Buy, Sell, or Wait: M&A Decisions CFOs Are Making Now

The format is deliberately light. Half an hour of networking, then a one-hour moderated conversation with no slides under Chatham House rule, then a closing reception. Louis Lehot moderates and will build the questions around what the room is seeing in the market. You will hear from the people who run these processes and price these companies, and from the CFOs in the room who have been through them. ───────────────────────────── Agenda 5:30 PM Arrival, drinks and networking6:00 PM Moderated conversation7:00 PM Closing reception8:00 PM Close ───────────────────────────── Who Should Attend CFOs, VPs of Finance, Heads of Finance and other senior finance executives at venture-backed and growth-stage companies. The forum is built for candid peer discussion rather than presentations or sales pitches. ───────────────────────────── Speakers Rob Bartlett, Managing Director, Global Head of Infrastructure and Cybersecurity Software, Jefferies Rob joined Jefferies in 2025 to build the firm's global infrastructure and cybersecurity software coverage. He was previously a founding member and Head of Guggenheim's West Coast Technology Group, and before that led Goldman Sachs' Infrastructure and Security Software practice. He brings more than 20 years of investment banking experience. Jason Babcoke, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Sumeru Equity Partners Jason co-founded Sumeru Equity Partners, where he invests in growth-stage software. His investments include Talend and Blackline through IPO, and Buildium, Tasktop and Snow Software through acquisition, alongside Criteria, Loopio, Consensus and JobNimbus. As an operator he was Director of Engineering at Angstron Systems, a venture-backed startup he helped lead to an acquisition, and he holds six issued patents. Gargi Ray, Vice President, Finance, Group Revenue Operations, Synopsys Gargi Ray is a Global Finance Executive and Architect with 25 years of experience leading multi-billion-dollar scale, complex M&A, and a strategic business partner in high-tech. As VP of Finance at Synopsys ($100B+ market cap), she drives Revenue FP&A, GTM Finance, and Order-to-Cash—currently also steering the financial integration for Synopsys’s $35B acquisition of Ansys. Harish Belur, Partner, Riverwood Capital Harish partners with founders and management teams through periods of operational scale and market expansion. He has worked across Riverwood's investments in enterprise software, infrastructure, data platforms and cybersecurity, including Nutanix, Druva, Alation, ForgeRock, SpyCloud and Files.com. Before Riverwood he spent over a decade at Cisco, leading product management across network infrastructure and IoT. Moderated by Louis Lehot, Partner, Private Equity & Venture Capital and M&A, Foley & Lardner LLP. ───────────────────────────── Hosts and sponsors Open Future Forum brings together the executives who shape Silicon Valley through private events and peer rooms across the CEO, CFO, CISO, and CMO communities. Learn more at https://openfutureforum.com. Foley & Lardner LLP Foley & Lardner is a nationally recognized top law firm with a Chambers-ranked venture and emerging companies practice advising founders and venture investors from formation through financings, commercialization, M&A, and scale. We bring the speed, experience, and practicality startups need, with the rigor and deep specialist bench investors expect, so deals get done efficiently and companies stay ready to go from garage to global. Find us at the event, meet us at our San Francisco or Palo Alto offices, or contact Louis Lehot at [email protected]. Lockton Lockton’s Global Technology Risk Practice advises technology companies, founders, finance leaders and investors on complex risk and insurance strategies across M&A, financing and growth. As the world’s largest independent insurance brokerage, they combine deep technology sector expertise with transaction advisory capabilities to help clients diligence risk, structure insurance solutions and navigate acquisitions, exits and scale. They help clients navigate emerging technology risks, including AI liability and performance, cyber and technology E&O, intellectual property, digital infrastructure, and the evolving exposures created by autonomous and AI-enabled technologies. Robert Half | Protiviti Robert Half and Protiviti support finance leaders with specialized talent and consulting expertise across accounting, finance transformation, technology, risk, compliance and business operations. Silicon Valley Bank Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank, works with companies and investors across the innovation economy, providing banking, financing and expertise throughout the company lifecycle. ───────────────────────────── Attendance is limited and subject to approval.