Jeffrey Donenfeld

Tag: startups

  • Teaching the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative Startup Investor Pitch Workshop

    Teaching the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative Startup Investor Pitch Workshop

    Today I honored to teach the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative Startup Investor Pitch Workshop, in collaboration with World Denver and IREX, and working with entrepreneurs Don Novak of Propaganda Labs and Danny Effron of Show Labs.

    Over 3 hours, I worked with a group of 12 entrepreneurs from countries around the Americas on their investor pitches and presentations. Workshop modules included:

    • Introductions and one-liners from each startup
    • Discusson on finding your passion
    • Thoughts on receiving and integration feedback
    • Practice on handling rejection
    • Perspectives on American investors and international entrepreneurs pitching in the U.S.
    • Value Proposition
    • Storytelling
    • Breakout sessions for individual pitches and feedback
    • Group session integrating feedback and core learnings
    • Post-workshop networking

    Thanks to an engaged and smart group of entrepreneurs!

  • Teaching Global Innovation Catalyst’s iX Online October Program Fundraising and Ownership Workshop

    Teaching Global Innovation Catalyst’s iX Online October Program Fundraising and Ownership Workshop

    Recently, I was honored to teach the Global Innovation Catalyst’s iX Online October 2021 Program Fundraising and Ownership Workshop for a great group of global entrepreneurs:

    Jeffrey Donenfeld teaching the Global Innovation Catalyst’s iX Online October 2021 Program Fundraising and Ownership Workshop

    Webinar 11: Fundraising and Ownership | GIC iX Online October 2021 Program – January 13, 2022

    The Global Innovation Catalyst (GIC) Innovation Execution (iX) Program takes participants through the phases of launching a new venture from concept generation, to development, through planning and execution. It provides a complete view, whether launching a simple local start-up, or a disruptive new global venture. The frameworks and tools are made accessible to anyone with the desire to innovate.

    iX is a collaboration with Stanford Online, and features the entire course content from Stanford’s Idea-to-Market entrepreneurship program, with discussions, regional contextualization, and feedback led by GIC facilitators. Participants who successfully complete the program receive a Certificate of Completion from Stanford Online.

    Recording on GIC’s YouTube Page

    Recording on my YouTube Page

  • Leading the Montreal StartupFest 2019 “Startup Accelerator Communities” Roundtable Discussion

    Leading the Montreal StartupFest 2019 “Startup Accelerator Communities” Roundtable Discussion

    At Montreal StartupFest 2019, I led a roundtable discussion on Building Startup Accelerator Communities, accompanied by industry colleague Tariq Haddadin of Techstars. Thanks to the StartupFest team for putting on a solid event!

    Discussion Notes: Montreal StartupFest 2019 – Building Startup Accelerator Communities Roundtable Discussion

    Led by Jeffrey Donenfeld of Boomtown Accelerators and Tariq Haddadin of Techstars

    Opening

    • Accelerator model and Accelerators Networks

    Round table

    • Local vs global networks
    • Startup partners (AWS, Google for Entrepreneur, etc.)
    • How your accelerator can be a part of the network and a catalyst for corporates
    • You are building a social network for your accelerator but more importantly for your companies and founders and alumni
    • GAN
    • Building a network for your accelerator (pipeline, investors, etc.)
    • How to use corporate relationships with accelerators to apply their network to your accelerator companies + alumni
    • Benefits of creating a global network of partners
    • Community events

    Managing founder<>Mentor relationships and setting expectations – do staff manage mentors or do you setup separate person for managing these relationships?

    • Asking questions rather than doing work. (Bob, Innova Corp)
    • Educating mentors on how to mentor effectively (Tariq) and setting up initial Mentor Madness meeting
    • Weekly update emails from Mentors on what they can do
    • (David F)Building mentors network through tiers. Give first and divide of giving vs selling (Jeffrey)
    • Hybrid local/remote mode (Alex Reid ) zoom meetings and quarterly reviews,  planned meetings – tech to engage folks
    • Mentor company vs mentor entrepreneur – mentor the person for longterm (robert)

    Connecting accelerators around the world

    • Look for synergies of founders for prioritizing connections (tariq)
    • GAN (Jeffrey)
    • Build local network first
    • Used to enhance dealflow synergies (jeffrey)

    Using network to build investor relationships

    • Rise of pre-venture community
    • Seattle angel conference, rockies venture club

    Corporate Accelerators

    • Corporate resources that an accelerator can’t necessarily provide (tariq) pushing give first
    • Learning how to deal with corporations (jeffrey)
    • (Vivek (loreal)) – do boomtown/techstars compete on comcast – find unique strengths for each program


    https://twitter.com/Jeffzilla/status/1148729065538383872
    https://twitter.com/Jeffzilla/status/1148684776653692928

  • Keynote – “Startup Investing in the United States” at Kazakhstan’s GoViral Conference

    Keynote – “Startup Investing in the United States” at Kazakhstan’s GoViral Conference

    During the June 2019 GoViral Conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan, I gave the keynote speech on Startup Investing in the United States. Featured on: Instagram – GoViral.kz, Facebook – GoViral.kz, Facebook – US Embassy Kazakhstan

    Go Viral is an international festival sponsored by the U.S. Mission to Kazakhstan that brings together innovators in media, culture, business, and technology to learn about the latest trends and big ideas from leading thinkers and influencers in various industries. Festival speakers are active, creative, and passionate professionals from the United States and Central Asia.

    Speaker Jeffrey Donenfeld delivering the keynote speech on Startup Investing in the USA at the 2019 GoViral Conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan
    Speaker Jeffrey Donenfeld delivering the keynote speech on Startup Investing in the USA at the 2019 GoViral Conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan
  • How to position your startup for investors – GoViral KZ Interview

    How to position your startup for investors – GoViral KZ Interview

    I had a solid discussion about how to position your startup for investors during GoViral.kz in Almaty, Kazakhstan with U.S. Embassy Tashkent Information Officer Susannah Wood. Thanks for the awesome discussion!

    Go Viral is an international festival sponsored by the U.S. Mission to Kazakhstan that brings together innovators in media, culture, business, and technology to learn about the latest trends and big ideas from leading thinkers and influencers in various industries. Festival speakers are active, creative, and passionate professionals from the United States and Central Asia.