Work From the Dock: Building Venture-Scale Companies with Rao Cherukuri
📅 Wednesday, June 3rd
⏰ 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM PT
📍 Venture Dock — 555 University Ave, Palo Alto
About Work From the Dock
Work From the Dock is Venture Dock's flagship founder program, a weekly gathering designed for founders, operators, investors, and builders actively creating the future.
Every week, we bring together ambitious founders for high-signal conversations, practical learning, and direct access to experienced operators and investors inside the Silicon Valley ecosystem.
This is not a traditional networking event. It's a room built around execution, learning, and meaningful relationships.
If you're serious about building something ambitious, this is a room worth being in.
About This Session
This week, we're hosting Rao Cherukuri, entrepreneur, technologist, and investor with more than two decades of experience building, scaling, and backing venture-scale companies across cybersecurity, networking, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise technology.
Rao will share the frameworks, lessons, and decision-making processes he has used throughout his career to build successful companies.
We'll discuss:
• How successful founders think about building from day one
• Common mistakes early-stage founders make
• Frameworks for evaluating opportunities and finding momentum
• What investors look for beyond the pitch deck
• How to communicate vision, traction, and market opportunity effectively
• Building companies that can scale into venture outcomes
This is a practical founder session designed for builders who want to sharpen how they think about company building not just fundraising.
Live Founder Pitch Reviews
Following the conversation, four selected founders will pitch live to Rao.
After each pitch, Rao will provide real-time feedback using the same frameworks he has applied as both an operator and investor.
Founders will receive direct feedback on:
• Problem and solution clarity
• Market opportunity
• Positioning and storytelling
• Founder-market fit
• Investor readiness
• What would strengthen the company and pitch
Whether you're pitching or watching, you'll gain insight into how experienced investors evaluate startups and how successful founders refine their thinking.
For early-stage founders, this is one of the fastest ways to learn.
Session Flow
10:00 – 11:00 AM
Breakfast & Founder Networking
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Building Venture-Scale Companies: A Conversation with Rao Cherukuri
12:00 – 12:40 PM
4 Selected Founder Pitches + Live Feedback
12:40 – 1:00 PM
Open Discussion & Networking
Want to Pitch?
To be considered for one of the 5 live pitch spots:
📩 Send your pitch deck to monica@venturedock.com
⏰ Submission Deadline: Tuesday at 4:00 PM
Who Should Attend?
This session is especially valuable for:
• Founders building their first startup
• Teams preparing to raise capital
• Founders refining their pitch and narrative
• Builders looking for practical startup frameworks
• Entrepreneurs seeking honest feedback from experienced operators and investors
If you're actively building and want clarity on what matters most, this session is for you.
About Venture Dock
Venture Dock is a founder-first ecosystem headquartered in Palo Alto, built to support exceptional founders through investor access, curated programming, strategic relationships, and an ambitious community of builders.
Our goal is simple: bring the right people into the same room and create the conversations, relationships, and opportunities that help founders move faster.
If you've been attending our events and want deeper access to the community, investor roundtables, founder programming, and member experiences, we'd love to invite you to learn more about becoming part of Venture Dock.
👉 Apply to become a member:
https://venturedock.fillout.com/t/gHcUcf7Tz8us
If you're building, preparing to pitch, or looking for a better framework for growth, this is a session you won't want to miss.