Author Archives: Preccelerator™

wrkspace Joins SA&M’s Preccelerator™ Program to Revolutionize the Future of Work

LOS ANGELES, CA, February 14, 2025 — The Preccelerator™ Program, an accelerator for early-stage startups powered by Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, LLP, announces the addition of wrkspace, an innovative Workspace-as-a-Service (WaaS) platform, to its latest cohort.

Led by co-founder Stephen Hargett, who brings over 15 years of leadership experience from industry giants, including Apple, Tesla, and WeWork, wrkspace transforms how businesses and professionals access flexible workspaces. The platform bridges the critical gap between underutilized commercial real estate and the growing demand for adaptive workspace solutions.

“Joining the Preccelerator is an incredible opportunity for wrkspace as we continue to scale our impact in the future of work,” says Hargett. “This program provides the mentorship, resources, and network we need to refine our model and accelerate growth. We’re excited to collaborate, learn, and build alongside a community that shares our vision for innovation and economic development.”

Since its inception, wrkspace has demonstrated remarkable traction, with over 100 premium workspaces onboarded across multiple markets and $30,000 in committed Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). The company is on track to exceed $100,000 in ARR before Q1 2025, backed by a robust pipeline of contracts and strategic partnerships with municipalities.

What sets wrkspace apart is its unique approach to economic development through:

  • Strategic partnerships with local governments to revitalize commercial spaces and create job opportunities
  • Enhanced workforce resilience through accessible, cost-effective workspace solutions
  • Creation of new revenue streams for property owners by activating underutilized spaces

 

The Preccelerator™ Program, established in 2013 by Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, LLP, offers a comprehensive six-month program that includes capital investment, access to co-working space in Santa Monica, guidance from over 100 mentors, $25,000 in legal service credits, and exclusive perks from partners like Google LLC and HubSpot.

About wrkspace

wrkspace is a pioneering Workspace-as-a-Service platform that connects businesses and professionals with flexible, high-quality workspace solutions. By transforming underutilized commercial real estate into vibrant work environments, wrkspace creates economic opportunities and fosters community engagement while supporting the evolving needs of modern businesses.

About the Preccelerator™ Program

The Preccelerator™ Program is an accelerator for early-stage startups that provides sophisticated legal services, interim office space, mentorship, targeted curriculum, investment strategy counseling, and access to a strategic perks portfolio. The program aims to help transform business concepts into funded startups through comprehensive support and resources.

Learn more about the Preccelerator™ Program here.
Learn more about wrkspace here.

A Q&A with Tanner Haas, Founder of Freedom Chat

Tell us a Bit About Your Drive to Start Freedom Chat?

Freedom Chat was born out of my growing concerns about privacy, both in the U.S. and globally. Cyberattacks have increased by 92%, and over 90% of people disapprove of their data being sold. But it wasn’t until I personally experienced a few unsettling incidents that I truly understood the depth of the problem.

While running my previous company, Zeke SEO, I received a call from my grandma. She had been tricked by a scammer who claimed I had been in a car accident and urgently needed $25,000. Thankfully, I was fine, but the experience made me realize how vulnerable people are to privacy violations.

Later that same day, I watched a friend’s video about his new hot tub, and out of nowhere, I was bombarded with hot tub ads—without ever typing a word about it. Th

at was the turning point for me. I knew something had to be done to protect privacy. The idea for Freedom Chat was born the next day, and we immediately set to work on creating a product that safeguards your online privacy.

What is Freedom Chat?

Freedom Chat is a secure private messenger that lets you talk to who you want and subscribe to the channels you want all in complete and total privacy. With end-to-end encryption, no message storage on our servers, and no commercial use of user data, Freedom Chat is designed for those who want total freedom from Big Tech surveillance.

What Are Some Recent Highlights for Freedom Chat?

In our previous pre-seed funding round, Freedom Chat raised roughly $1.25M and assembled a world-class team with a track record of dozens of successful exits. We’ve already seen over 20,000 downloads in the U.S. alone and built a truly private messaging app that allows users to edit, unsend, and self-destruct images, videos, GIFs, and more. Additionally,

 we published an encryption analysis and white paper on our website, and have been featured in prominent outlets such as The Larry Elder Podcast, Yahoo Finance, OAN, Authority Magazine, Bold Journey Magazine, and MarketWatch. We also successfully launched Freedom Chat for Business to further expand our platform’s reach and capabilities.

Can You Tell Us More About Your Seed Round?

We’ve officially launched our seed round with a $24M post-money valuation (via a SAFE) and are targeting a $4M raise. This represents nearly a 2x increase from our pre-seed round, where we had a $12.5M valuation cap on our SAFE.

We have already raised over $400,000 and have received strong interest from investors. 

Our fundraising goals are broken down as follows:

  • $1M from individual investors
  • $500,000 from existing investors
  • $250,000 – $500,000 via crowdfunding and the Go Fund Yourself Show
  • $2M – $3M from Family Offices & VC’s

 

This will allow us to release quantum-safe encryption (PQC), enable voice and video calls, acquire new users, expand our business verticals, and improve the Freedom Chat user experience.

How Big Could Freedom Chat Be in 5 to 10 Years?

We firmly believe that within the next 5 to 10 years, Freedom Chat could attract anywhere from 50 million (1% of the market) to 150 million monthly active users, with at least 10 million paying subscribers. Our goal is for Freedom Chat to become one of the leading private messaging apps—not just for conservatives but for anyone who values freedom, privacy, and security.

What is Your Vision for Freedom Chat? 

We, as a team, have become quite obsessed with this company and its mission and believe that Freedom Chat can—and will—become a $5 to $10 billion company within the next 5 to 10 years. Freedom Chat will play a very important role in securing user data for industries such as insurance, healthcare, and education. We truly believe that what we are building—especially in terms of our security—has the potential to change the world for the better, particularly as we enter the era of quantum computing.

Of course, that’s not a guarantee, and we’re not making any promises, but it’s the vision I have and our entire team shares, and we’re committed to doing everything we can to make it a reality. 

Preccelerator U™: Steps to a Successful Partnership on October 29, 2024

Join us for a free live webinar with Mark Masiljew of Breakmark Consulting on Tuesday, October 29, 2024! 

Within this Workshop, participants will have a chance to assess their company’s unique value proposition in the marketplace, assess where in the business a partner could have the largest impact, understand the criteria by which companies assess partnerships, and begin building a list of potential partnerships to pursue. 

 Speaker Bio:

Mark has almost 20 years of experience building strategic partnerships at large organizations like Shopify and Fandango and numerous startups.  He has built and grown multi-year relationships with the largest companies across tech, media, commerce and more.  He currently operates as a Fractional Head of Partnerships, helping startups determine the best methods to bring their capabilities to bigger partners, with clients in streaming, AI, fintech, home exercise, construction, and adtech. 

Preccelerator U™ Workshop 

October 29th, 2024 

12:00 – 1:30 pm PDT (Zoom) 

To register for the Zoom event, follow this link.

Join Us For The Next Investor 360 Roundtable Interview With Naseem Sayani of Emmeline Ventures

Join Stubbs Alderton & Markiles on August 14th, 2024, for our next Investor 360 roundtable interview with Naseem Sayani of Emmeline Ventures! There will be ample opportunity for questions at the end of the interview!

To register, click here.

About Naseem Sayani

Naseem Sayani is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Emmeline Ventures. She and her partners launched Emmeline Ventures with a deliberate focus on investing in solutions that unlock the spending power of women and expanding the 2% of venture capital that currently goes to female founders.

Naseem’s investing and business-building experience comes from 20+ years in executive leadership roles across management consulting, agency services, venture incubators, a corporate venture capital firm, and an active angel investor.

About Emmeline Ventures 

Emmeline Ventures is a seed-stage fund investing across healthcare, financial services, and sustainability, specifically where technology and innovation are helping women live & thrive. The fund has 23 companies in its portfolio, including  Alloy Women’s Health, LunaJoy, WealthMore, and The Beans.

August 14th, 2024
12:00-1:30 PM PDT

In-Person Event:
1316 3rd Street Promenade, Suite 107
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Preccelerator U™: Working in Your Business or on Your Business? on July 16, 2024

Join us for a free live webinar with Leonard Atlas of Mission Profitable on Tuesday, July 16, 2024!

Join Leonard Atlas, Author, speaker, entrepreneurial coach, trainer, and strategist as this fast-paced webinar will educate and entertain you about business start-ups and all of the typical challenges that first-time and seasoned entrepreneurs experience.

Working in your business or on your business or both simultaneously will be the main theme.  Everything from your mindset to daily marketing activities, to time management and bootstrapping strategies will be explored with plenty of time for Q&A to help you get your specific issues addressed.

Speaker Bio:
Leonard Atlas, Founder and CEO of Mission Profitable, Inc. (MPI), author, speaker, and trainer has been coaching and training entrepreneurs, salespeople, and non-sales professionals since 1991. His main objective has been to help his clients grow their sales and incomes, from start-up to exit.

Leonard works with companies and organizations all over the world to implement and reinforce the MPI approach by delivering keynote speeches as well as providing in-house sales one-on-one and group development programs and telephonic and web reinforcement sessions.

Preccelerator U™ Workshop
July 16th, 2024
12:00 – 1:30 pm PDT (Zoom)

To register for the Zoom event, click here.

Preccelerator U™: How to Raise Pre-Seed/Seed Startup Funds on June 25, 2024

Join us for a free live webinar with Sam Wong of Fundable Startups on Tuesday, June 25, 2024!

Less than 1% of startup pitches result in funding. While most entrepreneurs over-emphasize pitch decks, smart founders focus on fundability. Successful founders follow a proven five-step process to efficiently raise Pre-seed and Seed funds for their early-stage startup. 

Attendees will learn the Prepare, Plan, Execute, Sell, and Close (PPESC) process to effectively build a fundable startup and then close Pre-Seed and Seed funding.

This session will dive into important keys to raise early-stage funds, including:

  • Fundability
  • Due diligence and legal pitfalls
  • Financial projections and models
  • Funding strategy
  • Inflection points and funding milestones
  • Idea validation
  • Traction metrics
  • Pitch effectiveness and tracking
  • Negotiating term sheets

 

Speaker Bio:

Sam served as CEO, CTO, or technical VP for five startups, resulting in three acquisitions and has also been a CBO or CFO for two other startups that were acquired. Sam is the author of 21 Secrets of Successful Startups, a book about startup execution. Sam has been featured in Fortune Magazine, served as a pitch judge dozens of times, and has spoken at conferences including TechCrunch Disrupt, The Lean Startup Conference, The Houston Tech Rodeo, and San Diego Startup Week.

Preccelerator U™ Workshop
June 25th, 2024
12:00 – 1:30 pm PDT (Zoom)

To register for the Zoom event, click here.

Preccelerator U™: The Psychology of Color in Marketing

Join us for a free live webinar with Venroy Joseph of veJov Brands Corporation on Tuesday, May 14, 2024!

Understanding the psychology of color is crucial for graphic designers and branding professionals, as color choices can profoundly impact consumer perception and behavior.

During this session, we’ll explore how different colors evoke specific emotions and convey various messages, significantly influencing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and brand identity.

Speaker Bio:

Venroy has over 25 years of experience in various aspects of design—print and digital media. Venroy has worked as a creative director for an advertising agency specializing in real estate marketing. He has created artistic designs and worked on marketing campaigns for Bozzuto Management, Foulger-Pratt, K. Hovnanian Homes, and Toll Brothers, to name a few. He has also worked on big brand names such as Marriott, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and many more.

Over his career, Venroy has received several awards from the Benjamin Franklin Pillars of the Industry Awards, the International Design Award, and The American Advertising Awards—some familiar, authoritative voices in the communications industry. Venroy has attained the notoriety of being ranked a top designer, garnering several NYX MarCom Grand Awards over the years. 

Venroy currently serves as the chief executive officer at veJov Brands Corporation—a dynamic collective of advertising, design, marketing, public relations, media, and communication firms. With a passion for innovation and a deep understanding of the ever-changing marketplace, we empower brands to reach new heights of success.

Preccelerator U™ Workshop
May 14th, 2024
12:00 – 1:30 pm PDT (Zoom)

To register for the Zoom event, click here.

Join Us For The Next Investor 360 Roundtable Interview With Galen Shaffer of EOS Venture Partners

Join Stubbs Alderton & Markiles on May 13, 2024, for our next Investor 360 roundtable interview with Galen Shaffer of EOS Venture Partners! There will be ample opportunity for questions at the end of the interview!

To register, click here.

About Galen Shaffer

Galen Shaffer is a Principal at Eos Venture Partners, an InsurTech specialist VC fund. Prior to joining Eos, Galen worked in McKinsey’s Insurance Practice across its Boston and Los Angeles offices. She led teams focused on digital transformation and new business innovation strategy for leading Fortune 500 firms across life, personal, and commercial lines. She holds a BA from Wellesley and an MBA from MIT Sloan.

About EOS Venture Partners

Eos Venture Partners is a Strategic Venture Capital Fund, focused exclusively on InsurTech. Eos was founded to bridge the “digital chasm” between InsurTech start-ups and traditional (re)insurance companies. Eos invests in world-class InsurTech founders who are building solutions across the insurance value chain and adjacent verticals (wealth, cyber security, employee benefits) and prefers to lead at the Series A. Recent investments include: Bamboo (exit: White Mountains Insurance Group, NYSE: WTM), Fenix24, Mulberri, Cygnvs.

May 13th, 2024
12:00-1:30 PM PDT

In-Person Event:
1316 3rd Street Promenade, Suite 107
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Preccelerator U™: Term Sheets 101

Join us for a free live webinar with SA&M attorneys Kelly Siobhan Laffey and Durdana Karim!

The “Term Sheets 101” webinar will cover:
–Types of Financing: Convertible Notes vs. SAFEs vs. Priced Equity Rounds
–Convertible Notes and SAFEs: Caps, Discounts, and Other Key Terms
–Priced Equity Rounds: Economic Provisions, Voting Rights, and Other Key Terms

Plus, an opportunity to ask questions during our live Q&A!

Speaker Bios:

Kelly Siobhan Laffey

Kelly Siobhan Laffey is a Partner of the firm and the Director of Business Affairs at the Preccelerator.

Kelly’s practice focuses on advising emerging growth and middle market companies on issues related to corporate governance and formation, venture capital and other financings, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, cross-border transactions, employee compensation, complex stockholder and operating agreements, and other general corporate matters. Kelly’s clients are representative of the vibrant startup and middle market eco-system and include companies in the technology, digital and entertainment, clean energy, healthcare, e-commerce, and manufacturing industries. Kelly also advises investors and funds in connection with venture capital and other financings. Kelly also has particular expertise in working with talent and brand partners to structure branding and licensing deals.

Durdana Karim

Ms. Karim’s practice focuses on corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, private placement deals, corporate securities, venture capital and private equity financing, commercial agreements, and other general corporate and business matters.

Before joining the firm, Durdana worked at a boutique transactional law firm, where she advised private companies and startups in technology, entertainment and media, real estate, healthcare, manufacturing and distribution, e-sport/video gaming, fin-tech, and professional services industries.

Preccelerator U™ Workshop
April 23rd, 2024
12:00 – 1:30 pm PDT (Zoom)

To register for the Zoom event, click here.