Brian Kohute, CFP, CFA – HJ Wealth Management
Co Host: Patricia Dunn – Merrill Lynch
Guest: Karen Griffith Gryga – Dreamit Ventures

 

Karen is currently Managing Partner of DreamIt Ventures in charge of DreamIt Funds. DreamIt Ventures is a top startup accelerator which brings in promising early-stage companies for a 3 to 4 month program where we focus on validating and de-risking the business opportunity through intensive hands-on work. The companies have the opportunity to leverage a large amount of resources including personally sourced mentors, speakers, subject matter experts, advisors, investors and other domain specific and startup resources. The goal of Dreamit is to help entrepreneurs achieve in 3-6 months what typically takes them 12-24 months to achieve on their own. DreamIt has launched over 157 companies since 2008.

Karen was formerly Co-Founder and CEO of FashInvest. The goal of FashInvest is to create a community of key participants whose goal is to foster the development of the emerging growth companies within the broad consumer sectors of Branded Goods, Retail, Fashion and Technologies related to these consumer opportunities. We are focused on creating one of the most respected business platforms committed to company growth and formation. We are building the community both through live events and through the website. The FashInvest Capital Conference is the only capital conference focused on these sectors in the world.

Prior to her current roles, Karen had many years of venture capital and private equity experience with four firms; Context Capital Partners, Liberty Venture Partners, Philadelphia Ventures and the Mid-Atlantic Angel Group. Karen’s focus through her venture career was on early stage technology investing. Notable investments included Synchronoss Technologies (NASDAQ: SNCR), Liveprint (acquired by Kinkos), InSoft (acquired by Netscape), Cadis (acquired by Aspect Development), and Sofnet (acquired by Global Village Communication).

Show Notes

• What is DreamIt and the company history
• What is an accelerator?
• The difference between an accelerator and an incubator
• WAdvice to entrepreneurs to get into an accelerator
• How can an entrepreneur maximize their accelerator experience?
• The structure of DreamIt.
• What are some of the successes out of DreamIt?
• Some “life lessons” from you and your partners at DreamIt.
• Karen’s advice to entrepreneurs who want to raise capital for their business
• Karen’s entrepreneurs starting a business

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