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Miami, Florida, United States
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Articles by Jose
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Freshdeal featured at Web Summit this week
Freshdeal featured at Web Summit this week
Called “Glastonbury for geeks” by the The Guardian, the "best tech conference on the planet” (Forbes); “Davos for…
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Freshdeal featured at Web Summit this weekNov 5, 2017
Freshdeal featured at Web Summit this week
Called “Glastonbury for geeks” by the The Guardian, the "best tech conference on the planet” (Forbes); “Davos for…
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Freshdeal featured at TechCrunch DisruptSFSep 26, 2017
Freshdeal featured at TechCrunch DisruptSF
Really proud and excited after a very productive week in San Francisco! Watch the video feature published by…
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Freshdeal and Fruitspot join forcesSep 26, 2017
Freshdeal and Fruitspot join forces
Spanish company Freshdeal has merged with New York City-based Fruitspot to expand its efforts to connect fresh produce…
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Introducing Fruitspot.comSep 26, 2016
Introducing Fruitspot.com
Press release Introducing Fruitspot – A faster, real-time platform to trade fresh products VIDEO: Fruitspot experience…
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Fruitspot appoints head of innovationJul 20, 2016
Fruitspot appoints head of innovation
Original story here Online fresh produce platform hires Brent Erenwert as its new director of innovation. Fruitspot…
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Fruitspot appoints innovation headJul 20, 2016
Fruitspot appoints innovation head
Original story here Online fresh produce platform hires Brent Erenwert as its new director of innovation Fruitspot, the…
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Brent Erenwert founder of Produce Universe and President of Brothers Produce joins Fruitspot as Director of InnovationJul 19, 2016
Brent Erenwert founder of Produce Universe and President of Brothers Produce joins Fruitspot as Director of Innovation
Original story here NEW YORK AND HOUSTON ― July, 2016 ― Fruitspot.com announced today that Brent Erenwert, President of…
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Dust up your Chinese: learn more about our upcoming launch in FreshPlaza China 读到果斑这里Jul 6, 2016
Dust up your Chinese: learn more about our upcoming launch in FreshPlaza China 读到果斑这里
Click here for original article 鲜农产品在线交易平台下月上线 Fruitspot.com…
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Fruitspot set to launch next month - News coverage from Freshplaza.comJun 16, 2016
Fruitspot set to launch next month - News coverage from Freshplaza.com
Online marketplace for fresh produce set to launch next month Fruitspot.com is an online marketplace designed to…
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6K followers
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Jose Baptista shared thisGreat article by Christopher Everett. Worth the wuick read to get a different perspective on what’s worth doing if you run your own business.
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Jose Baptista shared thisBoring Beats Brilliant “The real revolution isn’t making machines think. It’s making them boring enough that nobody has to think about them.” Sometimes the boring thing erases a week of work and a few thousand in costs. I’ve missed that sometimes, too busy spotting the “tells” or glitches in AI output, instead of noticing the time, money, and mind space it just gave back. That doesn’t erase the harder questions about jobs, skills, and what’s worth keeping human. It’s not about ignoring those. It’s about being honest that both the benefits and the costs are real, and we’ll have to navigate them at the same time.
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Jose Baptista reposted thisJose Baptista reposted thisHow does AI sound in Spanish? 🇲🇽🇪🇸🇦🇷🇨🇴🇨🇱🇵🇪🇻🇪🇨🇺🇩🇴🇺🇾🇵🇷🇧🇴🇨🇷 Alena Llopis and I have been exploring how AI interprets Spanish language, across so many different accents, from so many Spanish-speaking countries. It wasn’t easy. Capturing the nuance, the tone, the emotion... Making it feel real — both in how it’s spoken and how it’s expressed on screen — was a real challenge. We wanted the delivery to feel human. The voices to carry identity. And the visuals to reflect how Spanish truly lives: not as one sound, but as many. This is a small experiment in voice, culture, and machine learning. Here’s how Spanish sounds (through AI.) #AIvideo #AICreativity #VoiceAI #multilingualAI #SpanishAI #ContentCreation #AIStorytelling #MadeWithAI
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Jose Baptista reposted thisJose Baptista reposted thisHow many small business owners have said this? "I'll get to marketing... next week. Next month. When things slow down." 84% of small business owners work over 50 hours a week, and marketing keeps getting pushed to the bottom of the pile. Here's the time trap: You're the CEO, CFO, head of sales, customer service rep, and janitor. Marketing feels like "one more thing" on an endless to-do list. So you either: • Do it yourself at 11pm (poorly) • Hire the cheapest freelancer on Fiverr (you get what you pay for) • Let your cousin's friend handle your social media (really?) The result? Fragmented, inconsistent marketing that confuses customers more than it converts them. The brutal reality: 78% of small businesses that fail cite "lack of market demand" as the reason. Translation: nobody knew they existed because marketing was always "next week's priority." Meanwhile, your competitors who treat marketing strategically are eating your lunch. The fix isn't more time—it's better systems. Instead of doing marketing piecemeal, you need frameworks that work even when you're swamped. Strategy that guides every freelancer, every post, every campaign. At Flint, we build marketing systems that run without you. Human-Powered AI creates the strategy; you (or your team) execute the plan. Great marketing doesn't require more hours. It requires better thinking. Ready to stop treating marketing like a side hustle? Take our Strategic Marketing Assessment—get the system that works while you work. #SmallBusiness #MarketingStrategy #TimeManagement #Branding #Strategy Co-founded by Jose Baptista (ex-Google & Nike) and Dustin Gladwell (Combat Veteran, Award-winning Creative Director)
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Jose Baptista reposted thisJose Baptista reposted this"So... what exactly does your business do?" If you stumble through that answer, you're not alone. 67% of small businesses struggle to explain their value in 30 seconds or less. The messaging crisis is real: • Average website bounce rate for small businesses: 58% • Only 37% of customers can recall what a brand stands for after visiting their website • Businesses with clear, consistent messaging see 23% more revenue growth Here's what broken messaging sounds like: "We're a full-service solutions provider that leverages cutting-edge technology to deliver innovative strategies and exceptional results for our diverse client base across multiple industries." Translation: "We do stuff for people and it's good." The three-part test: Can you clearly answer: 1) What do you do? (In 10 words or less) 2) For whom? (Be specific, not "everyone") 3) Why does it matter? (What changes for them?) Bad example: "We provide comprehensive digital marketing services." Good example: "We help local restaurants fill empty tables using targeted Facebook ads." See the difference? One is vague corporate speak. The other tells you exactly who benefits and how. The cost of confusion: When customers can't quickly understand your value, they bounce. When they bounce, they buy from competitors who speak clearly. At Flint, our Strategic Marketing Assessment includes a messaging clarity audit — because you can't grow what people don't understand. Ready to stop confusing customers and start converting them? #SmallBusiness #Messaging #MarketingStrategy #Clarity #Branding Co-founded by Jose Baptista (ex-Google & Nike) and Dustin Gladwell (Combat Veteran, Award-winning Creative Director)
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Jose Baptista reposted thisJose Baptista reposted thisDoes this marketing strategy sound familiar? "We're on TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, and just launched our podcast. Nothing's working." Welcome to Shiny Object Syndrome — the growth killer disguised as hustle. The data is maybe a little bit surprising: • 68% of small businesses use 5+ marketing channels simultaneously • 45% of small businesses have no documented marketing strategy at all • Most can't clearly articulate their marketing strategy beyond "we post on social media" • Businesses focusing on 1-2 channels see 70% better ROI than those spreading across many Here's what's really happening: Without clear strategy, every new trend feels like the missing piece. AI tools? Must have. New social platform? Jump on it. Latest marketing hack? Try it immediately. You're throwing spaghetti at the wall, hoping something sticks. But spaghetti marketing doesn't work — it just makes a mess. The real problem: You're treating symptoms, not the disease. The disease is lack of strategic foundation. No clear positioning. No defined target audience. No understanding of where your customers actually spend time. So you chase every shiny object, dilute your message across platforms, confuse your market, and wonder why nothing gains traction. The cure: Strategy before tactics. At Flint, we help you answer the fundamental questions first: Who are you serving? Where do they hang out? What message will make them stop scrolling? Then — and only then — do you choose the right tools and channels. Focus beats frequency. Every time. Ready to stop chasing trends and start building strategy? #SmallBusiness #MarketingStrategy #SocialMedia #Branding Co-founded by Jose Baptista (ex-Google & Nike) and Dustin Gladwell (Combat Veteran, Award-winning Creative Director)
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Jose Baptista reposted thisJose Baptista reposted this"We help businesses succeed through innovative solutions and exceptional service." If that sounds like your value proposition, you have no value proposition. It's also... the same weak sauce value prop from thousands of other companies, too. The brutal data: • 64% of consumers can't differentiate between competing brands in most categories • Companies with clear positioning see 23% faster revenue growth than those without • 73% of small businesses say "standing out from competitors" is their biggest challenge Yet most businesses describe themselves in the same generic terms as everyone else. They lack differentiation, and something ownable or unique. Here's what happens when positioning is unclear: Your sales conversations become price battles (which is usually a race to the bottom). Your marketing gets ignored. Customers choose competitors for reasons you don't understand. Growth stagnates because you're just another option in an endless scroll. The scaling trap: Even successful businesses outgrow their original positioning. What worked at $100K revenue doesn't work at $1M. But most never realign—they just keep pushing the same tired message to bigger markets. Or in some cases, it gets even more generic because scaling often means more work, with less people, and it becomes a function of time and bandwidth. Strong positioning changes everything: Instead of "we're a consulting firm," try "we're the only consultants who guarantee 20% cost reduction in 90 days or we work for free." One is forgettable. The other is impossible to ignore. Clear positioning isn't just marketing. It's competitive AND comparative advantage. And as we love to say... "if you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck." Ready to stop blending in? Try our Strategic Marketing Assessment; it reveals exactly where your positioning breaks down—and how to fix it with frameworks that scale. #SmallBusiness #Positioning #ValueProposition #MarketingStrategy #Branding Co-founded by Jose Baptista (ex-Google & Nike) and Dustin Gladwell (Combat Veteran, Award-winning Creative Director)
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Jose Baptista shared thisWhat happens when you help others? Sometimes they help back. In 1976, Phillip Kunz sent holiday cards to 600 strangers. Handwritten. Personal. He got nearly 200 replies. Letters came back from people he’d never met. Some included family updates. Some had photos. One apologized for taking so long to respond. No CTA optimization. No ask. No offer. Just the act of giving something warm, without expectation. That was enough. Not a coincidence — it’s how we’re wired. Social psychology calls it reciprocity. Biology calls it survival. We build trust by helping. But here's the twist: People feel closer to you after they do you a favor. Not the other way around. It’s called the Ben Franklin effect. And it shows up everywhere — We’ve seen it ourselves these last two weeks. We launched Flint quietly. No ads. No press. Just reaching out to people we respect. Offering help. Asking for some, too. Out of that came momentum we didn’t predict — not just in the U.S., but in the EU, Argentina, and even South East Asia. And I'm biased when I say this, of course, but we're working with some pretty amazing (and fun!) businesses that I can't wait to get permission to share more about. Not because we pushed. Because we gave. And because a few people gave back. So this isn’t a promo. It’s a reminder. If you're stuck, if you're trying to build something — start with one honest favor. Give one. Ask one. Doesn’t matter. And if I can help with something — a warm intro, a gut check, a quick look — send it my way. No pitch. Just help. That’s at the center of "Why" we exist. Flint Strategy Co.
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Jose Baptista shared thisAI needs training data. You need lived experience. That matters — because only one of them has skin in the game. AI can predict the next word based on what it’s seen (and it sees a lot)... But it’s never made a hard choice. Never risked anything. AI can generate options. But it’s never had to live inside the consequences. It doesn’t know the stakes. It’s polished — but never felt regret. It’s fast — but not responsible. It uses the right grammar. But I learned how to use EM lines first. That’s where the human lives. Not in what looks good. In what holds up. Not in the deck. In reality. Not in prompts. In action. You decide. You act. You take the hit if it’s wrong. Flint is human-powered AI that shows you what’s actually holding you back. Gives you clarity grounded in lived consequences — not polished guesses. Helps you diagnose, understand, decide, act, adjust. Talk to a human when it matters. It doesn’t hand you a blueprint. It builds one with you. The intelligence is human. With just enough AI to accelerate the parts that don’t need soul. We help startups get started. We help SMBs unlock growth. Stop spinning. Start choosing. https://lnkd.in/ec_Xt_5n #unlockgrowth #getstarted #startups #SMBs #AI #humansfirst
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Jose Baptista reacted on thisJose Baptista reacted on thisOn Sunday I’ll be running the London Marathon for parkrun. I’m very proud to sit on the Board of this brilliant charity. parkrun is free, community-led, and now active in 23 countries with over 11 million participants, adults and children, runners and walkers. Over 80% report improved physical health, and it’s estimated to save the NHS around £600 million a year. Very few public health interventions deliver that kind of reach, that kind of equity, and that kind of cost benefit. As for me, 6 months ago the most I’d ever run was half of Sunday’s distance. Preparing for this has been a break from hibernating whilst on gardening leave, getting the miles in through all kinds of weather. Training is now just about done, and I’m left feeling a big mix of excitement and nerves! I’m fundraising to help ensure parkrun stays free, weekly, and welcoming for everyone. If you’re in a position to support, I’d be hugely grateful for any contribution: https://lnkd.in/exzbvf2b Your donations won’t just be much-needed added motivation for me, they’ll help parkrun continue to drive these extraordinary health outcomes at scale. And thank you to everyone who’s already donated. It means a great deal and will absolutely help carry me through on Sunday, hopefully all the way to the finish line! Wish me luck! 🧡💚💜Tamara's running the London Marathon 2026 for parkrun Global!Tamara's running the London Marathon 2026 for parkrun Global!
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Jose Baptista liked thisJose Baptista liked thisHonoured to be featured in La Repubblica, this time about how I continue to grow as an artist when the AI tools change so quickly. As AI becomes more embedded in our industry, I'm increasingly interested in one question: How do you build a point of view that outlasts the tool you made it with? so thankful to Gloria and the incredible team at D La Repubblica for this feature. Article below 👇 https://lnkd.in/e2G-cSr6Scorpion Sorbet: come si evolve un’artista quando la tecnologia correScorpion Sorbet: come si evolve un’artista quando la tecnologia corre
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Jose Baptista reacted on thisJose Baptista reacted on thisGrateful to be ranked among the top 50 real estate teams in NYC by The Real Deal — #43 out of every agent across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. When I started my team at SERHANT., the goal was simple: help people make one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives with clarity. We wanted to apply the same strategies and marketing solutions for our Sellers that I learned working on the biggest luxury new developments in the city. These The Real Deal rankings only count sell-side listings that actually closed. Many will list. Not all will trade. This win belongs to every client who trusted us and every deal we fought hard to close. Cheers to an even bigger 2026 🥂 #NYCRealEstate #RealEstateInvesting #WomeninBusiness
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Jose Baptista liked thisA powerful reflection from Scott Galloway stopped me in my tracks. One comment on his post captured something profound: Success is often 10% talent and 90% being in the right room at the right time. Giving back? That’s just paying the “room rent” for the next generation. That idea resonates deeply with me. Because when we look honestly at our journeys, most of us realize something: We didn’t build the mountain alone. Someone opened a door. Someone shared knowledge. Someone invested in a future they might never see. For me, one of those rooms was New York University. 💜 When I began my graduate studies there in 1993, I stepped into a powerful ecosystem of thinkers, creators, researchers, and innovators! Looking back now, I see something clearly: That environment didn’t happen by accident. It exists because generations before us believed in investing in students. In many ways, giving is a form of quantum reciprocity. Energy received. Energy returned. Opportunity expanded forward through time. 🌌 That’s why NYU One Day on March 11 matters. For 24 hours, alumni around the world come together to support scholarships, research, programs, and the opportunities that shape future leaders. Every gift becomes part of something bigger: ✨ Collective impact ✨ Accelerated potential ✨ Dreams made possible Or simply put: Paying the room rent forward. If NYU ever opened a door for you — or if you believe in the power of education to transform lives — I invite you to join me. 💜 Give here early: https://lnkd.in/eTnmZaWw Because somewhere out there is a student about to walk into the room that will change their life. And together, we can help make sure that door is open. 💜 #NYUOneDay #NYU #NYUAlumni #VioletPride #GiveNYU #Leadership #Mentorship #Education #CollectiveImpact #FutureLeaders 💜🎓✨
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Jose Baptista reacted on thisJose Baptista reacted on thisFor most of my career, execution was the moat. If you could design with greater precision, think more structurally or ship with more care than the room, you had leverage. Mastery of the tool created separation. Craft created hierarchy. That hierarchy is eroding. AI has made baseline competence widely available. Interfaces that once required years of refinement can now be assembled in minutes. Campaigns draft before a meeting ends. Code scaffolds itself. Production is no longer the constraint it once was and that changes where advantage lives. As making becomes easy, the differentiator shifts from output to standards. The question is no longer whether something can be produced. It is whether it deserves to exist. When almost anyone can generate something that looks polished, the edge moves upstream toward judgment, restraint and the discipline to choose deliberately. We are about to see an enormous volume of competent work. It will function. It will look refined. Very little of it will endure. The separation will be taste, the discipline to choose, to refuse and to hold a standard over time. I wrote about this shift in a new essay, The Taste Gap. Execution is becoming common. Standards are not.
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Jose Baptista reacted on thisJose Baptista reacted on thisFive months ago, we officially launched our brand in Honduras together with our first service: International Remittances. From day one, our purpose was clear: to simplify financial services and build a solution grounded in trust, accessibility, and simplicity for Hondurans. Since then, we have been relentlessly focused on improving every aspect of our service: expanding our payout network, strengthening partnerships, enhancing customer experience, and optimizing our processes. Today, I’m proud to announce we are expanding our portfolio of products with the launch of 'Envío y Retiro de Dinero', a nationwide solution for sending and withdrawing money. The service is now available at Loto's 2,000+ points of sale across the country. This service was designed by listening closely to families, entrepreneurs, and businesses across Honduras. Moving money locally is part of everyday life and it should be simple, fast, and reliable. With this launch, we are taking another meaningful step in building a more inclusive financial ecosystem. I am incredibly proud of how far we have come in such a short time. What we have achieved in five months reflects the dedication of our team, the strength of our partners, and the trust of our customers. And we are just getting started. We have additional product releases planned for the upcoming year; some improvements to traditional services and others designed to address needs that are not yet fully served in the market. We will continue creating new solutions, new experiences, and new ways to bring greater simplicity and value to the financial lives of Hondurans. Today we celebrate a new service, but most importantly, we celebrate a project that continues to grow to better serve Honduras.
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Jose Baptista liked thisJose Baptista liked thisWe’re thrilled to announce the expansion of the Enfuze platform into the Tampa Bay market! Enfuze Tampa brings our technology-forward outdoor living solutions to Florida homeowners, including: • Uniquely immersive outdoor audio solutions • Backyard & pool-area Wi-Fi • Smart, on-demand, and pesticide-free mosquito control This launch is another step in building Enfuze as a scalable, multi-market platform, pairing strong local operators with Enfuze's product development, manufacturing, distribution, and brand standards. If you’re in the Greater Tampa Bay area, follow along: Web: https://enfuzetampa.com Instagram: https://lnkd.in/gu3kGwdX Facebook: https://lnkd.in/g7navPGJ
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Jose Baptista reacted on thisJose Baptista reacted on thisWe are proud to announce the election of five new members to CHC's National Board of Directors. These distinguished leaders bring a wealth of expertise across healthcare, philanthropy, media, and business to help us further our mission of breaking down barriers to health at the community level. Please join us in welcoming John Burns, Deborah Garcia,Richard Lui, Valerie Simon, Walter D. Woods, MBA Together, we are ensuring that every person in every community has the opportunity to live their healthiest life. Read the full announcement here: http://bit.ly/4aaVvgx
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Jose Baptista reacted on thisJose Baptista reacted on thisTen things my 5-week-old son has taught me about strategy... Just kidding. He’s too busy eating and pooping to be strategic. And hey, maybe strategy is something you’re also having a hard time focusing on right now. When things are moving quickly, it can be tough to take a step back and look at the big picture. But the longer you go without updating your strategic thinking, the less impactful it will be. If your brand is at an inflection point and needs some accelerated thinking, Quick Study is the strategic catalyst you’re looking for. Our collaborative process has worked for adidas, Tito’s, Sonos, Jdate, GoDaddy, and more because it helps leaders make smarter decisions faster. My 5-week-old son might not be very strategic right now, but he’s got an excuse. What’s yours? https://quick.study/
Experience & Education
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Flint Strategy Co.
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Licenses & Certifications
Publications
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Exploring Strategic Choices For Streaming Services
Havas
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Boosting returns on experience with leadership, customer, and employee experience
PwC Strategy+Business
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Digital Capabilities Profiler
PwC
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Realizing a Value Proposition Through Technology and Innovation
PwC
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Return on Experience (ROX) leaders outperform on both growth and profitability
PwC Strategy+Business
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Strategic Innovation in the Digital Age
PwC Strategy+Business
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The Future of Value Creation: IP vs. Open Source Innovation
PwC Strategy+Business
Honors & Awards
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Featured by TechCrunch editors on the Showcase Stage at Disrupt SF 2017 as one of the most promising e-commerce early stage startups.
TechCrunch
Featured by TechCrunch editors on the Showcase Stage at Disrupt SF 2017 as one of the most promising e-commerce early stage startups.
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Recognized by the United Nations as a disruptive partner to reduce food waste
United Nations
Languages
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English
Native or bilingual proficiency
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Spanish
Native or bilingual proficiency
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Portuguese
Native or bilingual proficiency
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Portuguese
Native or bilingual proficiency
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Spanish
Native or bilingual proficiency
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English
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As a board advisor, I’ve seen this pattern play out all too often: small to mid-sized technology businesses getting into real trouble not because of a bad product or a broken market, but because the executive team underestimates the importance of effective board communication and board relationship management. A business model pivot is one of the most critical and fragile periods in a company's life. Even in such high-stakes situations, I have witnessed executive teams mismanaging their board relationships, with expensive consequences for financial and human capital. I saw a profitable, cash-flow-positive SaaS business try to move from B2C to B2B, having already: • redirected resources • shifted management attention • started execution …all before the board had been properly engaged and crucially without a business plan. The initiative was blocked. Trust and goodwill were burned. The executive team had to go back to the drawing board, develop a detailed business plan, and restart discussions from scratch. Exactly what should have happened before resources were redeployed. Eventually, the board approved to give the executive team a 12 months window with a defined budget, setting expectations around traction and evidence. A year later, the B2B experiment had failed, the core business had suffered from loss of focus, and the executive team changed. Ironically, a renewed focus on the core business, with fresh leadership and discipline, put the company back on a growth path. Three lessons stand out: 1. Boards don’t like surprises, trust is built through early engagement 2. Pivots need real business plans, not conviction alone 3. Focus is a strategic weapon, especially in scale-ups Boards are not there to block ambition. They’re there to protect the long-term health of the business. Executive teams that treat the board as a thinking partner, not an approval hurdle, make better decisions and move faster in the long run. More details about this topic in the article below https://lnkd.in/ep2MDvM9
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*Neoclouds are the weak link in the AI story.* Concentrated suppliers (basically Nvidia) Concentrated customers (OpenAI, Microsoft, Anthropic) Debt-fueled expansion (it’s infra) Weird depreciation — do we really expect this year’s Blackwell GPUs to last 8 years? If there’s ever a slowdown in OpenAI or Anthropic’s ability to hoover up revenue, they’ll be fine. Nvidia will be fine. But the neoclouds — and their debt and equity holders — probably won’t be. Yes, 96% of CoreWeave’s contracts are “take-or-pay,” but it’s only ~70% for Scaleway, for instance. On the positive side, Reuters says they already have ~20% of the GPU market and are projected to grow revenues 7× in the next 5 years. An amazing pivot from Bitcoin-mining to AI. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gEaReFtt #Neoclouds #AIInfrastructure #CloudComputing #GenerativeAI #Nvidia #CoreWeave #Scaleway #OpenAI #Anthropic #AIEconomy #CapitalMarkets #TechFinance #AIInvesting #GPUs #CloudStrategy
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I've had the privilege of working with some extraordinary people in my career and Felicia Rubinstein is one of them. When I was thinking about who belongs at the table for this conversation about AI, trust, and human connection, Felicia was one of the first people who came to mind. Here's why. What she has built at HAYVN Coworking Community isn't just a coworking space; it's a living proof of concept that the most powerful business outcomes still start with people choosing to show up for each other. In a world where AI is accelerating everything, that kind of intentional community-building isn't old-fashioned. It's a competitive advantage. I cannot wait to sit alongside her on June 3 and dig into what that really means for leaders navigating this new era. If this is a conversation you want to be part of, and I think it is, we still have seats available. Join us → https://lnkd.in/euEZ6eyY Wednesday, June 3 | 8:30 – 10:00 AM HAYVN Coworking Community, Greenwich, CT As part of the broader #CTTechWeek ecosystem, Attendees will also receive a special invitation offer upon registration for Future Fest 2026, courtesy of the #CTDigitalForum team. We look forward to welcoming you into the room. #AurumInc #HumanConnection #AILeadership #Greenwich #PurposeDrivenBusin
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Claire Biernacki
BBG Ventures • 6K followers
Proud to share a big milestone for SuperCircle - congrats to the team on their $24M Series A led by Foundry ventures! Retail’s waste problem has become unavoidable. Returns, excess inventory, and unsellables now cost U.S. retailers $50B+ annually, and regulation is forcing brands to finally account for what happens after products fall out of the supply chain. Their full-stack, AI-powered platform sits inside the mess — factories, warehouses, stores, returns — turning waste from a cost center into a value generator. Today they work with 75+ brands and have already diverted 6M+ textiles from landfill. Congrats to Founders Chloe Marie Songer, Stuart Ahlum and Phong Nguyen and the entire SuperCircle team!!
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Niki Pezeshki
Las Casas Holdings • 3K followers
There’s a growing narrative that AI creates mostly downside for vertical software companies. We think that view is too simplistic. At Las Casas, we believe that if you buy the right kind of software business, AI can be more of an accelerant than a disruptor. We're not looking at software companies where customers can easily rip out the product, build an in-house substitute, or switch to a cheaper AI-native competitor overnight. We're focused on businesses with a few specific characteristics that, in our view, materially reduce downside: - 90%+ gross retention over a long period of time. Customers have stayed for years, often even when the product wasn’t best-in-class. That usually tells you the software is deeply embedded in the workflow. - Low customer concentration. We want to avoid situations where a handful of customers can meaningfully impair the business if they churn. - Low ACVs. If the software is relatively inexpensive, it is far less likely that customers will invest the time and resources to rebuild it internally. It also makes it harder for a new entrant to undercut on price. - Mission-critical workflows. If the product sits at the center of day-to-day operations, switching risk is much higher. Failed implementations or downtime can create real disruption for the customer. This matters because the market is increasingly pricing many software businesses as though AI only creates risk: risk to retention, risk to pricing, risk to relevance. But in the right assets, AI can create the opposite. If you own a trusted, deeply embedded product with long-standing customer relationships, you have a real opportunity to build and ship high-ROI AI functionality faster and more cheaply than ever before, and sell it into an installed base that already knows you. That can do two important things: - Increase ACVs and improve growth - Make the product even more sticky over time This is also where we think our strategy differs from more traditional software investing playbooks. We are not buying software companies with a heavy dose of leverage, cutting R&D, and trying to optimize short-term EBITDA. In this new AI era, that is a dangerous approach. If you underinvest in product, you risk getting run over by innovative competitors. Instead, we believe the better path is to use limited leverage, keep investing in innovation, and use AI to improve the product enough that revenue growth inflects meaningfully. In our view, many of the future winners in software will be the companies that already sit in the workflow and use AI to become even more valuable for their customers.
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Weston Ginn
Bridge Angel Investors • 3K followers
I keep hearing that Florida doesn't have a real tech ecosystem. I've spent the last few months actively mapping it through the VC Lab Venture Institute, and here's what I've found: it's small, but it's real, and the people building it are serious. Sarasota and Tampa have a growing bench of early-stage investors like Florida Funders, Rework Capital, and Suncoast Venture Studio. There are accelerators like Tampa Bay Wave and Embarc Collective producing real companies. Groups like Bridge Angel Investors are creating structured ways for local investors to back founders. And there's a wave of founders who chose to build here instead of moving to SF. But there's a gap: true pre-seed capital is pretty rare in this market. Plenty of firms will write a $500K seed check. Few are writing the first $100-150K check to a founder with a prototype and conviction but no revenue. That gap is an opportunity. The founders I've been meeting here are technical, scrappy, and solving real problems in AI, robotics, and advanced materials. They just need someone willing to take the earliest risk. If you're building in these spaces in Florida or anywhere, I want to hear from you! #venturecapital #tampabaytech #sarasotabusiness #VCLab #emergingmanagers #AIinfrastructure
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Henry D. Wolfe
DaVega & Wolfe Industries… • 2K followers
Reclaiming the Idea of Shareholder Value - by Michael J. Mauboussin and Alfred Rappaport I have been advocating for a clear Governing Objective for years. Without this, there is no context for anything else relating to the board and its function. "Corporate governance issues are constantly in the headlines. Activist investors challenge management strategies. Investors and others ask why companies binge on buybacks while skimping on value-creating investment opportunities. But discussions of corporate governance invariably miss the real problem: most public companies have extensive governance procedures but no governing objective. "The problem with the term “maximize shareholder value” is that it has been hijacked by those who incorrectly believe that the goal is to maximize short-term earnings to boost today’s stock price. Properly understood, maximizing shareholder value means allocating resources so as to maximize long-term cash flow." #governingobjective #governancearbitrage #corpgov #boardsofdirectors #shareholdervalue https://lnkd.in/gpXZD_6K
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Ludovic Bodin
15K followers
Gabe Newell (Valve) suggested that video game lessons apply broadly across industries. The speaker, a tech entrepreneur since 1999, sold his first e-commerce company in the early 2000s. After experiences in Canada and Latin America, he returned to entrepreneurship and became a full-time investor in 2018. He then developed his investment principles into "Atomic Scaling." The book applies video game industry insights to SaaS, EdTech, AI platforms, and blockchain. #AtomicScaling #Entrepreneurship #VideoGames #SaaS #EdTech #AI
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Matthew Nichols
Commerce Ventures • 4K followers
One of my agentic commerce predictions for 2026 in this recent Forbes piece: Matt Nichols, General Partner at Commerce Ventures, notes that the mechanics are already in motion. Looking ahead, he predicts that this year, "Agentic commerce transaction volume reaches meaningful levels as consumers advance from research to buying on AI platforms. 2026 will be the year that transactions are completed in these platforms." To this prediction, Nichols adds another: retailers will be forced to build "super-feeds" specifically for AI platforms. “These data feeds may involve monetary transactions that could include payments to AI platforms or payments to the retailer/brand (depending on balance of power).” https://lnkd.in/g65RAerA
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Michael Sidgmore
Broadhaven Capital Partners • 27K followers
Who will win in the world of agentic AI? Hear Vista Equity Partners Founder, Chairman, and CEO Robert F. Smith discuss who has the right to win in the world of agentic AI. Watch the entire conversation on Alt Goes Mainstream here: https://lnkd.in/eTQ3vPpK
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Saxon Baum
Florida Funders • 11K followers
This is an excellent report on the #VC activity in Florida for the first half of 2025, put together by our partner,s eMerge Americas. 💡 5 Takeaways from the eMerge Americas 1H 2025 Florida VC Insights Report: 1. Startups across Florida raised $2.85B across 270 deals, putting 2025 on pace for the strongest year since 2022. 2. AI dominates, 33% of all funded startups are AI-focused, with $830M raised in South Florida alone. 3. Cybersecurity and defense tech are booming, with Tampa emerging as “Cyber Bay” and major new AI-cyber programs launching. 4. Fintech, climatetech & Web3 continue to shine, with record funding and renewed investor confidence in Miami. 5. “If you’re not investing in AI, you’re asleep at the wheel,” says Me! https://lnkd.in/eVb-eYA9
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Anjli Jain
ElevenX Capital • 35K followers
**The Rise of AI in Retail** As the landscape of retail continues to evolve, the 28% year-over-year increase in ChatGPT referrals to retail apps, especially for giants like Walmart and Amazon, underscores the growing reliance on AI for consumer engagement. At ElevenX Capital, we recognize that this trend highlights the importance of integrating advanced technology into traditional businesses to drive growth. How can retailers strategize their digital transformation to harness AI's potential effectively? #investing #innovation #venturecapital #entrepreneurship
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Hayden Simmons
Fronte • 14K followers
Excited for Rally Cap VC to back Upper. They’re building an AI-native customs and commerce infrastructure layer that helps global marketplaces expand across Latin America — turning one of the most complex parts of cross-border commerce (classification, duties, compliance, routing) into software. As platforms like Temu expand country by country, Upper becomes the operating system that makes that expansion actually work. Big respect to Wladimir Coka and Jakob F. Werner for building this — excited to be along for the ride!
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Chelsea Goddard
AIX Ventures • 3K followers
Reid Hoffman has long argued that networks are compounding assets — systems whose value expands nonlinearly as trust, density, and connectivity deepen. I’d love to see that insight move from philosophy to operating model in today’s venture landscape — so I wrote about it 🤓🤗🎉 Capital allocators intuitively understand that alpha tends to emerge from networks — from seeing earlier, pattern-matching faster, and moving with conviction before consensus forms. That observation is not novel. What’s often missing though is the architecture that makes that advantage systematic rather than accidental. In my newest post I explore: • How to design a network deliberately instead of inheriting one passively • What framework to adopt inside a venture firm given feedback loops play out over years, not days • How to determine who is in your network — and more importantly, who should be I also lay out a practical approach for thinking through: 1. The difference between lagging and leading indicators 2. Which metrics matter depending on your firm’s stage (Engage → Manage → Discover) 3. How to map your network so it evolves from programming into infrastructure Grateful to Leo Polovets, Helen Min, Lia Hanson, Nnamdi Iregbulem, Brett Bolkowy, Ethan Kurzweil and others for the thoughtful feedback and rigorous pushback along the way! Any perspectives expressed in the final piece are entirely my own and do not reflect the views of those individuals or their affiliated firms. If this is a topic you’re also exploring, I would love to connect! 🤗✨ https://lnkd.in/gmj2jm9B
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Edward Thomas
Royal Caribbean Group • 4K followers
Miami’s startup ecosystem isn’t just growing, it’s compounding. Last week, I attended the Miami Startup Ecosystem Conference hosted by Denis Hiller and his team at 1001 VC. Denis has quietly built something special here: not just an event, but a true collision point for founders, operators, and investors shaping the next phase of Miami’s tech economy. The speaker lineup reflected how far this ecosystem has matured. Conversations spanned Agentic AI, venture capital evolution, GTM strategy, robotics, legal tech, and the increasingly critical Miami ↔ Silicon Valley bridge. These weren’t theoretical panels, they were operator-level discussions grounded in real company-building experience. But as with most great conferences, the real value wasn’t on stage. It was in the reconnections and new introductions. Great catching up with former colleagues Thomas Harrington and Byron Georgiou, people you’ve been in the trenches with who understand the realities behind the highlight reel. I had the opportunity to meet Robert Bruny, Founder and CEO of Schedulesite, who’s building in the event scheduling space, and Jason Cohen, CEO of MyBundle, who’s shaping the streaming and consumer platform space, and Vik Rubenfeld, Founder of BigFishGTM, who’s building real-time market intelligence tools for modern sales teams. It was also great connecting with Robert Loredo, whose deep background in enterprise technology and quantum computing reflects the caliber of operators continuing to anchor Miami’s growth, Adriana Kligman, who’s pioneering cross-border AI-driven growth strategies spanning Sydney, Miami, and Panama, and Jennifer Bramley, whose work in strategic communications and storytelling highlights the increasingly important role narratives play in scaling companies. And to everyone else I connected with throughout the day, the operators grinding through scaling challenges, the investors deploying thoughtful capital, the builders solving problems most people don’t see yet - thank you. These conversations are what make events like this matter. The ecosystem is stronger because of the collective energy and generosity in that room. Miami is no longer an “emerging” tech hub, it’s an active one. The density of talent, capital, and ambition is now undeniable. Big credit to Denis for continuing to convene the right people and accelerating the flywheel. The future here is being built in rooms like this. #MiamiTech #MiamiStartups #StartupEcosystem #VentureCapital #Founders #TechMiami #MiamiVC #StartupLife #FounderJourney #TechHub #AgenticAI #GTMStrategy #1001VC
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Jessica Miley
12K followers
🚀 🗞️ Big news for Florida’s startup ecosystem. New World Angels and Miami Angels are uniting to create a statewide angel network, aligning capital, expertise, and community under one platform for founders and investors across the region and beyond! This combination brings together 160+ members, deeper industry expertise, and a single point of entry for early-stage founders seeking truly “smart money” from engaged angel investors. It also builds on years of collaboration between the two groups and reflects how Florida's innovation ecosystem is maturing and scaling. I am proud to be part of this next chapter and excited about what it means for founders and fellow investors throughout Florida and across the wider startup community. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/efQSpXyf search.sunbiz 🚀
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Alexander Lange
Inflection • 5K followers
An important discussion in venture capital these days is the industry's shift towards consensus investing and its fusion with politics and government at scale. We've been thinking / writing about those shifts for years and now the discussion is heating up. In my essay below (link in first comment) I discuss how consensus capital and the “venture industrial complex” funnel money toward incremental sameness—and why heresy still matters. Some core themes are: • Convergence across culture, tech, and policy reduces variance and outliers. • Big Venture coordinates capital, regulation, and narratives; small funds must adapt. • Alpha hides in scarcity bottlenecks (e.g. trust, provenance, energy), unregulated domains, and ideas that spark controversy / disagreement A shout out to my team members Jonatan H. Luther-Bergquist and Alex Patow and Bob Shapiro for the discussions at our offsite this year; Also Cem Sertoglu who asked the right questions at our AGM. Thanks to our colleagues Mike Maples, Jr, Lawrence Lundy-Bryan , Sinéad O'Sullivan and David Peterson for your recent contributions to the discussion, I quoted all of you (even if I disagree with some of your conclusions :).
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