A FinTech Advisory Council Sponsored Event
Finance is being disrupted on every
level by new technologies from startup companies. The startup investment
opportunity offers lucrative ways to capitalize on the revolution in
finance and technology. Following the Fintech Advisory’s popular event
“FinTech Series — Investing in Private Companies: Valuations and Deal
Flow” we bring the “how to” from those who know this space well. Angel
investors typically invest in the round named for them, right after
friends and family, and before pre seed and seed rounds. Companies are
identified as being in the Angel stage because they have proven product
market fit and have some revenue but typically are not valued on their
current and past financials. Investing at the angel stage means you can
be in tomorrow’s unicorns at the beginning. Join us for three leading
angel investors who will describe their methods and successes, and will
reveal their secrets on where to go to find the best companies. Getting
into the deal flow for startup investing also means keeping up with the
latest technologies that will impact finance companies in the coming
years.
Breakout room discussions follow for networking and attendee questions.
MODERATOR
Cynthia Harrington, CFA | Cynthia
Harrington, CFA is a serial entrepreneur with successful companies in
education technology and investment management. She worked with
pioneering crowdfunding company Issuance and helped dozens of companies
to raise Reg A and CF funds. She has consulted for startups on
successful fundraising from early stages up to $60M rounds. As an
award-winning journalist, over four hundred of her articles are in
publications such as CFA Magazine, Fraud Magazine, Accounting Today,
Financial Engineering News, and Journal of Accountancy. She co-authored
two textbooks: Corporate Finance for the CFA program, and the
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ course on Financial Statement
Fraud. Cynthia was cited as one of the "fifty prominent authority on
performance measurement". She holds the designation of chartered
financial analyst (CFA). She holds the CFA chartered financial analyst
designation, is a behavioral finance consultant, and award-winning
journalist.
SPEAKERS
Garrett Gilbertson | Garrett
is the founder and managing partner of SUM Ventures (SUM.VC), Maverick
Investment Properties, and Chairman of the Band of Angels Los Angeles
Group. He is an entrepreneur, investor, Afghan War veteran, and former
USAF Captain with cross-functional leadership experience leading family
offices, angel groups, and corporate venture funds. His investments and
experience include aerospace and defense, consumer products, life
science, cybersecurity, and fintech. During his Air Force career,
Garrett served as a procurement contracting officer and was responsible
for negotiating, awarding, or administering $2.4 billion in government
contracts. While deployed in Afghanistan, he was responsible for 439
construction contracts totaling $224M and was awarded the Joint Service
Commendation Medal. Garrett earned his B.Sc. in Management from the
United States Air Force Academy and M.Sc. from Pepperdine University and
is a graduate of Harvard's Executive Program in Venture Capital and
Private Equity. He received the George Award as the Outstanding Student
in Entrepreneurship from the Graziadio School of Business and
Management. Garrett was later named a partner of Caltech's Computer and
Mathematical Science Department. He then led seed-stage investment and
incubation for LH Ventures. From 2017-2018, Garrett served as Managing
Director of BLD Capital, where he crafted the fund's vision, managed
investor relations, sourced opportunities, led deals, and supported
portfolio companies. For his efforts, Garrett was named LAVA's 2020
Outstanding Angel investor and invited to speak internationally at the
Global Accelerator Conference in Seoul, South Korea. Prior to launching
SUM.VC Garrett was an active angel investor through the Band of Angels,
Tech Coast Angels, and Pasadena Angels. He also hosts monthly Pitch
events where he vets early-stage opportunities. Garrett advises many of
his portfolio companies and sits on the Board of Directors for UNest,
DressX, and ClearClub. He has served as an investor and advisor for
Brius, DressX, UNest, Irrigreen, Automotus, Verifir, Purlin, Clear Club,
and Champions Round. Garrett is passionate about helping startups
succeed and is currently seeking new investment opportunities.
Sue Kreusch, CFA, CPA | Susan
(Sue) Kreusch is a recently retired chief financial officer with over
30 years of senior-level finance, administration, and public accounting
experience. The San Francisco Business Times twice named her one of the
Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business. She received her BSBA from
Georgetown University and her MBA from The Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania. She is a licensed CPA in the Commonwealth of
Virginia and a CFA charterholder. Sue has a passion for investing in
women entrepreneurs. She joined Golden Seeds in 2018 and has spent the
last four years building up a diversified portfolio of investments in
women led companies. Golden Seeds is a discerning group of investors,
seeking and funding high-potential, women-led businesses. And creating
lasting impact. Her membership with Golden Seeds has enabled her to meet
other investors with a similar passion and to gain exposure to
companies led and owned by women that are seeking to the change the
world in so many ways. Back To Top ^^
Digvijay "Sunny" Singh, PhD. |
has a broad technology, investing, and business operations background.
He started his career with deep engineering projects at Lockheed Martin
where he worked on the F-16 fighter jets. During his EE/CS Ph.D. at
UCLA, he became part of the founding team of a AI-based medical device
startup which received institutional venture funding and went on to be
commercialized with full FDA approval. Sunny subsequently launched his
own IT and cybersecurity business which exited in 2020. He invested most
of the earnings into distressed real-estate and remains an active
California real-estate investor. Sunny also started Angel investing in
early-stage startups in 2015 and joined Tech Coast Angels (TCA) in Los
Angeles in 2017. He climbed the ranks at TCA over the years and became
the youngest President at TCA until his term ended in mid 2022. Sunny
was also the founding and managing member for the first TCA Los Angeles
startup fund in 2019. Sunny has reviewed hundreds of venture capital
(VC) deals, has a personal portfolio of a few dozen startups, and
continues to be very active in the Los Angeles VC ecosystem. He has a
genuine, demonstrated passion for the Los Angeles investment ecosystem.
Sunny is currently Managing Partner at Alleyway Capital, which acquires,
operates, and grows profitable lower middle-market software startups.
Cost to Attend:
CFASS Members: Free (contact Raquel Altavilla at [email protected] for code)
Nonmembers: $20
To register for this program, click here.
