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THE CHAIR:
IRVINE RECAP

TFC: Irvina, CA
TFC: Irvina, CA

The Irvine event was a tremendous success, marked by an atmosphere of collaboration and insight. We brought together a record number of Funders, including prominent leaders from the insurance and financial services sectors, further elevating the impact of The Founder’s Chair community.

Ken And Shana

Meet Our Greenwich Funders

The Funders

IRVINE

Founder Overviews

Banrion Capital Management

Banrion Capital Management is an advisor-built platform simplifying alternative investments. With curated partners, education, and tools like AlphaBot, we streamline allocation, due diligence, and back-office solutions via Mammoth Technology, integrating seamlessly with Orion, Addepar, Tamarac, and Black Diamond.

InsurTech Express

InsurTech Express is the go-to platform for the Life, Health Insurance, and Annuity Industry. Connecting over 200K professionals, we offer tools, software, discounts, jobs, and consulting. Our secure hub drives innovation and growth across carriers, advisors, and solution providers.

Leopard

Leopard modernizes life and annuities markets with a tech layer for in-force policy management and optimization. By digitizing and analyzing fragmented data, Leopard enables upsell opportunities, automates routine tasks, and helps agents and carriers boost customer lifetime value while cutting costs.

Nexus Healthcare

Nexus Healthcare is transforming healthcare with cutting-edge solutions: (1) Human Digital Twins revolutionize clinical trials by replacing participants in early stages, ensuring 100% success rates; (2) Personalized Preventative Healthcare offers data-driven plans, health coaching, and proactive care. Partnering with wellness communities, we reach 19M+ consumers.

Penelope

Penelope is a modern retirement savings platform designed for SMBs and the TPAs, advisors and benefits administrators who serve them. Leveraging best-in-class technology, Penelope’s digital record keeping software streamlines communications, reporting and compliance processes enabling TPAs to administer their plans more efficiently, expanding their margins and allowing them to target the micro/small business segment.

Waterlilly

Waterlily uses AI to predict families’ future Long Term Care (LTC) needs and costs, creating tailored care plans and modeling ROI for LTC policies. Since March 2024, Waterlily has secured major contracts, helped families plan LTC, and enabled advisors to close millions in assets and premiums.

Wizest

Wizest is not about gambling. We want to help you get more comfortable with financial advice and build wealth for your projects in life.

Snapshots

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Funder David Racich
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waterlily
Waterlily Presentation

QUOTES

From the Founders

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This was one of the most curated, planned pitch events I've ever participated in.

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What stood out to me? The GREAT connections made with like minded people. Amazing!!

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I thought this event was great. It was so nice to spend time with both fellow Founders and Funders!

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When doing our presentation, having non-stop questions from the audience was a great boost, as it proved the value of our solution and its validation by industry leaders.

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All the questions and comments from the Funders were extremely valuable.

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It was so fun to have dinner with the other Founders. Plus, the presentation experience was very engaging, specifically around Q&A with the Funders.

Est. 1919 · Des Moines, Iowa

HOTEL FORT DES MOINES

A century of stories, one remarkable address

Famous Guests
Scandals & Secrets
Firsts & Innovations
The Beginning
1922
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1922

Helen Keller rang in the New Year here, staying at the hotel while in Des Moines for performances over New Year's Eve.

1927
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1927

Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig had breakfast here before an exhibition game. Two of baseball's greatest, at the same table, in Des Moines.

1927
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1927

Charles Lindbergh hosted a banquet here after his famous transatlantic flight. The menu featured boneless squab — reportedly a rare Des Moines delicacy at the time.

1933
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1933

Amelia Earhart visited the hotel to speak about her solo flight across the Atlantic — a rare chance for Iowans to hear her story firsthand.

1947
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1947

Mae West stayed here during her performance of "Come on Up" at the KRNT Radio Theater. One imagines she made an impression on the staff.

1959
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1959

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev occupied the Presidential Suite during the height of the Cold War. This hotel has seen history made.

1960
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1960

JFK, LBJ, and Hubert Humphrey all attended dinner here and held a meeting on farm policy — three future or sitting presidents under one roof.

1980
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1980

Elizabeth Taylor stayed here during a Des Moines appearance. Hollywood glamour, right here in the heartland.

1980
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1980

Elizabeth Taylor stayed here during a Des Moines appearance. Hollywood glamour, right here in the heartland.

2003
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2003

Cher requested her own personal mattress be placed in room #1025. The hotel obliged. Room 1025 has never quite been the same.

2008
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2008

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both stayed here during the Iowa caucuses — rivals for the presidency, sharing the same address for a night.

1939
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1939

Police raided the Log Cabin Room on the 11th floor, seizing liquor and gambling equipment. The tip reportedly came from the men's own wives.

1927
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1927

When Lindbergh dined here post-transatlantic flight, he reportedly insisted on serving boneless squab, an extravagance that raised eyebrows across Iowa.

1959
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1959

The FBI monitored Khrushchev's stay closely. Guests on nearby floors reportedly had no idea who was sleeping down the hall.

1971
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1971

President Nixon greeted supporters in the lobby during his stay — a reminder that this hotel has always been where Iowa's political drama plays out.

1919
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1919

When it opened, every single room had a bathtub, purified chilled circulating water, and a window. Unheard of luxury for its era.

1938
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1938

The hotel announced the first air-conditioned guest room in Des Moines, a genuine technological milestone that made front-page news.

1953
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1953

100 rooms received TV sets in what was reportedly the largest single installation of televisions in Iowa at the time. The fee to operate yours? 25 cents.

1982
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1982

Governor Terry Branstad nominated the hotel to the National Register of Historic Places, cementing its place in Iowa's official history.

1919
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1919

The hotel opened on July 15, 1919, built for approximately $1.5 million and designed by the architectural firm Proudfoot, Bird & Rawson.

1919
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1919

Its opening was a statement of ambition: every room had a private bathtub, purified water, and a window. In 1919, this was genuinely extraordinary.

1974
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1974

Ronald Reagan attended WHO Radio's 50th anniversary celebration at the hotel, proof that Fort Des Moines has always been Iowa's premier gathering place.

2021
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2021

After major renovations, the hotel reopened as part of the Curio Collection by Hilton, a century of history, restored for the next hundred years.