Raising capital from pre‑seed to Series A is harder than ever, but founders don’t have to navigate it alone. Sam will be hosting office hours at NextGEN to dig into funding strategy, investor readiness, and how to align a startup with the right capital sources. He’ll break down the major pathways, angels, seed funds, venture, and grants, and what it takes to position a company for each. Entrepreneurs and founders are invited to bring their questions about angels, funds, and non‑dilutive capital.

Sam brings 25 years of experience in the trenches of tech commercialization and early‑stage investing, building companies, backing founders, and strengthening the ecosystems that help them grow. He co-founded and led four tech startups, oversaw due diligence for pre-seed and seed investments, helped launch a 100-member angel group, and helped establish a new accelerator program and facility. As a founder and advisor, he has raised over $8M in angel capital, helped structure capital vehicles ranging from a $12M regional investment fund to multimillion-dollar grant and equity programs. He has advised more than 15 startups and mentored dozens of founders. Currently, he runs the VMS mentoring program at NextGEN.

Sign up for a time slot: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Wwl9TMiKPMGh5tHXowFM-DVVHJmqV2YIBCuRzRyaCus/edit?usp=sharing