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John Sechrest
Building New Startup Investors in Local Ecosystems around the world
John Sechrest is a prominent figure in the startup ecosystem, currently serving as the Managing Director at Mossy Ventures since January 2021.13 He is based in the Greater Seattle Area and has an extensive background in angel investing, startup mentoring, and ecosystem building.13
Key Roles and Achievements
- Founder of Seattle Angel Conference (2011-present): A program designed to educate new angel investors about the investment process.13
- Co-Founder of Startup Investor Accelerator (2021-present): An initiative to develop more startup investors in local ecosystems worldwide.3
- Global Facilitator for Startup Weekend (2009-present): Supporting entrepreneurship through experiential learning events.3
- Co-organizer of Lean Startup Seattle (2011-present): A monthly meeting focused on Lean Startup tools and practices.1
Professional Experience
Sechrest has held various leadership positions in the startup and innovation space, including:
- Co-Manager roles at Impact Hub Bellevue and Impact Hub Seattle (2014-2015)3
- Executive Director at NorthWest Innovation Resource Center (2010-2011)3
- Economic Development Director at Corvallis Benton Chamber Coalition (2006-2010)3
Investment Focus
As an angel investor, Sechrest has been involved in early-stage investments, with a notable investment in Energy Storage Systems for $150K.15
Current Work
At Mossy Ventures, Sechrest focuses on supporting and developing programs that create new angel investors, angel funds, and initiatives to strengthen startup ecosystem flow.1 His work aims to make early pre-seed startups investable and grow new angel investors who can support local innovation.4
John Sechrest's LinkedIn username is johnsechrest, where he actively shares insights and updates about his work in the startup investment landscape.23
Highlights
As angel investors, we rely on Founder Pitches as a tool for understanding a startup and to help us sort through the companies. For the early pre-seed startup founders, the pitch process is useful as a way of getting to clarity about the company.
However, what the Startup Founder says, and what the Investor hears has a bit of distance to it.
This recording is from a workshop to give feedback to the companies about their pitches. We had three active Angel investors from the Seattle Angel conference provide feedback to early Startup Founders about the pitch.
We did a burst of 1 minute pitches for everyone who wanted. This is the same format we use in the Angel Conference. Then we selected 3 companies to provide a 3 minute pitch and a more detailed review.
As a startup founder, take care to find places where you can get meaningful feedback.

