Join Wilson Sonsini and special guests Foundry Group and Creative Ventures as we go behind Q3 venture financing trends. Wilson Sonsini will share with us detail directly from their recent Entrepreneurs Report, and our guests will cover trends in the various stages of funding.

If you are interested in the latest fundraising data or are planning to raise a round soon, this learn-in is for you!We will be discussing:

• Q3 trends in venture financing – what got funded and who are the winners/losers (so far)?
• Insight on how to adapt to the current market landscape
• Valuation data and 2021 predictions

OUR SPECIAL GUEST

Craig Sherman

Wilson Sonsini, Partner

Craig Sherman is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he focuses on corporate and securities laws, representing companies, venture capital firms, and investment banks in private placements and public offerings. Craig also has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, technology licensing, and domestic and international joint ventures.

Craig began private practice in 1989 with Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York and Paris, and joined Perkins Coie in Seattle in January 1995. He became a director in the Kirkland office of Venture Law Group in December 1996 and was managing director of the Kirkland office from May 2000 until August 2002, when he joined Wilson Sonsini. He has been a member of the firm’s Policy Committee, Compensation Committee, Nominating Committee, and Finance Committee.

In addition to English, Craig is fluent in French and knowledgeable in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean.

Jaclyn Freeman Hester

Foundry Group, Partner

Jaclyn enjoys all things venture. She works closely with early-stage venture capital fund managers and startup founders as they launch and scale their businesses.

Jaclyn joined Foundry in 2016 and is active across our portfolio of startup companies and venture funds. She helped launch our partner fund strategy and works closely with our partner fund managers, while also leading new fund investments. She has built an extensive network of early-stage venture capital investors across North America and loves advising emerging managers on fundraising, strategy, and firm-building. Jaclyn also spends time on direct investments, working with existing portfolio companies and leading new investments, typically alongside our partner funds.

Prior to joining Foundry, Jaclyn practiced corporate law at Perkins Coie LLP and Baker & Hostetler LLP. As an attorney, she advised startups and private equity firms as well as buyers and sellers in M&A transactions. She also worked closely with her husband and his family on their SaaS startup, FareHarbor (acq’d by Booking.com), from the earliest stages through acquisition.

Jaclyn earned a JD/MBA from University of Colorado, Boulder, and a BBA from Emory University. During graduate school, she worked with founders and other entrepreneurial leaders in her role as Executive Director of Startup Colorado. Jaclyn lives in Boulder with her husband and their two children (one daughter, one black lab). With Red Rocks in the summer and skiing in the winter, this East Coast native is thrilled to call Colorado home.

James Wang

Creative Ventures, General Partner

James Wang is a co-founder of Lioness, and General Partner at Creative Ventures, an early stage VC focusing on healthcare, agriculture, and industrial technologies. Previously, he spearheaded the pilot launch announcement and branding for Google X’s Makani project, led a team of analysts overseeing billions in client assets at Bridgewater Associates, and co-founded and managed a consulting group specializing in microfinance in the developing world.

James holds an MBA from UC Berkeley where he was a Jack Larson Fellow in Entrepreneurship, a BA with Honors from Dartmouth, and an MS in Computer Science at Georgia Tech. He also holds a Data Science Specialization from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and completed the course track for a PhD Designated Emphasis in Computational Sciences and Engineering at UC Berkeley.

Moderated By: Nicola Corzine

Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, Executive Director

Nicola Corzine serves as the Executive Director of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, a non-profit that delivers world-class resources and mentoring to enable every entrepreneur across the globe to realize their maximum potential. As Executive Director, Nicola is responsible for strategic and operational leadership that help drive research, programing, fundraising, and operations for the organization.

Nicola brings over 17 years of strategic business development and entrepreneurial thought leadership programming experience to the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, most recently in her role as Deal Manager for the Band of Angels, a position held since 2004 as well as Investment Partner in the 2009 Acorn fund which includes investments in Practice Fusion, Niveus Medical, and Flywheel, one of the biggest names in the E-hailing industry. During her time at the Band, she was as an early advisor to Startup America and led the development of the first national and regional Angel Capital Association conferences.

Prior to Band of Angels, Nicola was the founder and executive director of Financing Partners, an organization that delivered education to both entrepreneurs and investors to enable them to reach their mutual objectives. Before Band of Angels, she was part of three startup companies in the US and UK.

Nicola is a frequent speaker on angel investing, technology trends and seed financing at Universities including Stanford, Wharton and Duke, national conferences, including IEEE Women in Engineering, NVCA and Innovation Enterprise, and has served as a formation advisor to several regional and international angel groups and seed funds.

The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center is a 501c(3) public charity whose mission it is to make entrepreneurship accessible to all. We deliver world-class resources and mentoring to enable every entrepreneur across the globe to realize their maximum potential. Please join us and make your gift to ensure these transformative programs may continue to reach the underserved.