Over 300 founders, funders, and enterprise leaders packed into DAS NYC for one conversation: what does it actually take to be enterprise or institution-ready? Most walked out with a new list of things they needed to do.

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Sacha Ghebali (The Tie), Henry Felella (SVB), and Camille Cordero (Anchorage Digital) gave some unorthodox insights: Make friends with the executive assistants, since they run every calendar in the building. Follow up after every interaction; institutions read that as someone who actually wants to work together. Henry Felella's line that stuck: "Bring cookies." He meant it literally, as it helps the relationship with the institution compound itself, and most founders start building it too late or wrongly.

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Jake Fuchs (Fin Capital), Elena Obukhova (Supermoon), and Desiree Almodovar (JPMorganChase) brought numbers to the table. Startups that receive corporate VC backing have a 21 to 64 percent higher chance of a successful exit than those relying solely on traditional VC. But the stat wasn't the main point, that would be that the founders who benefit most are the ones who built those relationships before fundraising pressure arrived.

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Six early-stage founders then took the stage in front of a judge panel made up of Yevheniia Broshevan (Hacken), Matthew Nay (Foundation Capital), Gregory Rocco (Ethereal Ventures), Kevin O'Brien (Verdicti Ventures), Lacey Wisdom (PL Capital), and Colton Conley (Arrington Capital). 

The six founders, Jesse Phillips (Trustware), Kyle Haener (Mimix/Tunnl), Dave Petrovikj (Spur), Caelum Forder (Coral OS), Andrew Capasso (Petal), and Houman Shadab (ICME Labs/NovaNet) all pitched. Jesse Phillips and Trustware took the win from the panel shining on every category.

The Forum closed with a fireside chat between Dr. Rebekka Revel (Solana Skyline) and Emon Motamedi (Solana Labs) on where the Solana ecosystem goes next. 

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The day progressed into Supermoon’s Founders and Investors Soiree, featuring a curated crowd of capital and founders unwinding after the day’s panels in an ideal environment to strengthen the connections made during the day’s networking. 

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Thanks to Solana Skyline, BitMart US, Genius PR, and House of Rare for making both nights possible.

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Supermoon has some upcoming events planned for this week:

April 1, Deep Tech Week Founder Happy Hour at Meow x Supermoon. 

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April 7, OpenClaw for Startups: A hands-on workshop on using OpenClaw to sharpen operations and move faster.

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April's full agenda drops soon.

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