Everyone tells early founders to get traction. Almost nobody shows you how the first customer showed up.

Seattle AI Week opens with seven founders doing exactly that. How they chose where to sell first. Where their first customers came from. How they closed the first deal. What they would do differently.

It's a panel, not a pitch. No decks. Every founder brings one number, one story, and one line you can steal.

The panels

10:30 AM · Selling to people Carol Grant, Opolo Karthika Shankar, Rosie Trenton Creamer, DataCore Labs Mina Yoo, ROOL

11:30 AM · Selling to businesses Eva Kapitany, Feedfrwd Lauren Sato, Komyūn Ming Zhang, OpenSecura

Moderated by Louis Newkirk, Timu Marketing.

What you'll take away

  • Where to sell first. How each founder picked a first market, and what they ruled out.

  • First customers. The real channel behind their first ten.

  • The first deal. What almost stopped it, and what closed it.

  • What they'd stop doing. The one change they'd make if they started tomorrow.

Who this is for

  • Founders working toward their first paying customers

  • Mentors and investors who want to meet Seattle's next teams early

  • Anyone curious about what Seattle is building in AI right now

What this is not

This is not a pitch competition. If you signed up for the earlier pitch-and-feedback format, the session is now two founder panels.

Agenda

10:00 Doors open. Coffee and meet the founders10:30 Panel one: selling to people11:00 Networking break11:30 Panel two: selling to businesses12:00 Lunch and networking

Details

Monday, October 26, 10 AM to 1 PM SURF Incubator, 999 3rd Ave, Suite 700, Seattle Hosted by SURF Incubator and The SWELL as part of AI Startup Day at SURF. See every AI Week session at SURF: https://luma.com/surfaiweek

Parking

Secure garage parking is available. A $10 parking pass is available from the front desk at SURF Incubator on Floor 7.

About The SWELL

Built for women founders. Open to anyone aligned with the mission.

#SeattleAIWeek