Venture Mechanics is a coworking space and innovation center for startups and entrepreneurs in the Pacific Northwest.

Venture Mechanics Bellevue

 is a a full-day event held every two months for anyone who is interested in either joining a startup, creating their own startup, or investing in startups. Filled with workshops, pitch competitions, demo tables, sponsor expo, and more.

Fifty tickets are available with the early bird half-price discount of only $10, after which they go to the standard $20 price, so reserve your spot now!

 is ticketed separately, and includes light dinner and two bar drinks.

, Founder of Docusign and three other startups, and investor in over a dozen venture funds. 

Some of the best education available to startup founders is to hear about lessons learned from entrepreneurs who've gone before. In this workshop we're going to hear from three veteran entrepreneurs about some of the significant challenges they experienced in previous startups and how they survived them... or didn't. Panelists: 

Workshop: Get Ready to Pitch for Impact 

Dana is a professional pitch trainer who’s also an angel investor; she knows exactly what investors need to see in a pitch deck and hear from founders like you in a pitch presentation, so her investor-tested methods 

 will guide you through the process of crafting, preparing, and confidently delivering a pitch and accompanying investor deck that signals to investors: 

Grab your lunch from the food truck (or brown bag it) and then dine-in and network with peers in the creative studio or conference rooms.

Raw Concept Pitch Competition 1:00-2:00pm

This is a low-stakes pitch competition is an opportunity for aspiring founders to pitch their concept for a venture-scale startup. They get three minutes to pitch and two minutes of Q&A with the judging panel. The judges will cast their votes for the most promising business concept, and the audience will be able to crowdvote their favorite as well. Will the winner of the two votes be the same or different? Come find out!

Have an idea you'd like to try out on the audience? sign up to pitch here!

Panel on How To Find Cofounders - 2pm-2:45pm

The panelists are serial entrepreneurs who were themselves once solo founders, who can speak to their evolved philosophies on how to find the right co-founder(s) at the right time, how to split equity amongst co-founders, how founders can protect themselves against a mismatch in chemistry or if the company pivots into a different direction that requires a different founder team make-up, etc. 

Panel on Leveraging Mentors and Fractional Consultants - 2:45-3:30pm

Without the benevolent participation of mentors in the startup ecosystem most venture-scale startups would never achieve funding and eventual success. Learn about how and why mentors can assist startup founders in their journey, and then when and how to engage them more fully as fractional executives, advisory board members, and in other part-time roles when you can't yet afford to hire experienced full-time management team members.

A higher stakes pitch competition for founders much further along in the journey. These are extended pitches with more time allotted for panel response and audience QA. The judges for this competition also represent more of the investment community, rather than the mentorship community.

Introduction to the Incubator/Accelerator Program 4:30-5:30pm

Learn all about the patently unique incubator/accelerator model we employ at Venture Mechanics to take in highly-vetted startups, fully train their founders to run a venture-scale business, and complete their funding. This is nothing remotely like the Techstars or YC model. Hear directly from the mentors who participate in the "mentor conclave" processes at the beginning and end of a founder team's journey through. Also hear from founders currently going through the process. 

Mentor<>Founder Mixer Afterparty 5:30-8:30pm

More than just a good time, founders and mentors can use this opportunity to get to know one another in a casual environment. Whether you want to speed date or spend quality time with particular individuals huddled in one of the conference rooms, this party is a great opportunity to founders to meet other founders, and mentors to meet other mentors, as well. 

Light dinner will be served, and each attendee will get two drink tickets. The bar will create custom cocktails and mocktails for each guest using Mixtail's new AI technology!

Note that tickets for the afterparty are sold separately, but include dinner and two drinks at the bar. 

*Venture Saturday* Expo Sept 2024

Venture Saturday Expo Sept 2024