What is the name of your organization?  TiE Angels Group Seattle (TAGS)

What is your mission and who does your organization serve? To promote entrepreneurship through education, mentorship, networking and funding. It servers entrepreneurs globally.         

What is your role in the organization?  When did you pitch at First Look Forum? Founder & Chair, TiE Angels Group Seattle & Board Member, TiE Seattle

What exciting trends are you seeing with startups in Washington right now? Washington has become very active in early stage investments. In my opinion, many very smart employees have started leaving their comfort zones on their mother ships, including Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon and the likes and are now pursuing their deep-rooted desire of creating new and disruptive products and solutions that they are perhaps not able to pursue within these companies. We have also seen a few success stories, such as Concur, which will add fuel to the fire. This is an exciting time for Seattle. The trend has started and we will soon see the results.

What do you hope to get out of partnering with WTIA on First Look Forum? I sincerely believe that all entities and stakeholders in the entrepreneur/investment ecosystem are interdependent. This includes academia, angels & angel investment organizations, VCs, local governments, small and medium businesses and enterprise. It will be extremely hard for any one entity to succeed without collaborating with the other. In my mind, WTIA is the hub that provides the means to bring all these players in our community together! TiE Angels Group Seattle (TAGS) is a budding angel investment group, which has grown to 110+ accredited investor members, has gained a lot of traction working with these partners like WTIA. We share a common goal and a mission.

What advice would you give to future First Look Forum applicants? Believe in your dreams! People who dream big are the only ones who can actually make it big! Believe in yourselves! If you do not, how will you ever get anyone else to believe in you? Be focused, but not rigid; be open minded and aware, as most likely you are not the only one to have the idea you are working on! Good Luck!!!

What is your name? Haresh Ved

Do you have any advice for the First Look Forum competitors? Let’s work together for the common good of giving back to the community we all thrive in.

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Haresh is a judge for this Spring’s First Look Forum. See the judges and other people behind the scenes that make First Look Forum possible!