April’s Investor-Ready Entrepreneur Program a Success

By Kevin Nicusanti, SBTDC Equity Funding Specialist

Held at the Innovation Quarter in Winston-Salem, the recent Investor-Ready Entrepreneur Program (IRE) was the first SBTDC IRE in over two years in North Carolina. SBTDC chose Winston-Salem due to its strong entrepreneurial economy and deep community and academic support for innovation-based startups. 

The audience consisted of developing early-stage and seed companies interested in preparing for outside investment. Most attendees were founders and co-founders who had significant decision-making authority and led strategic and everyday operations.

Expert Panelists Offer Personal Experience and Advice

SBTDC recruited an expert panel with a broad range of experiences and points of view, including John Rudd, an experienced corporate attorney with Hutchison PLLC. John has worked with dozens of startups to provide advice on corporate structure, ownership, intellectual property management, term sheets, and many other critical legal issues. 

Malay Shah is a multi-decade investor with Venture South, one of the largest angel networks in the Southeast and a Triad area resident. He provided many insights regarding preparation for investors, what to expect, and how to handle the unexpected turmoil of raising equity capital. 

Rob Boyce is the CEO of Plakous Therapeutics, a Winston area-based therapeutics company with a deep career in developing life science companies. Rob provided incredible lessons, insights, successes, and failures in a compelling manner for the audience. All three panelists provided interactive commentary all day long, fielded many audience questions, and stayed after the event for 1:1s.

A Positive Response from Attendees

We received significant thanks for the quality and depth of the materials we delivered. 

• “Great presentation! Looking forward to interacting with the SBTDC in the future!”
• “Kevin and panelists provided tremendous content.”
• “A very valuable resource for startups.”
• “Excellent presentation today. . . . One of the best (if not the best) one day conferences on this I have been to.” 
• “I want to tell you how much I valued our class today. It was perfect for where I am currently in our entrepreneurial journey.” 
• “I’m new to this side of funding and felt like I gained a tremendous amount of good information.”

Join Us on June 12 in Durham

“Many of our attendees choose to return to IRE at different stages of their startup journey,” said Kevin Nicusanti, Equity Funding Specialist at the SBTDC. The Investor-Ready Entrepreneur curriculum covers everything from presenting to investors to funding needs and financials to valuation and structuring the deal. 

Our next event is on June 12 at the Biotechnology Center in RTP. Space is limited. Claim your seat today.