Insight Into Investors: What They Look For

Ever wanted an all-access pass to the mind of an investor? How is COVID-19 impacting investment decisions?

Our Northeast Indiana panel featuring Dan Meek, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Elevate Ventures; Nick Arnett, Principal at 1517; and Ben Pidgeon, Executive Director at VisionTech Partners will discuss what they look for when evaluating a company and how important things like team, market-fit, market size, valuation and others play a key role in their process.

Webinar is limited to 100 attendees. It will be recorded and posted at a later date.

Panelists:

Dan Meek

Dan Meek serves as an Elevate Ventures Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Northeast Indiana. He most recently served as President of Seneca Business Ventures, a commercialization and innovation consultancy. Prior to that Meek was Vice President of Venture Development at Rev1 Ventures. His background has been focused on commercialization, early stage investments, and new ventures. Dan is based in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Nick Arnett

Nick Arnett is a Principal at 1517 Fund, a San Francisco-based early stage fund that invests in companies led by young founders. Nick founded and serves on the board of WayPaver Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing humanity's greatest challenges by enabling lunar settlement. Prior to his work with WayPaver, Nick worked at the Thiel Foundation where he led the growth and development of their community of young visionaries for the Thiel Fellowship program. In lieu of going to college, Nick started a nonprofit at age 18 that studied the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems in mid-sized cities throughout the United States. He resides in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Ben Pidgeon

Ben joined VisionTech in 2016 as the organization’s first executive director and is charged with expanding VisionTech’s role in Indiana and across the Midwest supporting startups, innovation, commercialization, and job creation. Each year, he and his screening committee review up to 400 startups, selecting 12 to 15 to “pitch” to VisionTech’s network of 130 +/- accredited angel investors. Under Ben’s leadership VisionTech Angels has expanded to six chapters: Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Lafayette, Dayton, OH; and a physician-only group, AngelBOM. VisionTech’s investment portfolio stands at 34 companies, many of which are headquartered in Indiana. Prior to joining VisionTech, Ben spent 15 years in the banking industry and is a former president and board member of the Venture Club of Indiana. A native of West Lafayette, IN, Ben earned a BS in Economics from Purdue University and a Master’s of Business Administration from the IU Kelley School of Business.