Backing the Future: AI Startups, Venture Capital, and What’s Next
Access Silicon Valley invites you to join us for an intimate evening as Roger Rappoport, partner at Snell & Wilmer and co-leader of its emerging growth & venture capital group, hosts an exclusive fireside chat with Natalia Burina, AI aficionado and partner at Storm Ventures, where they'll unpack what it really takes to build, fund, and scale AI startups in today’s fast-moving market. This is a must-attend evening for founders, operators, and investors interested in the future of artificial intelligence, startup growth strategies, and venture capital.
Topics that will be covered:
· Where the smartest AI investors are placing bets—and why
· What makes AI startups fundable (and what sends investors running)
· How to land enterprise customers and turn them into champions
· The rise of vertical AI, infrastructure plays, and the new "picks & shovels"
· Natalia’s hard-earned lessons from scaling product at tech giants—and what founders often get wrong
You’ll gain behind-the-scenes insights from Natalia’s experience at Meta AI, Salesforce, and Microsoft, and learn how top-tier VCs are evaluating AI companies today. Gain invaluable insights into how to maximize the opportunities with large enterprises and onboard them as paying customers.
Why You Should Attend:
This isn’t a surface-level panel or generic networking night. It’s a deep-dive conversation with real insights from someone who’s been on both sides of the table—building cutting-edge AI products and backing the next generation of category-defining companies.
Come for the ideas, stay for the conversation—and leave with clarity, connections, and a sharper vision of where AI is going next.
AGENDA:
Networking: 6:00PM – 7:00PM
Fireside chat & Q&A: 7:00 – 8:30PM
Networking: 8:30 - ?
About the Speakers
Venture Partner at Storm Ventures
Natalia is a Venture Partner at Storm focusing on AI investments. She brings a wealth of operating experience, having led and scaled AI products at Meta AI, Salesforce and Microsoft.
At Meta, Natalia worked across the entire company and at executive levels to shape AI strategy and deliver business results. Prior to Meta, Natalia worked on the early version of Salesforce Einstein and helped ship the very first version of Microsoft Bing.
Partner at Snell & Wilmer
Roger Rappoport is a partner at Snell & Wilmer and co-leader of its emerging growth & venture capital panel. With extensive experience in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and securities law, Roger advises startups and growth companies across various sectors.
He has guided numerous entrepreneurs through fundraising rounds and strategic transactions, establishing himself as a trusted advisor in the tech and venture capital community.
Co-Hosted by:
Heizen: Heizen is your on-demand AI tech team - combining AI and top 1% engineers to build production-grade MVPs in weeks. Trusted by ex-FAANG founders, we help you ship faster, validate smarter, and scale without the hiring overhead.
About Access Silicon Valley
Access Silicon Valley is a leading platform connecting entrepreneurs, investors, and advisors through high-value events, workshops, and fireside chats. Focused on startup education, fundraising, and strategic networking, ASV brings top-tier content and connections to the startup community.