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| [ NY Tech Week ] |
Upstate NY In NYC - Founder Fusion
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| With Olivia Goldstein (CEO, Upstate Venture Connect), David Alpago (Growth Markets Leader, EY), Jason Hammond (VP, Fidelity Private Shares), John Wu (President, AVA Labs), Felix Litvinsky (MD, Blackstone Launchpad at Cornell). |
| EY Wavespace, 218 W 18th St |
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Jun 02 (Mon) , 2025 @ 03:00 PM
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FREE |
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| DETAILS |
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Join us for a candid conversation on what it really takes to scale a high-growth business in DeFi & crypto. You'll connect with fellow founders from Upstate NY & NYC who are shaping the future of fintech.
Hosted in partnership with Entrepreneurship at Cornell, this founder-only event brings together 40 growth-stage entrepreneurs merging networks & insights from across the state.
The afternoon will feature a keynote conversation with John Wu, President of AVA Labs sharing firsthand lessons on building a blockchain unicorn.
Agenda
3:00 PM: Appetizers, drinks & founder networking
3:15 PM: Opening Remarks
Olivia Goldstein, CEO of Upstate Venture Connect
David Alpago, Partner & NY Growth Markets Leader at EY
Jason Hammond, VP at Fidelity Private Shares
3:30 - 4:30 PM: Fireside chat
John Wu, President of AVA Labs
moderated by Felix Litvinsky, Managing Director of Blackstone Launchpad at Cornell
4:30 - 5:00 PM: More drinks, more conversations
Please note this event is for founders & Cornellians
Speaker Announcement:
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John Wu, President of Ava Labs
A lifelong investor & operator, John Wu serves as President of Ava Labs, a technology company backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), developing the blockchain platform Avalanche. In his role at Ava Labs, John lads commercial & product teams focused on creating tools that empower finance, consumer, & gaming sectors to launch innovative applications. With a network market cap of $10+ billion, Avalanche has established itself as a trusted platform for institutions such as JPMorgan, Citigroup, Apollo, & KKR. John has over 20 years of experience as a fintech executive & technology investor, running Sureview Capital, a global hedge fund backed by the Blackstone Group & managing a global technology portfolio at Kingdon Capital. He began his investment career at Tiger Management. With a BS from Cornell & MBA from Harvard, John's academic endeavors have translated into a lifelong engagement with these institutions through a commitment to education & mentorship; while also supporting students through his family scholarship trust. He serves as an executive fellow at Harvard Business School & sits on various boards at Cornell University. Deeply committed to community service, John is a board member of his local YMCA, a non-profit focused on community development, health, & social responsibility.
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Felix Litvinsky is a Managing Director of the Blackstone LaunchPad at Cornell University - an experiential entrepreneurship program offering venture creation support, coaching, & ideation. Felix is also a Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Abakama, an enterprise which specializes in entrepreneurship, due diligence, innovation, & strategy. Felix is a mentor at Techstars, Venture Advisor at Research Foundation at SUNY, EIR at NYSERDA, advisor & mentor at eo Business Incubators, & an Expert & Member of Competition Commission at Ukrainian Startup Fund. He was a Co-founder & a Managing Partner of Minority Venture Partners (MVP), a business acceleration company whose mission is to increase & expand Minority & Women Business Enterprise participation in emerging technology sectors throughout New York City & the Tri-state Area. He has held executive & management positions in business development, technology, & strategy at international companies. Felix was instrumental in launching technology startups & developing new markets. Felix has been a speaker at various international & local industry events. He is an advisor/mentor to startup companies worldwide.
This program is proudly sponsored by EY & Fidelity
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Dave Alpago is the Growth Markets Leader for New York City at EY, where he leads a team that serves emerging, high-growth enterprises. These companies range from early-stage start-ups to post-IPO public companies. With over 23 years of experience serving clients in the technology & high-growth sector, Dave serves companies ranging from large publicly traded entities to early venture-backed start-ups. He has extensive experience navigating clients through complex accounting matters & through first-year audits. His experience includes coordinating & providing services to Yext, Dataiku, Peloton Interactive, Mark43, IAC/InterActiveCorp, ANGI, Inc, Match Group, among others. He led several clients through the IPO process, including Peloton Interactive, Yext, Match Group, ANGI (reverse IPO) & Everyday Health. Dave earned his BSc in Accounting from California State University, Fullerton. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in New York & is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
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