Good Money, Bad Deals: How Founders & Investors Get Burned

Raising capital doesn’t break companies, bad decisions around it do. Learn how to fund your startup without losing control, how to ‘sniff out’ bad deals with 3 simple questions, and the mindset shift you need to set yourself up for success.

Whether you are in early or late stages of fundraising or an investor ready to make a deal, this is one conversation you can’t afford to miss! Bring your favorite pen, notebook, and all your questions for this interactive session with Katie + Doug.

*Included in your ticket are light appetizers served in the Roosevelt Room provided by Flor Fina. Drinks are available for purchase at the bar.

It’s about what you agree to on the way there, and what that agreement quietly costs you later.

In this candid session, Professional Truth-Teller + Coach Katie Eades shares the side of fundraising that rarely makes it onto stages: partnering with investors who later went to Pr*son, losing ownership through mismanaged deals, and what it actually feels like to be pushed out of your own company and how to bounce back. Katie’s lived it all so you don’t have to, because no one ever thinks it will happen to them, until it does.

Alongside her, fractional General Counsel Doug Licker breaks down why these stories aren’t edge cases, they’re structural and always avoidable. Most funding problems aren’t about money; they’re about decisions founders make before and after the money hits: unclear ownership, weak governance, and incentives that don’t hold up under pressure.

Together, they’ll unpack:

• Why capital amplifies problems instead of solving them, and what to do about it.
• How messy structures quietly destroy valuation and control, and what you need to set yourself up for success
• What investors really see when they diligence your company, and what they miss that costs them money
• And how to build governance that protects—not restricts—your growth

This is not a “how to raise” talk. It’s a how to not lose your company in the process and the secret to investing without getting screwed conversation.

*Light Appetizer Menu Included In Your Ticket
CRISPY POTATO SPHERES
salsa brava, truffle-parmesan aioli
DIP TRIO romanesco, goat cheese queso blanco, artichoke yogurt dip,served with flatbread
QUESO FRITO
breaded mozzarella, chorizo salsa rojo
LAMB ALBONIDIGAS
Mango- habanero tahini, pickled red onion
GAMBAS AL AJILLO
wood Fire Grilled Garlic Shrimp, Garlic Chili Oil, Baguette

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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