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Friday, August 21
 

8:30am CDT

You Don’t Have to be Rich to be a Philanthropist: Building a launchpad for your legacy
LIMITED
Limited Capacity seats available
As entrepreneurs, you work to build a better world. Forward thinkers and innovators have always been a key to social change and community well-being. Join one of Madison’s top rising philanthropists, Dan Rashke, Chairman of the Board at TASC, to discuss innovative philanthropy. He will joined by Ashley Quinto Powell, founder of myVA Rocks and Terry Heinrichs, co-founder of 18Forty8 Private Wealth. 

This interactive session is led through the framework of the Dan & Patti Rashke (TASC) Family Foundation 10-year matching gift to United Way of Dane County, a first-of-its-kind gift that is structured to elevate the nonprofit sector and leverages giving on all levels across the community. This $10-$15 million commitment is not where Dan’s philanthropy started. It’s the culmination of a commitment to philanthropy and social change that is decades in the making.
You’ll leave with concrete strategies to build a roadmap for designing and achieving your own ambitious philanthropic goals. This will include diverse strategies for giving, examples of innovative investments, and some tangible tips to identify which causes align with your passion. 

Hosted by United Way of Dane County
Event Organizers
avatar for Kyli Wagner

Kyli Wagner

Director, Tocqueville Society, United Way of Dane County
Friday August 21, 2026 8:30am - 10:30am CDT
StartingBlock Madison 821 E Washington Ave 2nd floor, Madison, WI 53703, USA
  Free, In Person

9:00am CDT

AI in Community Building - Build together
LIMITED
Friday August 21, 2026 9:00am - 10:00am CDT
Limited Capacity seats available

Join the ASK (Actionable, Support , Knowledge ) platform online challenge , join the zoom everyday 30 mins to work on your Claude AI prototype - 8:00 am with your community and assist each other.

Meet in hybrid or in person to learn about ASK and showcase your work 8 /21 .
Topics to choose
My First ( App, chatbot, website)
AI for cause ( Lonliness, inclusive, hunger)
Ai for sales
Anything else

Hosted by Source-Right Inc
Event Organizers

Friday August 21, 2026 9:00am - 10:00am CDT
TBA

9:00am CDT

You Vibe-Coded an App. Now What?
LIMITED
Friday August 21, 2026 9:00am - 1:00pm CDT
Limited Capacity seats available
AI can help you generate an application faster than ever. But once the demo works, what comes next?

Join Flexion, a Madison leader in system modernization, human-centered design, and modern software delivery, for a live, interactive session where we take an AI-generated proof-of-concept application and move it closer to something real.

In this hands-on session, we’ll start by exploring the AI-generated starting point: a user-submitted product idea and the proof-of-concept app created from it.  Flexion’s engineers, designers, product experts, and attendees will work together to look at what the app already does well, where it falls short, and what it would need in order to become a real product. Along the way, we’ll evaluate the prototype through the lenses of usability, architecture, code quality, security, scalability, and delivery readiness.

From there, we’ll improve the product together. We'll collaborate to refine the user experience, prioritize the most valuable enhancements, and move the app beyond demo-quality functionality. Using AI-assisted development alongside proven engineering practices, the group will iterate on the product live.

Finally, we’ll focus on building for quality and scale. The team will strengthen the application’s architecture, refactor and improve the codebase, and apply practices from agile delivery, Lean UX, ensemble collaboration, and cloud-first development to move the prototype closer to a production-ready solution.

Do you have an idea or vibe-coded app that you would like to workshop with us? Submit here.

Hosted by Flexion, Inc
Event Organizers

Friday August 21, 2026 9:00am - 1:00pm CDT
100state 17 South Fairchild Street fl 7, Madison, WI, USA
  Free, In Person

10:00am CDT

Commercial Real Estate Leasing 101
LIMITED
Friday August 21, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am CDT
Limited Capacity seats available
Lets face it, the world of commercial real estate is complicated and you’re lucky if you get a call back!
This class will familiarize you with the basics of commercial real estate leasing. Understanding the flow, what you need to know, and how to best prepare. No two deals are the same although there are fundamentals that are important to be aware of as well as expectations from both tenant and landlord.
Topics include:
  • The commercial real estate process
  • The NNN Lease defined and what you need to know
  • Selecting the right firm/broker for you
Bring your questions, leave with answers!

Hosted by Wisconsin SBDC at UW-Madison

This is a virtual event. For those who are logged in and have RSVP'd, the streaming link will appear on this page starting 10 minutes before the session.
Event Organizers
avatar for Heather Ferguson

Heather Ferguson

Program Manager, UW-Madison SBDC

Sponsors

Friday August 21, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am CDT
Virtual
  Free, Virtual

10:00am CDT

Maintaining One's Humanity in an Age of AI
LIMITED
Limited Capacity seats available
While we should all strive to retain the skills and attributes that characterize us as being authentically human, it is easy to surrender control to technology that makes our lives easier-- but at what cost? Join two experts in artificial intelligence (AI) and psychology as they lead a presentation through conversation, games, and team activities that explores our reliance on technical automation and AI. We'll identify the possible pitfalls that we may stumble into which arise from an over-reliance on the technology. Ultimately, we will introduce a process that one can use to identify when to use artificial intelligence and when to rely on our own native intelligence. This event is suited for anyone who may have roles in the creation of products and services, analysts and technicians, management, medicine, and education.

Time: 
1000-1230p

Location:
Room: 201-203
Goodman South Campus, Madison College
2429 Perry Street
Madison, WI 53713


About your Facilitators:

Stephanie Elizabeth Beckman, PhD is a faculty member, researcher, and faculty developer at Madison College in Madison, Wisconsin where they have spent over a decade at the intersection of teaching, organizational culture, and human experience. Trained as an international psychologist with a focus on organizations and systems, Stephanie brings a social scientist lens to questions about how technology shapes (and is shaped by) the people who use it. Their work in AI ethics has grown from years of hands-on practice: integrating AI tools critically into writing and faculty development contexts, studying how institutions respond to technological change, and asking hard questions about equity, agency, and what we risk losing when convenience wins.

VG Johnson, PhD is a scientist, educator, and inventor based in Madison, Wisconsin. As the small business owner of Provaitech Corporation, he researched and developed a form of artificial intelligence (AI) over the past quarter century which supports his role as a faculty member at Madison College. In support of his ethics and integrity courses at the College, he uses Provaitech’s Steps for Critical Analysis Practiced course, AI, and a book that he authored together as a learning object to facilitate the instruction of critical thinking applied to everyday scenarios. As a father of four, a military veteran, robotics developer, and roller derby official, his unique perspectives coalesce to liven any topic that might come up in his discussions.
Event Organizers
avatar for Victor Johnson, PhD

Victor Johnson, PhD

Madison Area Technical College


Friday August 21, 2026 10:00am - 12:30pm CDT
Madison College - Goodman South Campus 2429 Perry St, Madison, WI 53713, USA

12:00pm CDT

From Side Hustle to Small Business
LIMITED
Friday August 21, 2026 12:00pm - 1:30pm CDT
Limited Capacity seats available
Have you been thinking about turning your hobby into a business, but aren’t sure where to start?  Do you have a side hustle that’s grown and you want to explore next steps? Are you interested in learning more about how to explore a business idea you have?  This session will teach you how to use a visual business planning tool call the Business Model Canvas. This tool will help you understand how 9 functional areas of business work together to create a model of operation that can help you determine whether it is time to take the leap to full-time.  The class will also give you information about resources and next steps.

Hosted by Wisconsin SBDC at UW-Madison

This is a virtual event. For those who are logged in and have RSVP'd, the streaming link will appear on this page starting 10 minutes before the session. 
Event Organizers
avatar for Heather Ferguson

Heather Ferguson

Program Manager, UW-Madison SBDC


Friday August 21, 2026 12:00pm - 1:30pm CDT
Virtual
  Free, Virtual

1:00pm CDT

Fuel Your Growth: Define Your Market to Build Awareness and Attract Customers
LIMITED
Limited Capacity seats available
You have the big idea, the technical expertise or know-how, and a product or service you believe in and excites you. But if you feel like you haven’t unlocked the same level of excitement and awareness from potential buyers, you’re not alone. Understanding how you can apply principles of marketing strategy in your business could be the missing puzzle piece to fuel the next level of your company’s growth. During this session, you’ll get an actionable crash course in marketing strategy, including understanding what a “market” is and how to define your target audience and create personas, how to conduct a competitor analysis and define your differentiators in order to develop your unique positioning, and more. After the session, you’ll be able to apply marketing strategy principles to connect more often and more authentically with your right-fit potential buyers.
Event Organizers

Friday August 21, 2026 1:00pm - 2:15pm CDT
StartingBlock Madison 821 E Washington Ave 2nd floor, Madison, WI 53703, USA

2:00pm CDT

AI Summit
Friday August 21, 2026 2:00pm - 4:30pm CDT
100State AI Summit: Practical AI for Founders and Builders
Hosted by 100State and Nick Myers, Director of AI Innovation at Recovery.com and 100State Board Member.

Wisconsin's startup scene is quietly getting good at AI, and this session is about showing you how. AI is changing how we start companies, ship products, and solve problems. The hard part isn't the hype. It's knowing where to actually start.
The 100State AI Summit is a [2.5-hour] working session built to fix that. No abstract futurism, no vendor pitches. You'll see how real founders and operators are using AI today, try tools you can put to work the same week, and leave with a shortlist of things worth doing next.

What we'll cover:
  • Where AI actually stands right now, minus the noise
  • A practical framework for AI implementation and tool selection, so you can decide what's worth adopting instead of chasing every new tool
  • The specific tools we use to move faster on real work, including Claude (Chat, Cowork, Design, and Code), n8n for automation, and Google AI Studio for prototyping
  • How Wisconsin startups are already building with AI, with real examples from Recovery.com and [second local startup]
  • Live demos you can follow along with
  • How to get started responsibly, including the mistakes to avoid

You'll also meet the founders, technologists, and operators building the next wave of Wisconsin's startup ecosystem.
Built for founders, operators, and business leaders. Useful for students, creatives, and anyone curious about where this is going. No technical background required.

Want to keep going after the summit? The 100State AI Innovation Team is where this continues. It's an ongoing group for people who want to keep learning, building, and sharing what's working with AI. Join us and turn one afternoon into real momentum.
Event Organizers
avatar for Daniel G. Guerra Jr.

Daniel G. Guerra Jr.

Executive Director, 100State, Inc.
Daniel G. Guerra Jr. is an entrepreneur, community builder, and healthcare innovation advocate dedicated to strengthening Wisconsin’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

As Executive Director of 100State, Daniel leads one of Wisconsin’s premier communities for entrepreneurs, innovato... Read More →
Friday August 21, 2026 2:00pm - 4:30pm CDT
100state 17 South Fairchild Street fl 7, Madison, WI, USA
  Free, In Person

2:30pm CDT

The Traction Trap: How Angels Are Pricing Themselves Out of Their Own Asset Class
LIMITED
Limited Capacity seats available
Dear Angels,
Are you waiting for revenue and traction to build your conviction? You might be accidentally killing your upside. By the time the data looks good, institutional capital arrives, the round reprices, and you’re stuck taking early-stage risks at late-stage valuations.

Dear Founders,
Do you know how to build high investor conviction before you have the metrics to prove it?

The Session:
Join us for a practitioner-led discussion on timing, access, and whether today's angel investing standards are fundamentally broken. We will explore:
  • Timing vs. Signals: Why when you enter a cap table matters?
  • The Valuation Trap: How evolving diligence norms are quietly forcing angels into late-seed economics with pre-seed risk?
  • Mastering Pre-Traction Conviction: How elite investors make high-conviction bets before the traditional metrics exist?
  • Decoding Founder Potential: How top-tier founders signal high potential before they have revenue, and what that means for your access to capital?

If revenue thresholds has become your primary traction filter, you're losing the best angel deals.

Let's talk about how to fix it.


Discussion led by Sahab Aslam. She's an angel investor with over five years of experience and four portfolio M&As under her belt, Sahab invests in and advises early-stage companies at the intersection of AI, healthcare, and underserved markets.
She leads the AI and Women's Health sectors at Harvard Business School Alumni Angels and serves as an advisor at Creative Destruction Lab (CDL-Wisconsin Madison) and Berkeley SkyDeck. She is also an active member of the Chemical Angel Network and the Berkeley Angel Network.
Event Organizers
avatar for Sahab Aslam

Sahab Aslam

Angel Investor, Sukun Ventures
Sahab Aslam Sahab is the founder of Sukun Ventures and invests in and advises early-stage companies at the intersection of AI, healthcare, and underserved markets.

An expert in deep tech and enterprise operational optimization, Sahab has led software engineering, data science... Read More →
Friday August 21, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm CDT
StartingBlock Madison 821 E Washington Ave 2nd floor, Madison, WI 53703, USA

5:00pm CDT

Forward Fest Closing Happy Hour
LIMITED
Friday August 21, 2026 5:00pm - 8:00pm CDT
Limited Capacity seats available
Wrap up an incredible week of innovation, connection, and community at the Forward Fest Closing Happy Hour hosted by 100State.

After five days of events, ideas, and new relationships, this closing gathering brings together founders, builders, and supporters from across the ecosystem for a final opportunity to connect, reflect, and celebrate everything that makes Wisconsin’s startup community special.

Join us for a relaxed and welcoming environment where you can:

* Reconnect with people you met throughout the week
* Share key takeaways and next steps
* Strengthen relationships and spark future collaborations
* Close out Forward Fest on a high note

Whether you attended one event or ten, this is your chance to be part of the collective energy that defines Forward Fest.

Hosted by 100state
Event Organizers
avatar for Daniel G. Guerra Jr.

Daniel G. Guerra Jr.

Executive Director, 100State, Inc.
Daniel G. Guerra Jr. is an entrepreneur, community builder, and healthcare innovation advocate dedicated to strengthening Wisconsin’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

As Executive Director of 100State, Daniel leads one of Wisconsin’s premier communities for entrepreneurs, innovato... Read More →
Friday August 21, 2026 5:00pm - 8:00pm CDT
100state 17 South Fairchild Street fl 7, Madison, WI, USA
  Free, In Person
 
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