​Thinking of applying to one of 500 Global VC's accelerators? Hear from folks behind the accelerator and investment team to learn what 500 looks for in early-stage founders.

​Panelists, Leonard Lee and Iris Sun, will share a few words about their experience being in the accelerator, what the team looks for in an application, and how to make the most of an accelerator experience.

​Meet your host: Mercury

​​​Mercury lays the groundwork for ambitious companies to operate for excellence with banking and credit cards* engineered for the startup journey. With a powerfully smooth product experience, founders and finance teams can manage and safeguard their money with fewer hurdles, thoughtfully meet the needs of a scaling team and business, and receive expert guidance from those who have successfully navigated their challenges before. More than 200K startups choose Mercury to perform at their highest level.

​​*Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC. The IO Card is issued by Patriot Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard.

​Panelists

​Leonard Lee, Head of Accelerator Ops at 500 Global

​Leonard is the Head of Accelerator Ops at 500 Global (formerly 500 Startups). 500 Global counts over 35 Unicorns in its portfolio including Canva, Twilio, Gitlab, Talkdesk, Credit Karma, Udemy, Grab, Solana, and others. Previously, he co-founded an enterprise SaaS startup backed by Mike Maples at Floodgate (early investors at Lyft, Twitter, Twitch, Okta etc) and Andre de Haes of Backed VC. He’s an engineering alumnus of Northwestern University and currently an Adjunct Lecturer there.

​Iris Sun, Investment Team at 500 Global

​Iris Sun began her career as an investment banking intern at Citi before joining Alibaba as a Product Manager, where she led the delivery of e-commerce products used by over 30 million daily active users. Iris then moved to TSVC, a venture fund known for seed investments in Zoom, Carta, and Ginkgo Bioworks. At TSVC, Iris focuses on the data economy sector and led investments in companies like Angle Health,d-Matrix, Kubit, Mammoth Cyber, and Ridge Security.

​As a founding member of Thrasio's M&A team, Iris helped expand the largest Amazon aggregator's presence in the US through strategic acquisitions. Driven by a passion for global change, Iris has held leadership roles at the Milken Institute. With her diverse expertise in M&A, product management and industry relationships, she is committed to empowering founders and companies to reach their full potential. Iris earned her bachelor's degree from Sichuan International Studies University and a master's in quantitative risk management from Columbia University.

​Moderator

​Natalie Riso, Senior Program Manager, Raise at Mercury

​Natalie Riso is a prolific marketer, operator, and thought leader at the intersection of impact, startups, and personal branding. She currently runs founder success programs and builds founder tools at Mercury under the Mercury Raise umbrella. Additionally, she mentors frequently at accelerators including LOI Labs and a16z’s TxO program on the Lean Startup methodology and B2B marketing.

​Natalie previously led content marketing and partnerships at LTSE and 500 Global. She also made a name for herself in the world of online content, and in 2015, she was the youngest recipient of Linkedin's Top Voice award, going on to cultivate an audience of over 380K around entrepreneurship, social impact, and leadership. Natalie has been featured for her marketing work in Inc., AdWeek, Vice, Cosmopolitan, and more.