Underscore's Lily Lyman will break down venture relationships at TechCrunch Early Stage 2024

Venture capital is sometimes called a sales job by folks in the industry, as investors have to pitch LPs to raise their own funds and then pitch founders to pick their check over other offered term sheets. Founders might feel similarly, given how much time it takes to fundraise for their own businesses. Hell, raising capital is often called a full-time job for founders who are pursuing new backing.

Making the fundraising process pain-free is therefore something that both sides of the venture table value. Enter Underscore VC’s Lily Lyman, who is coming to TechCrunch Early Stage 2024 in Boston to discuss how founders can build investor relationships with the right venture capitalists. She will discuss how to build venture relationships ahead of time, and how founders can — and should! — manage inbound interest, providing enough context to keep investors intrigued and hungry for more.

In today’s more stringent venture environment, founders can’t run a 2021-era playbook (unless they are building an AI foundational model company, I suppose). If you know the folks who might be interested in your startup when it comes time to raise more capital, the entire process can move more quickly and with fewer wasted meetings and email threads.

So, bring your notebooks and questions to Lyman’s Early Stage session coming up next month. She’ll be joined by a bevy of other startup folks who will be on hand to share their hard-earned wisdom.