From DoorDash Engineer to Angel: The Founder Signal AI Can't Read

Invitation only: this session is open to invited guests and Openfor.co community members.

AI now does much of the work investors used to do by hand. Sourcing, screening and first-pass diligence that took weeks can happen in hours. So when a machine reads your deck first, what is left for a founder to stand out on?

Join us for a live panel with Dmytro Goliy, angel investor, startup advisor and former Staff Software Engineer at DoorDash, on what still decides the deal when AI screens everything.

The first part covers how AI is changing venture: faster sourcing, more deals reviewed per investor, and startups reaching market validation before they raise. The second part focuses on founders: the human signals investors look for behind the startup, such as conviction, character, a relentless builder mindset and deep expertise, and how to show them.

There will be no startup pitching. Bring your questions for the live audience Q&A.

Agenda

• Welcome and Speaker Introduction

• From Engineer to Angel: Dmytro's Path

• How AI Is Reshaping Venture Investing

• The Founder Signal: What AI Can't Read

• Showing It: Validation, Soft Skills and Ethics

• Audience Q&A

• Closing Remarks

Featured Speaker

Dmytro Goliy is a San Francisco Bay Area angel investor, startup advisor and limited partner, and a co-founder of a stealth startup. He spent seven years at DoorDash, rising to Staff Software Engineer, after engineering roles at Gfycat and Tango. He is a Venture Resident in VC Lab's Venture Institute (Cohort 6) and an investor and mentor at SF Startup Labs, which helps founders become fundable in Silicon Valley. He holds an engineering degree from Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.

Moderators

• Erdinc Ekinci, Co-Founder & CEO of Openfor.co, Founder & CEO of Co-Capital

• Yu Li Shein, Co-Founder & COO of Openfor.co, Venture Scout at Decile Group

What You Will Learn

• How AI is changing the way investors source and screen startups

• Why the founder becomes the main signal when screening speeds up

• What an engineer-turned-angel looks for in a founder

• How to show conviction, character and a builder mindset to investors

• Why early market validation now matters before the raise

• How investors can read founder quality beyond the data

Who Should Attend

Open to invited guests and Openfor.co community members, especially:

• Pre-seed and seed founders preparing to raise

• Technical founders and engineers thinking about starting a company

• Angel investors, VCs, scouts and emerging fund managers

• Operators moving from big tech into startups or investing

• Ecosystem builders and accelerator teams

Continue Your Founder Journey

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Organized by Openfor.co.

This session is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice, an offer, a solicitation, or a guarantee of funding, introductions or investment outcomes.