Watch the entrepreneurial funding process as it actually happens - not what you see on Shark Tank! The event will feature four startup firms honing their pitches to a panel of angel investors - the last step before they hit the big stage. We encourage entrepreneurial companies considering a fund raise to attend as observers in order to become more familiar with the process. Format: 8 minute presentations, followed by 8 minutes of panel feedback. After panel comments, we allocate 4 minutes for audience perspectives and questions. Serious entrepreneurs only.

Judith Feder is President of Harvest Capital, Ltd., an advisory firm that excels in fundraising for  early stage ventures and in executing private share transactions for pre-IPO companies. Formerly, she was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Business Development Officer of Lebenthal Wealth Advisors. She has served on the N.Y. Metropolitan Board of the National Association for Teaching Entrepreneurship, and on the Board of the angel group Tri-State Ventures.

Robert Kotch belongs to the investor group Westchester Angels. He is also Founding Partner of North Salem Partners, which works with entrepreneurs and their investors to create building blocks for business development. In addition, Robert is President of Sim Associates, a management advisory firm whose services include financial & strategic planning, technology planning, business process innovation, and program management.

John Hempill is Partner at Sheppard Mullin in the Corporate Practice Group. He has extensive experience in private and public finance, representing private emerging growth companies, venture capital funds, and strategic investors in seed rounds and later stage private financings. He has advised clients in both acquisitions and dispositions of companies and lines of business, as well as in other types of negotiated business combinations.   

Bruce Crawford, Founder of the Entrepreneur Forum, will serve as moderator. Prior to founding the Forum in 2008, he was Co-Head of Ratings Advisory at Salomon Smith Barney, where his primary responsibility was preparing corporations for bond rating presentations to agencies. Previously, he was a Director in Corporate Finance at Standard & Poor's, responsible for firms in the automotive, chemical, energy, and pharmaceutical industries.