💡 What This Weekly Series Is About
The VC world is full of myths, closed doors, and unanswered questions.
This weekly AMA was created to remove the distance between founders and investors.
Whether you’re:
✅ building your first star tup
✅ preparing for a pre-seed, seed, or Series A round
✅ exploring investing on the side
✅ a student or future founder trying to understand how funding actually works - this space is for you.
Every week, you get direct access to our host VC along with special guests - angel investors, other VCs, and experienced founders, who answers real questions in real time:
How do investors decide who to fund?
What does a “good” pitch deck actually look like?
What are the red flags investors see that founders don’t?
How do market trends affect early-stage funding?
What happens after the investment — what do VCs really expect?
Can you raise money without a network, traction, or revenue?
What industries are investors genuinely paying attention to right now?
What’s the emotional + mental reality of building a venture-backed startup?
This AMA series is his way of giving founders open access to the knowledge most people only get behind closed doors.
👥 Who Should Join
Early-stage founders (idea → MVP → growth)
Future founders exploring the startup world
Angel & first-time investors
Students in tech, business, product, or entrepreneurship
Creators, solopreneurs, and service-based founders thinking about venture funding
Anyone curious about how the funding ecosystem really works
No experience required.
No pitch deck required.
Just curiosity and a good question.
🎁 Why It’s Worth Showing Up
✔️ You get answers directly from a VC — not second-hand theories
✔️ You learn how investors evaluate you, not just your product
✔️ You can ask the questions you can’t ask on Twitter or at demo day
✔️ You build relationships in a room full of startup-minded people
✔️ It’s 100% free — but the knowledge is the kind most people pay for
💬 Cameras optional
📌 Replays sent to those who register
🎟️ Free, but limited spots to keep it interactive
Agenda
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Speaker
Ankur Sethi - Winner Capital (Founder and General Partner)
Ankur Sethi is the Founder and General Partner of Winner Capital, a Toronto-based early-stage venture fund backing the next generation of North American consumer technology companies. He has over 17 years of experience as a consumer tech operator, having built and scaled three companies from inception to $100M+ in revenue, with one reaching a valuation above $2B.
His investment the…
Hosted By
Ankur Sethi, Director
Ankur Sethi is a seasoned entrepreneur and venture capitalist with over 17 years of experience building and scaling consumer businesses across technology, finance, and healthcare. He has led ventures from inception to over $350 million in annual revenue and $2 billion in valuation, combining operational excellence with a deep understanding of evolving consumer behavior.
Daria Tilikanova, Co-Director
Daria Tilikanova is a business and startup coach who helps founders and service-based entrepreneurs build scalable businesses with clear strategy, strong positioning, and predictable revenue systems.
Originally from Russia, she founded and sold two education companies before moving to Canada, where she shifted into full-time mentoring for early-stage and growing founders.
Daria has worked with 200+ entrepreneurs across tech, education, wellness, and agency-based businesses, guiding them from first clients to stable growth and team building. Alongside her private practice, she is a Venture Fellow at Winner Capital, supporting startup evaluation and founder readiness for investment.
Her coaching combines business structure, mindset work, and execution clarity - helping entrepreneurs grow without burnout or chaos.
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Partner
Winner Capital (https://winner.capital)
Winner Capital is an early stage to growth stage syndicate fund investing across North America
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Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs. We host monthly events in more than 600 cities and 125+ countries featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators and investors who share personal stories and lessons learned on the road to building great companies. Our monthly fireside chat interviews, startup mixers and annual conferences provide ample opportunities to connect with amazing startups and the people behind them, tap into a strong support network, form meaningful connections and gain inspiration for the startup journey ahead. For more information visit StartupGrind.com or follow us on twitter @StartupGrind.
Complete your event RSVP here: https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-toronto-presents-vc-ama-ask-me-anything-with-a-venture-capitalist-2025-11-26-1/.
