Startup Grind NYC

Join us back in Brooklyn at The Yard: Greenpoint for the May edition of Startup (Coffee) Grind on Wednesday, May 1.

This midday gathering for early-stage founders and stakeholders is a chance to ditch your work-from-home routine and engage with fellow makers and builders.

Free to attend. Swing by anytime between 11:00am and 1:00pm to chat with peers over coffee and a bite to eat. ☕🍩

You'll have a chance to meet members of the Startup Grind team and other entrepreneurial connections. 

No agenda or speakers. Just casual coffee and conversation with peers to share insights, experiences, and strategies for building your idea. 💡

Our hosts at The Yard are offering a free day pass for attendees who want to stick around and get work done in the afternoon.

To get in the right mindset, read Andrew Yeung's recent piece: The Art of the Coffee Chat

And remember to register for our upcoming fireside chats with experienced founders and investors.

Agenda

11:00 AM: Come-and-go coffee chats with fellow entrepreneurs

An informal community gathering for founders, investors, small business entrepreneurs, and regional economic development leaders to connect and grow our ecosystem.

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Hosted By

Joshua Ness, Director, Startup Grind NYC

Joshua Ness is the Director at Startup Grind NYC and is a Director of Emerging Technologies with IEEE. He works with enterprise, startups, and academic teams to drive innovation. He also works to educate, inspire, and connect the dots for businesses interested in moving forward with emerging technology.

Tova Feldheim, Cofounder

Adrian Plesca, CEO

Based in Manhattan, with a unique global experience. Tech founder with one exit; Freelance Management Consultant; Early believer and enabler with 10+ success stories (Bili, Bloomcoding, Renter). Startup mentor across tech acceleration programs (Dreamups & Meander). Currently building a workflow generic startup aimed at enhancing enterprise productivity.

Previously developed: a GreenTech startup that recycles & upcycles waste plastics to cool sustainable products - https://bit.ly/3LfzUE6; foodtech platform in Istanbul, Turkey; consulting tech product; Traveltech product; market research agency and other cool products. Enabled: ridesharing, edtech, insurtech, HRtech.

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Global Partner

Dell Technologies (https://partners.startupgrind.com/dell-technologies/)
Partnering with Dell from the start will allow you to save money in the short and long-term. Dell can provide any product you need, from one computer to an entire enterprise solution, allowing you to get all your hardware and software needs without having to switch from company to company.

Partner

The Yard (https://theyard.com/)
The Yard is a coworking space at the intersection of innovation, creativity, design, & play -- with locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Philly, and DC -- with a variety of shared and private workspace options.

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Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs. We host monthly events in more than 600 cities and 125+ countries featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators and investors who share personal stories and lessons learned on the road to building great companies. Our monthly fireside chat interviews, startup mixers and annual conferences provide ample opportunities to connect with amazing startups and the people behind them, tap into a strong support network, form meaningful connections and gain inspiration for the startup journey ahead. For more information visit StartupGrind.com or follow us on twitter @StartupGrind.

Complete your event RSVP here: https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-new-york-city-presents-startup-coffee-grind-at-the-yard-greenpoint/.

Remember when pitching was fun? No battles or competitions, no celebrity VCs, no make-or-break stress.

We're bringing back low-pressure pitch events for early-stage startups that just need to get their ideas out into the world and hear constructive feedback from fellow founders in the trenches. So join us for an afternoon of innovation, networking, and camaraderie with Pitches and Pints. 🍻

Hosted in collaboration with The Yard coworking community, this event offers a platform for startups to share ideas, gather feedback, and connect with fellow founders.

📅 Date: Thursday, May 16
🕓 Time: 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
📍 Venue: The Yard: Herald Square
📑 Register: Sign up here to pitch

Begin with happy hour drinks while mingling with fellow founders and members of The Yard. The spotlight soon shifts to five emerging startups who will take the stage to pitch their visions. 

This is not a competition -- it's an opportunity for founders to showcase their projects, exchange insights, and receive constructive feedback from founder peers.

Whether you're a startup enthusiast, an industry professional, or a curious mind, Pitches and Pints will be an engaging and inspiring afternoon to celebrate entrepreneurship, foster connections, and toast the spirit of innovation.

Our hosts at The Yard are offering a free day pass for attendees who arrive early and want to cowork before the event. Just tell the front desk you're there for Pitches and Pints happening later.

PITCH FORMAT

Pitch - 5 minutes
Audience Q&A - 5 minutes
Pitch deck is required

Our longtime friend Mike Wilner, previously from the Startup Team at AWS, shares advice below on the art of pitching and the deck:

Keep your narrative crisp
Be opinionated and non-obvious
Make sure there's an "oh shit" moment, and convey that it will be a venture-scale business
Frame progress in terms of what you've actually figured out -- don't jump to arbitrary KPIs

Additionally, he advises that your fundraising narrative should be a concise, memorable explanation of what you're building, why you're fundraising, and why someone should invest. It should answer 5 questions:

What are you building?
Why will you win?
How have you de-risked your business so far?
How will you de-risk your business in the near future?
What will the future look like if you're successful?

For examples of previously successful pitch decks referenced by Mike Wilner, click here and here.

MEET THE STARTUPS

Coming soon!

Agenda

4:00 PM: Happy Hour w/ The Yard

5:00 PM: Startup Pitches and Audience Q&A

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Hosted By

Joshua Ness, Director, Startup Grind NYC

Joshua Ness is the Director at Startup Grind NYC and is a Director of Emerging Technologies with IEEE. He works with enterprise, startups, and academic teams to drive innovation. He also works to educate, inspire, and connect the dots for businesses interested in moving forward with emerging technology.

Tova Feldheim, Cofounder

Adrian Plesca, CEO

Based in Manhattan, with a unique global experience. Tech founder with one exit; Freelance Management Consultant; Early believer and enabler with 10+ success stories (Bili, Bloomcoding, Renter). Startup mentor across tech acceleration programs (Dreamups & Meander). Currently building a workflow generic startup aimed at enhancing enterprise productivity.

Previously developed: a GreenTech startup that recycles & upcycles waste plastics to cool sustainable products - https://bit.ly/3LfzUE6; foodtech platform in Istanbul, Turkey; consulting tech product; Traveltech product; market research agency and other cool products. Enabled: ridesharing, edtech, insurtech, HRtech.

Jenny Sumeragi, CEO & Founder, JS Global Investment

Ami Berger, VP of Happy Hours

Valencia Tong, Global Board Member and Marketing Lead

Alex Koshykov, Events Team

Journeying back to 2016, I planted a pioneering seed as a co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of BeKey LLC. Over these years, BeKey evolved into a dynamic entity, deeply rooted in the domains of software and hardware development. It's an American-registered company, headquartered in Israel and a development center in Ukraine.

Also, actively working on building a few products on my own.
Have a blog on YouTube about digital health: https://www.youtube.com/c/BeKey-Hub

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Global Partner

Dell Technologies (https://partners.startupgrind.com/dell-technologies/)
Partnering with Dell from the start will allow you to save money in the short and long-term. Dell can provide any product you need, from one computer to an entire enterprise solution, allowing you to get all your hardware and software needs without having to switch from company to company.

Partner

The Yard (https://theyard.com/)
The Yard is a coworking space at the intersection of innovation, creativity, design, & play -- with locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Philly, and DC -- with a variety of shared and private workspace options.

---

Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs. We host monthly events in more than 600 cities and 125+ countries featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators and investors who share personal stories and lessons learned on the road to building great companies. Our monthly fireside chat interviews, startup mixers and annual conferences provide ample opportunities to connect with amazing startups and the people behind them, tap into a strong support network, form meaningful connections and gain inspiration for the startup journey ahead. For more information visit StartupGrind.com or follow us on twitter @StartupGrind.

Complete your event RSVP here: https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-new-york-city-presents-pitches-and-pints-startup-grind-happy-hour-showcase-may/.