Everyone Lies in Silicon Valley: Raising, Surviving, and Building for the Long Game

Founder education on deep tech capital raising, and the hard truths about building in Silicon Valley. Squarely one of the Founders Guild's missions, and running underneath it, the case against SF burnout, and how to prioritize for longevity as a founder.

Hosted by Berkeley Gateway Accelerator x Founders Guild.

Doors open at 6:00 pm, keynote + founder panel to follow; back to the mixer by 8:00 pm.

Keynote Speaker

Daniel Theobald is a proven founder with a multi-decade track record of building and scaling real-world technologies across robotics, automation, and agriculture. He is the Chairman of The Founders Guild, advancing a mission to improve financial outcomes and quality of life by supporting founders and the ecosystems powering tomorrow’s enterprises. He is the Founder of Vecna Robotics, co-founder of MassRobotics, and a global leader in intelligent material-handling automation and autonomous mobile robots deployed across manufacturing, supply chain, and logistics operations worldwide.

The Founders Guild is a global non-profit community of founders across 16 chapters and four continents. It gives founders the clarity, insight, and edge to succeed in both business and in life. The Founders Guild’s peer circles, data-vetted playbooks, pro bono professional support, and collective work shift fundraising norms toward founder-friendly terms. Open to any founder, at any stage. No fees, no equity.

The Intelligent Machine Guild, a division of the Founders Guild is the global center for advancing the craft of building intelligent machines. Through open interoperability standards, cross-industry working groups, and a practitioner-driven network of engineers, founders, researchers, and end users, IMG works to move robotics and AI from isolated innovations into trusted, interoperable systems that scale in the real world.

Funding Breakthrough Lab is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit pre-accelerator with a mission of creating a supportive community (24,000+ subscribers) to build a better tomorrow. We support founder success not just startup success by ensuring founders have access to education, networks, and resources to unlock their potential. Founded by Natalie Pan, an engineer, community builder and executive coach. Apply for the next cohort here https://fundingbreakthroughlab.org.

Founder Panel

Following the keynote, a panel of founders who've been through both the up rounds and the down rounds, joined by an investor willing to push back honestly. Panelists to be announced.

The Details

Date: Thursday, August 6

Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Location: Berkeley Gateway Accelerator, 2168 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley

Capacity: ~80, RSVP required. Food & drinks provided. Spots are limited

Who should come? Founders, operators, investors, and anyone curious about what really goes on behind the pitch deck