Raising Your Seed Round: How Investors Actually Decide If You're a Good Bet

Name: Raising Your Seed Round: How Investors Actually Decide If You're a Good Bet
Start: 2026-04-23T18:00:00-04:00
End: 2026-04-23T21:00:00-04:00
Location: Civic Hall

Apr 23, 10:00 PM – Apr 24, 1:00 AM (UTC)

New York City

Civic Hall, 124 East 14th Street, New York, 10003

Most fundraising advice is noise. Charlie O’Donnell (Brooklyn Bridge Ventures) joins us to cut through it with insights from his new book, Founder Unfriendly. Learn to master investor incentives, build momentum signals that actually matter, and treat your round like a high-stakes enterprise sale. No fluff; just the logic of the first check.

In-person event

About this event

Most fundraising advice focuses on surface-level networking and directory awareness.
Charlie O’Donnell thinks this approach is a waste of time.
As the founder of Brooklyn Bridge Ventures and a faculty member at NYU, Charlie has spent twenty years at the center of the New York City startup ecosystem.
He was the first analyst at Union Square Ventures and helped launch the First Round Capital office in New York. He has backed more than 100 local companies, including Hungryroot, GroupMe, and Radformation.
On Thursday, April 23rd, Charlie joins Startup Grind at Civic Hall to share insights from his new book, Founder Unfriendly. 
This session is a brass-tacks breakdown of the honest mechanics of venture capital that investors usually keep hidden.
Until now.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
The Decision Logic: Understand the specific mechanics of how VCs decide to fund a company or pass.
Influencing the Room: Strategies to shape the conversations investors have when you aren't there to defend your idea.
Shifting a No to a Yes: Practical tools to move skeptical investors toward an enthusiastic commitment.
Beyond Clichés: Skip the recycled wisdom and focus on granular, specific tactics that transform your deck into an asset.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Early-Stage Founders: Builders preparing to raise their first institutional checks.
First-Time Entrepreneurs: Professionals weighing whether to pitch themselves on a new idea.
Technical Operators: Practitioners who want to align operational math with fundraising success.
Tickets for this event include food and drinks, as well as direct access to the most accessible early-stage investor in New York.
RSVP now to pre-order the book and pick it up at the event. If you're lucky, Charlie might even sign your copy. 🖋️
🚨 Selecting the book bundle ticket guarantees you a copy of Founder Unfriendly. This ticket also includes exclusive access to 8 live virtual AMA sessions with successful founders. This is a series of candid conversations about starting up from an extremely experienced group of entrepreneurs.
Getting a ticket guarantees admission. No waitlisting. 
You'll also meet dozens of other high-performing entrepreneurs who are creating their next big thing. Seriously, it's some of the best founder networking in the city.
AGENDA
6:00 PM: Networking, Food & Drinks
7:00 PM: Fireside Chat with Charlie O'Donnell
8:00 PM: Meet the Speaker
9:00 PM: After Party at Time Out Market
And don't miss our other monthly tech events. They are great opportunities for builders, founders, and operators to network with each other to share best practices and find new resources to grow your startup the right way. See our full event lineup here.