News

Learn When to Raise Venture Capital or Bootstrap

February 3, 2016 By Alida Miranda-Wolff

Join Hyde Park Angels at 1871 on Thursday, March 3 from 6:00 pm — 8:00 pm to learn from the seasoned entrepreneurs and investors behind Chicago’s biggest startups, including SkinnyPop, dough, cleverbridge, Geofeedia, and others. Hear how these Chicago tech heavyweights started, sold, and scaled their businesses, and how raising venture capital or bootstrapping fundamentally impacted their growth and success. Read on for more information about the program and the panelists participating.

Description: How do you know if you’re ready to raise your first round, or if raising is even your best option? Hear from successful entrepreneurs and investors to learn:

  • The pros and cons of early-stage investment versus bootstrapping
  • What is the right time to raise and when is too early
  • What investors look for in a founder and a business
  • What counts as proof of concept and what doesn’t
  • What investors see as red flags
  • How to move forward if you are ready

Panelists:

Pam Netzky, Co-Founder & President, SkinnyPop Popcorn
Pam Netzky, co-founded SkinnyPop Popcorn in 2010 with Andrew Friedman. She served as the President of SkinnyPop Popcorn LLC from 2010–2014. Pam also co-founded Amplify Snack Brands, which includes the SkinnyPop and Paqui Tortilla Chips brands, in 2010 and has been its Senior Advisor and Director since July 2014. Previously, Pam co-founded and served as the Chief Operating Officer of Wells Street Popcorn, LLC, a retail popcorn company. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from DePaul University.

Bill Pescatello, Partner, Lightbank
Bill Pescatello joined Lightbank in 2011 and has been a Partner since 2014. While at Lightbank, Bill led the firm’s investments in Centzy, Locu (acquired by GoDaddy), Ovuline, Hireology, PerBlue, and Contently (co-lead), while also sitting on the boards of Udemy, Snapsheet, Fooda, Lifecrowd and Whoshere. Bill joined the team from NBCUniversal, where he was a Vice President and founding member of the Peacock Equity Fund, a $250m venture arm for NBCUniversal. Prior to joining NBCUniversal, Bill worked at GE Capital where he helped finance leading early stage biotech companies. Bill is a Chartered Financial Analyst, holds a Bachelor Degree from Northwestern University and graduated with honors from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Kristi Ross, Co-CEO & President, dough & tastytrade
Kristi Ross is the co-CEO and President of dough, Inc., which includes tastytrade, the fastest growing online financial network and dough, a highly visual platform that makes investing interactive, educational and mobile. Previously, Kristi was the CFO of thinkorswim where she led numerous mergers, acquisitions and integration. thinkorswim sold to TD Ameritrade for $750M in 2009. Kristi is a certified public accountant and has been in and around the trading business for more than 20 years. As co-CEO and President of dough, Inc., Ms. Ross has been honored as the Illinois Technology Association CityLights’ Prominent Tech Woman, the Moxie Awards’ Woman in Tech, Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, and has been named to Crain’s Chicago’s Tech 50, the Techweek 100 list and Chicago Business Journal’s Women of Influence list.

Katlin Smith, Founder & CEO, Simple Mills
Katlin Smith is the founder and CEO of Chicago-based Simple Mills, a rising star in the natural foods space that is changing the way America bakes. The company’s natural baking mixes soared to #1 in sales per store and #3 in total dollar sales in the category within two years after debuting on store shelves, thanks to super-clean ingredients and five-star consumer ratings for taste and texture. A former Deloitte Consulting management consultant, Smith launched Simple Mills after becoming a clean-eating convert herself. She developed the initial recipes in her own kitchen, trying and rejecting 90 recipes before perfecting her first three products and securing her first retail store placements in 2013. Soon after, she enrolled in the New Venture Challenge course at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and in May 2014 won a first-place $30,000 award in the program’s competition for student-created businesses. She also won the $70,000 top prize in Chapman University’s California Dreamin’ Business Competition the same month and has since attracted multiple angel investors, including Charlotte, N.C.-based Charlotte Capital Partners and Hyde Park Angels.

Craig Vodnik, Co-Founder, cleverbridge
Craig is a co-founder of cleverbridge, the market leading full-service e-commerce platform for software and subscription model businesses. Craig started the business with 3 co-founders in 2005 and bootstrapped the company to profitability in two years. Before cleverbridge, Craig worked at companies in the financial services, e-commerce, banking and publishing industries. Craig has been recognized as a finalist for Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, one of the 2015 Techweek 100 and included in the Blue Sky’s Vault, a collection of Chicago’s tech and innovation leaders. Craig is on the Board of Hyde Park Angels and co-chairs of the Digital Media & Technology group.

“The Growth of the Money” via PhotoPin (license)