Advanced entrepreneurs are an often understudied segment of the startup ecosystem. We usually only hear about the unicorns, but many seasoned founders are quietly grinding away, scaling their business or building their next big idea. 

As an experienced or repeat founder, you have to fight the urge to do everything the same way you did it the first time. That’s tough. Expectations are higher, and you feel pressure to be more successful the second (or third) time around. 

People like you need to keep grinding. It’s just who you are.

Join Startup Grind on Monday, April 14th for a new network tailored for experienced entrepreneurs. This event is exclusively for advanced founders to connect with peers and share insights, experiences, and strategies. We consider advanced founders who have:

exited through an IPO

exited through an acquisition

more than $1MM in ARR or total funding raised

Find us at Everdene on the 3rd floor in the new Virgin Hotel in NoMad. We’ll be in the Shag Room toward the right as you enter the bar.

We know that experienced founders are a different breed. This isn’t your first rodeo, and you likely appreciate the value of having a very patient partner or spouse. 

This is a forum for you to have the kinds of conversations you won’t find at a rooftop party with others who understand the entrepreneurial journey from start to finish.

There are no formal presentations or speakers; instead, the focus is on fostering organic interactions and discovering new best practices in a casual social setting.

This event is NOT for:

early-stage founders

the founder-curious

service providers

corporate warriors

Startup Grind historically has not required attendee approval to RSVP, instead trusting the community to join events that best align with their founder journey. We hope to maintain this practice and continue hosting events and providing resources that are relevant for our members’ needs at their various stages.

Please help us do so by considering the criteria for the Advanced Founder Forum and choosing to RSVP accordingly.

Startup Grind hosts a variety of events each month for our diverse audience. See our full calendar here and select the events that are most appropriate for your entrepreneurial stage.

Agenda

5:00 PM: Come and go as you please.

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Hosted By

Joshua Ness, Director, Startup Grind

Joshua Ness is the Manging 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

Arjun Mehta, Co-founder

Arjun Mehta is a recent graduate of NYU, holding a degree in Business and Tech Management with a concentration in Finance. During his time in college, Arjun gained invaluable experience through internships at a VC firm, a startup, and his own passion project. At the VC firm, he evaluated the growth potential of numerous health tech startups, analyzed pitch decks, and contributed to investment strategy meetings. Arjun also hosted strategic advisory calls for over 30 startup teams, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the startup VC ecosystem.

His longest tenure was at Invincible Entertainment as a Business Development Associate, where he utilized CRM tools to engage over 100 leads, significantly boosting sales outreach. He also closed multiple licensing deals and developed no-code AI tools to enhance workplace efficiency. Recently, Arjun co-created a chatbot for NYU’s ambassador program, streamlining operations and reducing the need for on-shift counselors. Arjun is now seeking a role at a high-growth seed-stage startup to leverage his skills in sales, partnerships, and business strategy.

Jenny Sumeragi, CEO & Founder, JS Global Investment

Paul GUILLARD, Chief of Staff / BizOps / Project Manager / BD

I moved to NYC in April 24. I am currently coaching and advising early-stage founders on ideation, Business Model x Ideal Customer Profile x MVP, GTM and Fundraising.
Received my authorization to work in Nov so now also looking for a full time job as BizOps / Chief of Staff / Strategic Project Management for B2B SMB or Series A+
Before that, an Engineering Degree and 2 years of SMBs consulting in France, 10 years in APAC doing Strategic Project Management, Sales and BD; and 4 years in Spain for an MBA at IESE (consistently ranked Top10 in the world by FT) and working on some startups.

Prianka Ball,

Currently working in data at a early stage startup. Ex founder and looking for my next startup building adventure.

Benji Decker,

Monika Proffitt,

Monika Proffitt is a speaker, author of Blockchain 101, and a serial entrepreneur working at the nexus of fintech and social impact. She serves as an advisor to several small to medium sized startups, and in her spare time she speaks at conferences and universities on topics ranging from the future of money, sustainability in business, blockchain for social good, and the value of cultural capital.

Daniel Silver, Owner

Creative, Thoughtful and Results-Driven Product Marketing Strategist Focused on Building, Launching and Optimizing New and Existing Products Across Their Life Cycle.

Franziska Oschmannn,

studying at Columbia University – passionate about tech, startups & VC

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Global Partner

Google Cloud (https://cloud.google.com/resources/content/future-of-ai-report?utm_source=events-with-google&utm_medium=et&utm_campaign=FY25-Q1-NORTHAM-SMB31054-website-dl-AIThoughtLeader-52420&utm_content=startup-grind&utm_term=-&hl=en)

Golds

Redrob, Inc (https://bit.ly/redrob-sg-nyc-2025)
Redrob is a platform that provides early-stage startups access to world-class talent, streamlining the hiring process with tools like Talent Search GPT, Skill Test AI, and General Counsel GPT. Redrob Talent Search GPT employs AI agents to find and recruit exceptional candidates from the global talent pool. As an Employer of Record (EOR), Redrob enables seamless onboarding and management of international talent without the need for local entities—saving startups time, cost, and compliance risk.

SeedLegals (https://bit.ly/seedlegals-sg0325)
Raising investment? SeedLegals is the go-to platform to get investment ready, build your cap table, issue SAFEs or do a priced round. Includes all the help and support you need from our team of experts. Over 60,000 companies use SeedLegals, the new way to do the legals for your next fundraise—at a fraction of the cost of traditional lawyers. Book a call with our team to see how we can help you fundraise faster!

Codewalla (https://www.codewalla.com/startup-grind-offer)
Codewalla is a small product development studio dedicated to helping startup founders launch products quickly. As founders ourselves, we understand the challenges of traditional development: high costs, long timelines, and risks. We are a CTO-led studio of developers, designers, and project managers dedicated to building exceptional products. With expertise in startups, SaaS, fintech, and more, we bring creativity and experience to every project.

Patrick IP Law (https://bit.ly/patrick-sg0325)
Patrick IP Law provides patent & IP strategy for startups. We have a passion for empowering startups to protect their innovations strategically and cost-effectively. With over 15 years of experience in patent law and global IP strategy – particularly in high-tech and bio-tech industries – Patrick IP specializes in providing the highest quality IP services tailored to the unique needs and financial situations of emerging businesses.

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.
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Complete your event RSVP here: https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-new-york-city-presents-advanced-founder-forum-connecting-experienced-entrepreneurs-1/.