigorous Customer Discovery process and flow the outcome into building a strong brand for your startup. The instructor, Angie Parker, is the Executive Director of the Alliance of Angels and long-time Venture Mechanics mentor and course instructor (Founder Workshop Series: Customer Discovery).
Session 4 - Track 2 [Airbus Room] Workshop: SAFE Notes vs Convertible Notes – Strategies for Structuring Pre-Priced Rounds with Ron Wiener
SAFE Notes have become the dominant instrument in 88% of pre-seed and seed rounds, often perceived as straightforward, off-the-shelf agreements that founders can use without legal help. However, like traditional convertible notes, SAFE Notes can and frequently should be customized—knowing which terms to modify and when is essential for effective negotiation with investors. In this workshop, Venture Mechanics CEO Ron Wiener will explain the origins of the Y Combinator SAFE Note from 2013 and its evolution to the current YC4 version, why some investors remain cautious about SAFE Notes, and the rationale behind Venture Mechanics’ own updated SAFE Note. He will also clarify how to distinguish between pre-seed, seed, and “Series Seed” rounds, giving founders critical insights into structuring pre-priced rounds to optimize terms and fundraising success.
4:00 - 4:50
Venture Pitch Competition - This is the “high stakes” pitch competition as opposed to the raw concept competition earlier in the day. The five presenting startups will get 5 minutes to pitch, plus 4 minutes for Q&A with the judges (experienced investors). These startups will also have demo tables at the event where potential investors, customers, mentors, etc., can meet with them after the competition. The judges will cast their votes for the best investment opportunity, and the audience will be able to crowdvote their favorite as well. Will the winner of the two votes be the same or different? Come find out! Judges include Jonathan Kagle from VentureUs, Brent Weeks from the Alliance of Angels, and investor Ken Morimoto.
4:00 Judge Intros
4:05 Branden Doyle, Violett
4:15 Benjamin Blue, Ora Biomedical
4:25 Matt Williams, ReadyBit
4:35 Vivek Sahay, Althire.ai
4:45 Past Presenter Updates: NewGem, RealEngineers, GoEasy.kids
4:54 Judges vote and crowd vote
5:00 - 5:50
Introduction to the Venture Mechanics Catapult Accelerator Program - Learn all about the patently unique incubator/accelerator model we employ at Venture Mechanics to take in highly-vetted startups, fully train their founders to run a venture-scale business, and complete their funding. This is nothing remotely like the Techstars or YC model. Hear directly from the mentors who participate in the "mentor conclave" processes at the beginning and end of a founder team's journey through. Also hear from founders currently going through the process.
6:00 - 7:00
Founders & Mentors Mixer Afterparty - More than just a good time, founders and mentors can use this opportunity to get to know one another in a casual environment. Whether you want to speed date or spend quality time with particular individuals huddled in one of the conference rooms, this party is a great opportunity for founders to meet other founders, and mentors to meet other mentors, as well. Light snacks and adult drinks will be served.
Share Your Event Experience: Exclusive Pop-Up Interviews!
We're excited to offer a unique opportunity for event attendees to connect with Chris Hines for a special series of "pop-up" interviews! Chris will be operating out of the podcast studio from 10am-3pm.
These concise yet impactful interviews are designed to give you a platform to:
How it Works:
Keep an eye out for Chris and our interview team during the event. These interviews are informal and spontaneous, designed to capture authentic reactions and perspectives. If approached, we encourage you to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity to share your story.
Why Participate?
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