Technical.ly Builders Conference 2025
Event Description
The Technical.ly Builders Conference is an annual two-day conference focused on local ecosystem building and the storytelling that supports it.
Hosted by the country's leading ecosystem storytelling news organization, Builders brings together entrepreneurs, ecosystem builders and those that support local entrepreneurial and tech-led economic and workforce development strategies.
Our tracks include Founder Fishbowls, in which early-stage entrepreneurs exchange best practices; lightning talks highlighting entrepreneurial ecosystems and workshops; and sessions on storytelling strategies that support entrepreneurship, workforce and other elements of local economic mobility, growth and opportunity.
Year-round, Technical.ly CEO and founder Chris Wink shares a weekly Builders newsletter and regular Linkedin Live series on these same topics. Entrepreneurship and technology-led economic development is changing, and the Technical.ly Builders Conference is a destination to understand and exchange how, with others who are doing the work.
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Technical.ly
20 hours ago
- Technical.ly
Audigent's cookie-free journey to adtech success
Startup profile: Audigent Founded by: Shelton Mercer, Jon Gosier, Brian Brater, Elizabeth Hitchcock and Drew Stein Year founded: 2016 in Philadelphia Headquarters: New York, NY Sector: Advertising services Funding and valuation: Acquired by Experian in December 2024 Key ecosystem partners: Time Warner, Ben Franklin Technology Partners In 2016, Shelton Mercer and his co-founders crammed into a tiny office in a Philly brownstone — 10 developers, hackers and software engineers sharing 500 square feet — to create an advertising technology under the name Audigent. A dozen years later, the startup, which specializes in online advertising without cookie tracking, would be acquired by global data analytics company Experian, with a reported valuation of between $200 million and $250 million, after raising millions in funding along the way. 'I have the privilege of having Audigent be my fourth exit from a company,' Mercer said at the 2025 Builders Conference during the panel 'Case Studies on Entrepreneurship Access.' Even with Mercer's experience, Audigent's rise took time, hard work and a lot of due diligence. No cookies, no problem Audigent's framework for advertisers and publishers allows customers to target their key demographics, as all adtech tools do. The difference with Audigent, now headquartered in NYC, is that it prioritizes the privacy of its potential customers by never using cookies (those small files that websites use to track users' online behavior). Instead, it uses data from partners, like music streamers, media companies and sports sites. In 2019, Warner Music Group (WMG) invested in Audigent during its Series A funding round, alongside Raised In Space and Gao Xiaosong. It was a strategic investment totaling $4 million, aimed at improving digital advertising within the music industry. 'We need to see, as a value for society, entrepreneurship as a way to get people to the next level and the next strata of wealth generation for their families.' Shelton Mercer, Audigent To get there, Audigent underwent the long due diligence process with investor and economic development organization Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP), something Mercer discussed at the Builders Conference with co-panelist Scott Nissenbaum, BFTP's president and CEO. 'Our process at Ben Franklin is designed like boot camp,' Nissenbaum said. 'No one says, 'That sergeant at boot camp was so nice.' That's not our job.' Mercer admitted he was initially hesitant about going through BFTP's 6-month process of intense scrutiny. But those six months of 'kicking, clawing, scratching, screaming,' as Mercer put it, led to that successful 60-minute meeting with WMG, on top of a $1 million investment from BFTP itself. Wealth-building through entrepreneurship Both Mercer and Nissenbaum share a vision for Philadelphia, and regions like it, where people from all kinds of backgrounds and walks of life can turn entrepreneurship into generational wealth. 'It doesn't just have to be the Silicon Valley, the New York, the Chicago, the LA founders or even founders who are fortunate to have partners like Scott and Ben Franklin to accelerate our company and the many other investors that helped us,' Mercer said. 'We need to see, as a value for society, entrepreneurship as a way to get people to the next level and the next strata of wealth generation for their families.' BFTP, Nissenbaum said, continues to value entrepreneurship as a driver for social change and advancement for groups underrepresented in tech. 'I think 46% of our portfolio has racial diversity in the C-suite, 56% has gender diversity,' he said. Key strategies for engaging with economic development investors Here are a few key things up-and-coming startups can learn from Audigent's journey: Be prepared for the grind: Ben Franklin's process is thorough. It's not a quick check-in; it's a deep dive. See that as a good thing — it forces you to solidify your plan and address potential weaknesses while building a bridge to other investors. Surround yourself with talent: Mercer credits Audigent's success to its strong team, with each bringing unique skill sets to the table. As Nissenbaum pointed out, most entrepreneurs are good at one thing. You need to fill in the gaps with people who excel in other areas. Embrace the ecosystem: Don't try to do it alone. Organizations like Ben Franklin and other ecosystem orgs exist to support startups. They provide resources, connections, and, sometimes, tough love. Don't be afraid of due diligence: While long, it helps you prepare for major deals. Have patience: If an exit is your goal, don't expect it to happen right away. Audigent's story shows what can happen when vision, the right support system and a lot of patience come together. As Nissenbaum said, 'Nine years later, we're celebrating an overnight success.'
Technical.ly
2 days ago
- Technical.ly
‘Be yourself:' VCs want founders to tell authentic and urgent stories
There's no such thing as a perfect pitch — but there is such a thing as a forgettable one. At the 2025 Builders Conference, three venture capitalists with varied investment backgrounds joined a refreshingly unstructured conversation about what makes a founder's story resonate. Moderated by Ken Malone of Baltimore-based Early Charm, the 'VC Roundtables: Telling Your Story to Investors' panel featured Ryan Bednar of Orange Collective, Rob Brown of MVP Capital and Anthony George of Ben Franklin Technology Partners (BFTP). Despite their varied areas of expertise and interest, the three Philly-based investors largely agreed that founders need to lean into their own unique qualities when telling their stories to potential investors. Bednar, a founder and Y Combinator alum whose firm specializes in other graduates of the prestigious accelerator, framed it as giving the funder a sense of being in on something exciting. 'I think the best pitches,' Bednar said, 'are where you're kind of letting the investor in on a secret.' That secret isn't always about the product. In fact, as much as the panelists all believed in the value of a founder's passion, one of them cautioned against being too focused on those products or solutions, instead of the problem that birthed those products. 'Your solution should always be changing, your product should always be changing,' said George. 'But if you're obsessed with the problem, you're going to stick with it even when things get difficult.' Relationships over transactions, no matter the personality While the Elon Musks and Travis Kalanicks of the world might suggest that the most outgoing entrepreneurs are the most successful, several panelists said that it's entirely possible to build the right connection with a VC without that kind of personality. 'I think you can totally build relationships with VCs and investors as an introvert,' said Bednar, adding that he found success in online networking and email outreach when he was a founder. Brown said that the depth of a relationship matters more than how much a founder puts themself out there. 'You don't necessarily have to be a conference junkie,' he said. 'You can find one-on-one ways to interact. It also goes back to the idea of time: I find that I have introverted tendencies myself, and I find that over time, the more time you spend with someone, the more extroverted you become with that specific individual.' That said, the panelists also believed in the worth of a pitch that can hook someone in on the first interaction. 'The last half-a-dozen deals we've done, almost all of those were where the pitch didn't happen over Zoom or on Powerpoint,' Brown explained. 'The pitch happened in person, talking to them, meeting them for the first time. That was the real pitch.' For bootstrapping founders — especially those building in hard tech or from cities outside the usual VC hotspots — the advice was practical. Conserve cash. Do your research. Find the right kind of capital for your business model. And don't assume geography is a limitation. 'You can also build relationships out in Silicon Valley,' Bednar said. 'I don't think you should limit yourself to a particular geographic area.' What (not) to do Building relationships that lead to investment may not be a perfect science, but the investors still had actionable tips for what every founder can do (and should avoid) when seeking venture capital. While entrepreneurs often conflate story with pitch, panelists drew a line between the two. The story is personal, emotional and evolving. A pitch is structured, strategic and designed to answer key questions like who you are, what you're doing and why. But one needn't be fully separate from the other, and the panelists also shared tactical advice for making that story stick. For instance, George of BFTP suggested founders create a 90-second pitch video to share with funders, especially if they can't meet a VC firm's principal immediately and need to give something representative to that firm's associate or analyst. That video could incorporate the story, which must be unique to the founder's particular journey. Either way, 'don't copy it out of a book,' he warned. Asked about the 'wrong' way to build investor relationships, panelists agreed: pushiness and rigidity are quick turnoffs. A founder who can't pivot raises red flags. The speakers also advised against flooding pitch meetings with more than one team member and pitching ideas that don't fit an investor's stated interests. 'We are a bit generalist,' he said. 'But when I say, like, 'Listen, we don't do life sciences' … they typically get the message.' George also said that founders too often skip a critical piece of their story: not just why they're building a company, but why now. Context matters, he said, because timing — from technological readiness to macroeconomic tailwinds — can make or break an investment. Through all of these themes and the many audience questions that guided the discussion, the investors revolved around one primary consideration: authenticity. 'This sounds trite, but be yourself,' Brown said. 'If the end result of this is … potentially a 10-year-long relationship, you can't fake it for 10 years.'
Technical.ly
2 days ago
- Technical.ly
Baltimore weekly roundup: A $15M local cyber seed; legal pitfalls; Johns Hopkins' hiring freeze
This week's newsletter features news on an eight-figure seed round for Pixee, a cyber company whose tech not only finds code vulnerabilities, but fixes them, too. Plus, several local founders shared their advice on legal strategies and pitfalls for startups during a panel at our 2025 Builders Conference. Scroll down for more news from throughout the Baltimore region. 📰 News Incubator: What to know • The Economic Development Administration rescinded six of the recent awards it granted to previously designated Tech Hubs earlier this year. Commerce plans to open applications for another funding round this summer and announce awardees in 2026, putting Baltimore back in the running for millions. [ • Johns Hopkins is pausing raises and freezing hiring as federal cuts continue. The university already announced it would lay off 2,000 employees. [Baltimore Biz Journal] • Meta is relying on Baltimore's Constellation Energy to secure nuclear power for fueling AI developments and data centers. [Baltimore Banner] • Harper's Choice Middle School in Columbia has a new STEM center thanks to the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation and the state. The philanthropic org, named after the Orioles player, has set up these centers across the country. [CBS/ • Baltimore City has an RFP open for internet service providers to deliver affordable services in public housing units. [BCIT] • Columbia cyber firm Tenable is acquiring Apex Security. The firm has been busy: Leadership announced the purchase of an Israeli firm earlier this year for $147 million in cash and $3 million in restricted stock units. Tenable also recently announced a new office opening in Tel Aviv and hired a chief product officer. [Tenable/ • Check out how to best deliver your startup pitch, among other lessons from founders and investors. [ • Maryland's AG is suing Trump over attempts to cut National Science Foundation programs. [AG Brown] 🗓️ On the Calendar • Partner event: Learn about the ways innovation, tech and outer space intersect on June 24 at the World Trade Center Institute's next AGILE Global Innovation Series event. [ Details here ] • Techstars showcases its AI Health accelerator cohort at a demo day in the Ravens' stadium on June 5. [ Details here ] • Network with local business owners and celebrate the nonprofit LET'S GO's new offices on June 5. [ Details here ] • Test out the latest in local video games during Indie Game Fest on June 7 at Enoch Pratt Free Library. [ Details here ] • Hear from CEO Chris Wink and leaders in Pittsburgh on June 11 about how elected officials and civil servants can improve local operations. [ Details here ] • Listen to how entrepreneurs have overcome different challenges on June 11 at an event hosted by EO Baltimore. [ Details here ] • Watch demos from local technologists on June 14 at the next Baltimore Code and Coffee. [ Details here ] • Local tech orgs are hosting a cookout on June 28 at Wonderground Park. []
