What is the name of your organization? Startup Next (a program under UP Global)

What is your mission and who does your organization serve? We provide a 6 week mentorship program to help startups get prepared for the process of applying to an accelerator or raising seed funding

What exciting trends are you seeing with startups in Washington right now? A lot of great talent that is focused on real problems in the b2b space. The companies that are getting started here are starting to really help establish Seattle as a great seed stage tech scene, not just large tech companies.

What do you hope to get out of partnering with WTIA on First Look Forum? Helping put 2 of our Startup Next Seattle grads on the radar of some of the top funding sources in Seattle.

What advice would you give to future First Look Forum applicants? Make sure you have actually validated the business you are building. Everywhere outside of Silicon Valley, you need to have more data to prove to investors before they jump in. The reality is that you want to be getting investment for something you know is working versus taking someones money on something you haven’t proven to work. Also, remove the buzzwords from what you are doing when talking about it and simplify your value proposition to focus on the problem, why it sucks, and you and your team have built a kick ass product to solve this issue

What is your Twitter handle? @_MFrench_

What is your name? Matt French

What is your role in the organization? Director, Startup Next

Do you have any advice for the First Look Forum competitors? Tell the story of how you are building something that customers want and solves their real problem/pain