Ariel Jankelowitz

This San Franciscan has landed in the Big Apple for #NYTechWeek! Here’s why it was important to me to be out here this week and I view NYC as a sister city. ((scroll down for 2 events The Council is hosting today!)) 🏭🏥 Reminder: The Council Fund invests at Pre-seed in Software’s Third Act, the transformation of the essential economy. Our investments span healthcare and industrial sectors like manufacturing, logistics, construction. 🐂 I’m eternally bullish on NY & SF and hate how many pit the two cities against each other. The reality is that a lot of capital and talent flow back and forth between the cities. They need each other to thrive! 🗽🌁 Cities like NY & SF attract young and mid-career talent because of their population density, transient nature, beauty, and reputations as cities where someone new on the scene can make a name for themselves. For the areas we invest in, I’m *specifically* excited about NY because of: 🏗️ Closer proximity to industrial hubs which are scattered across the Midwest / Rust Belt 🏛️ Closer proximity to DC where a lot of regulation around VC, startups, healthcare, onshoring initiatives, and industrial sectors takes place 💰 Many of the large financial institutions that are backing hard tech focused funds and major healthcare initiatives are also headquartered here in NYC 🎯 We’ve got several startups here who are hitting it out of the park, like Dirac and Siena. This has further validated my belief in this ecosystem to support young companies! Today we are kicking off with 2 events on Day 1 of #NYTechWeek 👉 AI Demo Day: The Council, Next Wave NYC, Lynx Collective, Flybridge will host 8 founders and 200+ investors and founders for a pitch competition this evening! Luma: https://lnkd.in/gbdYiJMw 🔜 Can still join the waitlist! Small & Big VCs in Hard Tech: The Council joined General Catalyst, Lux Capital, Iron Prairie Ventures, AlleyCorp, House Of Ventures, Steel Atlas for 2 back to back panels on industrial innovation & collaboration across the capital stack Luma: https://lnkd.in/gj6D4-Au ⏰ Event has passed

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I AM LOOKING FOR FUNDING IDEAS FOR CIVIC CHAT - A SOFTWARE APPLICATION PROJECT FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD: Civic Chat has the following objectives: • To be a catalyst for increasing the level of citizen participation in the American political system, • By helping potential voters learn how government works at local, state and national levels, • Helping them learn the positions of incumbents and political candidates on key issues • And discovering which candidates match their own positions more or less closely • By talking to their phone or computer In their native language Civic Chat will also: • Give a team of HBCU students hands-on experience working on cutting-edge technologies to build and deliver a world-class software application that creates meaningful value to our society, • Introduce the country to the idea of mainstream software conceived and coded by Black Technologists • Be open sourced so that others can extend it with new features and / or to support communities not covered by the initial release For more details and a link to the demo site and video, visit https://lnkd.in/egY-b4my, and if you know of any SPECIFIC opportunities or individuals (not easily searched or commonly known) who support initiatives at the intersection of Technology and Civic Engagement, I would greatly appreciate your insight or assistance. Thanks! - Ken

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It turns out, the Long Island Sound IS water. For these and other insights, check out this post about our seed funding round. 😬 #startups #fundraising #newyork

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Yesterday we launched Auto-Evaluations📊 I'm stoked for this release, evaluation is an incredibly important part of building a search system, but it's often manual & tedious. This leads many folks to simply not evaluate 🙅 Auto-Evals use LLMs to evaluate the quality of results. This means you can iterate orders of magnitude faster, while maintaining human quality results. Objective Evaluations enable you to: - Measure overall performance over different query sets - See your best & worst queries - Find blind spots where results are poor - Compare results between search systems and measure results over time - Use finetuning & other approaches to improve results Try it today: https://lnkd.in/eJUx2zZs Read the blog post: https://lnkd.in/eSe54X5n

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I am seeking a CEO for an exciting and dynamic AI company - email me if you have a lead - [email protected] MIT affiliation Lives in the Boston' ecosystem CS/AI background Former startup founder Some GTM experience More on the company - This company aims to tackle some of the most critical safety concerns facing the AI industry: hallucinations and unreliable outputs. Driven by a team of machine learning experts, This company allows software developers across the globe to address these issues and de-risk AI model outputs. It is able to surgically update the architecture of any AI model within seconds so that it can quantify its own uncertainty. With this any AI model can flag its own mistakes and hallucinations, unlocking AI’s potential across new industries while enabling quality assurance. It makes developing safe AI models significantly faster and more efficient, and facilitates a meaningful reduction in compute costs in a world where AI chips and computing resources are scarce and expensive.  

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Most days, advocating for data dignity in this country feels like a Sisyphean task. Last Friday was not one of those days. We welcomed Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut to the Ketch offices and dove deep into this critical topic that keeps both of us up most nights. Here are some of my takeaways: 🔏 🗽 There has been endless talk about the crisis our democracy currently faces, and the weekend's assassination attempt only underscores the threat. These conversations are necessary and urgent, but an equally critical imperative can too easily get lost in the wash: privacy. Senator Blumenthal and I share the perspective that privacy is not a “nice to have” — it’s a precondition for a functioning and free democracy. ⚙ 🤖 💻 We discussed the perils of data misuse and privacy infringement, and the hubris that Big Tech players bring to their Washington DC conversations. Their stance vacillates wildly between "Trust us, we're handling it" and "We wish we could do something, but you just don't understand how complicated this is." It’s the “it’s too hard” argument that I find uniquely preposterous. Let me get this straight: Big Tech can successfully tune an ad precisely to my location, age, gender, race, sexual orientation, purchase history, browsing history, and intent signals, but honoring specific privacy preferences and choices is just too hard? That’s not just a bad faith argument — it’s a stupid one. 🛣 🛣 Senator Blumenthal and I agreed that SOC2 compliance is an apt example that more robust privacy legislation could follow. SOC2 doesn't require a large regulatory footprint. It's a compliance standard, which is why companies follow it, even if they grumbled a little when it first came online. They adjusted, they integrated, they got over it. Privacy could easily follow that pattern. I’ve become skeptical of our federal government’s ability to attack the privacy perils threatening our democracy and the operation of free, increasingly data-driven markets. Senator Blumenthal’s dogged determination rekindled some of that faith on Friday. Here’s hoping more legislators take a page out of Senator Blumenthal’s book.

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View from the Office. I met Kyle Kazanjian-Amory, CEO and founder of Don't Tell Comedy, at a show he hosted in a loft in New York’s Meatpacking District. Kyle describes Don’t Tell Comedy as a house party for comedians. He launched the company in 2017 when he arranged a performance in a friend’s backyard. Three months later he quit his day job and organized 35 more shows that year. The shows featured little-known comics appearing in unusual locations announced at the last minute. He charged a small amount because he realized it made people more likely to show up. The events were BYOB to reduce the cost and increase the fun. That modest start has morphed into 100 events a week. Growth has been fueled by taping some of the shows and posting content on social media. Kyle said the hardest part about building the business in the beginning and even today is managing the inventory of chairs. Chairs have to be stored somewhere and lugged everywhere. Early on he would pack 60 IKEA Gunde chairs into a Prius and drive from LA to Portland. He jokes that if comedy doesn’t work out they could pivot to be a chair rental company. After graduating from college, Kyle worked briefly as an accountant. He hated it. On the side he was doing stand up; he was frustrated that the shows weren’t more engaging. As he described it on the podcast More of That, shows were held in the same tired venues and required two drinks. Some were held in bars where comics had to compete with football games on TV. It wasn’t fun. His solution was to host shows in smaller, unique sites announced the same day. He picked places ranging from CrossFit gyms to art galleries to barber shops. I attended a show in a loft near 14th street. It was one of the events that Don’t Tell videotaped. That effort started in 2022 with a YouTube channel and has been an accelerant to growth. In two years the channel has ballooned to 1.7 million subscribers. Don’t Tell posts have helped comics develop their own audiences and get discovered by bigger clubs. Kyle said he wants to be known as the brand that discovers talent. I can vouch that Don’t Tell is nothing like other shows I’ve attended. A friend recently took me to the vaunted Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village. We were herded in like livestock through a chute. We had to deposit our phones in sealed plastic pouches. There was the inevitable requirement of two expensive, poorly made drinks. The comics were good, but they would drop in – do their set – and leave. By contrast, the comedians at Don’t Tell lingered after the show. The group included Mason James, Nore Davis, Jay Larson, Rachel Feinstein and Rachel Williams. I listened in as one of them — Mason — shared his experiences with guests. All around us the crew was breaking down and packing away the chairs. Somewhere outside a Prius was probably waiting to take them to the next site. #viewfromoffice

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"Probably the worst decision that I made as CEO of Loudcloud was to take ona. 10-year lease with a $30M letter of credit. We leased the space right before the dot-com crash. Rents dropped 10-fold in Menlo Park... worse yet, due to the recession, we couldn't hire so the space we already had was sufficient and we never ended up moving into the new building. So I basically lost $30M for nothing." This is from Ben Horowitz's recent interview with Big Think. Even a quarter century ago the typical office lease construct is misaligned with how a company needs to operate. Our industry could get away with this when office spaces had a monopoly on how and where work got done, but those days are dead. As global markets are crashing, we'll be looking at another disruptive cycle for businesses which will create more cost cutting pressure and the first thing to go when they roll will be inflexible leases. CRE needs to develop new offerings and fast. https://lnkd.in/ePuZgzkU

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We're hiring again 🫢 Team member # 6! This time, a Northeastern co-op. Hiring a co-op is so full-circle👇🏽 Having gone to Northeastern University and having done two co-ops there, I've spent my fair share of time on NUworks (the job listing software). Opening NUworks used to feel like opening a treasure box. Every time I'd open the software, I felt like I was going through different futures that I could have with every new job posting I saw. I'd spend time dreaming of moving to NYC or LA and working at a cool company for six months. And now I'm super grateful to be on the employer side and be able to offer an opportunity to join our small team in NYC for 6 months. We're a Northeastern company at our core, having had all first 4 team members at Alia graduating in 2023 from NEU. Being able to post on NUworks fills my heart with joy, excitement, and a super optimistic view of the future as we've been seeing some great applications come in already. Feel free to share this post with anyone at NEU that you think could be a good fit. Here's what we're looking for: Skills - Experience in design with an interest in creating bespoke mock-ups for high-ticket clients. - Strong communication skills, with the ability to clearly convey ideas and present design concepts to clients and team members. - Ability to quickly grasp and adapt to client-specific requirements, translating feedback into actionable design updates. - Strong time management skills, capable of balancing multiple projects and meeting deadlines. - Basic understanding of CSS. (good to have!) Personal Qualities: - Creative thinker with an eye for detail and an appreciation for high-quality design. - Eagerness to take initiative and to contribute new ideas. - Flexibility and adaptability in a fast-paced, evolving work environment. - Problem-solver with a proactive approach to overcoming challenges and finding solutions. - Strong desire to learn and grow in a startup setting, especially in client engagement and design. -- Can't wait to welcome team member # 6 soon ❤️

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A federal appeals court has upheld a law mandating that must divest its U.S. operations by January 19, 2025, or face a nationwide ban. This decision stems from national security concerns regarding data access by the Chinese government. Ecommerce - get ready. 🧞‍♀️ Brands heavily reliant on TikTok must pivot quickly. Beauty and Wellness... looking at you. 🧞‍♀️TikTok’s loss shows the importance of having a direct line to your customers. Strengthen your CRM, build loyalty programs, and use first-party data to drive personalization. The more you own your audience relationships, the less you’ll depend on volatile platforms. See me for better DTC strategies obsessed with customer experience. 🧞‍♀️Creators will also pivot, seeking new ways to engage and monetize. Brands that support influencers in building niche communities—be it through Discord, Patreon, or other platforms could grow. If you don't know what to do, ask Norman Chu

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Some interesting proposals regarding tips for delivery drivers in New York. --- "Now, City Councilman Shaun Abreu (D-Manhattan) is set to bring more pain: Convinced that the apps’ changes were an attempt to are retaliate against workers (instead of an effort not to sink under the new laws), he’s introduced two bills that would 1) require apps to prompt users to tip before the delivery is made, and 2) set a default minimum suggested tip of 10%, leaving it to customers to notice, and then choose to opt out or manually change the tip amount." --- Link to the full story is in the comments.

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This past month the MGMT Boston Operators Club passed 50 members. I'm so excited that the solution to the problem I've been trying to solve is beginning to take shape.. When I moved back to Boston from SF... I found it really hard to find what *great* startups were building locally Everyone I'd worked with professionally from the past decade was out on the West Coast. My work hadn't traveled very far. It was locked inside of companies and too small a circle of relationships. This is a problem SO many operators deal with. I know it firsthand. And you don't need a solution to either until you really need it! So what are we building? The *best* startup community and set of resources for who & what is here and what makes Boston a great startup town A dedicated way to build relationships outside of your day to day job A content distribution lever that grows every single week A network extension of awesome VC partners (more to say here later!) that will be leveraging our community for help with their prospects & portfolio companies I think if you're an emerging leader who plans to build a long career in startups in Boston... You'd be crazy not to join. Life comes at you fast. A lot changes in <2 years!!

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Explore the List of Startups Funded in #Massachusetts. You can access the comprehensive list of #Massachusetts-funded startups at any time. Link to the list https://lnkd.in/dPJm_jx4 #startup #startups #vc #venturecapital #investmentbanking #privateequity #managementconsulting #b2b #founders #entrepreneurs

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You've already seen the data from Edmunds. For the sake of this post, we will call it 'Market Based Unaffordability' where 17.4% of consumers in Q3 financed a new vehicle at over $1,000 per month. What's even more disturbing is the 18.4% of loans that are 84-months, which is sure to "weld the customer into the vehicle" due to inequity (famous phrase from Robert Hollenshead). Are things actually getting better with rate cuts? No. Carmatic data is showing many makes and models are actually increasing rates as we close out October. You can see in the image below, the average best deal APR is creeping back up. Perhaps this is how the OEMs intend to regain some of the incentive dollars they've promoted throughout the month. Are OEM incentives going to change the course? So far, not even close. Some OEMs are sort of playing along (like Stellantis), but most others aren't. OEMs need to turbo charge incentives. Instead we see them robbing Peter to pay Paul. Incentives go up, rates go up. Incentives down, rates down. Or at least that seems to be a recent trend. It's almost irrational to watch some of the incentivized rates, like Nissan Motor Corporation's (up to) 36 month loan for 0% APR. If they understood the data, they would know that the majority of consumers can't afford loans that are less than 60 months anyways (nearly 70% are over 60 months per Edmunds). Wouldn't a couple thousand incentive dollars on the hood be more appealing? So then, is it just going to be left to the dealers to adjust prices and make deals? Maybe, but that's not a winning strategy at the macro level. I saw any interesting post from Ramp and Car Dealership Guy that said almost 50% of car dealers are using vAuto by Cox Automotive. That's great... except that means half of the market is using the same pricing strategy. With growing inventory counts and the same strategy as the guy down the road... how will you stand out? Here's a thought: In many cases, Dealers know their customer, their affordability profile and frequently, what vehicle they are in. The data lives in the DMS and CRM. What if we targeted individuals with a personalized and affordable payment on a new(er) vehicle that fits their budget?  What if we did this at scale? It's a very real strategy for attacking the market. Instead of carpet bombing consumers at the make-model level based on lackluster lead data, let's talk about Market Based Affordability and how you can start targeting your next customers with VIN specific payment offers. It goes without saying, advertising units with real payments do indeed perform better. Learn more about Market Based Affordability here: https://lnkd.in/g5HYbTpr Source: https://lnkd.in/gZ4s6qFd

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I had a 30-minute meeting with Daniel Saks, co-founder and CEO of Landbase.com. He discussed their Agentic AI product for Sales and marketing, specifically the GTM-1 Omni solution. He also touched on the opportunities available for AI and ML engineers. This conversation likely gave insight into how their AI technology transforms go-to-market strategies and the growing demand for talent in AI and machine learning fields. Daniel Saks discusses the evolution of Landbase’s Agentic AI, its applications in sales and marketing, and the challenges faced in leveraging AI for lead generation. Highlights 🌍 Daniel Saks shares his entrepreneurial journey from a family furniture business to co-founding AppDirect and Landbase. 🤖 Landbase utilizes Agentic AI to intelligently automate go-to-market strategies for businesses. 📈 The Agentic AI market is predicted to be five times larger than the current SaaS market in the next 10-15 years. 🔍 Landbase offers insights through a Digital Trust Score, helping businesses improve their credibility. 📊 Their AI model has been trained on extensive data, optimizing lead generation and conversion strategies. 📚 Landbase provides a suite of products including outbound, nurture, and inbound solutions for effective lead management. 💪 The importance of assembling a skilled team and the challenges of data scarcity in AI development were highlighted. Key Insights 🌟 Transformative Potential of Agentic AI: Agentic AI represents a significant shift in how businesses approach lead generation, enabling them to automate and optimize strategies effectively. This could redefine market dynamics. 📊 Market Growth Prediction: The potential growth of the Agentic AI market suggests that startups can disrupt traditional software markets by offering innovative solutions. This emphasizes the need for adaptive business models. 🔑 Importance of Credibility: The Digital Trust Score reveals that a strong digital presence and credibility are crucial for successful marketing campaigns. This insight underlines the significance of brand reputation in lead generation. 💡Data-Driven Decision Making: The success of Landbase’s AI model relies on extensive data training, highlighting the necessity of having quality data for effective AI applications in businesses. 🛠️ AI Product Suite: Landbase’s offerings—outbound, nurture, and inbound solutions—illustrate a comprehensive approach to lead management, catering to various stages of the sales funnel. 🌍 Global Talent Scarcity: The challenges in finding skilled talent for AI development indicate a competitive landscape, suggesting that companies should invest in talent development and training. 🚀 Entrepreneurial Spirit: Saks encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to leverage the current era of technological advancement, emphasizing that great companies can emerge from anywhere with the right vision and conviction. #landbase #agenticai #ai #GTM #danielsaks #srinivasanramanujam

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Here's an update on the Byword x Causal gen-AI spam experiment... I've had a few people reach out recently about the latest marketing from the gen-AI spam platform Byword... If you aren't familiar, Byword helps companies blindly pump out insane numbers of pages aimed at search terms (like 5k to 50k pages). Their flagship case study was with fintech Causal, who initially saw a massive traffic lift to 400,000 visitors per month(!) and then a brutal drop to 2,000 visits per month 📉 😱 Last week it was interesting to see Causal delete thousands of pages created by Byword's spam engine—assumedly in attempts to get back in Google's good graces and win some traffic back. What do you think, will this effort improve Causal's organic traffic? Or is their domain doomed for life and they'll have to rebrand and start from scratch?

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Are you in town for Generative AI World 2024 in Boston? Say hi at Woodstock - AI Woodstock, that is. Link below #ai #genai

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Apply now to get a coveted spot for the Venture Lane B2B Pitch Night Event! 🚀 🥇 On November 19th, Venture Lane | Startup Hub is hosting our exclusive Pitch Night 👉 - a rare opportunity for Boston's B2B tech founders to tune their pitch and get in front of awesome mentors, investors, and industry leaders. ⏰ Apply by November 1st to secure your spot! 📲 Find the application link in the comments below. #B2BTech #Startups #Fundraising #BostonStartups #PitchNight #VentureLaneStudio

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