Venture Trailblazers connects world-leading investors, founders, and ecosystem leaders from across the globe to discuss the latest trends in startups and venture capital.

The last five years in the startup and venture capital industry have been a rollercoaster. The pandemic bubble, the end of the ZIRP era, and now the emergence of AI have demanded a level of speed and adaptability in venture that we have never seen before.

In preparation for what we expect to be a fascinating few years in technology, we are excited to announce the Venture Trailblazers Series. This series of free events features top investors who will help us all better understand the fundamental shifts underway in the industry.

The next event part of this series will take place on December 5, 2024, and feature a Fireside Chat with Ilya Strebulaev, Professor of Private Equity and Finance at Stanford University.

It will also include a long structured networking session with investors, entrepreneurs, and executives from across the globe.

Venture Trailblazers is an exclusive, invite-only event series hosted by the Founder Institute and VC Lab.

* Venture Trailblazers is strictly invite-only, and reserved for the Founder Institute and VC Lab Networks; including Alumni, Mentors, Investors, Partners, Local Leaders, and Enrolled Founders/ Fund Managers.

If you fit these criteria and have not received an invite, please complete this form.


About the Keynote Speaker

Ilya Strebulaev

Ilya Strebulaev is an international expert in venture capital, private equity, financing innovation, and strategic financial decisions. He is the David S. Lobel Professor of Private Equity and Professor of Finance at the Graduate School of Business (GSB), Stanford University, where he has been a faculty member since 2004. Ilya is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and the founder and faculty director of the Stanford GSB Venture Capital Initiative.

Ilya’s work has been widely published in leading academic journals, and he has won numerous prestigious awards. His book The Venture Mindset was published in over 100 other countries.

Professor Strebulaev developed a venture capital class at Stanford that he has taught to over 1,000 students. He has also led many workshops and executive sessions on innovation trends, venture capital, Silicon Valley's ecosystem, corporate innovation, corporate venture capital, and strategic decision making for senior business and government leaders around the world.


Presented by FI and VC Lab

The goal of Venture Trailblazers is to educate and connect the founders, leaders, mentors, and investors across the global Founder Institute, VC Lab, and FI Venture Networks.

The Founder Institute (FI.co) is the world’s largest pre-seed startup accelerator. Since 2009, our structured accelerator programs have helped over 6,500 entrepreneurs raise over $1.75BN in funding.

VC Lab (GoVCLab.com) is the leading venture capital accelerator for emerging managers worldwide. The Accelerator is an intensive online program that helps talented and motivated venture capitalists to launch Venture Studios, Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A funds worldwide.