Boulder Startup Week 2025

97% of your ideal buyers aren’t ready to talk to sales—but they are forming opinions and making early decisions.

They’re learning about their problems, looking for fresh ideas, and identifying who seems credible and helpful. If your team isn’t visible during this early research, you miss the chance to shape their thinking and earn their trust before they narrow their options.

Being seen at this stage is not just about creating marketing noise. It’s about making sure the right voices are sharing the right messages with the right people.

Buyers want to hear from people who understand their world—and they’re more likely to trust peers who speak their language. That’s why aligning your team’s voices with the roles of your target buyers matters.

Imagine a finance expert from your team speaking directly to CFOs. Or an ops lead sharing firsthand lessons with operations teams. These role-to-role conversations earn trust before the shortlist is built.

It’s more than content. It’s connection. And it can be the difference between being considered and being ignored.

This session shows how to:

* Take conversations you’re already having and turn them into buyer-centric content
* Use AI to turn them into LinkedIn posts, blogs, and articles
* Find places to publish where your target audience already hangs out
* Publish content that builds trust across key buyer roles

This will be an interactive session where members of the audience will get a chance to share what’s working for you. So come ready to learn from your peers and bring your own success stories.

Leave with practical next steps you can start using right away.

Do you have questions around syndicating funds for investment?
Are you curious what it looks like to participate as an investor alongside others as one line on the cap table?
How costly and complex is it really to run a syndication? Is it worth it?Join this session to learn about the ins and outs of syndicating investments and what to expect (as an investor and as a founder.)Natalie Levy, the Managing Partner of She's Independent, will lead this session. She's Independent is an investment group syndicating (group investing) in early-stage businesses from Pre-Seed to Series A.

Are you a startup founder preparing to raise venture capital? Understanding the legal aspects of fundraising can make the difference between a smooth financing round and a costly, time-consuming process. Join us for this practical masterclass that demystifies the essential legal instruments and documents used in early-stage startup fundraising.

Who Should Attend:
Founders planning to raise venture capital
Startup team members involved in fundraising decisions and process

What You'll Learn:
Deep dive into SAFEs: Understanding how they work, when to use them, and their key components including valuation caps and discount rates
Convertible Notes vs. SAFEs: Clear comparison to help you choose the right instrument for your startup
Term Sheet fundamentals: Navigate the critical elements of term sheets, including valuation terms, economic provisions, and control/governance matters
Common pitfalls: Learn about the most frequent fundraising mistakes and how to avoid them

Key Takeaways:
Practical understanding of fundraising instruments and when to use them
Ability to evaluate and negotiate key terms in investment documents
Confidence in managing legal aspects of your fundraising process
Framework for making informed decisions about your startup's financing strategy

Why This Matters:
As a founder, you need to make crucial decisions about your startup's funding structure that will impact your company's future. This session will equip you with the knowledge to make informed choices, understand investor expectations, and protect your interests while building strong investor relationships.

The session combines theoretical knowledge with practical insights, using real-world examples and industry-standard documents (including NVCA model documents) to provide you with actionable knowledge you can apply immediately in your fundraising journey.

Don't let legal complexity stand in the way of your startup's growth. Gain the essential knowledge you need to navigate early-stage fundraising with confidence from some of the industry's top startup/venture capital lawyers.

Join Rockies Venture Club for Angel Investing 101 to acquire the necessary skills to successfully secure and/or deploy angel investment. Without such training, new investors might spend years and over $250,000 to learn effective investment strategies on their own.

This session is open to both entrepreneurs seeking to learn more about how to secure angel investment and "angel-curious" investors who are in pursuit of the best early stage startup investment deal flow. Rockies Venture Club offers education to both entrepreneurs and investors through the extension of this program, Angel Accelerator, the RVC Pitch Academy, and the RVC HyperAccelerator. In addition to education, RVC Members receive access to 140+ events annually, which include Monthly Investor Forums, Industry Investment Nights, and the Angel Capital Summit.

About the Member Showcase:

This trade fair-style event highlights AI projects from local companies, students, researchers, and community members. It’s a chance to share your work with a diverse audience of technical and non-technical attendees in a casual, welcoming atmosphere.

Cisco Meraki is probably the largest Rails shop you’ve never heard of. Our 2 million line Rails monolith has been under continuous development since 2007. As with any large codebase, ours is not without challenges. In “Derailing Our Application,” we share how our architecture has evolved to decouple 800,000 lines of Ruby code from Rails constructs in order to enable us to scale our team to 1,000 engineers and beyond without losing the benefits of Rails. Join us on the track less traveled! All aboard!