Startup School Conference
Description
The Startup School Conference is a one-day founder-education flagship event, co-produced with the University of Denver Daniels College of Business. Practitioner-led sessions. Think of this as your "One Day Startup MBA".
Created by exited founders tired of leaving conferences with motivational phrases but no tools to move the needle.
Four breakout tracks cover the full arc of a company: capital structure, sales, operations, brand, product, and the raise. You choose two.
What the day includes
Mainstage sessions with founders and operators who have actually done it
Two rounds of breakout tracks, your pick
Catered lunch and open networking floor
A marquee mainstage panel, "Show Me the Exit"
An evening reception to close the day
Who is it for:
Founders with a service or product in the market who haven't reached the stage they have been dreaming of.
This event is crafted for Entrepreneurs who are doing the thing and are ready for the next step.
Speakers:
25+ founders, operators, and investors, including Natalie Holloway (Bala Bangles Inc.), Seth Levine (Foundry), Robin McBride (McBride Sisters), and Liz Giorgi (soona). Full faculty at startupschoolconference.com.
Each Non-Student Ticket Includes:
Coffee and Tea Service throughout the day
Catered Lunch
Mainstage sessions, both firesides, and 2 breakout tracks of your choice
The evening reception
The Startup School Workbook
Premium adds priority seating, swag, and the Lunch & Learn, “Financing the Grey Area.”
VIP adds everything in Premium, plus The Founder Boardroom, presented by Eide Bailly.
We'll see you there!
Presented in partnership with the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business.
Do you have questions, or are you interested in partnering with us or sponsoring the event?
Send us a message here and we'll get right back to you.
Agenda
Cash Poor, Equity Rich
Capital structure, equity agreements, valuation basics, sweat equity, funding mistakes to avoid
Build the Machine
Funding your payroll, hiring your first five, ops infrastructure, culture, outsourcing vs. hiring
Raise Ready
Landing the investment, pitch strategy, term sheets decoded, alternative capital
Brand Obsession
Brand positioning, pricing for premium, content, and channels that drive sales, building community before you have an ad budget
The Schedule
- 8:45 am - 9:30 am
VIP Check-In
VIPs can check in early for the VIP only session, The Boardroom.
The Boardroom
A curated roundtable for VIPs only. Work through your top business challenges in small groups with real experts, including Eide Bailly's advisory team, before the day begins. Highlighting areas in: - Finance & Tax - Fundraising - Go-to-Market Strategy
- 10:00 am
General Admission Registration + Check-In
- 11:00 am - 11:50 am
Mainstage Session + Welcome
- 12:15 pm - 1:30 pm
Breakout Session #1
**Track A: Cash Poor, Equity Rich** Capital structure, equity agreements, alt funding types. **Track B: Build the Machine** Ops, team-building, sales strategy, AI and human infrastructure for scale.
- 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Lunch & Learn: "Financing the Grey Area"
Founders in cannabis, psychedelics, ketamine and alternative medicine, peptides and GLP-1, and women's health all hit the same wall: the industry is legal, the demand is real, and the capital still doesn't come easy. This session digs into how founders in regulated and emerging categories actually raise, bank, and scale when the traditional playbook doesn't apply.
- 1:25 pm - 2:30 pm
Catered Lunch
Enjoy catered lunch with fellow attendees around campus
Breakout Session #2
**Track C: Brand Obsession** Building brands people obsess over: storytelling, social media, paid ads, and community-led growth. **Track D: Raise Ready** Pitching, investor relations, term sheets, alternative capital.
- 3:30 pm - 4:15 pm
Show Me the Exit
M&A prep, deal structure, founder psychology, what founders miss, life after acquisition.
- 4:15 pm - 5:00 pm
Closing Fireside Chat with Natalie Holloway from Bala Bangles
Intimate mainstage conversation. The real founder story: scaling to over $150M in sales while bootstrapped, what it cost, building a brand, closing large enterprise deals, copycats, what she would do differently, and what comes next.
- 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Happy Hour
Enjoy snacks, wine, Beer, Cocktails, mocktails, and NA beverages while networking with attendees.
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity
