🚀 GTM Breakthrough Summit | $25K Founder Opportunity

FBL × Loop8 Partnership Launch | Expert Speakers | Rooftop Startup Demos | Dinner & Drinks

From Design Partners to 100+ Customers. From Early Traction to Market Leadership.

What separates startups that gain early traction from those that go on to win their markets?

Join Funding Breakthrough Lab (FBL) × Loop8 for the GTM Breakthrough Summit, bringing together a highly curated group of ambitious founders, accomplished investors, and experienced Silicon Valley operators.

We're excited to welcome Jeremiah Owyang, General Partner at Blitzscaling Ventures, as our opening keynote speaker, sharing how startups can leverage distribution, network effects, and defensible growth strategies to become market leaders.

🚀 Plus, 5 promising founders will be selected to receive $25,000 EACH in development support, with opportunities to access AWS credits for eligible startups.

Expect an evening of insightful conversations, two expert GTM panels, 10 selected startup demos, and meaningful connections over dinner and drinks.

At FBL, the caliber of people in the room matters. We curate our events to connect high-potential founders with accomplished experts and industry leaders who can help accelerate their growth.

🎤 Opening Keynote: Jeremiah Owyang — General Partner, Blitzscaling Ventures

Jeremiah Owyang is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, technology thought leader, and General Partner at Blitzscaling Ventures, investing in early-stage AI startups with the potential to become market leaders.

Working alongside Chris Yeh, co-author of the bestselling book Blitzscaling, Jeremiah brings deep insights into distribution, viral growth, and network effects.

He is also the founder of Llama Lounge, a popular AI startup event series connecting exceptional founders and investors.

A sought-after speaker at TED AI, Web Summit, and TechCrunch Disrupt, Jeremiah will share what it takes to build competitive advantages and scale in an increasingly competitive AI landscape.

Eric Lay — CEO, Virio (executive ghostwriting building inbound for B2B founders)

𝗘𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗟𝗮𝘆, pro gamer turned co-founder & CEO of Virio, one of the sharpest voices on founder-led content that actually drives pipeline

GTM Engineering - Jordan Schuetz From the person who coined the term

Jordan Schuetz works closely with the operators and builders turning go-to-market into an engineering discipline, from centralizing GTM data to running AI research agents against it to building outbound systems that scale. Before Clay, he led product marketing at TRM Labs and ran developer programs at Twilio, HashiCorp, and MuleSoft, where technical depth and go-to-market meet.

Clay is the go-to-market platform for revenue teams and the GTM engineers building their pipelines. With 200+ data providers in one place, AI research agents, and tools to turn raw data into personalized outreach at scale, Clay helps high-growth teams build pipeline fast, backed by a community that turned go-to-market into an engineering discipline.

🎯 GTM & Distribution: From Design Partners to 100+ Customers

Building a great product is only half the challenge. Winning customers and creating repeatable growth is what turns promising startups into enduring companies.

Join our expert-led panel exploring the strategies behind successful GTM, customer acquisition, and distribution.

Panel: From Design Partners to 100+ Customers

How do you turn early interest into paying customers and build a scalable GTM engine?

Explore founder-led sales, customer acquisition, positioning, and the strategies that help startups move beyond initial validation toward repeatable revenue.

Moderated by goto Market export Keith Lam. Keith mentors at Funding Breakthrough Lab, Berkeley SkyDeck and Bronco Ventures. He’s also a strategic Advisor for Rebel GTM.

🍷 Curated Networking, Dinner & Drinks

The most valuable connections rarely happen by accident.

Join an intimate gathering of ambitious founders, accomplished investors, and Silicon Valley operators over dinner and drinks on a beautiful downtown San Francisco rooftop patio.

Whether you're looking for your next strategic partner, customer, mentor, or an exceptional community of peers, we've designed the evening to foster conversations that lead to meaningful opportunities.

Quality over quantity. Meaningful relationships over collecting contacts.

🕔 Event Agenda

5:00 PM | Welcome Reception, Drinks & Startup Demos

Connect with founders, investors, and operators over appetizers and drinks.

6:00 PM | Opening Keynote: How to Go to Market when Code is Free. Jeremiah Owyang, GP at Blitzscaling Ventures

How Startups Win: Distribution, Network Effects & Growth

6:10 PM | Eric Lay, Founder of Virio

6:20 PM | Jordan Schuetz, Clay - GTM Engineering

6:40 PM | Panel: Unlocking Distribution Through Strategic Partnerships

Leverage partnerships to accelerate growth and reach new markets.

7:00 PM | 2minute pitches + investor Q&A 👉 Apply for a spot

7:30 PM | Dinner, Rooftop Networking & Startup Demos

8:30 PM | Event Concludes

🌟 $25K Development Opportunity — 5 Founders Selected

Great founders deserve access to the resources to build great companies.

Through our new partnership with Loop8, 5 selected founders will each receive $25,000 in development support to help bring their products to market.

The opportunity includes:

• $25K in development services per selected founder

• Potential AWS credits for eligible startups

• Access to FBL's curated ecosystem of founders, investors, mentors, and industry experts

🚀 Applications Open: FBL Spring 2027 Pre-Accelerator

We're selecting just 40–50 high-potential founders for our next cohort.

FBL's highly selective, no-equity pre-accelerator connects founders with accomplished Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, investors, and operators to help them avoid costly mistakes, strengthen their GTM and fundraising strategies, and build enduring companies.

Our philosophy is simple: Exceptional founders can come from anywhere. Access to opportunity should not be limited by background or connections.

No equity. No tuition. $50 application fee.

⏳ Priority Application Deadline: December 15

👉 Explore the program & apply

Development support and AWS credits are subject to eligibility and selection criteria. Application to the accelerator does not guarantee either benefit.

About Our Hosts

Funding Breakthrough Lab

Funding Breakthrough Lab (FBL) is a highly selective, no-equity pre-accelerator and 501(c)(3) nonprofit bringing together exceptional founders, accomplished investors, and experienced Silicon Valley operators.

With a community of 25,000+, FBL creates access to high-caliber expertise, meaningful connections, and opportunities through thoughtfully curated events and founder programs.

Our Spring 2027 pre-accelerator will select just 40–50 promising founders to receive mentorship, expert guidance, and access to a powerful network to help them build enduring companies.

We believe exceptional founders can come from anywhere. Talent is everywhere; access to opportunity is not.

🚀 Apply to our Spring 2027 cohort — Priority deadline November 15.

📅 Subscribe to our curated events

❤️ Support our mission to expand access to entrepreneurship and innovation.

✨ Planning an event? Let FBL curate an exceptional experience while supporting our nonprofit accelerator and the next

generation of founders. Contact natalie@breakthroughlab.org.

Loop8 — Partnership Launch Partner

Loop8 is partnering with Funding Breakthrough Lab to support promising founders through product development resources and opportunities to accelerate growth.

Together, we're combining the technical support founders need to build with the GTM expertise, relationships, and ecosystem needed to scale.

🏢 Venue Partner: TBD