The backbone of Venture Café – come meet the community and make connections with all different kinds of innovators. How will you make your serendipitous moment come true?
I met with a founder last week who’s stuck. He’s not stuck on building. He already created a beautiful solution that solves the puzzle he set out to solve.
So what’s the problem?
This founder is stymied by the whole go-to-market thing. It seems so big and daunting, he doesn’t know where to start.
And this happens a lot. People who come up with a wonderful solution end up sitting on it, just because they don’t know how to get it to the people who can put it to use.
Let’s talk about how we go about spinning up that flywheel of awareness to trial to users to advocacy. It turns out there are specific things you can do to bring your idea to the world. We’ll look at what some others have done and talk about how this can work for you.
Because you can do this. And there’s a method. Let’s talk about it.
If a founder can't pick up their phone right now and text five investors - "Hey, I'm thinking about opening a round. Can we grab coffee to talk about it?" - they need Capital Fluency.
Most first-time founders try to meet investors during their raise. They’re refining their pitch and learning about term sheets. At the same time, they’re asking the super connectors to make intros. By that point, their fundraising process is doomed to be transactional, because we know fundraising runs on relationships, built and nurtured over time.
Capital Fluency teaches founders to build these relationships before they need them with three workshops that cover investor psychology, getting the first meeting, and nurturing a capital network.
Session 1: Investor Psychology
- How investors at different stages think and what they're looking for
- The differences between angels and institutional investors
- What makes a company interesting to the venture market
Session 2: Getting the first meeting
- The etiquette of asking for warm intros
- How to research and qualify investors
- How to run the first meeting without pitching or selling
Session 3: Nurturing the network
- Best practices for staying in touch over months and years
- How communication shifts as a founder moves closer to opening a round
Capital Fluency helps first-time founders build a capital network like serial entrepreneurs.
We're pleased to have the Market Like a Hotshot podcast recording concurrently with the Venture Café Connection Collider. Hosted by Jeff DeSocio and James Feudo, the weekly podcast digs into practical marketing strategy and real-world stories from innovators across Massachusetts and beyond. Since this is happening concurrently with the networking session, attendees won't be able to listen in live, but keep an eye on Market Like a Hotshot's channels for the episode once it's released.
For this session, Jeff and James sit down with Carrie Mays, a social media consultant with a proven track record helping founders and brands build real traction online. Carrie works at the intersection of strategy and execution, and the conversation will get into what actually moves the needle: how she diagnoses what's broken in a brand's social presence, how she builds growth strategies that hold up past the first viral moment, and what separates clients who see real results from those who don't.
Expect a no-fluff conversation on the mechanics of building an audience and a brand that converts, the mistakes founders most commonly make on social, and how to think about visibility as a business asset rather than a vanity metric. If you're a founder or marketer who wants tactics you can use immediately rather than inspiration, take a listen once it is released!
The year is half over, and you've been building.
This session is dedicated space for founders to share what's gone right in the first six months of 2026. A win can be anything: a deal closed, a pivot that clicked, a team milestone, a lesson that finally landed. If it moved you forward, it counts.
Submit your win in advance to reserve your spot to share here. Space is limited.
We'll be cheering you on!
The backbone of Venture Café – come meet the community and make connections with all different kinds of innovators. How will you make your serendipitous moment come true?
I met with a founder last week who’s stuck. He’s not stuck on building. He already created a beautiful solution that solves the puzzle he set out to solve.
So what’s the problem?
This founder is stymied by the whole go-to-market thing. It seems so big and daunting, he doesn’t know where to start.
And this happens a lot. People who come up with a wonderful solution end up sitting on it, just because they don’t know how to get it to the people who can put it to use.
Let’s talk about how we go about spinning up that flywheel of awareness to trial to users to advocacy. It turns out there are specific things you can do to bring your idea to the world. We’ll look at what some others have done and talk about how this can work for you.
Because you can do this. And there’s a method. Let’s talk about it.
If a founder can't pick up their phone right now and text five investors - "Hey, I'm thinking about opening a round. Can we grab coffee to talk about it?" - they need Capital Fluency.
Most first-time founders try to meet investors during their raise. They’re refining their pitch and learning about term sheets. At the same time, they’re asking the super connectors to make intros. By that point, their fundraising process is doomed to be transactional, because we know fundraising runs on relationships, built and nurtured over time.
Capital Fluency teaches founders to build these relationships before they need them with three workshops that cover investor psychology, getting the first meeting, and nurturing a capital network.
Session 1: Investor Psychology
- How investors at different stages think and what they're looking for
- The differences between angels and institutional investors
- What makes a company interesting to the venture market
Session 2: Getting the first meeting
- The etiquette of asking for warm intros
- How to research and qualify investors
- How to run the first meeting without pitching or selling
Session 3: Nurturing the network
- Best practices for staying in touch over months and years
- How communication shifts as a founder moves closer to opening a round
Capital Fluency helps first-time founders build a capital network like serial entrepreneurs.
We're pleased to have the Market Like a Hotshot podcast recording concurrently with the Venture Café Connection Collider. Hosted by Jeff DeSocio and James Feudo, the weekly podcast digs into practical marketing strategy and real-world stories from innovators across Massachusetts and beyond. Since this is happening concurrently with the networking session, attendees won't be able to listen in live, but keep an eye on Market Like a Hotshot's channels for the episode once it's released.
For this session, Jeff and James sit down with Carrie Mays, a social media consultant with a proven track record helping founders and brands build real traction online. Carrie works at the intersection of strategy and execution, and the conversation will get into what actually moves the needle: how she diagnoses what's broken in a brand's social presence, how she builds growth strategies that hold up past the first viral moment, and what separates clients who see real results from those who don't.
Expect a no-fluff conversation on the mechanics of building an audience and a brand that converts, the mistakes founders most commonly make on social, and how to think about visibility as a business asset rather than a vanity metric. If you're a founder or marketer who wants tactics you can use immediately rather than inspiration, take a listen once it is released!
The year is half over, and you've been building.
This session is dedicated space for founders to share what's gone right in the first six months of 2026. A win can be anything: a deal closed, a pivot that clicked, a team milestone, a lesson that finally landed. If it moved you forward, it counts.
Submit your win in advance to reserve your spot to share here. Space is limited.
We'll be cheering you on!