A carefully curated selection of the world's top digital / startup experts.
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Software Engineering for many early to mid stage B2C, B2B and marketplace startups in Australia with experience in software architecture and process automation.
I'm an early-stage startup expert and founder coach who's seen 2000+ startups launch and has worked with dozens of startups and corporate innovation teams on the development, launch, and growth of new initiatives. I've also built and sold five of my own products (and failed at 25+ ideas). Most notable is Startup Stash, a curated directory of resources and tools for startups that's been used by 1M+ people. I absolutely love to people in the early stages of their startup and business ideas. What I bring to the table is an honest, unbiased, and outside perspective to help you de-risk your ideas and move forward with your startup. We can work on and discuss: 🧠 Idea mindset 🔎 Customer Discovery 🎯 Idea validation & Building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) 🧲 Go-to-market & Growth strategy 💸 Business Model Creation & Validation
I'm a movement builder who focuses on scaling mission-driven companies with community, content, and growth tactics. I've built and sold 2 startups doing this. I've also supported ~10,000 entrepreneurs through building and running accelerators and mentoring founders. I've also spent time on both sides of the table raising $10M in venture capital and investing $30M as a Silicon Valley VC.
I'm passionate about two things: systems and people. I can help founders looking to set up the tools, processes, and teams to grow quickly in a sustainable way. As you grow, it becomes more and more difficult to go back and redesign the foundation on which your company is built - let's get it from the get-go. I can also help with project planning, project management, hiring, firing, conflict resolution, and leading teams.
Anouck Gotlib, CEO of Belgian Boys, is on a mission to turn up the happy - one sweet moment at a time. Launched in 2015, Belgian Boys is in the business of fun, offering a delicious assortment of treats, breakfast, and desserts available in 5000 stores and online. She leads a passionate team dedicated to growing more than just a revenue-driven business - creating joy for customers and spreading sweetness in people's lives. Anouck was born in Antwerp, Belgium and studied Fashion Design before working at fashion houses including Zac Posen and Natan. A fortuitous seating arrangement on a plane ride from Belgium to New York put Anouck in touch with Belgian Boys founder (and her eventual husband) Greg. Anouck spent long nights and weekends working to launch the brand before stepping away from fashion and into entrepreneurship full time. Anouck and Greg live in Brooklyn, NY with their two sons who start each day with Belgian Boys mini pancakes.
Nicole Baqai is a senior partnerships manager at one of the fastest growing e-commerce SaaS companies. She helps early and growth-stage startups scale revenue with strategic and tactical guidance for development partnership programs. She's brought in around 40% of team ARR and at a point brought in 13% company ARR. When it comes to partnerships, she nows how to define, structure, and scale your partnerships program.
Brand Partnerships @ TikTok (Formerly Foursquare, Match Group). Former head of partnerships of influencer marketing agency Social Studies. Co-founder of health & wellness biz Area 25. Community-focused angel investor + advisor.
If you're passionate about your business and there's a market for your product, I'll help you grow. I've been in ecommerce for over a decade, with a focus on customer acquisition. I believe companies should grow with a well-rounded strategy around diverse sources of acquisition and a focus on retention and LTV. I have an extensive background in digital marketing (social, SEM, display, affiliate), offline marketing (TV, radio, direct mail), website CRO, and customer retention strategies. My heart is in marrying the qualitative with the quantitative — let's look at the data, and then find out what's motivating that data. Nothing gets me more excited about what I do than chatting with early stage businesses about all their potential.
I was an aspiring filmmaker turned storyteller. I'm in the business of creating stories around people/brands. I work for Gary Vaynerchuk as a videographer/editor/producer. We create content everyday. I started with Gary when he had 20K Instagram followers, today he has over 10M.
The most successful D2C-Brands are scaling past multiple 7-figures a month profitable because they're leveraging Conversion and AOV-Boosting Systems. Here's the deal... We've worked with & consulted over 150+ 7-, 8- and 9-Figure D2C-Brands and found that the most successful one's have the same commonalities: 1. Strong Acquisition Strategy 2. Conversion-Optimized Funnel with AOV-Boosting Methods 3. Great retention and high CLTV
Aaron Orendorff is the Head of Marketing at Recart. Previously the Editor in Chief of Shopify Plus — as well as the VP of Marketing at Common Thread Collective & Global Deputy Editor at Intuit QuickBooks. His work has appeared on The New York Times, Mashable, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, Lifehacker, Inc., Success Magazine, Content Marketing Institute, and more.
WHAT I DO: I help software companies achieve financial improvement and transparency by partnering with stakeholders to link operations and finance. WHO I WORK WITH: I partner with internal departments, divisions, customers, and vendors. WHY IT WORKS: Moving beyond the numbers, developing relationships with operations is the key to driving corporate performance and understanding the economics of the business. WHAT MAKES ME DIFFERENT: From debits and credits to financial forecasting to M&A, my experience has not just been silo’ed in the accounting or finance track, but both sides of the desk. My operations background at several airlines has improved my ability to translate operational performance into improved financial understanding and foresight. My stint as a mainframe programmer has allowed me to create robust financial infrastructures by leveraging new processes and implementing new technology (implemented new accounting, travel and expense, tax, and corporate performance management systems).
Ross is the founder of Raise Like A Boss, an online platform and community which helps founders globally raise early-stage funding from VC and angels. Prior, Ross has 10 years of experience as a founder or part of the founding management teams behind the launch of three successful venture capital-backed businesses in London and San Francisco which have collectively raised $40M+. 1 exit and the other two still live in the market. As an advisor and consultant, Ross has helped CEO's raise $21M+ in early-stage capital. Ross is also a GTM specialist; expert in negotiating B2B deals, driving top-tier PR, managing cross-functional teams, and raising capital to fuel rapid growth into new markets for early to mid-stage businesses. Ross is also an endurance athlete competing in IRONMAN and Red Bull races. In 2017, he led a two-person team around Palawan (Condé Nast-voted ‘World’s Best Island’) which gained international recognition as The Philippines' largest ever kayaking expedition. In 2019, he organised and completed the world's hardest 24h triathlon from the Adriatic Sea to the highest peak of the Southern Alps.
I'm the co-founder and COO of Bulletin, a venture-backed retail technology startup based in NYC. Named a Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient and one of "The Most Creative People in Business" by Fast Company, I've spent the last four years building a brand and platform that democratizes access to physical retail space for digitally native brands. Since launching in 2015, Bulletin has helped hundreds of brands access physical retail space for the very first time, unlocking one of the most powerful commerce channels at their disposal. In addition to helping emerging brands grow their physical footprint, our marketplace helps retailers access vetted, fool-proof products for their stores. We are a Y Combinator Company backed by Foundation Capital, Kleiner Perkins and others. I'm a ruthless salesperson, self-taught publicist, marketer and growth strategist, and have experience scaling both dtc and b2b companies. As a creative, I've conceptualized and launched 6 pop-up stores, dozens of ad campaigns, influencer marketing programs, and built and evolved Bulletin's brand voice over the past 5 years. I throw messy, amazing parties and know every song in Max Martin's discography. Check out Bulletin at www.bulletin.co, and follow me at @alikriegs on Instagram. I'll be publishing my first book, How to Build a Goddamn Empire, with Abrams Books on April 6, 2021. Preorder here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-to-build-a-goddamn-empire-ali-kriegsman/1136396448
I help build and execute media strategies for standalone media companies as well as other businesses that want to differentiate with content marketing.
Katelyn Bourgoin is a 4X founder turned growth strategist and buyer psychology geek. With operational experience spanning the DTC, marketing, tech, and hospitality sectors, Katelyn understands the challenges business leaders face because she's been there. Katelyn has been named an influential entrepreneur by Forbes magazine and featured in Inc., HuffPost, Bustle, CBC, CTV, Global TV, and more. Today Katelyn helps frustrated marketers and founders to focus on what matters most yet is often neglected—understanding their customers. After all, whoever gets closer to the customer wins.
I am an independent marketing consultant, operator, and advisor with a decade of experience. Previously, I worked at Raden, Oyster (acquired by Google), Bonobos (acquired by Walmart), and Goldman Sachs. I take a holistic approach to marketing because every customer touchpoint is critical to growth. I have fingers-to-keyboard and strategy experience with a myriad of marketing tactics, platforms, and mediums. My clients span different verticals such as fashion, food & beverage, home goods, media, travel, health & wellness, pets, fintech, beauty, skincare, and baby gear.
Hi! I'm Lillie. I am a creative and strategic leader who loves consumer brands and technology. Currently, I am in building mode and working on my newest project. Prior to this, I led growth and ecommerce at Three Ships Beauty. My areas of expertise are driving top of funnel acquisition (both paid and organic), building email and sms marketing channels, new product launches and campaigns and deploying retention strategies. On weekends, you can find me with my laptop and an americano misto at the coffeeshop or reading at the park.
I bring value and experience to early-stage companies in need of good design and clear communication. I spent nearly 20 years as head of design at tech incubator Idealab, where I partnered with dozens of early-stage entrepreneurs and marketers. My consulting practice today is primarily focused on branding as well as pitch deck content and design for early-stage startups who want to introduce new products or raise investor funds.
I like to build things on the internet 👷 @fakedotvc. Previously co-founder @LiveRecover 💬 (acquired). I'm knowledgeable of @shopify apps, DTC, and investing.
I've worked at startups for as long as I can remember. Whether I started them myself or joined at an early stage there's nothing quite like the excitement of making your own dent in the world! I'm now working on my next SaaS called UserLoop. It's a 1 click customer satisfaction platform designed to help ecommerce retailers get more customer feedback. I've built the app entirely with no code and am looking for help and advice on scaling it to $10K MRR.
I’m a subject matter expert that creates long-form, top-ranking blog content for eCommerce platforms and the SaaS tools that integrate with them.
Shruti is a serial entrepreneur that has scaled sales for multiple of her businesses and raised millions in venture capital funding. Areas that I can add value in include helping find product market fit, scaling your initial team, and fundraising advice.
I am a product and marketing professional that specializes in growth and lead/demand generation at early/mid stage startups. I have significant experience in growth marketing, GTM, lead/demand gen, marketing automation (Marketo, Eloqua, SalesForce), product marketing strategy, AR, PR, content generation/proliferation, social, customer success marketing and more. I love public speaking, working with early stage founders, and problem solving.
I'm a former startup marketing executive with a decade of experience growing SaaS companies like Privy, Drift & Onshape. I started my career as a marketing intern at HubSpot and worked my way up to VP of Marketing at Privy.com. While I've always been inside the business doing the work, now I'm on the outside partnering with marketing leaders and CEOs as a consultant. I'm helping them better define & execute their marketing strategy, pilot new revenue channels and coach emerging marketing leaders. I'm also building DartStudios.io to help Shopify merchants grow their sales by connecting online and in-store customer data. Follow me on Twitter to follow our journey. Before Privy, I ran product marketing at Drift (currently valued at over $1B), and demand generation at Onshape (acquired for $470M in 2019). I also created TheProductLaunchMasterclass.com - a course over 250 product marketers have taken to learn my product launch framework that's driven millions of dollars in sales pipeline.
Pacific Pine is driven to have a role in fighting the inequality in the founder and funding landscape. We have helped over 30 startups build, grow, and scale. Anything from fintech to the creator economy and raise upwards of $10 million.
The big picture: I'm a journalist, content creator, and reluctant user of the word "entrepreneur." I'd love to think with you. The specifics: I'm the host of the podcast Thinking Is Cool, where I make your next conversation better. I'm also the chief content officer of Smooth Operations & Creator Services, where I make your content strategy better.
I founded Launch House last year and now am fortunate to work with many amazing founders each month through our residency program. I've helped companies 10x their valuation and reach millions of users in their first weeks after launching. Previously, I spent over 5 years in product management and data science at Airbnb and Uber. I'm here to help with any early-stage questions or problems.
Max Siegelman leads social media and collaborations for the largest out-of-home media company in North America, OUTFRONT Media (OUT). He is responsible for defining and managing the company-wide social strategy and creative efforts for national blue-chip companies including Coca Cola, Chanel, Saint Laurent, Facebook, and more. He works closely with marketing teams spanning 25 markets to develop and distribute relevant social media content while capturing and analyzing appropriate data and insights. Max creates culturally appealing marketing and collaborative strategies. He has worked with Kanye West, Virgil Abloh, LL Cool J, Brandon Marshall, and more while also expanding his reach with brand collaborations such as Russell Athletics, Hypebeast, Lexus and beyond. Max is the founder and creative director for MCS Stable LLC, an emerging premier lifestyle brand.
Madeline Darcy is a leader in venture capital, with deep expertise across strategy, finance, people, and tech. Madeline cares deeply about democratizing access to capital for entrepreneurs, and is excited to be part of the next wave of game changing companies. She primarily invests in and advises wellness-focused companies across consumer, digital health, and future of work. Her portfolio as a VC and angel investor includes 30+ companies.
Hey I'm Andrew 👋 I help startups scale through brand building, growth marketing, and product development. I've held leadership growth roles at Dropbox, Techstars (2,300+ startup investments), Upserve (acquired by Lightspeed in 2020), and SendGrid (NYSE: SEND, acquired by Twilio). Prior to scaling startups, I was a Partner at a full-service marketing and advertising agency. I hold a Bachelor's degree in Marketing, a Master's degree in Entertainment Business and is certified in Demand Generation through Vista Consulting Group (a division of Vista Equity Partners). I support numerous U.S. public nonprofits and socially responsible causes and serve on the board of numerous nonprofits.
Building a Next-Gen Confectionery Business. Firm Believer that the Future is Plant-Based. Founder & CEO of Dream Pops--in over 5000+ retail stores and one of the fastest growing plant-based novelties in the US & Canada. I also invest in CPG & consumer-facing brands shaping the future of food, health, and sustainability: @chubbysnacks @daringfoods @remedyplace @elements @twice @eatmezcla. Ask me about: startups, e-commerce, CPG, fundraising, manufacturing & supply chain, wholesale, brand, general business questions.
Sara Du is the CEO and founder of Alloy Automation, a no code e-commerce automation platform. Before Alloy, Sara worked at Snap & Wish, after dropping out of her undergrad at Harvard.
Helena Co-Founded Haus with the goal of improving drinking culture for today's generation. Since its launch, Haus has been praised in The New York Times, Vogue, GQ, Bon Appetit, New York Magazine, Food & Wine, Glamour, Cosmopolitan and more. Haus has been credited with making aperitif culture mainstream in America, as well as inspiring a new generation of alcohol and CPG brands. Helena has consulted for brands including Facebook, Fitbit, Google, Instagram, Microsoft, Nike, Pinterest, Slack, Square, Twitter and Uber.
COO DTC | Frmly @monicaandandy_🐘 @theblacktux 🕴 @outdoorvoices 🧢 @bonobos 👖 @michaelkors 👜 | Consumer VC Advisor | Father and Husband | Views Are Mine
***Unfortunately I have to pause taking on any new mentees for the time being *** I specialise in working across functions, tackling new frontiers and putting plans into action. I can help guide you through these challenges. I also believe a sense of purpose and a learning mindset are essential to long-term growth, in life and work, and I love helping people develop that healthy perspective for themselves. I've spent the last four years working in various parts of ustwo, an independent and creative organisation. I've led their investing arm and I'm now running biz ops within their mobile games team. I did two years running operations in a Series A startup as well. Prior to that I've done my stint as a strategy consultant and I've got an MBA from INSEAD.
I love building big ideas with brilliant people. In particular, I am passionate about elevating traditional consumer categories through innovation, experience and technology. After graduating from Stanford University, I have spent my career thus far working across large organizations (JP Morgan, Starbucks) as well as start ups at various stages of growth (Munchery, Cabin), each with their own successes and failures. I am also a strategic advisor to early stage companies and a member of Operator's Guild. If I'm not working, you can find me doing something outside (being near the ocean is my happy place) or in the kitchen. I am equal parts sports/fitness enthusiast and indulgent foodie.
Currently focusing on building Airtable for Startups, community partnerships and building out a global partner network for Airtable. Past work has included: product and growth partnerships, product marketing and segmentation, pricing strategy, growth marketing, content/SEO strategy and onboarding experimentation.
Partner @FundedBuy for 10 years. We've worked closely with thousands of early-stage startups & venture funds to get them set up efficiently and optimize their operating expenses so founders can focus on product and growth. She is a venture partner to Regeneration - a seed + venture firm focused on the circular economy. In conjunction to running FundedBuy, she most recently served as the Director of Special Projects at Distributed Global, an asset management company focused on blockchain-backed and digital assets. She has been a venture consultant to both Comcast Ventures and LaunchTime to source and evaluate investment opportunities. Megan was apart of the founding team at MPOWERD, one of the first benefit corporations that develops and manufactures clean energy solutions.
Created a supervised adventure activity marketplace, pivoted into India's first adventure insurance company. Created 20+ MVPs to test and executed 5 to revenue to $100K MRR.
I’m a seasoned startup generalist and current COO with experience helping 40+ companies scale, particularly around people and process optimization. I launched a six-figure startup consultancy, worked in VC, and as an early employee at a company that grew from Seed to Series B. I also graduated from Harvard with an AB cum laude in Sociology, a discipline that greatly informs my perspective on people and process. On the people side, I’ve managed talent operations for hundreds of contract staffers, overseen recruitment for C-suite executives, managed teams ranging from 1-50, and have scaled cultures through seismic organizational shifts. Process-wise, I’ve built countless systems and workflows for marketing, sales, product, people, operations, and even engineering teams. I’ve watched some processes accommodate years of scale, watched others fail miserably, and have a strong point of view on when and how to insert process as a strategic point of leverage in business growth. (I’m also an experienced marketer, with almost a decade of brand building expertise. I’ve worked across the full marketing stack, from visual design and creative concepting to content, social, email, and more.)
I'm a media operator who loves building teams and scaling businesses. Last year, I co-founded Workweek, a B2B media company with a wildly unique business model. I've spent the better part of the past decade scaling startups, most notably as the GM of The Hustle, a media startup acquired by HubSpot, and as an early employee at Scout RFP, a SaaS company acquired by Workday. My expertise lies in monetizing media, launching new lines of revenue, and building efficient teams and engaged audiences. My core values are authenticity, curiosity, and kindness.
I am the co-founder of Starday Foods, where I run all things related to growth, marketing, and brand. I previously ran marketing and growth at One Finance (recently acquired by Walmart). Prior lives; Google (advising high-growth clients on marketing strategy), Slack (built out the performance marketing and analytics function) and Civis Analytics (a data science company that spun out of the Obama campaign).
Simon is a seasoned vet in the growth/paid media world. Simon has helped lead the growth and (in some cases) the acquisitions for companies such as: Misfits Market, Gravity Blankets, Little Spoon, Cometeer, Taft, and Framebridge. His strategies have spent over $500 million and driven over $2B in revenue. Data drives Simon's strategies and are the core component to testing (which he believes in rigorously).
Ben Cogan is co-founder and co-CEO at Hubble, one of America’s fastest growing direct-to-consumer e-commerce companies. Cogan earned a spot on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list in 2016 and over the past year Hubble has extended its footprint around the world. Cogan is also a co-Founder at Willow, an adult incontinence brand, Mockingbird, a baby stroller brand, and is an adviser to Resolved CX, a customer service platform for direct-to-consumer companies.
Passionate about e-commerce and have worked in the space for over a decade for brands like TOMS, Apple and most recently OLIPOP.
Over the past 8 years, Jon has helped take 0-1 businesses in Fintech, eCommerce, Consumer Goods and more. He currently works in an incubator at one of North America's largest pension funds, and helps large companies build breakout businesses in every industry imaginable. His passion lies in idea generation and helping founders match passion with reality. Jon also holds his CFA designation and is an avid investments junkie.
JT Barnett's Tiktok-specific advisory team, BarnettX, strategizes Tiktok specific content for some of your favorite consumer brands. Additionally, we recruit tiktok creators to be hired in-house and become the face of brands. Clients include Poppi, Tonal, Therabody, Asos, My Girl Wellness, Bulletproof Coffee, Soso Sake, and more. JT Barnett (@jtbarnett) is also a popular educational content creator and founder of viral "Adult Creator House", Honey House.
Hi, I’m Ben Zises - angel investor, advisor, and fund manager. I am the Founding General Partner of SuperAngel.Fund, an early stage fund launched in January 2021. Prior to starting the fund, I was an angel investor in 30 companies, including, the first investor and founding advisor to quip (2014), Caraway (2018) & Arber (2020), before each had its name. My focus is on areas where I am most passionate and have an informational, educational, access or network advantage: Consumer (CPG, eComm SaaS), PropTech & Future of Work. I personally experienced the complete life cycle of building a company: from identifying a problem/market opportunity, coming up with the “idea”, to painstakingly developing a business plan, product road-map and executing on it. I've been in a founder's shoes: from leaving my stable job, asking friends and family for money ($2MM raised from 30+ investors), to hiring and scaling a team, and more. I've also experienced similar ups and downs: from launching to widespread industry acclaim, countless press articles, gaining tens of thousands of users, iterating & pivoting 3x, pitching hundreds of VC's in NYC & Silicon Valley, to failing to raise a successive round of funding, and ultimately winding down the company (and moving past failure). Those experiences, among others, give me a major competitive advantage over other investors: founder empathy and unique understanding of the startup journey. I strive to be one of the first checks (day 0) and leverage my network to bring in other strategic capital and resources in an advisory role. I am often described by founders as their company’s #1 fan, providing unwavering support and dedication for the short, medium, and long-term. Prior to becoming a full time investor, I was the COO at a NYC-based real estate investment and property management firm. I am also a 2x Outward Bound Alum, graduate of Boston University’s School of Hospitality and ran the New York City Marathon. I live and work in Tribeca NYC with my wife Ashley and daughters Sarina & Scarlett. Feel free to 'Submit Your Pitch' on my website or reach out in whichever way you are most comfortable - while noting that email is my preferred method of communication (ben@superangel.vc). Unfortunately due to the volume of emails, I am no longer able to respond to every one. However, I read every one and am extremely grateful for the time you spend sharing your opportunity with me.
I’m an experienced Operator, Brand Strategist, and Growth Marketer with a proven track-record of driving profitable omnichannel growth through acquisition, retention, and distribution. I have 9+ years of experience creating and building brands, leading high-performing teams, and scaling consumer businesses from Fortune 50 to early-stage start-ups. I’m a fiercely driven, visionary operator who balances the creative, financial, and operational aspects of building a brand and isn’t afraid to get in the weeds and execute. Today, I lead growth for Mockingbird. Previously, I led Customer Acquisition for a $100M deodorant brand, Native and led Marketing, Business Strategy, and P&L Ownership for $300M Bounce and $1B Downy. Specialties: P&L Management, Brand Strategy, Growth Marketing, Retail Marketing, ROI Optimization, Data-Driven Revenue & Profit Maximization, Strategic Planning, Innovation Strategy, Cross-Functional Team Building, Consumer Insights, Leadership, E-Commerce, Paid Media Strategy, Multi-year Growth Strategies, and Execution.
I’m a serial entrepreneur & traffic generation specialist who’s helped 1150+ brands scale to 6-9 figures in sales per month. I run a large Pinterest Ads/SEO/Traffic Generation community, two Digital Marketing Agencies called Pins 4 Profit and BrandRanx Media. I'm a private equity investor in e-commerce brands, software developer and speak and consult all over the world.
I've lead digital teams from early startups to large tech-enabled brands. Here to help folks with any and all scaling problems: tech stack, operations, team building, business performance management, and more.
As the co-founder and CMO at Factor_, a ready-to-eat meal delivery company, I built and scaled the company from $0 to 7-figures/month in revenue. Factor went on to be acquired for $277mm. Since moving on from Factor, I've helped brands like Highkey, Serenity Kids, and many others scale their eCommerce channels efficiently using a data driven approach that helps uncover growth opportunities.
A serial entrepreneur, investor, mentor, and advisor with over 15+ years of Startup & business experience. YCombinator alumni. Itay built a business from an initial team of 3 to a 300-person workforce. He raised money from VCs and angel investors, acquired several companies, and merged his previous company. His areas of expertise: Startups at all stages, Growth/marketing, Fundraising, Product-Market-Fit, Product & Business Strategy, Leadership & Management, Personal & Career Development
Hi! I'm Lara. I've been in product over a decade and am passionate about coaching and mentoring. I have spent my career launching 0-1 products and APIs in security, identity, authentication and privacy for startups and financial institutions. My secret weapons are stakeholder management and product strategy. I've got a proven track record of up-leveling my mentees, getting Ops / Support folks into Product and mentoring founders on the product foundations.
I’m Andrew Gazdecki and I’ve been an entrepreneur for longer than I can remember. I like to build stuff, mostly companies, and try to tell a story that goes beyond what the company does to how it’s changing markets. I started my first company, Bizness Apps, while still in college. We made mobile app development affordable for small businesses, and initially, raised around $100,000 in funding. By the time Bizness Apps was acquired by private equity firm Think3, we had grown to $10M in annual recurring revenue, operating in 40 countries, and employing over 100 people. Now, $100,000 isn’t a lot of money, so we needed a story that resonated with our target market so we could scale before the cash ran out. What was the bigger picture? What positive change did our business enable? In the end, we had the perfect David vs Goliath tale. We helped small businesses compete against their larger rivals through mobile marketing – and this struck an emotional chord with our customers. My second business, Altcoin.io, was a decentralized exchange (DEX) for trading digital assets. The story here was simple: by trading on our decentralized, non-custodial platform, traders could protect their assets. Altcoin.io became a champion of security in a market dominated by custodial platforms that put users’ funds at risk. By challenging the status quo, we were defending the rights of traders everywhere – a story that our prospects loved. This eventually lead the company to be acquired by global investment firm BnkToTheFuture. A good brand story elevates companies above the competition. While someone can copy your product or service, they can’t copy your brand. So tell stories that excite your customers and align with their goals.
I work with startups and founders going from 0 to 1, with businesses navigating emergent problems and opportunities, and explore arms-length futures with Little Futures Club.
I'm a serial founder who has seen it all in the businesses I've started from raising capital to scaling and leading teams. I know how demanding it can be and am now focused on helping leaders like you build and lead impactful businesses and doing it in a way that not only gets your entire team pulling in the same direction but also makes the whole thing less stressful for you.
I've started 3 tech startups so far, including a Y-Combinator funded social app for college students and a 7 figure hacking business reselling Spotify subscriptions in countries where it is unavailable. I've been grateful to learn from (and correct) multiple startup challenges that I faced including building something people didn't want, finding tech co-founders, co-founder disputes, pre-mature scaling, building something for money and not happiness, fundraising, over-hiring, personal debt for surviving etc. I've attended 4 incubators in the last 5 years and have been around 100+ successful founders. I've also managed millions of dollars of advertising budgets for multiple Y-Combinator startups. My biggest strength is to help turn advertising dollars into profit by using paid ads. I also focus on positioning and creating offers that people are really interested in. I do this by finding out everything about the target audience by spending a lot of time getting to know them. And then I find the best way to genuinely help the prospects before selling them something.
I help teams turn audacious product visions to reality. Across my experiences, I've gone zero-to-one on aircraft, robots, simulation systems, and more. I love finding data-driven ways to solve the toughest engineering and product challenges. And I know the highs and lows of launching a new startup. I'm looking forward to meeting you, seeing your product vision, and collaborating toward your first of many successes.
I've been in the CPG industry since 2007 working for the largest brands in the space in marketing, branding and sales roles and now consult, educate and empower emerging CPG brands. I focus on building brands that you, wholesale accounts and consumers feel deeply connected to as the way to drive sales and engagement. If you're looking to launch or grow a CPG brand, want to understand how to build a brand that connects with people, are trying to establish your brand purpose or how to feel aligned in it while also fitting a market need I'm here to help.
I help visionary founders collect their ideas into a solid growth strategy. Many times you need to bounce an idea or venting session off of someone, and that “someone” can’t be your co-founder, employee, or board member. My coaching has helped solidify market launch, sales messaging, scale processes, and capital raises. Most of the startups I’ve worked with have grown $50 million in revenue within 4-6 years. If you’re a founder in growth mode (sometimes feeling like things are on fire), let’s have a chat.
Hi, I'm Kirstyn. Over the past 12 years, I've launched two D2C apparel companies, overseeing all manufacturing and design, operations, and financial strategy. I love creating infrastructure and financial models, finding creative ways to increase efficiency. Most recently I started a D2C cookie business, quickly scaling from a cottage license into a commercial kitchen.
Marketing leader with experience launching new markets, building teams, and advising early-stage startups.
+ Investor turned operator with 7+ years in early stage CPG + Love chatting all things growth, acquisition, and retention
I'm the Co-Founder of Foxwell Digital, where I guide, manage, and consult with companies, nonprofits and brands on social media advertising, with a specific focus on Facebook and Instagram. Foxwell Digital has worked with over 200 different organizations and worked with companies like KIND Snacks, Hilton, The Grand Ole Opry, Blenders Eyewear, Pura Vida Bracelets, and more. I've been a US Congressional Press Secretary, started and ran the largest social media agency for the U.S. Congress and via a San Francisco online agency, worked with some of Silicon Valley’s most well-known startups (Hootsuite, Fitbit, Square, Eventbrite, GoPro and more) on Facebook advertising campaigns and strategies.
I Lead Education at Makerpad where we teach people and businesses how to build software without code. I developed a passion for digital products and emerging technologies at an early age and founded my first business lovediscounts.com aged 19. I have since been involved with a number of start-ups and tech-driven companies since. I'm passionate about creating disruptive digital products and services which change how things are done. About me: I love technology, artificial intelligence, robotics, space, working with intelligent people to help improve the world through technology. Specialities: Emerging technologies, Startups, innovation, digital marketing, digital strategy, social media, personal branding, business development, product management, building teams.
I’m the founder of Herb - the largest and most engaged cannabis community in the world of over 14 million people. Our mission is to change the way the world views cannabis. Herb is backed by legends such as Tobi Lütke (Founder & CEO, Shopify), Harley Finkelstein (President, Shopify), Dave Morin (Creator of Facebook Platform), Kevin Colleran (Employee #8 at Facebook), Ken Lerer (BuzzFeed, Group Nine), and Joe Montana (Hall of Fame Quarterback). In 2012, I co-founded the first technology bootcamp in Canada called Bitmaker. We trained full-stack software engineers and got them jobs at companies like Shopify, Facebook, and IBM. Over the course of 3 years we trained over 3,000 software engineers. Bitmaker was acquired by General Assembly.
I spent 3 years as Head of Marketing and Creative Director of Dig Inn, where I lead the 360 rebrand of the company - messaging, communication, store design, branding, digital presence, paid advertising, and offline marketing, and was given the once in a lifetime opportunity to rebuild a brand that already had meaning and soul. In 2017, I left to join the quickly growing Glossier team, leading the brand's non-digital efforts by creating human-centered offline experiences. I am lucky to have spent the majority of my career in dynamic, high-growth companies, reporting to C-level executives who always put people first - these companies are even more impressive from the inside than the outside and have taught me to foster relationships and human interaction in everything I do. I'm on to my next adventure, building a company in the CPG space. Reach out if you want to join me on this next adventure!
I talk about digital writing and digital leverage | Captain of http://Ship30for30.com | Trying to be the healthiest, wealthiest, and happiest I've ever been, every day.
Founder and CEO of Covet PR (acquired in 2020) and later Chief Brand Officer of Power Digital Marketing (acquired in 2022), Sara is an out-of-the-box strategist and industry connector who has extensive experience working with CPG brands at various life cycles from pre-revenue through acquisition. She has worked closely with 100+ disruptive consumer brands including: Daily Harvest, Freshly, Siete, Beyond Meat, Daring, Banza, Perfect Snacks, Purely Elizabeth, Siggi’s, Skinny Dipped, Houseplant, Alfred, Bev, Cann, frank body, Act + Acre, Cora, Made-In, Manscaped, Poppi, Carbone, Rao’s, Magic Spoon, Acid League, Last Crumb, Once Upon a Farm, Graza and many more.
Cassidy Wendell is the founder of #GIRLGETAFTERIT (girlgetafterit.com), as well as a marketing consultant specializing in community building, E-commerce, social media, email, and brand awareness.
Dan is a 2X DTC brand builder and cutting edge performance marketer. Dan's spent the last 10 years leading marketing + growth at Ritual and MeUndies from $0 to nine figures. In 2020, he started his own company, King Marketing, where he's helped build some of the internet's most successful direct-to-consumer brands. Dan's ideas have been featured in Adweek, Fast Company and ESPN, and he was named Brand Innovators 40 under 40.
Building great products in New York and Hong Kong. Lucas is a design engineer and co-founder + Head of Product at Doris Dev and Canopy. Doris Dev is a product development agency that's helped scale companies like Blueland, Great Jones, Open Spaces, Supply, Lalo, and many more. Lucas is an expert on all things Product--from sourcing and logistical to product design, engineering, and beyond.
Founder and CEO of Glamnetic, a fast-growing E-commerce company based in Los Angeles selling revolutionary magnetic eyeliner for magnetic eyelashes and the first-ever company to carry colored magnetic lashes for magnetic eyeliner. (instagram @glamnetic). Forbes 30 under 30 and Inc. 100 Founder.
Ryan is a former Managing Counsel at Atrium and Associate at Cooley LLP. At Atrium, Ryan helped create the fundraising concierge and worked closely with startup founders to raise money from top venture capital firms.
I spent nearly 2 decades as an operator at Dell Technologies, creating deep expertise that spans finance, communications and marketing. I'm passionate about helping startup founders succeed, because you hold the keys to unlock the solutions to the biggest problems of our time. Let me help you leverage my proven 3 step framework that has driven over $100 million in cost savings and $1 billion in sales pipeline.
As a founder and business development leader, I am strongest in B2B and B2B2C worlds. I can help with Business Development, Go-To-Market Strategies, Jobs to Be Done (customer discovery), Lean Startup (de-risking your business), Sales Standardization, Fundraising, Strategy, & Industry 4.0 (future of manufacturing/supply chain).
Emilia D'Anzica is the founder of Growth Molecules, a boutique management consulting firm focused on helping B2B SaaS businesses grow. After leading and building award-winning customer success and support teams globally over the past 15 years, Emilia is now a full-time executive coach and customer success consultant working with and designing world-class customer-facing teams and programs. She works with VCs, PEs, start-ups, and public companies hosting assessments and workshops, and building onboarding and renewal playbooks. In 2020, she was named a Top 25 Customer Success Influencer, By SuccessHacker, and a top 100 Global CX Thought Leader by Survey Sensum. In 2021 she was named a top CX influencer by SmartKarrot. Emilia lives in the San Francisco, Bay Area.
With 7 years of experience growing early stage startups from Seed to Series B, I love empowering mission-driven founders & entrepreneurs, startup leaders, and people managers. As a mentor I am looking to help leaders execute their vision, build a team and systems, and overcome challenges (from biz ops to people ops) as they grow and scale. Most recently, I helped close the acquisition of RaiseMe, an edtech SaaS platform focused on college access and affordability. Prior to the acquisition, I led the Operations team and served as a player-coach managing 5 people across all aspects of the business (incl. people ops, accounting/finance, legal, biz ops, investor relations, etc.), grew the company from 10 to 70, served as a member of the Senior Leadership Team, and supported the close of 2 funding rounds ($27M+). My prior role at Mapbox supported growth from 30 to 100+ employees across 4 continents, and I supported the CEO during a $52.5M Series B round. In addition to my “day job”, I led community and partnerships for the tech-policy nonprofit Startup Policy Lab for 5 years, I run a cohort of 40 operations professionals in the Bay Area (via Operators Guild), and I'm a Board Member of California Women's List (helping women get elected to public office). I'm also passionate about supporting small businesses, volunteering for political campaigns, empowering women, and building diverse, equitable, and inclusive teams.
Aaron is a modern marketing aficionado who helps companies create consistent, profitable growth through a combination of creative brand-building and data-driven marketing. His clients consistently double their revenue (or more) every year. He’s worked with multiple Silicon Valley startups where he helped them raise $1M+ in venture capital and scale from 5-figures to 7-figures in profitable revenue in as little as a year. Now companies hire him as their Chief Marketing Officer to design and manage their cross-channel marketing programs and create profitable month over month growth. In a former life, he graduated from West Point and was a US Army officer who led teams in Iraq and Afghanistan. Currently, he consults for founders and early stage companies through his agency, This Is Growth, and is the Chief Marketing Officer for Frog Fuel, a 7-figure collagen protein brand trusted by world-champion athletes, Olympians, and over 4,000 medical professionals around the world.
Steph has been working remotely for over three years, as a growth marketer, writer, and indie maker. She spent three years at Toptal, most recently leading their Publications team, and is now leads Trends.co. Recently, she wrote a book (Doing Content Right), which has sold thousands of copies since its launch in September. She’s a big advocate for remote work and actively writes about it over at her blog, which has been read by over 400k people since launch in 2019. She is also a self-taught developer and has built multiple projects, some of which have gone to #1 on Product Hunt, won awards, and led her to being nominated for Maker of the Year in 2018.
I have helped drive measurable success for seed stage to public companies like Twitter, NerdWallet, Patreon, Calm, Atomic, and many more.
I help #SaaS founders reach their #growth milestones. Early-stage #startup expert. Founder of http://DemandMaven.io. Board Member @Moz
Here to help leaders narrow the gap between intent and impact when communicating, master your personal mindset, and lead by example with authenticity and integrity.
Holly Chen is an award-winning Growth and Marketing advisor, angel investor, and Co-Active Coach for hyper-growth technology products. Prior to running ExponentialX, a Growth, Marketing, and Coaching Consultancy, she was the Global Head of Digital Marketing at Slack, helping it grow from 3M to 12M Daily Active Users, $100M to $700M ARR and going public. Prior to joining Slack in 2016, Holly was the Head of Growth at Google Retail, taking Google’s eCommerce flagship Google Store from ideation to launch in 24 countries and driving $x00M revenue, and launched Pixel, Google Home, and Android Wear. Holly also led Google B2B Website Strategies globally for Google’s marquee products such as Google Ads and Google Analytics with x00M monthly traffic and $x0B revenue. Prior to Google, she worked on Worldwide Product Management at Gucci.com, was the Head of Product and Marketing at social commerce startup mySkin.com, and advised on innovation strategies at Deloitte Consulting and Kearny for clients such as Mastercard, AT&T, UBS. Holly has a Master’s in European and Eurasian Studies from the George Washington University and speaks Italian and Chinese fluently.
My professional specialty lies at the intersection of people, product, and profit. I work best with companies and brands that are looking to achieve hyper-growth using a combination of technology, storytelling, and good old-fashioned operations management.
Morning Brew is a new media company bringing you informative and digestible business news. We educate 2,200,000 readers on the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, daily.
Most recently, I was the Chief Brand Officer of WW International (formerly Weight Watchers). In this role, I was responsible for activating the evolution of the pivoting from Weight Watchers to WW. I oversaw the global strategy for marketing, content, creative, eCommerce, and consumer products. Prior to WW, I served as Vice President of Media North America and Global Digital Innovation for Unilever where I led media strategy and implementation for all Unilever categories and brands, and served as a member of the Unilever Global Media Leadership Team. Prior to joining Unilever, I was Vice President, Strategic Partnerships at Viacom, where I developed multi-platform media and marketing programs for the MTV and VH1 brands. Earlier in my career, I spent more than 10 years at Unilever including driving long-term innovation and communication strategy for the Lipton brand and building a growth-centric organizational culture across the Unilever marketing function globally. I am Co-Founder of the #SeeHer initiative of the Association of National Advertisers and Co-Chair of AdWeek’s DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) Council. I am also a Director and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Chair on the Board of Fossil Group, Inc and an Independent Board Director for Open Farm Pet and Packable.
Rachel Sanders is CEO and Co-founder of Rootine, a precision health company focused on optimizing health through a data-first approach to nutrition. At Rootine, Sanders raised pre-seed, Seed, and Series A funding and has played a role in all aspects of the business including brand building, operations, financial planning, product, MVP strategy, go-to-market strategy, fundraising, pitch decks and more. Sanders also has deep expertise across financial modeling, HealthTech, and more through her experience as an investment banker earlier in her career. Sanders has over a decade’s experience in the HealthTech industry and is known for her roles as a startup advisor, angel investor, and venture partner at 2048 Ventures. She has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing entrepreneurs in the HealthTech industry - getting featured in multiple media outlets for her steadfast achievements which include Business Insider, Entrepreneur, TechCrunch, and Forbes. Sanders holds a BA in Economics from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
I went from the front of a high school classroom to the front of a conference room. No matter the arena, my values remain the same: be true to yourself, prioritize people, always learn something, and have fun. I identify as a story teller, an early adopter of technology, and someone who loves to stay up-to-date on all conversations worthy of the water cooler. I aspire to create things that make life better for consumers and to help individuals reach their highest potential. The foundation of my career can be credited to Camp Kesem, a nonprofit organization, where I was able to see how the hard work of a small team can better the lives of thousands of people. I've also had the honor to work for world class businesses such as Red Bull, P&G, HP, and Under Armour where I learned how brands can leverage a great product to increase revenue. My experience with startups, such as Missouri.com, Spiceworks and The Hustle, provided me firsthand experience with large goals, hyper growth, and venture capitalist expectations. In addition to my career, I give back to my key causes of cancer and children. In particular, I support Camp Kesem and LIVESTRONG. If I’m not focused on what’s above, you’ll catch me on the golf course or eating good barbecue in Austin, TX!
Hugh is the CEO and co-founder of Ugly Drinks, a flavored sparkling water brand founded in the U.K. Prior to Ugly Drinks, Hugh worked in several CPG Marketing roles including at Vita Coco, the Kraft Heinz Company, Unilever and Vitamin Water.
An operations and finance expert, Eric has worked at and with a variety of e-commerce brands, including the Dollar Shave Club, where he helped take the company from a startup to a $1 billion acquisition by Unilever. He's passionate about helping brands improve gross margin and expand LTV through various cost-cutting improvements. His operations experience mixed with his financial experience during his time in investment banking at Merrill Lynch, has provided him a unique combination of skill sets.
I’m the co-founder of Schoolyard Snacks. In my early twenties, I bootstrapped our e-commerce business from zero to 8 figures in our first year, and it's been an absolute rocket ship since. I’ve subsequently raised over $10MM in VC and angel funding and was named on the Forbes 30 under 30 list. While growing my business, I worked completely remotely, traveling and living in 50+ countries 🌎 I’ve also failed a couple before, so I know a thing or two about making (and learning from) mistakes.
Jing Gao, the founder and CEO of Fly By Jing is a chef, entrepreneur and a renowned expert on Chinese cuisine on a mission to bring uncensored Chinese flavors to the table. She was born in Chengdu, but grew up everywhere, and uses her experience as a chef to share meaningful flavors that open people up to new ideas and conversations. She was the founder of an award-winning modern-Chinese fast casual restaurant in Shanghai and her work has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Fortune, and more.
Growth expert and accelerator for emerging + fast-growing companies looking to harness the power of partnerships, develop winning marketing funnel strategies, and create share-worthy customer experiences. Self-taught and resourceful, with a vast network and diverse experience across industries and verticals. Senior-level consultant leveraged by startups and small business clients to build their business, create sustainable revenue growth strategies, and market their products.
I build, help, build, & invest in marketplace startups. I previously started & ran Studiotime (acquired in 2021) and now run the Everything Marketplaces community. I've also invested in 20+ marketplace startups.
Do you need more SaaS conversions? I'm a sales copywriter for SaaS and technology brands - including Salesforce.com & Adobe. For a limited time, I'm offering a discounted rate on landing page and homepage teardowns. I'll give you a set of actionable points to improve your sales copy and get more conversions - with a quick video to walk you through them.
Devin Patel is the VP of Business Development at Passport. At Passport, Devin works with cities, urban mobility companies, and elected officials to help drive a more connected and livable city. During his 5 years at Passport, Devin has launched a vertical and fostered a rich enterprise partner ecosystem that has led to Passport becoming the leader on mobility payment solutions. Devin Patel has a wide range of experience with both large and small technology ventures. He is a frequent speaker at mobility and ITS conferences, speaking both at the ITS Americas and World Congress shows. Previously, he was a Product Manager at Salesforce.com and helped scale LivingSocial to international markets.
Gira is a Founder at Aleberry, where she works alongside funds & founders throughout the fundraising process. She helps with investor relations, funding strategy, and design/marketing, as well as helping funds scout & manage portfolio companies. Aleberry has extensive experience with deep tech B2B companies raising a Series A - Exit. Her clients have received over $650MM in funding, while gaining significant marketplace traction.
