​​Most founders believe fundraising is about the pitch deck.

​​In reality, venture capital is about pattern recognition, market timing, and investor psychology.

​​In this exclusive workshop, legendary Silicon Valley investor Miko Matsumurawill share how founders can successfully raise venture capital — based on 25+ years as a founder, operator, and VC.

​​Miko has:

​​• Raised $50M+ in venture capital as a founder
• Invested in companies like OpenSea
• Led investments through gumi Cryptos Capital
• Previously served as Chief Developer Evangelist at Sun Microsystems

​​In this workshop series, he will break down how venture capital really works behind the scenes — and how founders can position themselves to raise successfully.

​Program Overview (8 Hours Total)

​Week 1 — VC Mind & Market Mechanics
📅 Friday, April 10 | 7–9PM
Before you ever send a deck, you need to think like a GP.
We cover fund economics, LP dynamics, power law math, investor targeting, and the science of warm intros (which most founders get wrong).

​Week 2 — Story Architecture & Materials
📅 Friday, April 17 | 7–9 PM
This is the build phase.
Narrative structure, slide-by-slide breakdown, financial modeling that can survive due diligence — plus live hot-seat deck reviews.

​Week 3 — The Meeting Gauntlet
📅 Friday, April 24 | 7–9PM
Pure simulation mode.
Master the first meeting, build a real data room, handle adversarial objections, and go through recorded partner meeting roleplays.

​Week 4 — Deal Mechanics & Close
📅 Friday, May 1 | 7–9 PM
Where most founders are dangerously underprepared.
Term sheet negotiation, cap table waterfall modeling, board dynamics — ending with a full-stack capstone simulation.

​What You Walk Away With

​This is not theory.

​Every session produces real deliverables:
→ 30+ tools, templates, and frameworks
→ A fundraising system you can actually run
→ The ability to control the process — not react to it

​​🚀 What You'll Learn

​​• What makes a startup venture-backable
• How VCs evaluate founders and markets
• How to craft a fundraising narrative investors believe
• The biggest mistakes founders make when raising capital
• How to build relationships with investors before fundraising
• How VC partnership meetings actually work
• How to run an effective fundraising process

​​👥 Who Should Attend

​​This workshop is ideal for:

​​• Pre-seed and seed stage founders
• Startup builders preparing to raise funding
• Founders entering the Silicon Valley ecosystem
• Operators who want to understand VC decision making

​​🎤 Speaker

​​Miko Matsumura

​​Managing Partner, gumi Cryptos Capital

​​Miko Matsumura is a veteran Silicon Valley investor and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in venture capital, startups, and developer ecosystems.

​​He has helped build and fund companies across the internet, software, and Web3 sectors and is widely known for his insights into venture capital strategy and founder dynamics.

​​🎙 A Conversation with Miko Matsumura on Venture Capital and Founder Strategy

​​“So entrepreneurs are often wondering why VCs behave as they do. And you know, having seen both sides, I do see that there’s a really deep and fundamental cultural gap. And I think that there’s huge misunderstandings between these two groups. So I’m very interested in and passionate in kind of trying to explain why VCs behave the way they do because there are reasons.”

​​▶ Watch the full interview here:

​​📈 Why This Workshop Matters

​​Raising venture capital is one of the most important skills for founders — but very few people actually explain how investors make decisions.

​​This workshop gives founders a rare insider perspective from a Silicon Valley VC who has been on both sides of the table.

​​🎟 Reserve Your Seat

​​Space is limited.

​​If you're building a startup and planning to raise capital, this workshop will give you the mental models and strategies used by experienced founders and investors.

​​WHO ARE ATTENDING

​​The BFC Workshops have now trained 300+ founders, investors, and senior executives across the global innovation ecosystem.

​​Our participants include:

• ​​Partners from leading venture capital firms, including Pear VC

• ​​PhDs and postdoctoral researchers from Stanford University

• ​​Senior executives from major technology companies, such as Google, Meta, and SAP

• ​​Academic leaders, including department chairs from San Francisco State University (SFSU)

​​These workshops bring together top builders, investors, and operators to learn from one another, exchange cutting-edge insights, and accelerate innovation within the BFC community.

​​Below is a partial list of our previous participants:

​​Arash Afrakhteh • Amrut Rajkarne • Anthony H. Lei •Abdulaziz Alrabiah • Alan Louie • Albert Liang • Aleh Manchuliantsau • Amit Nischal • Arzoo Sethi• Bin He Maywah • Bo Long • Brett Bunnell • Claire Kim • Cloris L • Cullen Gray • Emma Wu • Fei Y. • Girish Kulkarni • Ian Darmawan • Ilan Gleiser • Jeanie Fang• Jessie Wu • Jinan Zhou • Jing Dong • John Wu • Zhijiang Li • Justin T. • Leigh Jin • Lesliee Liu • Mala Ramakrishnan • Marisa Erven • Matt Slater • May Spring • Michael Pon • Mingyuan Zhong • Mohinder Sikka • Nadim Sarras • Naoya J Maeda-Nishino, MD , Olivier Pichon • Padmaja Surendranath • Pinaki Aich • Ram Shanmugam • Robert Hsiung • Robin Ren • Rodolfo de Lara Campos • Rumeesa Khalid • Sarthak Chokshi • Shuoyuan He • Sinchana Nama• Sissi Wang • Steve Gu • Syd Porter • Teddy Fang • Tong Shan • Vibhu Narwekar • Will Leung • Xiao A • Yuhao Zhang • Lisa Fei • Cindy Manit 💫Amy Wilkinson Matthew Cook Chien Jarvis Jingming Li Indy LeonardSangHoon Shin Jaaziel Munoz Vadim Rogovskiy 🇺🇦 Angela K. Fay Christodoulou Dheeraj Goswami Raghav G. Tino Go, Affiliate ASID, Allied AIAHarish Pratapani Julie Candelon Sun Choi Nikhil Racherla Holly Roland Chris Hilton Vinay Mamidi Rodney Cullen Ivana Pignatelli Jeffery Zhou Joshua SilverPhong Nguyen Chris Phelan Mahni Shayganfar, PhD, MBA AyseDeniz GokcinNadim Sarras Fay Christodoulou Adeesh Goel Amy Wilkinson Alex KhalinAndre Brandao Gordon Chan Mridula Rahmsdorf Akansha Bansal Gloria DeFelix Jiayi Wang Tianyi Peng Hannah Herzog Boon Chew Alex MaldonadoTatjana Dzambazova Qiwei Li Preeti Anubolu Ann Pierce Weiqi Tian Mekhi Jones Ivan Villa-Renteria Mukesh Kataria, MPH Maddie Bradshaw Vivid N. Savitri Christine Moon Debashish (Deb) Pal sreeprasad GovindankuttyStephen Johnston Michael Stricklen Vibhu Narwekar

​Testimonial

​From one of our previous attendees, Becky Ann Hughes (Founder & CEO, Quadrant4 AI):

​"Thank you so much for leading the VC pitching workshop today. This was the most valuable two hours I’ve ever spent learning about pitching. I literally took 10 pages of notes 🙂 I really appreciate your time."

​​​​​About ​the Host

​​​​​The Bay Area Founders Club (BFC), founded by Dr. Paul Fang in Silicon Valley in 2022 and managed by a dedicated group of Stanford alumni and students, is a thriving community of over 100,000 members, including more than 5,000 startups and over 1000 venture capital firms. With most startups in our network raising $1-10 million, and some exceeding $20 million, our mission is to empower creators who aspire to make a global impact. We provide the essential resources, support, and connections needed to transform visionary ideas into reality.

​​​Unlock insider access and elevate your founder journey—join BFC Premium NOW.