Recap: 2020 Southeast CEO Summit #SECEOSummit

This year our CEO Summit looked a bit different – but in doing it virtually, we were able to partner with 13 venture funds to bring together startups from across the Southeast looking at raising an institutional round of funding in the next year. 50 startups participated in bite-sized sessions over the course of 3 days. Thanks to Build In SE for partnering on this event!

Day 1:

We worked with Atlanta-based startup Civic Dinners to bring together founders and investors on the theme of Grief & Gratitude—exploring the self-discovery we’ve made this year and what we’re grateful for now more than ever.

Day 2:

We hosted three sessions with founders and leaders who have successfully built and scaled tech ventures from around the country. Thanks to Slingshow for helping us relieve our Zoom fatigue!

Here are some of the highlights from those discussions:

Investor Panel with Lo Toney (Plexo Capital), Victoria Treyger (Felicis Ventures) and Erik Rannala (Mucker Capital), moderated by Monique Villa (Mucker Capital, Build In SE):

On board member tenure – it can be 7 year relationship, maybe even longer, so do your diligence before you bring someone on. @felicis #SECEOSummit

— Embarc Collective (@EmbarcCollectiv) October 15, 2020

On board member relationships – You need to have a relationship with trust and transparency with your formal board, but also someone external like a coach who can give guidance on how to manage a board. @ersf #SECEOSummit

— Embarc Collective (@EmbarcCollectiv) October 15, 2020

We hosted a Fireside Chat with Matt Salzberg, Founder and Chairman of Blue Apron:

Keys to success in the early days: Smart working capital arrangements with vendors, strong referral programs @mattsalz #SECEOSummit

— Embarc Collective (@EmbarcCollectiv) October 15, 2020

On maintaining culture – For most scaling startups, there is more work to do than people to do the work. We put on a lot of events to over-communicate the mission, vision, values and to allow the team to get to know each other in a high growth environment. @mattsalz #SECEOSummit

— Embarc Collective (@EmbarcCollectiv) October 15, 2020

We ended the day with Access Sessions with Jan Seale (former Trunk Club and Havenly), Brian Murphy (ReliaQuest) and Anthony Kennada (Front):

On communication and goal-setting post-funding: Be as transparent as possible with your leadership and executive team. Let them know your priorities over the 6, 9, 12 months, results you want, and metrics you are holding yourself accountable to. – Jan Seale #SECEOSummit pic.twitter.com/MHgk6fOwzj

— Embarc Collective (@EmbarcCollectiv) October 15, 2020

On building a high performing team: Be transparent in your strengths and deficiencies as a leader and try to share why you are the way you are. The more you can be honest, the easier it is to give the team permission to do the same. – Brian Murphy @reliaquest #SECEOSummit pic.twitter.com/7pSH7BVCdw

— Embarc Collective (@EmbarcCollectiv) October 15, 2020

Day 3:

Build In SE curated office hours with top investors from around the country for participating startups, including Bain Capital, Emergence Capital, Greycroft, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mucker Capital, NEA, Foundation Capital, Foundry Group, Revolution, B Capital Group, Radian Capital and others.

Don’t miss our 2021 CEO Summit! To learn more about membership to Embarc Collective, click here.