Ben Aronowicz’s Post

Many first-founders of tech start-ups think they should hire a COO. They are wrong. Find out what they should do instead by watching this short clip. --- midstage.org - Facilitating velocity for founding tech teams.

📣 Early stage tech founders – just a couple weeks left to get your applications in for your chance to receive a $1M INVESTMENT from AlleyCorp! Learn more and Apply at peerlesspitch.com. Why it's so valuable to have AlleyCorp on your cap table? Founded by long-time New York internet entrepreneur Kevin Ryan, AlleyCorp founds and invests in transformative companies in New York and across the world. Responsible for building and investing in some of the earliest and most iconic tech companies in New York, including MongoDB (NASDAQ: MDB), Business Insider, Gilt Groupe, and Zola, we are proud to sit at the center of a robust and growing tech ecosystem. #Investmentopportunity #techfounders #pitchcompetition

✨ What We Didn’t Say at SF Tech Week ✨ I joined Austin Hughes 🤝 Unify, Han Wang Mintlify, and Robert Eng Pylon at their new office to talk about our Series A journey during SF Tech Week (Big fan of the socks + flip flops Robert!). It was a fantastic panel discussion about milestones, pre-empted rounds, and the shiny highlights of building and scaling startups. BUT here’s what we didn’t cover: How to expedite VC due diligence—and why it's key to 'get back to building' ASAP 💡. • Protect your customers: Centralize references. If VCs start using expert networks like Tegus to contact your customers without your consent, ask them to push back. We've done it. • Stay in control: Share sensitive info only when necessary—and on your timeline. • Move fast: Create urgency by running a competitive process. Tight timelines keep everyone motivated. And stating the obvious: • Data matters: Share key metrics *but* above all add metrics that matter to you (Lago is open-source, so community engagement were key as well!), and make it visual—clean dashboards > spreadsheets. 📄 Want a one-pager summarizing these tips? Drop a comment below, and I’ll share it with you! Thanks again to Pylon for hosting and huge thanks to Yoko Li for being an amazing moderator and keeping the conversation insightful and engaging!

Final call! PEERLESS applications close Friday, December 6th! We’re searching nationwide for early-stage tech founders bold enough to build businesses no one else can.The journey culminates in a $1M pitch competition at Google’s NYC headquarters, but it’s so much more than that. All applicants gain access to exclusive programming, including fireside chats with founders who’ve scaled to the very top. Submit your application now to secure your spot in these extraordinary conversations... 🔥 Wendy Tsu, Founder of Branch Care - Breaking into uncharted markets. 🔥 Lisa Lewin, Partner at Primary, Ex CEO General Assembly - The power of inspirational leadership to motivate and guide your team. 🔥 Jeffrey De Flavio, MD, Founder of 10+ healthcare companies - Accelerating growth with high-impact GTM strategies. 🔥 Norma Chu, Founder of DayDayCook - Concept to IPO from one of the 40 women to achieve it. 🔥 Cesar Herrera, Founder of Yuvo Health - The art of building an influential network from scratch.  🔥 Gil Addo, Founder of RubiconMD - Navigating different acquisition pathways. Thank you to our lead partners: J.P. Morgan, Google, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, and Citrin Cooperman, as well as our vast group of supports: Primary Venture Partners, Flybridge, Harlem Capital, L'ATTITUDE VENTURES, VamosVentures, Level Up Ventures, 645 Ventures, HearstLab, Tech:NYC, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Shout out to Scale Venture Partners for last week’s GTM Summit. The Pipeline & DemandGen Council was time well spent.  A “we’re all in this together” sense of camaraderie, sharing struggles and hot-buttons, generating ideas and cross-pollinating strategies and tactics to test. I’ll blatantly plagiarize David Dulany of Tenbound - he nicely summed up one of the presentations with this comment: Especially interesting was a presentation by Scale VC's on the current effects of the macro economy on the start-up ecosystem. Short answer- it's brutal out there. You can play around with the benchmarks here https://lnkd.in/gme76SR2 It's a "back to basics" year in B2B: - Invest in your ICP - Visibility into what’s happening is just as important as making it happen - Analyze what’s happening and find the patterns - If Marketing & Sales aren’t aligned… don’t expect good things to happen

We talk a lot about what to do leading up to a pitch, and less about life after Pitch Day 🤔 While pitch competitions can be monumental milestones, the steps you take after can be just as important! Here's what small business owners and tech startups can do after a pitch competition to keep their business moving forward post-pitch day: Am I missing anything? --- More insights available on floreolabs.org/insights This month we'll be diving into the topic of hiring and product teams 🚀

Day 1 of #Startupfest was an absolute blast! It was a painless experience getting into the venue, with many familiar faces and fantastic new technology on display. I am taken with just how many of these companies are rocking the impact space, focusing on real-world problems that affect us all. From streamlining the electrification of vehicles(Kiwi Charge) to tracking whales by imagery (Whale Seeker) and just efficiently growing mushrooms with AI to support a new alternative materials push (Mycro Harvest). Half of us are running around with Bopaq's genius washable and reusable food containers, and it's fantastic. Not only are they doing the hard work, but many are thriving in it! Coming away from the convention center today reminded me of a core reason why I love Profitual: we support founders in running healthy businesses, and when we can do it for companies like those above, we are contributing to their mission of making a difference! After lunch, we spent some time digging into the Hardtech space. Profitual was initially designed for SaaS since it was a market we understood intimately, but we left plenty of room to extend into other verticals. We're starting to dive deep into that need, and some afternoon sessions got the gears turning. If you're a Hardtech startup with an active product in the market and at the convention, I would love to take a few minutes to drill into how we can better support you guys. Drop me a note on LinkedIn, and let's chat! How do you follow that whirlwind day? By dropping into Google for their Founder Happy Hour! Being in a Google office on its own was a bucket-list thing for me, but the people we had the chance to chat with last night were all equally amazing. It was also wonderful to catch up with fellow Next AI cohort members and program fellows, including Nadhir Khayati, Extra Junior Laguerre, and Tarek Al Shawa. I appreciate everyone taking the time to chat; the vibe was infectious. On to Day 2! PS: If you're looking for lunch off-site, QDC Burger was a fantastic spot. It had a great vibe, fantastic food, and a whole lot of charm. Check it out! #ImpactTech #HardTech #Networking #INeverKnowWhatToTag

We’re joining NY Tech Week for a second year, this June. It’s a panel discussion with Q+A. Bring your questions and insights. If you are experienced in BD / Corp Dev / M&A / Distressed Assets / PE: What are you seeing in the market in 2024 and how will this change in 2025? What are common mistakes that founders and investors make, and how to avoid them? If you are a founder: How do you plan for selling your startup at a successful exit or at a distressed price? If you are an investor as an angel / emerging manager / VC / PE / secondaries: What do you do to best support your founders? Last year, we had 50 seats and 500 people sign up. We are very grateful to have your interest in joining our conversation this year. https://lu.ma/4950c6z2

📣 Excited to share that Alex Janeck will be discussing innovative banking solutions with Mercury! 🏦 Efficient financial management is vital, and integrating smart banking with accounting can make all the difference. Looking forward to the insights from this session.

Just wrapped up my first week at TechStars. Peel is part of the Techstars Anywhere program, which typically receives the most applications due to its hybrid structure—some travel, but primarily virtual. We’re honored to have been selected. Week 1 took place in sunny San Diego, where we stayed in beautiful La Jolla and worked from the Cooley campus. It was awesome! The first week focused on foundational topics: investor introductions, customer discovery, financial modeling basics, investor updates, and other core knowledge. While helpful, much of it felt like a refresher, as we’ve been in GTM leadership roles for several years. That said, it’s great to have the basics laid out so we can dive into more nuanced strategies to accelerate our growth. What stood out to me most was getting to know the other businesses. I didn’t fully appreciate the value of peer groups when deciding to join Techstars. Initially, we joined for the prestige and network, but what’s become even more valuable is the connections and support from the other founding teams. Watching their demos and hearing their stories was inspiring. It was great to meet fellow founders like Hector Nícola Laborín, Abishek Stanley, Chloe Burles, Damilare D. Fagbemi, and Austin Carroll Our pitch went really well, and because "Customer Discovery" is a core use case for Peel, many companies in the cohort have expressed interest in using our platform! We wrapped up an incredible week with a harbor tour of San Diego.