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 down the road 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.

Phyllis Haberman has been an angel investor since 2006 with Goldenseeds, an investor group dedicated to providing capital to early stage companies that are founded or led by women. She is also Senior Managing Director of Egret Capital Partners, a New York based investment fund which works primarily with small capitalization companies to enhance their enterprise value. She has 20 years private equity experience across a wide range of industries.

William Reinisch runs the New York office of Paladin Capital, a multi-stage private equity firm that invests in growing companies. Paladin's funds invest in small to mid-sized technology firms which are market leaders in their industry segments. In addition, Bill is Chair of the Entrepreneurship Program at Fashion Institute of Technology, and serves as Adjunct Professor at Columbia, NYU, Baruch, Fordham, and Stevens Institute of Technology.

 
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.