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. 

Barry Kolevzon is Executive Director and screening committee member of National Business Investment Forums (previously known as New York Private Equity Forums), the largest fund-raising forum in the northeast. Further, he is Managing Partner of the advisory firm Nessa Group, which helps companies to attain profit improvement. Focal areas include funding strategies, sales & marketing, human capital, and operations.   

Jodd Readick is a serial entrepreneur and active angel investor. He manages a portfolio of technology and healthcare investments and serves on the Board of Advisors of several companies. He is also Chairman of the telecom firm User Centric Communications - the sixth fastest growing high tech firm in the New York area. Further, Jodd advises startups OptiHarvest, Transclick, and a GSM cellular operator on strategic and technical issues.

Andrea Cataneo is a Partner at Sheppard Mullin, who focuses on structuring private equity transactions for microcap companies, as well as taking companies public. Additionally, she offers her clients targeted sources of capital, including funding available under recent equity crowdfunding legislation. She also advises publicly-held companies with reporting obligations to the Securities & Exchange Commission, exchange listings, and compliance matters.

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.