The Operators & Mentors
People who've been there. And came back with a map.
Not coaches who read about it. Founders, operators, and investors who ran CAC payback at scale, lived board pressure, rebuilt after setbacks. They're in the room because they know what it actually costs — and how to fix it.
![[headshot]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69d37a61375d25f1ea8b7dd9_Yashar.jpeg)
Yashar Ahmadpour
Founder & CEO at Impressive
Location: San Francisco, CA
From idea to business in seconds.
He's built and shipped product at the speed most founders are still planning. He knows what it looks like when velocity becomes the enemy of control — and how to hold both.
Location: San Francisco, CA
From idea to business in seconds.
He's built and shipped product at the speed most founders are still planning. He knows what it looks like when velocity becomes the enemy of control — and how to hold both.
![[headshot] image of customer (for a pr firm)](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69ba847c2172ea023003d632_Vivek.jpeg)
Vivek Bedi
Executive Product and AI Leader at Litera
Location: New York, NY
Scaled AI products to $2B+ acquisitions.
Built platforms that moved money and changed hands. He knows what boards underwrite — and what founders think boards underwrite, which is different.
Location: New York, NY
Scaled AI products to $2B+ acquisitions.
Built platforms that moved money and changed hands. He knows what boards underwrite — and what founders think boards underwrite, which is different.
![[headshot] image of customer (for a general contractor)](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69ba847b53583007d9169774_Indy%20sen.jpeg)
Indy Sen
GTM Advisor and Fractional Leader
Location: San Francisco, CA
Seen three IPOs from the inside.
GTM at Salesforce, Box, MuleSoft, Google. He knows the GTM breakdowns that don't show up in your board deck until Q3 — and how to find them in Q1.
Location: San Francisco, CA
Seen three IPOs from the inside.
GTM at Salesforce, Box, MuleSoft, Google. He knows the GTM breakdowns that don't show up in your board deck until Q3 — and how to find them in Q1.
![[headshot] image of customer for a department store](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69ba847b565b309799f635be_Juan%20Carlos%20.jpeg)
Juan Carlos Soto
Board Chairman, Startup Advisor
Location: Berkeley, CA
Board chairman who's also run the company.
He knows what boards want to see and what founders are actually dealing with — because he's sat in both chairs. That gap is where most founders lose the room.
Location: Berkeley, CA
Board chairman who's also run the company.
He knows what boards want to see and what founders are actually dealing with — because he's sat in both chairs. That gap is where most founders lose the room.
![[headshot] image of customer for a trucking company](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69ba847c218627f52b36d13b_Betty%20Mok.jpeg)
Betty Mok
Marketing Leader at Consensus
Location: San Francisco, CA
Built GTM at places that actually scaled.
LinkedIn, Intuit, AmEx, Pendo. She's seen the difference between marketing that fills pipeline and marketing that fills slide decks — and she knows which one your board is asking about.
Location: San Francisco, CA
Built GTM at places that actually scaled.
LinkedIn, Intuit, AmEx, Pendo. She's seen the difference between marketing that fills pipeline and marketing that fills slide decks — and she knows which one your board is asking about.
![[headshot] image of customer](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69d37c6ef49caa7d35dcc509_Manickkam%20Pandian.jpeg)
Manickkam Pandian
Head of Product at Zillow
Location: San Francisco, CA
Product and data running together, not apart. Built at PayPal, D.E. Shaw, Zillow. He's the person in the room who catches what the metrics aren't saying — before the board does.
Location: San Francisco, CA
Product and data running together, not apart. Built at PayPal, D.E. Shaw, Zillow. He's the person in the room who catches what the metrics aren't saying — before the board does.
![[headshot] image of customer (for a tech gadgets store)](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69ba8569b0f9601b329dc5d6_David%20Ehrlich.jpeg)
David Ehrlich
CEO | Board Member | Advisor
Location: San Francisco, CA
Five exits. Ex-McKinsey. Still building.
He's been in the seat through multiple cycles — board pressure, market turns, team breaks. He doesn't offer frameworks. He offers the version of the truth most people in the room are too polite to say.
Location: San Francisco, CA
Five exits. Ex-McKinsey. Still building.
He's been in the seat through multiple cycles — board pressure, market turns, team breaks. He doesn't offer frameworks. He offers the version of the truth most people in the room are too polite to say.
![[headshot] image of customer (for an ar/vr)](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69ba847b1c5c4a71f34835ed_Todd.jpeg)
Todd Etchieson
Fractional CPO
Location: Portland, OR
Builds the product engine between $7M and $50M. That's the stretch where product either becomes a growth lever or a drag. He's done it. He knows what breaks and when, and how to fix it before the board asks.
Location: Portland, OR
Builds the product engine between $7M and $50M. That's the stretch where product either becomes a growth lever or a drag. He's done it. He knows what breaks and when, and how to fix it before the board asks.
![[headshot] image of customer (for an ar/vr)](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69d38400d9910749675ac4f2_sam%20Palazzola.jpeg)
Sam Palazzolo
Fractional CRO
Location: New York, NY
Runs revenue at the stage where it gets complicated ($5M-$100M). PE, VC, growth equity — he's seen the capital stack from every angle. He knows what a CRO does when the founder is still the best salesperson in the room, and when they need to stop being.
Location: New York, NY
Runs revenue at the stage where it gets complicated ($5M-$100M). PE, VC, growth equity — he's seen the capital stack from every angle. He knows what a CRO does when the founder is still the best salesperson in the room, and when they need to stop being.
![[headshot]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69ba847a0576d462079ebe48_Denis.jpeg)
Denis Descause
C-Level Executive & AI Entrepreneur
Location: New York, NY
€200M revenue growth. SAP. BCG. Now AI. He's operated at enterprise scale and now builds at AI speed. The gap between the two is where most founders get lost — he knows how to close it.
Location: New York, NY
€200M revenue growth. SAP. BCG. Now AI. He's operated at enterprise scale and now builds at AI speed. The gap between the two is where most founders get lost — he knows how to close it.
![[headshot] image of customer (for a pr firm)](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69ba857598830d032f13bf86_Megan.jpeg)
Megan Ketchum
Marketing & GTM Executive
Location: San Francisco, CA
GTM at Rippling, Faire, LinkedIn, Bain. She's built motion at companies where the bar for what "good" looks like is extremely high. She knows the difference between a GTM strategy and a GTM story — and why founders confuse the two.
Location: San Francisco, CA
GTM at Rippling, Faire, LinkedIn, Bain. She's built motion at companies where the bar for what "good" looks like is extremely high. She knows the difference between a GTM strategy and a GTM story — and why founders confuse the two.
![[headshot] image of customer (for a general contractor)](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69d37c9536011d93afda41b7_Untitled%20design%20(54).png)
Yannick Kpodar
GP @ Aventra Capital
Former VP/CMO $5M-$50M - ex LinkedIn, PayFit
Location: San Francisco, CA
Former VP/CMO $5M-$50M - ex LinkedIn, PayFit
Location: San Francisco, CA
![[headshot] image of customer for a department store](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69d37da7f29a30527e9b54d8_Mitali%20Saxena.jpeg)
Mitali Saxena
Serial Tech (AI)& Fashion Founder
Location: Miami, FL
Built companies and stayed sane doing it. Serial founder across tech and fashion. TEDx speaker on what it actually costs to perform leadership. She brings the dimension most operating rooms skip — how the founder's internal state shapes every external outcome.
Location: Miami, FL
Built companies and stayed sane doing it. Serial founder across tech and fashion. TEDx speaker on what it actually costs to perform leadership. She brings the dimension most operating rooms skip — how the founder's internal state shapes every external outcome.
![[headshot] image of customer for a trucking company](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69d37d907d64075a06bd4068_Alex%20elkin.jpeg)
Alex Elkin
Serial Entrepreneur
Location: Boston, MA
Three exits. Still in it.
He's been through the full arc — building, selling, starting again. He knows what the second company teaches you that the first one can't, and what most founders learn too late about what buyers actually want to see.
Location: Boston, MA
Three exits. Still in it.
He's been through the full arc — building, selling, starting again. He knows what the second company teaches you that the first one can't, and what most founders learn too late about what buyers actually want to see.
![[headshot] image of customer](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69ba847b6f4ce327c287643f_Sachin.jpeg)
Sachin Shah
Founding CTO
Location: London, UK
Founding CTO who knows where technical debt becomes a business problem. Ex-Bain. Scaling technical teams beyond $5M ARR. He's the person who can read your architecture and tell you what your burn rate is trying to say.
Location: London, UK
Founding CTO who knows where technical debt becomes a business problem. Ex-Bain. Scaling technical teams beyond $5M ARR. He's the person who can read your architecture and tell you what your burn rate is trying to say.
![[headshot] image of customer (for a tech gadgets store)](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69d37b93a58d7071c813b12f_Bomani.jpeg)
Bomani Mintz-Johnson
Product Leader
Location: San Francisco, CA
Built product at LinkedIn and Eventbrite. Now builds his own. He operates in both modes — 0 to 1 and at scale — and knows the mindset shift between them. He can tell you when your product thinking is right for the wrong stage.
Location: San Francisco, CA
Built product at LinkedIn and Eventbrite. Now builds his own. He operates in both modes — 0 to 1 and at scale — and knows the mindset shift between them. He can tell you when your product thinking is right for the wrong stage.
![[headshot] image of customer (for an ar/vr)](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69d37be1fd31f00cac21da8f_Alon%20Maltzov.jpeg)
Alon Maltzov
Product Leader
Location: New York, NY
2x founder and platform builder at AI scale. He's run product at Rippling and Faire at the exact stage where AI changes what's possible — and what's expected. He knows where the ceiling moves and how to move with it.
Location: New York, NY
2x founder and platform builder at AI scale. He's run product at Rippling and Faire at the exact stage where AI changes what's possible — and what's expected. He knows where the ceiling moves and how to move with it.
![[headshot] image of customer (for an ar/vr)](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6964c927bc2914f27d0f14eb/69ba847c754a96ea1220dbf4_Mukta.jpeg)
Mukta Dhanuka
Product Management at Meta
Location: San Francisco, CA
Product at Meta, Square, SAP.
She's managed across consumer and enterprise at companies where product decisions move markets. She understands the discipline required to ship at scale — and the discipline required to stop shipping the wrong things.
Location: San Francisco, CA
Product at Meta, Square, SAP.
She's managed across consumer and enterprise at companies where product decisions move markets. She understands the discipline required to ship at scale — and the discipline required to stop shipping the wrong things.
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