Capital Readiness Program (CRP) #1: How Demo Days are Failing Founders and Why CRP is a Better Way, with Heath Naquin

After sitting through what he calls his "thousandth demo day," Heath Naquin walked away convinced that the entire model was broken. Founders were being polished for investors rather than prepared for the real work of building a company.In this episode, Heath Naquin, VP of Government and Capital Engagement at the University City Science Center in Philadelphia, joins Dan Mazzucco to unpack the philosophy behind the Capital Readiness Program — a week-long immersive boot camp for medtech founders that replaces pitch competition theater with real investor due diligence. They cover what investors actually look for before writing a check, how to build a real investor discovery strategy, what belongs in a strong deal room, and the red flags that end conversations before they start.This conversation is for medtech founders who are raising beyond friends and family and want to understand how investors actually make decisions — not how founders imagine they do.Heath Naquin is the Vice President of Government and Capital Engagement at the University City Science Center in Philadelphia, where he leads the Capital Readiness Program, the Investor in Residence Network, and federal commercialization partnerships. Over a 30-year career at the intersection of capital, innovation, and public impact, he has helped deploy more than $200 million in global venture funds focused on science and technology, served as Principal Investigator or Co-PI on more than $250 million in federal, state, and international funding programs, and coached hundreds of founding teams through the transition from grant funding to institutional investment. He invests his own capital as an LP and direct investor in medtech and other sectors.