fnSummit 2018
CarmelFree · Guests welcome
Three days with founders, investors, partners & off the record discussion, reflection and networking: Oct. 10th – 12th!
Please note that lodging & transportation are not included with the conference ticket (rooms can be booked through the resort).
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See what other founders have to say about fnSummit:
“I’ve been involved with a couple other entrepreneur groups before and nothing has truly felt like this one. The connections and learning more than paid for itself. Everyone felt genuine which was a nice feeling. The mix of men and women was also nice to see and everyone was eager to offer support, feedback, and advice. It was far from a ‘boys’ club which I’ve seen all too often. It really feels like a collaborative group and I’m glad to be part of it.” - Joe Deobald, Founder, Full Frame Marketing
“This Summit was EXTREMELY valuable to me and my startup. By far the most worthwhile business event I've ever been to. It was great to meet everyone.” - Carla Riggi, Founder, BandDjinni
“fnSummit is the start of deeper relationships, friendships, partnerships” - Rama Veeraragoo, Founder,
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To Book Lodging: Please book your lodging here through the resort.
Check-in & check-out times:
- Check-in on 10/10 @ 4pm
- Check-out on 10/12 @ 12pm
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Agenda (In Progress)
Wednesday, 10/10
4pm - Summit Registration & Room Check-in
Location: Front Desk
Arrive early for your fnSummit badge, gift bags and room check-in. Relax before dinner with a swim in the pool, munch on some pre-dinner snacks or a stroll on the resort grounds.
5:30pm - 6:00pm - Opening Sabrage Ceremony
Location: Covey Deck
Location: Covey Deck
Female tech founder and certified sommelier Neha Sampat (March '13 Cohort) will lead a champagne opening ceremony. In this fun and interactive workshop will you'll learn how to open a champagne bottle with a sword - a key survival skill to navigating the ups and downs of founderhood! As Napolean once said, "Champagne! In victory one deserves it; in defeat one needs it."
6:00pm – 7:00pm - Wine Tasting On the Patio
Location: Covey Deck
Location: Covey Deck
7:00pm - 8:00pm - Dinner
Location: Covey Restaurant
Location: Covey Restaurant
Vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan, and gluten-free options available.
8:00pm - 8:45pm - Fireside Panel: The Barriers to Scale
Location: Covey Deck
Panelists:
- Moderator: TBD
- Panelist: Martin Longo (Founder of GetWell.ai)
- Panelist: Nadia Lee (Founder of Kollectin)
- Panelist: Daniel Handiaz (Founder of CandyBit Social)
Thursday, 10/11
7:00am-8:00am - Sunrise Yoga
Location: Valley Room
Location: Valley Room
Breath work, meditation, yoga asana (movement/poses) for a full and well-rounded experience. Led by Christina Dikareva, Founder & CEO at Analyst Market and Certified Yoga Instructor. Please wear flexible clothing for ease of movement. Yoga mats & props provided.
8:00am- 9:00am - Breakfast & Stage Roundtables
Location: Garden Room
Location: Garden Room
Hot breakfast sandwiches and burritos served alongside coffee and tea. Get to know founders at your stage over a delicious breakfast. Dig into relevant topics and make a conference connection as you plan your day. Sign up for office hours and the break-out session of your choice. Thursday arrivals check-in. Vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan, and gluten-free options available.
9:00am – 9:30am - Welcome & Opening Remarks
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
Introduction to fnSummit featuring Kevin Holmes, Founder of Founders Network. Late Registration room check-in.
9:30am – 10:15am - Keynote Session: The Drivers to Scale ft. Lisa Shields
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
Former Founder of Hyperwallet (acquired by PayPal for $400M), currently working on Fi.SPAN. Passionate speaker on the social and economic imperatives that shape global payment technologies.
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
Former Founder of Hyperwallet (acquired by PayPal for $400M), currently working on Fi.SPAN. Passionate speaker on the social and economic imperatives that shape global payment technologies.
10:15am - 10:30am - Break: Including optional meditation exercises led by Christina Dikareva
Location: Lobby
Location: Lobby
10:30am – 11:15am - Panel: Building the Right Team for Rapid Growth
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
- Moderator: John Rafferty (Partner at Morrison Foerster ScaleUp)
- Panelist: Domingo Guerra (Founder of Appthority)
- Panelist: Angel Gambino (Founder of Sensai)
- Panelist: Matias Klein (Founder of Kognition)
11:15am - 12:00pm - Keynote: Neha Sampat
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
Founder of Contentstack, scaled 200+ employees. 15+ years enterprise product marketing at Sun and VMware. San Francisco’s 40 under 40 and 50 Women in Tech Dominating Silicon Valley.
12:00pm - 1:00pm - Lunch & Sector Roundtables
Location: Garden Room
Location: Garden Room
Gather for a casual lunch and conversation with fellow founders, partners and investors in your specific sector. Trade stories, ask for advice, and enjoy the beautiful setting. Vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan, and gluten-free options available.
1:00pm - 1:15pm - Break & Re-group
Location: Lobby
Location: Lobby
Break time post lunch to reset the Garden Room and to get seated at your chosen breakout workshop.
1:15pm – 2:15pm - Breakout Workshop: Product ft. Thomas Penichter
Location: Garden Room
Location: Garden Room
1:15pm-2:15pm- Breakout Workshop: Development ft. James Leaverton
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
2:15pm – 3:00pm - Keynote: Christina Sass
Topic: Remote-First Culture as Competitive Advantage & Scaling Distributed Teams
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
Topic: Remote-First Culture as Competitive Advantage & Scaling Distributed Teams
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
With companies increasingly closing their physical offices and growing remote trends, an inclusive standard for distributed work that is imperative. Christina’s 20-minute keynote will outline how the tech talent shortage and the realities of 53% of software engineers ranking remote work as their top priority in their job search, is pushing companies to embrace co-located teams and a distributed style of work. Her talk will include best practices from leading tech companies on building an empathetic digital culture and provide practical takeaways on how to inspire team members that are oceans apart. Christina’s talk will be followed by a Q&A. For context, Andela helps companies build distributed engineering teams with Africa’s most talented software developers. Andela developers, based in Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda, are already working as full-time engineers with companies including InVision, CommonBond and Cloudflare.
3:00pm – 5:00pm - Outdoor Foundation & Legal Office Hours
Location: Various
Enjoy Quail Lodge! Take time to relax and soak in your surroundings. Decompress by the pool overlooking the pristine gold course. Play bocce ball, tennis or golf. There will be private 1:1 Office Hours held in the Oak Room with experts from our partner companies - by appointment only.
Location: Various
Enjoy Quail Lodge! Take time to relax and soak in your surroundings. Decompress by the pool overlooking the pristine gold course. Play bocce ball, tennis or golf. There will be private 1:1 Office Hours held in the Oak Room with experts from our partner companies - by appointment only.
OR: Take part in free legal office hours with our partners John Rafferty or Mehran Arjomand from Morrison Foerster.
5:00pm – 6:00pm - Wine Tasting Reception
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
6:00pm – 7:30pm - Dinner on the Terrace
Location: Peninsula Terrace
Gather on the terrace for dinner as you overlook the golf course. As the sun sets over one of the most beautiful areas of California, you will dine atop the terrace, with vast views washed in the setting sun. Vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan, and gluten-free options available.
Location: Peninsula Terrace
Gather on the terrace for dinner as you overlook the golf course. As the sun sets over one of the most beautiful areas of California, you will dine atop the terrace, with vast views washed in the setting sun. Vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan, and gluten-free options available.
7:30pm – 8:00pm - Fireside Craft Spirits Tasting
Location: Covey Deck
Location: Covey Deck
8:00 - 9:00pm - Fireside Chat ft. Nitin Pachisia, Founding Partner of Unshackled Ventures
Location: Covey Deck
Location: Covey Deck
Passionate about building practical solutions that have a big impact on people’s lives. As an immigrant on visa and now VC, Nitin helps all entrepreneurs, whether born in the US or elsewhere, to start and grow companies in the US, the mecca of entrepreneurship. He is particularly interested in working with early-stage startups on story-telling, pitching, fundraising, product strategy, and bringing in the first customers/sales.
9:00pm: Board games, cards, and socializing around the fire
Location: Covey Deck
Location: Covey Deck
Friday, 10/12
7am – 8am - Sunrise Yoga
Location: Valley Room
Location: Valley Room
Breathwork, meditation, yoga asana (movement/poses) for a full and well-rounded experience. Led by Christina Dikareva, Founder & CEO at Analyst Market and Certified Yoga Instructor. Please wear flexible clothing for ease of movement. Yoga mats & props provided.
8am – 9am - Breakfast
Location: Garden Room
Location: Garden Room
Hot breakfast served alongside coffee and tea. Vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan, and gluten-free options available.
9am – 10am - How to Have Hard Conversations With Founders, Investors, and Employees ft. Nathan Parcells
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
More late-stage startups fail from lack of culture and communication than from any other issue. If there is a hard conversation you want to have with a co-founder, employee, or investor, but haven’t had yet, it’s already too late. In this workshop, we’ll talk through how to have productive conversations with your team, that will lead to organizational breakthroughs, and drive your startup forward.
10am- 10:45am - Panel: Workplace Culture & Philanthropic Programs for Business Goals
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
The focus of this all-star panel will be around inspiring, educating, and empowering other founders to foster a culture of giving back and paying it forward within their respective companies.
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
The focus of this all-star panel will be around inspiring, educating, and empowering other founders to foster a culture of giving back and paying it forward within their respective companies.
- Moderator: Amy Lesnick (CEO of Pledge 1%)
- Panelist: Sean Plaice (Co-founder and CTO of Postmates)
- Panelist: Kriss Deiglmeier (CEO of Tides, Former Head of Stanford Center for Social Innovation )
- Panelist: John Stewart (Co-founder and CEO of MapAnything)
10:45am – 11am - Break: Time to make a run for coffee and finish breakfast conversation!
Location: Lobby
Location: Lobby
11am- 11:45am - Investor Panel: Questions from a Founder
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
- Panelist: Josh Breinlinger (Jackson Square Ventures)
- Panelist: Scott Coleman (Ignition Partners)
- Panelist: Lev Mass (Crux Capital)
11:45am - 12pm - Closing Remarks & Group Photo
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
Location: Peninsula Ballroom
12:00pm - Departure
Questions? Email asha@foundersnetwork.com
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