Tales of shame and acquisitions: A tell-all panel on the real story behind the startup process

All too often, behind the flashy press releases of startup success stories, key plot points get left out of the narrative.

Much like Technical.ly’s celebrated FailFest series, a Sept. 20 event at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science will attempt to rescue lessons from the struggles of entrepreneurship.

As moderator, investor Vanessa Chan has promised to keep no questions off the table for “An Inside Look at Starting a Business: The Ups, the Downs, And the Things No one Ever Told You.” The investor has been open about her own failures and the value that their lessons can hold for others.

It’s about getting to the stories you hear behind closed doors,” Chan said. “I’ll ask them about the most naive thing they did, or what was a way that they failed.”

The lineup of speakers includes some familiar faces:

• Bethany Edwards, CEO and cofounder of LIA Diagnostics (which recently won Fast Company’s Innovation by Design award in the Health category)
• Steve Finn, cofounder of LocalStove (recently acquired by D.C.-based HUNGRY with a little help from the tech community)
• Ken Gall, cofounder and CTO of MedShape and Chair of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Duke University
• Ben Williams, cofounder & COO of Reelio (acquired by Fullscreen Media, a subsidiary of AT&T)