*Virtual* fnSilicon Valley: Building a Powerful Silicon Valley Network (April 16, 2020)

Due to COVID-19 and its health concerns, this live event has been converted to a virtual event.

Networking can make or break your company. Whether it's getting customers, advisors, investors and teammates, who you know will be a determining factor of your company's success.

Join three SV master networkers: Josh Krammes, Melissa Kargiannakis and Donna Jensen-Madier as they give concrete, replicable tips to making your network ease your path to revenue and growth.

Key Takeaways:

1. Understanding the Silicon Valley Culture
2. How to build a network from scratch
3. Keeping your network up to date
4. THE ASK - how to ask for help, connections and more

But first, we will break into peer advisory roundtables where you get the help you need with what you're needing . . . now.

Agenda

• 4:00pm - 4:15pm || Settle in, Opening Remarks
• 4:15pm - 5:00pm || Panel Discussion w/Q&A
• 5:00pm - 6:00pm ||Peer Advisory Roundtable(s)*

*Our members-only Peer Advisory Roundtables and are designed to go deep on your real-life challenges. Let our diverse community of founders be your resource and support system.

About the Speaker(s)

Josh Krammes

As a community builder, Josh Krammes serves as an advisor, mentor, investor, and friend for early-stage startups to the broader startup community, where his network extends pretty far.

In his current role, he serves as a liaison to business markets for StackPath, so that early & growth-stage tech startups understand who they are, and enterprise partners understand what they can do.

Previously, Josh held an executive position with MergerTech, a boutique M&A firm that represents tech companies going through the acquisition process. He was also an executive with SoftLayer (acquired by IBM in 2013; now the foundation for IBM Cloud).

Melissa Kargiannakis

Melissa Kargiannakis is the award-winning Founder and CEO of skritswap - a start-up that swaps complex jargon into plain, easy-to-understand language. Melissa won the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada. She's also won awards from the Queen of England and the Women of Influence RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards.

She led skritswap to win the Top 20 Most Innovative Companies in Canada. Melissa exemplifies tenacity, grit, and impressive intellectual horsepower. She gracefully balances both approachable vulnerability with never-ending strength. Melissa has a history of radical leadership. She brings the zest and charm to any conversation. She has been leading teams for the last decade from her university dorm room to Silicon Valley today. Melissa has published Master's research.

Donna Jensen-Madier

Donna Jensen-Madier is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for all things related to the startup journey. Donna is currently launching a new business, PintheLook.com, a crowdsourced image-based recommendation platform, while running her 12-year old e-commerce business BelleEscape.com.

Previously, Donna was the founder & CEO of startups.com, a venture-backed startup accelerator that provided business infrastructure setup services, vendor referrals, and networking events. She has also served as a director of marketing at VentureOne (acquired by Dow Jones), Autodesk, and IMS France.

Guests Are Welcome

Please bring a guest! Every member can bring one (1) guest to each event. Each guest must be a full-time tech startup founder so they can bring new perspectives, skillsets, and experience to your chapter.

All guests must be full-time tech startup founders and you can register them directly on this function page. See How to Register a Guest here.

fnSilicon Valley Chapter Leadership Team

- Chapter Director: Marjan Panic

- Membership Chair: Donna Madier

- Growth Chair: Joanna Medin

- Ecosystem Advisor: Nitin Paschisia

Confidentiality Reminder

All information shared within Founders Network is strictly confidential. We are built on a foundation of trust, and the community takes confidentiality seriously. Investors, members, and staff all share experiences and opinions off the record. In this roundtable forum, we continue to model our fnValues of Reciprocity, Humility, Authenticity and Inclusivity.