Startup Week CHA 2017

$5,000 invested in Bitcoin over 6 years ago would have bought 100,000BTC and might have been worth over $160 million today.

Could more opportunities for similar exponential returns exist in the future?

Co-moderated by Alex Lavidge, a contributor at Startup Southerner (an online media hub covering startup news and advice for startups in the southeast) and Mary Ann Twitty, this session will interview Brad Hart and some of his colleagues whom are experts in the cryptocurrency community internationally.

Mr. Hart was a Principal and Founder of Hartwood Capital LP which last reported verified 106% returns net of expenses in 2013. After this success and 8x-10x returns investing in cryptocurrencies as well, he went on to create Make More Marbles (http://makemoremarbles.com), an online media hub and community of entrepreneurs worldwide helping each other create abundance whom are passionate about personal development and continual learning.

Disclaimer: This panel is intended for educational purposes only. No specific products, paid services, or securities will sold or endorsed at any time. It is the aim of this event to encourage dialogue. Every prospective investor should conduct due diligence with their financial advisor using numerous resources before making any high-risk investment decision.

Meet the founders of the JumpFund and learn how they are addressing the gender gap in venture funding. Find out how the ecosystem has grown to support female entrepreneurs, and how you can avoid the pitfalls (as investors and entrepreneurs) that create unconscious bias.
www.thejumpfund.com

Positioning your startup for the best funding is hard to do. Startup and investment pros converge for a panel discussion and craft beer at Oddstory Brewing Co.

A qualified panel discusses every aspect of a deal---from the initiation process of receiving investment to the transaction process, with a special focus on the potential pitfalls of those startup funding deals.

Moderator:
- Fred Decosimo from Elliott Davis Decosimo. Fred has more than 30 years of experience in both public accounting and consulting services. He assists clients with private equity capital formation and obtaining both private and public funding. His corporate finance experience encompasses bank debt negotiations, due diligence preceding acquisitions and mergers, litigation support, structuring limited partnerships joint ventures and equity investments.

Panel:
- Financial perspective: Robert Belcher, a shareholder at Elliott Davis Decosimo, provides audit and accounting services for investment companies and investment advisory firms with total net assets of approximately $5 billion. In addition to audit, Robert delivers financial due diligence and other merger and acquisition services to a large variety of businesses. His corporate finance clients include private equity, venture capital and investment funds.

- Legal perspective: Rick Hitchcock is a shareholder from Chambliss Bahner & Stophel PC. He advises and represents clients in environmental matters, business planning, technology issues, transactions, and trial and appellate litigation. He regularly works with startup businesses on formation, governance and financing issues.

- Investment perspective: J. Mark Jones, is a partner at River Associates Investments (www.riverassociatesllc.com). Mark oversees new acquisition origination, fundraising and transaction financing efforts for River Associates. In this capacity, he initiates and maintains relationships with deal sources (investment bankers, business brokers and other intermediaries), potential fund investors (limited partners) and senior & mezzanine debt sources.

- Business/startup perspective: Jonathan Bragdon, Partner & Head of Ventures at Very, a consulting and investment firm for companies launching a disruptive new product or a new company. With a number of startups under his belt, he also advises local venture-backed companies and several non profit organizations.

Schedule:
- 4:30pm-5:00pm, Q&A by Fred Decosimo, our moderator.
- 5:00pm-5:20pm, Q&A open to audience.
- 5:20pm-5:45pm, Stick around for brews, wine and snacks.