​About the Event

​Most founders only meet a VC when they're already pitching, polished deck, rehearsed lines, thirty minutes to make the case. This is the opposite of that.

​We're continuing our Venture Dock VC Roundtable series — intimate, off-the-record conversations between founders and investors, built for the honest questions you don't get to ask in a pitch meeting.

​This session, we're welcoming Gopi Rangan, Founding Partner at Sure Ventures, an early-stage firm known for backing founders early and staying close through the build. Before venture, Gopi ran corporate VC programs at Intel and USAA, and he's spent the years since teaching entrepreneurship at INSEAD and hosting his own podcast on founder journeys. Few investors have sat on as many sides of the table as he has.

​Gopi will open with about 15 minutes on himself and his investment thesis at Sure Ventures. After that, the floor is yours — the conversation goes wherever the room wants to take it: fundraising, positioning, what actually earns investor conviction, or whatever's keeping you up at night as a founder right now.

​This is a small, closed-door room where you get real, unscripted access to how an investor actually thinks and the space to ask him directly.

​​Meet the Investor

​​Gopi Rangan Founding Partner, Sure Ventures

​Gopi Rangan is Founding Partner at Sure Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley investing in startups with a mission to enable peace of mind for individuals and businesses, with a focus on insurtech, fintech, wealth management, aging, and care.

​Previously, he was Managing Director of USAA's $350 million corporate venture program, where he led the firm to be recognized among the top 10 most active corporate venture capital programs by CB Insights. Earlier, at Intel (formerly Altera Corp.), he spearheaded the formation of the company's corporate venture capital program.

​Gopi is also an Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at INSEAD, where he has taught MBA, executive education, and lifelong learning courses since 2016, and hosts The Sure Shot Entrepreneur podcast. He co-founded INSEAD Angels in Silicon Valley and has co-authored more than 40 patents from earlier work in technology research and product development.

​Gopi holds a background in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from INSEAD.

​What Founders Will Gain

​-Insight into how venture investors evaluate early-stage companies

​-A better understanding of what signals matter at pre-seed and seed

​-Perspective on building toward product-market fit

​-Advice on fundraising and positioning your startup to investors

​-The opportunity to ask direct questions to an experienced venture investor

​​Agenda

​5:00 – 5:15 PM Arrival + Founder Networking

​5:15 – 5:30 PM Gopi Rangan A quick introduction to Gopi and his investment thesis at Sure Ventures.

​5:30 – 6:15 PM Founder AMA + Open Conversation Open floor

​6:15 – 7:00 PM Networking

​​About VC Roundtables

​VC Roundtables are Venture Dock series designed to create meaningful conversations between founders and investors.

​Attendance is limited to keep the discussion intimate and interactive.

​Built for founders. Powered by the Venture Dock community.

​​What Venture Dock Offers Founders

​Beyond sessions like this one, Venture Dock is built to be a real part of how founders operate day to day:

​Investor introductions ​Curated programming: roundtables, fireside chats, and working sessions with operators who've built and scaled before ​Peer network: direct access to other founders building alongside you, for the honest conversations you can't have with investors ​Visibility with visiting delegations: opportunities to meet founders and ecosystem leaders coming through Silicon Valley from other markets ​Ecosystem support: hiring, fundraising, and go-to-market help pulled from the community itself, not a generic playbook

​​Become Part of the Venture Dock Community

​Venture Dock is a founder-first community and innovation hub connecting startups with investors, operators, mentors, and strategic partners.

​If you've been looking for a high-signal founder community in Silicon Valley, we'd love to meet you.

​If you've been coming to events and want deeper access, you can apply to join the community here: https://venturedock.fillout.com/t/gHcUcf7Tz8us