Ignite Talks: Building Your Capital Stack
Part of Twin Cities Startup Week 2026, September 14–18.
There isn't one right way to fund a startup. This series of rapid-fire talks will look at different pieces of the capital stack and the decisions founders make about how to fund their companies as they grow. Speakers will bring perspectives from raising equity and non-dilutive funding, preparing companies to raise capital, investing from the VC side, and understanding how equity functions when ownership is shared with employees.
Speakers & Perspectives:
Eugene Alvey, Founder & CEO @ Swinergy - Combining equity + non-dilutive capital: Having raised more than $4M in equity and $650K in non-dilutive funding while building a hard-tech company, Eugene can share how different sources of capital fit together and why the capital strategy for a company with significant product-development costs may look very different from a software startup.
Ognjen Jovicic, Startup Funding Advisor - Becoming ready for capital: With 20 years in Big Four consulting and current work preparing startups for funding, Ognjen can focus on what needs to happen before founders start chasing capital: becoming fundable, reducing time to capital, and determining what kind of funding actually fits the company.
Aaditya Sethi, General Partner / Venture Scout @ Atland Ventures / Underdog Labs - Understanding the equity investor: As a General Partner at Atland Ventures and Venture Scout at Underdog Labs, Aaditya can bring the investor side of the capital stack: what investors are looking for, how they evaluate opportunities, and his perspective on a VC landscape where investors themselves are getting younger.
Trevor Ausen, Financial Advisor - Understanding the equity you're giving away: Trevor can take the capital-stack conversation beyond fundraising and into employee ownership. His perspective can help founders understand what equity awards actually mean to employees and what founders should consider when offering ownership as part of compensation.