WHEN
Oct 22–24, 2026
Thu 2:00 PM – Sat 2:00 PM
WHERE
Luby Family Bullpen
Fuqua School of Business, Duke
HOST
Duke I&E
Early stage investing sits at the front edge of the private capital continuum—where conviction, judgment, and relationships matter as much as spreadsheets. This immersive weekend is built for the professional who’s been curious about angel investing and backing startups and is ready to get started. Whether you’re weighing making direct deals or exploring a limited-partner (LP) role in a fund—or want to understand both seats before you commit—you’ll leave knowing how to move from the sidelines to the cap table.
What You’ll Master
Over two and a half fast-paced days, you’ll build the working command that separates disciplined investors from hopeful ones:
- Deal due diligence—how to evaluate teams, markets, and traction before you commit.
- The mechanics of convertible notes and SAFEs—valuation caps, discounts, and conversion math.
- Reading a capitalization table and modeling how dilution, liquidation preferences, and a venture’s goals shape your return.
- The investor’s role post-investment—adding value, supporting founders, and stewarding a position through later rounds to exit.
Learn by Doing
This is a hands-on weekend, not a lecture series. The program centers on practice: you’ll assess live pitches from early-stage startups, pressure-test their assumptions alongside fellow participants, and develop instincts that only come from evaluating real deals. You’ll hear candidly from active angel investors, angel network leaders, and Triangle venture capitalists—and build relationships with future syndicate partners and co-investors on the same path.
What You’ll Leave With
- This weekend is built to send you home with tools you’ll use on your very next deal:
- Your own investment thesis—a clear point of view on what you’ll back and why.
- Diligence and term-sheet checklists you can apply to real opportunities.
- Field tested perspective—candid successes and failures from investors who’ve lived both.
- A working command of cap tables and valuation—the math behind your outcomes.
- Networks, community, and connections among like-minded investors who can help you source deals and partner on due diligence.
Your Facilitators
Led by Duke I&E faculty, Jamie Jones, PhD and Shep Moyle, alongside Leah Townsend, PhD, Executive in Residence at Cofounders Capital and member of the RTP Angel Fund. You’ll expand your knowledge and build your confidence learning from investors who have deep experience deploying capital into startups.
Investment
STANDARD
$1,500
DUKE ALUMNI
$1,200
EARLY BIRD
$999
Early-bird rate through September 11, 2026. Duke alumni receive first access and the preferred rate—seats are limited.
What’s Included
Registration fee includes dinner Thursday and breakfast and lunch Friday and Saturday. Friday evening features our curated dinner matching—you’ll be grouped into small parties by shared interests and backgrounds, with reservations made and assignments given; each group then dines on its own (Friday dinner is on your own). A curated list of local hotels is provided; participants book their own accommodations.
Program Agenda
Welcome & Reflecting on Your Why. Clarify what's drawing you to early-stage investing and what you want to walk away able to do.
Understanding the Early-Stage Investing Continuum. Map the full early-stage investing landscape—from angel checks to LP roles in funds—so you can see where you fit best before you commit capital.
Sourcing Deals. Learn where quality deal flow actually comes from and how experienced investors find great opportunities.
Connecting & Sharing. Welcome dinner and drinks with faculty, facilitators, and fellow participants.
Introduction to Deal Diligence. Build a repeatable framework for evaluating teams, markets, and traction before you write a check.
Live Startup Pitches & Hands-On Diligence Workshop. Hear actual early-stage founders pitch, then apply your diligence framework in real time, working in teams to build and execute a diligence plan on a live deal before presenting your findings for feedback.
Valuation & Capitalization Table Math. Understand the numbers that drive your returns including valuation, dilution, and how ownership actually works.
Deal Terms & Term Sheets. Decode SAFEs, convertible notes, and key terms on a term sheet to see how each one shapes your outcome on the cap table.
Student Pitches & Open Networking. Hear from current Duke student-founders who are actively building new ventures, with time to connect and engage the next generation of talented problem-solvers.
Dinner & Conversations. Curated small-group dinners around Durham, followed by an optional drinks meetup.
Post-Investment Value-Add. Understand your role once you are on the cap table, from supporting founders, adding value, and stewarding your position.
Angels, Angel Networks & Funds Panel. Hear candidly from active network leaders, angel funds, and venture fund managers about how they invest and how you can plug into this ecosystem.
Refining Your Personal Investment Thesis. Leave with a clear, written point of view on why, in what, and where you want to invest, which will serve as your compass moving forward.
Who Should Attend
This program is designed for prospective and early-stage investors who meet the threshold to be an accredited investor under federal securities law. Generally, an individual qualifies with a net worth over $1 million (excluding primary residence), or income over $200,000 individually—$300,000 with a spouse or partner—in each of the prior two years.