Techstars Startup Week Online 2020: Full Schedule

Techstars Startup Week Online is free and open, but you must register via Eventbrite to attend.

11:00am EDT

[Startup Week Hartford Kickoff] The Future of Innovation in Hartford, a Discussion with Launc[H]artford and Techstars’ CEO David Brown

Limited Capacity seats available

Join us as we invite Launc[H] director Michelle Cote and Techstars CEO David Brown in a talk about defining the Future of Innovation in Hartford and the greater Hartford Region.

Speakers

David Brown is a founder and CEO of Techstars. His 30-year career starting and building sustainable companies includes Pinpoint Technologies and Techstars (with David Cohen, Brad Feld, and Jared Polis). A regular contributor to Inc Magazine, David writes on all aspects of entrepreneurship and scaling up businesses for sustaina... Read More →

Monday October 19, 2020 11:00am - 11:30am EDT
Virtual

12:00pm EDT

Answering The Call: How IT Leaders Can Effectively Address Systemic Racism

Limited Capacity seats available

Since technology directly shapes how business is conducted globally and given the political capital IT leaders have earned through their progressive leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, CIOs are well positioned to play an integral role in helping to eradicate systemic racism in their organizations. To do this, they must strategically employ a systemic solution. This presentation special will cover recommended actions that IT leaders and their teams can begin employing today to drive this dynamic shift into the future.

You Will Learn:

Identify actionable steps you can take to begin to “move the needle” for your IT teams both large and small.
Understand ways to assess your organizations readiness for the change.
Explore planning needed to address longer term impacts and outcomes of these changes.
Explore real time work-what’s in flight.

Moderators

Christopher Day

First Line Consulting

The crossroads of emerging technology integration and human resource transformation are at the center of my professional and entrepreneurial worlds.My HR experience supporting large enterprise IT shops as well as my entrepreneurial business "learning while doing" offers a deeper understanding... Read More →

Speakers

Damon Carter

Connecticut Attorneys Title Insurance Company

Damon Carter is the SVP & CHRO for Connecticut Attorneys Title Insurance Company and a member of the Board of Directors. He is also an Adjunct Research Analyst for IDC and a contributing writer on CIO.com. Damon has held HR leadership roles with Aetna, Express Scripts, GE, UTC and... Read More →

Monday October 19, 2020 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
Virtual

HR/Legal

1:00pm EDT

Building Your Dream Team

Limited Capacity filling up

Join this panel of experienced entrepreneurs as they share about their team building experiences on the journey to grow and accelerate.

Moderators

Alice Margie Turner

Founder, Urban Tekk, LLC

Ms. Turner is an award-winning educator, social entrepreneur and founder of Urise Ventures, a business incubator for aspiring youth entrepreneurs. In 2015, she launched Urban Tekk, an inclusive community technology and enterprise center for underserved youth and their families in... Read More →

Speakers

Gregory Lewis

Connecticut Small Business Development Center

Eric Francis

Senior Engagement Manager, Techstars

Miguel Pulido

Dell Inc.

Senior level multidisciplinary technical leader with a vision and result driven passion for learning and applying the scientific method. Have successfully engineered hundreds of unique end-to-end systems across the globe taking into account human factors, performance, availability... Read More →

Antwaine Debnam

Tripletote

In 2019, Launched TradeSecrets by: Tripletote Podcast. A platform for Entrepreneurs to share success stories. In 2016(Aug), Awarded US Patent consumer product "Tripletote". In 2016(May), Social Media Campaign capturing myself door-to-door sales 264 businesses in 6 States.

Monday October 19, 2020 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Virtual

Scale UP

3:00pm EDT

Innovation in the Round: Industry Outlook

Limited Capacity seats available

Industry Outlook: Local InsurTech leaders providing insight into what’s new, now.

Moderators

Laura Dinan Haber

Nassau Financial Group

Speakers

Susan Winkler

Connecticut Insurance and Financial Services

Susan provides strategic direction and program execution to a Board of Directors across the common goals of workforce development - building the talent pipeline; public advocacy - advancing the industry through education and awareness; and economic and business development- selling... Read More →

Greg Flynn

Upward

Greg Flynn is Program Director at Upward Labs, a CT based Venture Fund that fast tracks startups in the PropTech and AgeTech sectors. Career highlights include launching a startup from scratch and executing over $20B in M&A transactions.

Michelle Cote

Director, Launc[H]artford

Stacey Brown

InsurTech Hartford

Stacey Brown founded InsurTech Hartford after 15 years of insurance industry experience. As an insurance professional, Stacey is passionate to see Hartford have a rich innovation ecosystem.

Monday October 19, 2020 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
Virtual

InsurTech

3:00pm EDT

Food Business Trends and Tools

Limited Capacity seats available

What does it take to succeed as a food business? Hear from local business owners who have built their companies to thrive with purpose. Learn about essential technologies and resources that help entrepreneurs achieve scale along the food value chain, from suppliers, to skilled labor, to market opportunities, right here in Hartford.

Moderators

Jeffrey Devereux

Breakfast Lunch & Dinner

Speakers

Lilliard Lewis

Fud, Inc.

Cary Wheaton

Forge City Works

Cary is the Executive Director of Forge City Works. FCW provides job training, food access, and sustainable social enterprises . Cary previously owned five restaurants and a specialty food company in Cambridge, Mass. She also created and oversees Firebox Restaurant. Firebox's profits... Read More →

Monday October 19, 2020 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
Virtual

Social Innovation

5:00pm EDT

Wolff New Venture Competition

Limited Capacity seats available

The Wolff New Venture Competition features live pitches by five of the top startups, chosen from the CCEI Summer Fellowship program based on venture viability and value added to the market. A panel of venture experts decide which team will be selected for the Wolff Prize and the $20,000 of startup funding accompanying it.

The five finalists:

Junity - Gamified mobile/desktop platform that connect local high school students to local resources as it pertains to education, employment, and mentorship.
onewith- Figure flattering seamless swimwear brand.
Pisces Atlantic, LLC- An environmentally-friendly industrial aquaculture feed that helps fish farmers to reduce their feed expenses while also producing a higher-quality product.
SedMed- Toilet lift assist product to aid the elderly, injured, or otherwise disabled in getting both on and off a standard toilet with minimal effort, thus increasing overall independence of users.
VeraDermics, Inc.- Dermatology-focused startup developing kid-friendly treatments for common childhood skin conditions.

Speakers

Hayley Segar

CEO & Founder, onewidth

Finalist for Wolff New Venture Competition.

Janoye Williams

CEO & Founder, Junity

Finalist for Wolff New Venture Competition.

Jeremy Bronen

CEO & Founder, SedMed

Finalist for Wolff New Venture Competition.

Peter Goggins

CEO & Founder, Pisces Atlantic

Finalist for Wolff New Venture Competition.

Reid Waldman

CEO & Founder, VeraDermics

Finalist for Wolff New Venture Competition.

Monday October 19, 2020 5:00pm - 7:30pm EDT
Virtual

9:00am EDT

Social Innovation at the Neighborhood Level

Limited Capacity seats available

What does a "vibrant" Hartford look like? How can entrepreneurs make sure that they are solving problems that matter to the community? Hear from local entrepreneurs who have identified niche business solutions that create jobs, address environmental challenges, build community wealth, and give back in other ways.

Speakers

Jennifer Smithberger

co-founder, seedership

Spanning NYC PR agencies, a Silicon startup and corporate communications at Fortune 200 companies, Jennifer has helped CEOs articulate their strategies and share social responsibility stories to build community. In 2018, she started seedership to amplify small businesses giving and... Read More →

Alice Margie Turner

Founder, Urban Tekk, LLC

Lilliard Lewis

Fud, Inc.

Sam King

Blue Earth Compost

An experienced sustainability advocate and entrepreneur based out of Hartford, CT. For the past four years I’ve been the Guru of Marketing and Business Development at Blue Earth Compost, a food scrap collection company for homes and businesses.

Tuesday October 20, 2020 9:00am - 10:00am EDT
Virtual

Social Innovation

10:00am EDT

What It Means To Get A Proof of Concept/Value

Limited Capacity filling up

Navigating at the speed of insurance. Dialogue between a carrier, a startup and a business consultant. Rules of Engagement: How to engage with an insurance company and other lessons learned/What it means to get a Proof of Concept.

Speakers

Neeraja Rasmussen

Spyglaz

Neeraja is the Founder of Spyglaz, a machine learning platform for proactive customer retention serving the insurance industry. Prior to Spyglaz she managed customer retention/acquisition programs in financial services and tech sectors for 20+ years.

Frank Sentner

Sentwood Consulting

Frank Sentner has built insurance technology solutions for 45 years, working with insurers, brokers & technology providers. In 1984, he founded CISCo to create Sagitta (still used by large brokers) & sold to Vertafore in 1995. He helped create Hartford's InsurTech ecosystem & mentors... Read More →

Ojala Naeem

Travelers

Fostering Economic Development and Business Growth Through Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Partnerships

Tuesday October 20, 2020 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Virtual

InsurTech

11:00am EDT

Ecosystems for Manufacturing Entrepreneurship

Limited Capacity seats available

Learn about the resources and stakeholders in the Advanced Manufacturing industry.

Speakers

Saul Lustgarten

Tulip Interfaces

Erik Fogleman

CONNSTEP

An experienced technical sales professional with an educational background in electrical and optical engineering. Several years' experience in engineering and business roles in the optics, electronics, biotech, testing, and industrial automation industries.

Laila Partridge

Managing Director, STANLEY+Techstars Accelerator, Techstars

Passionate about entrepreneurship: at start-ups or in large corporate settings and as a founder, mentor or investor. As innovative, high growth companies transform the world around us, I am particularly interested in how communities and traditional businesses engage with that dis... Read More →

Tuesday October 20, 2020 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Virtual

Advanced Manufacturing

12:00pm EDT

Startup Branding: It’s More Than Colors, Shapes, and Fonts

Limited Capacity filling up

Despite the obvious commercial benefits of designing great products and services, consistently realizing this goal is notoriously hard—and getting harder. Only the very best designs now stand out from the crowd, given the rapid rise in consumer expectations driven by the likes of Amazon; instant access to global information and reviews; and the blurring of lines between hardware, software, and services. Companies need stronger design capabilities than ever before. So how do companies deliver exceptional designs, launch after launch? What is design worth? (McKinsey Quarterly, 2018)

Moderators

Christopher Day

First Line Consulting

Speakers

Pete Sena

Digital Surgeons

Pete Sena is the Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Digital Surgeons, a creative consultancy that helps brands spark and design new opportunities for growth. He has built and led cross-functional teams that have delivered a number of successful, award-winning, multi-channel programs... Read More →

David Salinas

Digital Surgeons

David Salinas is a serial entrepreneur and the founder and visionary behind District, a technology and innovation ecosystem and real estate development. David’s vision for District stems from his years as an entrepreneur, his passion for economic development, and his desire to improve... Read More →

Tuesday October 20, 2020 12:00pm - 1:30pm EDT
Virtual

HR/Legal

2:00pm EDT

Navigating the Ecosystem

Limited Capacity seats available

The session will focus on exploring various opportunities and resources for entrepreneurs to leverage.

Moderators

Alice Margie Turner

Founder, Urban Tekk, LLC

Speakers

Nichole Hawkins

Legacy Lineage

Ted Hsu

President, Horizon Services Corporation

Ted Hsu is the President/CEO of Horizon Services Corporation, recognized by Inc Magazine for fast growing urban companies. A2Pro is a Horizon related venture utilizing technology to employ underutilized human talent in an upcoming fragmented post COVID business world

Glendowlyn L. H. Thames

Deputy Commissioner, CT Department of Economic and Community Development

Dynamic change manager & business strategy leader spanning multiple industries including government, education, entrepreneurship, and community and economic development. Combines over 15 years of public policy, marketing, and entrepreneurship and innovation advocacy to lead organizations... Read More →

Moraima Gutierrez

U.S. Small Business Administration

Experienced District Assistant with a demonstrated history of working in the government administration industry. Skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Budgeting, Coaching, Government, and Crisis Communications. Strong business development professional with a Master of Science focused... Read More →

Tuesday October 20, 2020 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Virtual

Scale UP

3:00pm EDT

Empathetic Leadership/Building a team

Limited Capacity seats available

How to utilize personality insights to build a team that works/leading with empathy.

Speakers

Curt Gemme

Sentry Commercial

Curt is a veteran business professional with over 30 years of experience in Real Estate, Development, Ownership, Construction and Management. He founded Keller Williams Greater Hartford, today one Connecticut’s largest residential companies.

Laura Dinan Haber

Nassau Financial Group

Tuesday October 20, 2020 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
Virtual

InsurTech

4:00pm EDT

Conversation with Tariq Farid, Edible Arrangements Founder

Limited Capacity seats available

Explore Tariq's entrepreneurial journey, and learn how to grow and accelerate your own business idea.

Speakers

Ojala Naeem

Travelers

Fostering Economic Development and Business Growth Through Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Partnerships

Tariq Farid

Edible Arrangements, LLC

Tariq Farid is the founder and CEO of Edible Brands, the parent company that includes Edible Arrangements and other businesses. Additionally, he’s founded or acquired companies in the fields of technology, distribution and supply chain management and has established a charitable... Read More →

Tuesday October 20, 2020 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Virtual

Scale UP

10:00am EDT

DEI: From Ideas to Action

Limited Capacity seats available

The changing demographics of our country are creating a workforce more diverse than ever. With that diversity comes the need for nonprofit, foundation, commission and corporate boards to be more inclusive and more representative of the communities and customers they serve. Diverse governing boards can help institutions better align themselves with the communities they serve, stimulate dialogue and innovation, improve strategic thinking and decision-making and expand networks of dedicated talent.

Our intention is to answer critical questions that nonprofit leaders face including:

How do we define diversity, inclusion, and equity?
Why is diversity important to us?
How might diversity & inclusion increase our ability to serve our mission and communities?
Who will guide our efforts?
What external resources might be useful as we move forward?

Moderators

Christopher Day

First Line Consulting

Speakers

Damon Carter

Connecticut Attorneys Title Insurance Company

Joelle A. Murchison

ExecMommyGroup LLC

Accomplished executive, diversity and inclusion champion and mother of four, Joelle A. Murchison effectively balances career, family and an active community and volunteer schedule.A graduate of Brown University, Harvard Graduate School of Education and Syracuse University’s Newhouse... Read More →

Raymond Arroyo

Chapman Farrell Group, LLC

Raymond Arroyo is a Managing Partner of Chapman Farrell Group, a certified, minority-owned HR consulting and executive search firm, with a focus in the insurance and healthcare industry. His background includes more than 25 years of experience with Fortune 100 companies as a senior... Read More →

Robert Crowder

Chapman Farrell Group

Robert Crowder is the founder and managing director of Chapman Farrell Group. He is a leading executive recruitment expert with over 25 years of experience with major corporations such as United Parcel Service, The Hartford Financial Services Group, Aetna and Vanguard.Robert has deep... Read More →

Wednesday October 21, 2020 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Virtual

HR/Legal

10:00am EDT

What Does It Mean to be An InsurTech Entrepreneur in Hartford

Limited Capacity seats available

An interactive conversation with Nassau Re/Imagine startups sharing their experiences, hindsights, and best practices to navigate the InsurTech ecosystem to date.

Moderators

Paul Tyler

Nassau Financial Group

Speakers

Michael Davis

eGGHEAD AI

Michael Davis is the founder and CEO of eGGHEAD AI. He is a global industry speaker and thought leader with extensive experience in Data and Analytics. Mr. Davis has held senior level Data and Analytics positions at large insurance companies, establishing Data transformation st... Read More →

Mark Stender

Intellagents

Senior IT Executive, Entrepreneur and Innovator with more than 30 years leading business transformation initiatives in the Insurance and Financial Services industry. Specializing in Preparing Insurers for their Digital Journey from both a business and technology perspective.

Bobbie Shrivastav

Cofounder and Chief Product Officer, Benekiva

Bobbie Shrivastav is an award-winning serial entrepreneur, author, technology and digital transformation expert whose unwavering innovation, customer-centric approach, and continued success have earned her the reputation as an industry leader.

Wednesday October 21, 2020 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Virtual

InsurTech

11:00am EDT

Entrepreneurial Revolutions

Limited Capacity seats available

Join in a discussion with Jenny Lawton on the next entrepreneurial revolution and changing the world one woman and entrepreneur at a time.

Speakers

Jenny Lawton

Old School Ventures

I love people that want to change the world one day at a time and bringing signal to noise. Every day matters so spending it doing things that I love is important.

Wednesday October 21, 2020 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Virtual

11:00am EDT

Tour the CCAT Advanced Manufacturing Center

Limited Capacity seats available

Join us for a virtual tour of CCAT’s Advanced Manufacturing Center and Advanced Composite Center located in East Hartford, Connecticut. The tour will highlight the extensive technical capabilities of the CCAT team and leading-edge technologies in composites, additive manufacturing, hybrid and precision machining, and metrology and inspection. During this 45-minute experience, you will hear from the seasoned experts, including Jeff Crandall, Nasir Mannan, Kristi Oki and Andrew Frasca, as they walk you through the extensive capabilities and applications of innovative technologies in manufacturing. This experience is designed to provide entrepreneurs and innovators with a first-hand look at technologies that can launch their business or product forward as well as provide incumbent workers, educators and college students with a understanding of technologies in additive manufacturing, composites, hybrid and precision machining, and metrology and inspection, while showcasing the importance of these technologies throughout the diversified global industrial sectors.

Wednesday October 21, 2020 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Virtual

Advanced Manufacturing

12:00pm EDT

Change Management: Emerging Technologies and their Organizational Impacts

Limited Capacity seats available

This program focuses on a brief outline of new technologies and those that are impacting SMB and Enterprise level organizations. RPA, AI, and blockchain will be discussed briefly. A change management model will also be shared.

You Will Learn:

Familiarity with new technologies and their potential organizational impacts.
Ways to assess your organization's readiness for the change.
Quick steps and models to test those assumptions.
Explore planning needed to address longer term impacts and outcomes of the change.
Explore real time applications.

Speakers

Joyce Petrella

Calculus of Talent

Joyce is the Managing Director of Calculus of Talent, a global network of professional talent management practitioners. The network addresses the changing needs of today’s workforce.Her expertise lies in business and talent strategy development, change management and organizational... Read More →

Leland Holcomb

Aureus Analytics

Leland is the Customer Success Manager at Aureus Analytics where he manages business development, customer support, and product strategy for DONNA.Prior to joining Aureus, Leland was Head of Scouting for Startupbootcamp's Hartford InsurTech Hub accelerator where he sourced innovative... Read More →

Christopher Day

First Line Consulting

Wednesday October 21, 2020 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
Virtual

HR/Legal

2:00pm EDT

A Legal Perspective: The Care and Feeding of Startups During COVID-19

Limited Capacity seats available

This program focuses on representing and resources available for the startup and dealing with the often complicated legal, financial, and ethical issues involved in working with fast-growing enterprises run by time-challenged entrepreneurs and backed by professional investors.

You Will Learn:

Ways to attract angel investors to your start up
Entity considerations and risk mitigation
Resources for Small Businesses at the Connecticut Bar Association

Moderators

Christopher Day

First Line Consulting

Speakers

Ken Lerman

Kenneth B. Lerman, P.C.

Attorney Ken Lerman practice focus areas are business, securities, corporate, contracts, and commercial real estate law with offices in Hartford, CT and Boca Raton, FL.Ken has represented clients in over $400 Million of transactions. He represents businesses, owners, and investors... Read More →

Amy Meyerson

Law Office of Amy Lin Meyerson

Amy Lin Meyerson, President of the Connecticut Bar Association (2020-2021). She practices business and general corporate law. She earned her J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law and received her A.B. with distinction from Duke University. Amy is admitted in CT, GA... Read More →

Carlton Chen

Attorney at Law, Kurien Ouellette LLC

Carlton is a seasoned law firm business lawyer, entrepreneur, executive, angel investor, and co-founder of successful startups. A former VP/GC at well-known companies, he is a 2015 Connecticut Law Tribune recipient of a Life Time Achievement Award as well as other legal best practice... Read More →

Wednesday October 21, 2020 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Virtual

HR/Legal

2:00pm EDT

Innovation in the Round: EdTech Leaders

Limited Capacity seats available

In 2020, our educational system experienced major disruptions in how students of all ages and backgrounds access education and learn. This expert panel of Ed Tech innovators and leaders will discuss how they are taking the lead to bridge the gaps as well as share their ideas on making our educational system post-COVID more accessible and equitable for all learners.

Moderators

Benjamin Williams

ARSOME Technology

Speakers

Steven Hernández

CT Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity & Opportunity

Steven Hernández, Esq. is the Executive Director for the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity & Opportunity. He is an attorney with over 20 years of public service.

Matt Mervis

Skills21 @ EdAdvance

For nearly 30 years, Matt Mervis has supported school and community change initiatives based on the needs of districts, municipalities, professional development organizations, and government agencies including the departments of education and labor for several states.

Nayan Mohapatra

WordsEye

Nayan is currently the CEO of WordsEye, a NYC based ed tech startup focused on democratizing the creative process while helping users improve grammar and literacy skills. He is an also Executive MBA candidate at Columbia Business School.

Warren Fisher

MissionCIT, LLC

Warren is the CEO of MissionCIT and is a Board Advisor and mentor to multiple startups in Connecticut. His experience includes CEO roles in private equity, along with a successful IPO experience.

Wednesday October 21, 2020 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Virtual

Social Innovation

9:00am EDT

Bridging the Capital Divide: Bootstrapping Your Business

Limited Capacity filling up

Not everyone can be the next unicorn, and lots of founders choose not to take on investment for various reasons early on. Hear from founders who have found creative alternatives to financing their business, from crowdfunding to micro-loans and more.

Speakers

Nan Price

MetroHartford Alliance

As Content Manager for the MetroHartford Alliance, Nan Price helps promote our region as a premiere place to work, live, and play. She is also the voice of Innovation Destination Hartford, an initiative of the Alliance that serves and supports entrepreneurs and startups in the Hartford... Read More →

Elizabeth Granados

The House of Noa

Devra Sisitsky

MakerspaceCT

Responsible for New Product Development, Practice Management, New Business Development and market branding/placement in competitive, hospital and physician markets throughout North America. Providing integrative solutions sets specializing in software and restructuring delivery systems... Read More →

Renu Joseph

Luminant Analytics

Renu is the owner of American/Swiss insurance analytics start up that helps insurance companies ingest external data to improve underwriting and pricing. A business economist, she has close to two decades of global work experience in both industry and academics.

Thursday October 22, 2020 9:00am - 10:00am EDT
Virtual

Social Innovation

10:00am EDT

Smart Branding Moves: From Inception to Protection

Limited Capacity seats available

Your “Brand” is larger than just a Trademark name or logo. In this session, join Frederick A. Spaeth in exploring how to choose a Trademark, adopting a mark, when is the mark “yours”, and strategies for “protecting” a mark before problems arise.

Speakers

Frederick A. Spaeth

Dilworth IP, LLC

Fred Spaeth has more than twenty year's experience advising businesses on intellectual property law and commercial transactions, including protection of brands and patenting inventions in the U.S. and abroad.

Thursday October 22, 2020 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Virtual

Marketing

11:00am EDT

Tech Chat with Stanley Black & Decker

Limited Capacity seats available

During this 45-minute experience, you will hear from Marty Guay (Stanley Black & Decker) and Jeffrey Orszak (CONNSTEP) explore the state of manufacturing 4.0 and why startups should include a focus on Industry 4.0 in their strategy. Near the end, join the duo for a virtual tour of the state-of-the-art Manufactory 4.0 in Hartford, Connecticut, the epicenter for Stanley Black & Decker's s global Industry 4.0 “smart factory” and workforce upskilling initiatives – making manufacturing more efficient, productive and adaptable.

Moderators

Jeff Orszak

CONNSTEP

Speakers

Martin Guay

Stanley Black & Decker

Marty Guay, Vice President of Business Development at Stanley Black & Decker is certain that the future of #advancedmanufacturing in #Hartford is strong.

Thursday October 22, 2020 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Virtual

Advanced Manufacturing

12:00pm EDT

Let’s Change The Conversation: A New Employee Engagement Paradigm to Explore

Limited Capacity seats available

This program focuses on turning outdated and ineffective “paper and process-bound transactions” into a “living and breathing” exchange regarding employee performance, career progression, and development.

You Will Learn:

Ways to Keep It Simple and Focused-Eliminate the Process.
Assess your organization’s readiness to change.
Explore real time applications.

Moderators

Christopher Day

First Line Consulting

Speakers

Stacy Brusa

HSB (Hartford Steam Boiler IIC)

Stacy is a Human Resources leader with experience supporting multiple clients in the insurance and financial services industries. She has expertise as a strategic HR Business Partner, has led Talent Acquisition, managed leadership development programs, and led strategic HR initiatives... Read More →

Thursday October 22, 2020 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
Virtual

HR/Legal

2:00pm EDT

Investors' Circle

Limited Capacity filling up

How to engage with the venture community to build an innovative, collaborative and inclusive startup ecosystem.

Speakers

Douglas Roth

Director - Investments, Connecticut Innovations

Douglas is a Managing Director, Venture Capital Investments at Connecticut Innovations, Inc. (CI), the State’s strategic venture capital arm and the leading source of financing and ongoing support for innovative, growing companies.

JoAnn H. Price

Fairview Capital

Ms. Price is Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Fairview Capital. She is a member of Fairview’s investment committee and manager of all Fairview-sponsored funds. Prior to co-founding Fairview, Ms. Price served as president of NAIC, headquartered in D.C. Ms. Price is a graduate of... Read More →

Dorothy Adams

Capital for Change

Dorothy coaches management teams of social purpose organizations. She is an active social impact investor including in Capital for Change where she is Board Chair. Her VC and angel investing background enables her to see better ways of funding organizations led by those who start... Read More →

Esther Dyson

Wellville

My full-time job is executive founder, Wellville. With the other half of my time, I am an active angel investor in health, insurance, logistics and space travel, mostly in the US, Africa and Eastern Europe.

Thursday October 22, 2020 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Virtual

Scale UP

3:00pm EDT

B Corp 101: Learning to Measure What Matters

Limited Capacity seats available

In this workshop, we de-mystify the B Corp with examples of successful purpose-driven companies that are leveraging this certification to amplify benefit for all stakeholders, not just shareholders. Certified B Corporations are intentionally designed to balance purpose and profit, and to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. This global movement now includes over 3,000 companies in 71 countries such as Ben & Jerry's, Patagonia, and Etsy. Learn how you can begin to measure your impact and leverage your sustainability story more effectively.

Speakers

Emily Reisner

reSET

Emily is Director of Strategic Advancement at reSET. Previously, she served as Program Director at Aspiranet in San Francisco. She has spent years consulting companies through strategic challenges in order to optimize impact and communicate that impact effectively to stakeholders... Read More →

Thursday October 22, 2020 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
Virtual

Social Innovation

8:30am EDT

Expanding on the 2020 State of Manufacturing

Limited Capacity seats available

Learn about the state of Advanced Manufacturing straight from industry stakeholders at the CBIA Summit. More information provided by the conference organizers by Thursday (10/22) night.

Speakers

Colin Cooper

Chief Manufacturing Officer, Government of Connecticut

David Leeman

Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD)

David Lehman serves as the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), the state agency that oversees a wide range of programs promoting business growth, brownfield redevelopment, the arts, historic preservation and tourism.

Friday October 23, 2020 8:30am - 11:30am EDT
Virtual

Advanced Manufacturing

10:00am EDT

Unmet Needs: Opportunities in MedTech

Limited Capacity seats available

Every year hundreds of new MedTech innovations enter the market – yet, human healthcare is still rife with unmet needs. This session discusses current unmet needs that are top of mind for the clinicians and administrators running healthcare in the region.

You will come away with:

At least one idea for your next MedTech venture
A better understanding of the challenges facing healthcare and how to break through and get noticed
A reality-check on how the COVID fight is going and what is really needed to make a difference

Moderators

Avdhesh Saxena

Aetna

Avdhesh is a program manager at Aetna (a CVS company) leading cloud migration for healthcare business. He is active member of startup community in Hartford.

Speakers

Steven Graf

Cigna

Steven is a product manager at Cigna with experience in designing and launching data-driven and personalized health and wellness solutions. Products launched utilize innovative tools such as wearable/sensor technology, AI/ML, and web/mobile applications to improve health outcomes... Read More →

Friday October 23, 2020 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Virtual

MedTech

11:00am EDT

National Science Foundation Workshop - Practical Fundraising Tips from America's Seed Fund

Limited Capacity seats available

Join us for an informative workshop by Erik Pierstorff, Program Director of NSF's Seed Fund, to explore how your company can benefit from the NSF network and funding opportunities.

OFFICE HOURS: Erik will also be available for private office hours, [sign up here].

About NSF
Overview: The National Science Foundation (NSF) awards more than $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact.

Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $1.5 million in non-dilutive funds to support research and development (R&D), helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America’s Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $8.1 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. For more information, visit seedfund.nsf.gov.The National Science Foundation

Speakers

Erik Pierstorff

SBIR/STTR Program Director, National Science Foundation

Erik Pierstorff joined the NSF as Program Director in November 2019. Prior to NSF, he was Chief of Operations and led Research and Development at O-Ray Pharma, where he focused on integrating biology and biomedical engineering for the goal of drug development and sustained drug delivery... Read More →

Friday October 23, 2020 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Virtual

12:00pm EDT

The Hartford Startup Community Way

Limited Capacity seats available

Ian Hathaway, co-author of The Startup Community Way, joins Michelle Cote, Director at Launc[H], and Laila Partridge, Managing Director at STANLEY + Techstars Accelerator, to discuss his new book and the practical application of complex adaptive systems to successful ecosystem development. Hear more about how Ian imagines ecosystem builders putting these principles to work in the Hartford community.

Moderators

Eric Francis

Senior Engagement Manager, Techstars

Speakers

Michelle Cote

Director, Launc[H]artford

Laila Partridge

Managing Director, STANLEY+Techstars Accelerator, Techstars

Ian Hathaway

Techstars

I serve founders as an early-stage advisor, mentor, and investor; build products and services in areas ranging from digital media to ecosystems; advise companies, non-profits, and governments on strategy, analytics, innovation, and public policy; research and write about entrepreneurship... Read More →

Friday October 23, 2020 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
Virtual

5:00pm EDT

Techstars Startup Weekend Online: Sacred Heart University

Limited Capacity seats available

>> MUST REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE <<

Startup Weekend is the best place to come and test your idea or join others to work on theirs. Over the weekend, you'll build a team, work through spinning-up your product with amazing mentors, and put together an "MVP" (Minimum Viable Product) to present on Sunday. So, whether it's a physical product or the next software startup, come meet like-minded entrepreneurs and become change agents at SHU and in Connecticut. Registration is free but seats are limited!

Startup Weekend is a full weekend long experience (Friday to Sunday).

Participation includes:

Benefits and discounts from our global partners
One-on-one time with amazing industry mentors
A new network of developers, designers, and entrepreneurs eager (like you!) to make a change!

Speakers

Bootcamp