Michael Baker

Founders build companies. Ecosystems build founders. 🚀 Behind every "overnight success" is a powerhouse of support, the people who provide the capital, the coaching, and the connections to bridge the gap from a raw idea to a fundable venture. The Reed Smith LLP ROCKY Award by Tech Coast Venture Network (TCVN) is our way of recognizing these pillars of our community. As a Founder’s Choice Award, it is unique because the winners are chosen by the entrepreneurs themselves and the TCVN board. Who we celebrate: We honor the "rock-solid" individuals who help founders become investor-ready, including: * Angel Investors: For providing the critical early-stage belief and capital. * Mentors & Advisors: For guiding founders through the highs and lows of the journey. * Community Champions: For building the infrastructure that makes our ecosystem thrive. By honoring our champions, we ensure the next generation of innovators has a foundation to build upon. Watch this video for a behind the scenes look at the pre-show set up. 👉 Want to see who's leading the way? Check out the full press list to see this year's incredible winners and nominees. #TCVN #ReedSmith #StartupEcosystem #AngelInvestors #Mentorship #FoundersFirst #CommunityChampions

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Exciting to see the incredible progress from Peptone, a company we’ve backed since the early days at Walden Catalyst Ventures. Peptone just announced Peptron-O, developed in collaboration with NVIDIA — a groundbreaking AI engine that brings ensemble-first structure prediction to the disordered proteome. This is a major scientific and technological milestone, targeting one of the most complex and previously inaccessible areas of biology: intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). By shifting the paradigm from static models to dynamic ensembles, Peptron-O opens new doors for drug discovery — especially in areas like oncology and neurodegeneration, where IDPs play critical roles. We’re proud to have supported Peptone on their mission to build the infrastructure for next-gen molecular physics. Their work is a great example of how deep tech can transform life sciences. Read more about the announcement: 👉 https://lnkd.in/eygnKQ67 #AI #Biotech #DrugDiscovery #DeepTech #LifeSciences #WaldenCatalyst #Peptone #NVIDIA #PeptronO with: Kamil Tamiola, Ph.D. Francis Ho Shankar Chandran Nicolas Autret Andy Kau Roni Hefetz Victoria Slivkoff

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BOSTON STARTUPS: TiE Boston is excited to share that applications are now open for the TiECON East 2025 Emerging Company Showcase & Awards.   TiE Boston seeks leading Seed-to-Series A-funded companies in AI, Life Sciences, and India-US ventures. - They do not have to be TiE-affiliated companies. - Companies do not have to be registered in the US, but need to address US market needs   Why should startups apply?   Selected startups get: 🔹 Investor Access: 1:1 meetings in an exclusive Investor Lounge 🔹 Stage Time: Pitch in front of 500+ investors, founders & ecosystem leaders 🔹 Stall/Table Space: Demo at the East Coast’s biggest entrepreneurship conference 🔹 Media Coverage: Potential coverage from our Media partners 🔹 Prize Money: Awards in 3 tracks with cash prizes, powered by Sunoh.ai 🔹 Alumni Access: Ongoing network of top founders, mentors & TiE Boston Angels Chris Sauer Alok Prasad Sunil Bhatia Mike Grandinetti Veera Anantha Joseph Falcão Thomas Arul Vipin Mayar Raman Sud Adam Carter Siddharth Kundalkar Judah Phillips Sara Fraim John Sviokla Michael Davis   Application Deadline: August 27, 2025 TiECON East 2025 is Sep 26, first day of Boston AI Week #BostonAIweek

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Only 1 of the top 50 AI companies are in Mass. There's been a lot of recent discussion on Boston's ecosystem being down bad and what to do about it. I put together some unpolished thoughts from my perspective, having been here for my career as a programmer, founder, and now investor. Boston's strength is that it's the world’s R&D lab, but our startup ecosystem has been stuck. Boston missed the deployment era of the web because it was too risk averse with too many MBA VCs wanting financial models and experienced founders. And this caution threatens the future of Boston's ecosystem today. I believe the core problem is cultural. Historically, Boston has optimized for pedigree and pragmatism, while SF optimized for the limitless ambition at the frontier. I'm here because Boston is the best place to build coming wave of AI-powered science. But to do that, we need to change the culture to ignore pedigree and to (re)embrace building the most ambitious technology to move humanity forward. Full post and ideas on how to fix it here: https://lnkd.in/e7qyYQN5

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