Venture Saturday, April 2025
VENTURE SATURDAY™ 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.
The theme for this quarter's Venture Saturday is The Importance of Keeping in Peak Physical and Mental Health for Startup Founders.
9:30 - 10:00
Registration and Networking
10:00 - 10:25
Keynote Speaker – Christeen Rico Green, Founder & CEO, Dream Bigger
In the high-stakes world of startups and investing, hustle is celebrated—but wholeness is often overlooked. In this candid and insightful talk, Christeen Rico Green, founder and CEO of Dream Bigger, shares her personal journey from Silicon Valley success to purpose-driven entrepreneurship. Drawing from her work with 40+ founders and a global community of values-aligned investors, Christeen makes the case that founder well-being isn’t a luxury—it’s a strategic advantage. She’ll unpack practical habits and a values-based framework that help entrepreneurs thrive not just in business, but in life—because when founders flourish, ventures do too.
10:30 - 11:10 [Leonardo Room]
Fireside Chat with Saqib Rasool
Darian Parrish will interview Saqib Rasool on the topic of Stress and Anxiety for Founders, offering a radically new perspective on what it means to be an anxious, driven entrepreneur. Moving beyond conventional approaches that treat anxiety purely as a problem, this session invites founders to experience their anxiety as a source of energy, focus, and power. Participants will learn how to recognize anxiety as a biological signal pointing to what really matters rather than a system malfunction to be suppressed. By sharing real-world examples, engaging in practical exercises, and exploring how to harness emotional energy in times of change and upheaval, the conversation promises to leave founders with a deeper sense of resilience, focus, and possibility in both their ventures and their personal well-being.
11:15-12:00 [Leonardo Room]
Panel: War Stories of How These Entrepreneurs Managed Extreme Stress Conditions will take a deep dive into how these veteran operators managed to cope well - or not so well - during highly stressful times at their previous startups. Moderated by Jake White with Catherine Bhattacher and Steven Yi.
12:00 - 1:00
Networking Lunch - Opportunity to meet fellow founders, funders and advisors. Lunch is provided or you can bring your own.
1:00 - 1:50 [Leonardo Room]
Raw Concept Pitch Slam
This 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!
InterviewDroid, Nicolas Garfinkle
BlueDotKitchen (SeaCharonnes), Travis Bettinson
CaribeSolutions, Deon Herbert
Circular Industries, Greg Booth
TBA
TBA
TBA
2:00 - 2:45 Track 1 [Leonardo Room]
Workshop: Beyond the Slides – Delivering an Engaging Pitch workshop with Dana Sather Robinson
Are investors staying engaged during your pitch? Do they seem to have tuned out? It might be time to rethink your delivery. A pitch that is too fast, slow, boring, or filled with jargon can turn off investors and make them lose interest. Dana's got some great strategies to make your pitch delivery compelling, engaging, and investor-focused. Remember, an engaging delivery is just as important as having an amazing pitch deck! Learn how to capture your listeners' attention and be remembered for all the right reasons. 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 get results. The interactive Pitch4Impact Training Program will guide you through the process of crafting, preparing, and confidently delivering a pitch and accompanying investor deck that signals to investors: this one is worth my time and attention.
2:00 - 2:45 Track 2 [Boeing Room]
Workshop: What it means to be a High Energy Founder with Joe Green.
Joe will be sharing key insights on what it means to be a High Energy Founder—and how you can unlock more capacity, clarity, and momentum in your day-to-day life. Joe is a two-time All-American, former two-sport collegiate athlete, and electrical engineer who spent four years training full-time with Olympic aspirations. Over the past nine years, he’s built a business helping people increase their energy and performance, drawing on both his high-level training background and extensive education in premium wellness products from globally recognized health brands. Joe combines high-level athletic discipline, business experience, and a scientific mindset to help others increase their capacity without burning out.
3:00 - 3:45 [Leonardo Room]
Panel: 30 Great Ways to Use AI for Marketing in Startups
In this rapid-fire session you'll learn from the panelists (TBA) about the latest and greatest tools that marketers can use to dramatically improve their campaigns by leveraging the very latest tech. Moderated by Venture Mechanics' CMO Greta Remington.
4:00 - 4:45
Venture Pitch Competition
This is the “high stakes” pitch competition as opposed to the raw concept competition earlier in the day. The five presenting startups will get 5 minutes to pitch, plus 5 minutes for Q&A with the judges (experienced investors). These startups will also have demo tables at the event where potential investors, customers, mentors, etc., can meet with them after the competition. The judges will cast their votes for the best investment opportunity, 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!
goEzz, Vandana Mishra
ORCA, Brian Golob
PivotalBuild, Jon Madamba
Deadlift Studios, Josh Green
TBA
5:00 - 5:50
Introduction to the Venture Mechanics Catapult Accelerator Program - 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. 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.
6:00 - 8:30
Founders & Mentors Mixer Afterparty - 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 for founders to meet other founders, and mentors to meet other mentors, as well. Light dinner and adult drinks will be served.
Bonus Feature: Get Your Professional Headshots Taken During The Event!
The headshots you post on your social media, website, and marketing tell your potential investors and customers a lot about you and your business. Will selfies, casual snapshots, and outdated photos convey your professionalism, attention to detail, and trustworthiness? Do not leave it to chance. Your prospects form lasting opinions about you, your capabilities, and your performance in less than half a second. You have what it takes. Make sure it comes through in your headshots.
Venture Mechanics has made a special arrangement with renowned headshot photographer Charles Cotugno to offer our community members and Venture Saturday attendees the opportunity to get their headshots at a deep, deep discount to his usual rates. He'll be set up in our in-house photo/video studio (Piaggio Room) from 11am to 3pm. Enjoy the early bird price of only $75 by signing up before the day of the event, or $99 if you sign up on-site.