Once upon a time, if you wanted to build a tech startup, you relocated to Silicon Valley. Full stop. While there’s no disputing SV’s place and continued prominence in the startup world, today’s early-stage founders have more geographic freedom and funding options than ever before.

While that’s certainly a good thing, it’s still far from easy — especially when you’re facing economic headwinds. This is why we’re excited that Mark Crane, a partner at General Catalyst, will hold forth at TechCrunch Early Stage on April 20 in Boston, Massachusetts.

We invited Crane to share his expertise in a session called “How to Raise Outside of the Silicon Valley Bubble in a Down Market.” Founders must understand how markets work outside of Silicon Valley to truly capitalize on attracting investors and raising funds. Here are some of the reasons we think he can provide valuable insight on this important subject.

Crane has been a partner at General Catalyst, a Top 20 global investment firm with a large Boston office, for the past four years. His featured investments include Heyday Technologies, Fivetran, Resilience and TravelPerk.

He has experience both as a founder and as a VC working throughout Europe. Originally from the Boston area, he understands the Massachusetts market and how large VC firms operate both inside and outside of Silicon Valley.

Prior to joining General Catalyst, Crane served as vice president at Cove Hill Partners in Boston. Previously, he was a senior associate at JMI Equity and associate at North Bridge Growth Equity. He earned a BA in history at Amherst College.

All TC Early Stage breakouts include a Q&A for you to get answers directly from the speaker. And, if you want to dig deeper into this particular topic, Crane will stick around and lead a smaller roundtable discussion for up to 20 founders.

TechCrunch Early Stage sessions give attendees plenty of time to engage, ask questions and walk away with a deeper, working understanding of topics and skills that are essential to startup success. Buy an early-bird founder ticket now and save $200.

VC Mark Crane explains how to raise funding beyond Silicon Valley by Lauren Simonds originally published on TechCrunch