At The Forcing Function Entrepreneur Lunch Series, we gather founders and executives together for healthy lunches and intimate conversation at our favorite NYC restaurants.
During lunch, there will be an interactive keynote with a venture capitalist or successful startup founder. You’ll have inspiring conversations with fellow entrepreneurs and walk away with insights on how to take your business to the next level.
We always keep these events small so that attendees have the opportunity to introduce themselves, chat with the keynote speaker, and connect with other entrepreneurs.
Tickets are $40 in advance or $50 at the door. If paying at the door, cash only, please. Lunch is included with the ticket price.
Taylor Chapman is a Principal at SEI Ventures, where he invests in companies that are building better onramps to employment and opportunity for American workers - via higher education, training, bootcamps, software, and beyond. Prior to SEI, he built + led growth and sales teams at Remind, an ed tech platform now used in over 80% of US schools, and ran 1 of 3 business units at NationSwell, a B Corp dedicated to connecting America’s leading problem solvers.
Early in his career, Taylor spent 4 years as a public school teacher via TFA and the JET program. After earning an MPP at HKS, Taylor joined McKinsey & Company’s New York office, where he led projects for clients ranging from private equity firms to urban school districts.
Bonnie Halper is a former SHOWTIME celebrity reporter, turned founding Editor-in-Chief at AlleyWatch, who is now a startup consultant and runs StartupOneStop, a newsletter covering technology that is a first read of entrepreneurs and investors around the globe.
A long-time tech industry insider and connector, she once took Peter Thiel’s famous gripe that we were promised flying cars and instead we got 140 characters, and wrote “140 Characters Who Helped Shape the Tech World” – and she happens to have met or knows many of them personally. She is currently working on the SOSapp, the first app for the startup technology community.
Chris Sparks is the founder of The Forcing Function, a company which is empowering the next generation of entrepreneurship by transforming the way we think about work.
Chris was once ranked in the top 20 online poker players in the world. Now, he trains executives and investors to deploy the same techniques he used to gain a competitive edge so that they too can reach the highest limits. His clients consistently perform at their peak, accelerate their business growth, and build lives with greater freedom and purpose.
After years of deconstructing and distilling the success of top performers, Chris open-sourced that knowledge in a free workbook, Experiment Without Limits. He is currently hosting workshops and retreats around NYC and working on a second book, Inflection Point, his guide to sparking a radical shift in life trajectory, set for release in 2020.
Amanda Espiritu is the Director of Events and Partnerships for The Forcing Function. She works with various startups, artists, entrepreneurs, and non-profits as a marketing/social media consultant and event producer, and serves as a key partner in growing global communities.
Amanda is one of the founding members of the non-profit and global artist collective Stageless Arts, regularly douses people in confetti for The Confetti Project, and MC's concerts for Sofar Sounds NY. Her most recent project Creative Surrender Studios serves as a space that pushes people to get out of whatever creative rut they might be in, have deep talks, and finish their passion projects.