#01_introductions
Welcome to the Gildre Introductions Channel! Please feel free to introduce yourself once you join this community. We recommend sharing your name, city you're based out of, LinkedIn profile, and a fun fact about what you're currently doing/building.
All Messages
Howdy!
About Me:
• Austin, TX transplant from the Midwest, since 2013
• Double major B.S. in physics and math from UAH, concentrating in astrophysics. My capstone paper was on explaining neutron star cores’ super-nuclear density via it being comprised of a gas of microscopic black holes, maintaining separation and supporting the star’s nuclear-material shell with the tremendous radiation pressure of their Hawking radiation. Turns out, that’s actually a very stable configuration, rigid even. More like a crystal than a gas.
• Papa to 3 boys, ages 4 months, 3, and 5. Busy house!
• Spent my youth playing baseball (I’ve got a decent screw ball) and my French horn (orchestra and bands) and trumpet (more bands, jazz)
What I’m working on:
Recently founded CAD as Code. I’m busy raising for the Seed Round, founder led sales, product development, and growing the team.
I’m trying to teach my two older boys how to swim this summer.
I’m also advising another startup doing AI for Dental Offices.
How I can help:
• I’ve got experience and lessons learned I can share:
◦ I’ve been a Python software developer for more than a decade, and active in open source. I’ve got many opinions and recommendations in this space.
◦ Related to the above, I also have lots of experience consulting.
◦ I’m more familiar with VC, PE, and FOs than many startup founders.
• I’m adaptable and a strategic thinker, and tenacious in execution. I can help navigate complicated situations and offer some encouragement.
Why I was interested in joining Gildre:
I enjoy hearing what other folks are doing and learning vicariously. I'm also eager to network in support of my startup. I'm hoping to meet some friendly faces and current or past founders who have stories to tell or an understanding ear.
Where I could use support:
• Networking! My main job right now is meeting people. Investors, advisors, corporate partners, users, and hires.
• People who know how to start a VC firm.
• Startup-mode friendly hires (culture, vesting, etc): software development, CAD and Blender users, and sales.
• Design partner customers to validate real world uses.
I’m happy to chat!
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Hi all! I'm Zach Shaw, and I'm thrilled to be part of the Gildre community!
About Me
• Based in Washington, DC (recently moved from Chicago — shoutout to the best skyline in the country)
• Have lived in Miami, St. Louis, New York, Minneapolis, and Chicago
• Studied Communication in college and launched my career at CBS News in New York before jumping into the world of strategic comms
• Passionate about storytelling, media equity, and helping people shape and share their own narratives
What I’m Working On
• Building a media company from the ground up — think digital journalism, podcasting, and visual storytelling, all under one big, bold masthead
• Launching a DC-based nonprofit aimed at civic innovation and youth leadership — more details coming soon!
• Collaborating with other creatives and changemakers to shape public discourse and reimagine what media can look like
How I Can Help
• Media relations pro with 10+ years working alongside top journalists, publicists, and comms strategists
• Happy to make intros to reporters, editors, or outlets in almost any market or beat
• Skilled at refining messaging, building narratives, and making sure your story doesn’t just get told — it gets heard
Where I Could Use Support
• Advice on scaling a media startup (especially operational models or monetization ideas)
• Connections to fellow founders or media makers in the digital journalism/audio space
• Insight into nonprofit growth strategy, especially in the first year of launch
• Recommendations for DC-based collaborators, advisors, or even just great coworking spots
Looking forward to learning from all of you — and hopefully helping you along the way, too!
Here's my personal calendar if you'd like to set up a meeting:
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Hey everyone! I'm Alexander Carey, and I’m excited to connect with this community!
About Me:
I'm based in Miami and currently a student at Babson College, where I’m pursuing a career in consulting and entrepreneurship. I’ve also built a fitness brand called TribeFit, which sells a 2-in-1 wrist wrap/strap product for lifters looking to improve form and push heavier weight.
What I’m Working On:
Right now I’m focused on scaling TribeFit across Amazon, TikTok Shop, and Shopify. I’m also diving deep into influencer marketing, product design, and ecommerce growth strategies.
In parallel, I’m actively looking for consulting internships, especially in operations or strategy.
Why I Joined Gildre:
I joined Gildre to surround myself with other hungry founders, builders, and marketers. I’ve been doing a lot of this solo, and I’m excited to learn from others, swap ideas, and find ways to collaborate. Whether it’s feedback on growth tactics, intros to potential partners, or just sharing the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, I’m here for all of it.
How I Can Help:
• I’ve learned a ton about launching and growing a product brand from scratch, especially how to hustle with limited resources.
• I can share insights on Amazon brand setup, TikTok marketing, influencer outreach, and UGC strategies.
• If you're a student or young founder trying to launch a product, I’d be happy to share what’s worked (and what hasn’t).
Where I Could Use Support:
• I’m looking to generate consistent sales through new marketing channels and partnerships.
• Would love any advice on streamlining operations, expanding into retail or gyms, and building stronger systems to grow beyond solo-founder mode.
• I’m always open to mentorship, internship opportunities, or just learning from people a few steps ahead. Connect with me:
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Hi Gildre community! I'm Shefqet Avdullau, an angel investor, advisor, and mentor, and I'm excited to meet you all!
About Me:
I'm Shef, born and currently based in Tirana, Albania. I'm married and have two wonderful kids, a daughter and a son. My primary passion revolves around evaluating new ventures and helping founders succeed.
What I'm Working On:
My foundation is solidly in tech, where I spent over 13 years as a software engineer. This experience naturally led me down the path of entrepreneurship, becoming a serial entrepreneur with multiple small exits and one particularly meaningful one. For the past four years, I've transitioned into being an angel investor. My operational background is extensive, having held CTO roles multiple times and the CEO position in my last few ventures – experiences that deeply inform my approach today.
Currently, I'm focused on two main things: seeking new investment opportunities that align with my thesis and actively supporting the brilliant founders within my current portfolio.
My investment sweet spot is in B2B SaaS companies within Fintech, Adtech, and Healthtech, primarily in the United States & United Kingdom. I'm generally stage-agnostic (except for Healthtech, where I prefer Series A+) and prioritize highly innovative or disruptive technologies and business models, especially those incorporating real AI (not just a wrapper!). I have a strong preference for experienced, serial entrepreneurs (those on their second venture or more). While I'm tech-focused, I generally don't invest in crypto/blockchain/web3 projects unless they are established market leaders nearing IPO.
How I Can Help:
I'm keen to mentor founders in this community. My areas of expertise include fundraising strategy, achieving product-market fit, scaling operations, team building, go-to-market strategies, sales, and tech & product development. Founders can expect strategic advice, constructive pitch deck feedback, and valuable network introductions from me. I have a good network and am also a dual member of Keiretsu Forum (both the London and the Northwest US chapters), which often helps in building synergies for the ventures I back or mentor.
Why I Joined Gildre:
I joined Gildre because it seemed like a fantastic circle of well-rounded mentors and founders, and also because I loved Michael J Frank's approach and wanted to contribute by helping mentor founders reaching out to this organization. I believe my expertise can be beneficial to members here, and I'm eager to connect with promising founders, learn from my peers, and contribute wherever I can.
Where I Could Use Support:
I would greatly appreciate introductions to founders who have ventures that align with my investment thesis, particularly those I can potentially back and mentor.
Let's connect:
Hey everyone! I'm , and I'm excited to join the Gildre community!
About Me:
• Based in Nashville, and have lived in Austin, Dallas, and Miami
• Studied Finance in college, and started my career at a startup ecommerce investment bank
• I'm super passionate about health and wellness (Lifting, running, cold plunge, sauna, grounding, eating organic / grass fed)
What I'm Working On:
• I'm building an ecommerce agency that helps 7-figure brands scale profitably by providing growth marketing, financial management, and demand planning services
• I'm also launching my own brand soon, Bovi Health, which makes premium, grass-fed Colostrum and Organ Meat supplements
How I Can Help:
• I'm an expert at ecommerce finance and helping brands unlock cash flow and profit
• I'm partnered with several lenders, banks, credit cards, softwares. etc and happy to make intros
• I can audit your "financial stack" to help you maximize access to capital and minimize your cash conversion cycle
• I can help you fix your accounting / audit your chart of accounts
• I can help you build a detailed ecommerce financial model and cash flow forecast
Where I could use support:
• My biggest challenge is getting consistent lead generation for my agency
• I'm also looking to build out a team beneath me and setup proper systems and process to make my agency more scalable
Feel free to reach out if you'd like to chat!
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Whaddup Gildre community! I’m , Iowa-grown but Chicago-based. Stoked to be here and connect with you all. 🌽
🌆 About Me:
I’ve spent the last decade in the video production and advertising world, helping brands bring stories to life through directing, editing, VFX, sound design, and animation. I’m a storyteller at heart who can’t help but make ideas bigger and better, whether it’s a film, a business, or renovating our 1960s mid century modern house (ongoing project).
⚡ What I’m working on:
I run , a video post-production and animation agency that’s partnered with brands like Under Armour, NASCAR, Bose, NBC, and Apple Music to craft videos that make you feel something and inspire people to action.
I also founded , an AI-powered tool that helps editors sort and cut b-roll footage. Reducing hours of raw footage to minutes. Helping filmmakers work faster and more efficiently by automating the monotonous parts of the video editing process with the power of AI.
Right now, I’m scaling Clipsense from an MVP into a full-fledged product for filmmakers and production companies, while continuing to grow Voke’s client roster and creative partnerships. We currently have 600+ sign ups and about 100 paying customers. Still very early.
✅ How I can help:
• If your team needs high-end video production work, Voke can help you look (and sound) your best.
• If you’re drowning in footage and looking for AI tools that actually make editing faster, I’m happy to show you how Clipsense works.
• Always open to collaborations with agencies, production companies, and fellow founders who need video support or want to geek out on creative workflows.
🤝 Why I joined Gildre:
Building stuff is hard. Building stuff alone is even harder. I’m here to meet other founders, be surrounded by people smarter than myself, learn from those ahead of me, and hopefully be useful to others on their own journey. Plus @Taiga Gamell seemed cool on the intro call 😆
🙏 Where I could use support:
• Founder Connections: Would love to connect with other tech founders who’ve scaled from MVP to product-market fit, especially in the AI, creative, or media space.
• Investor Connections: We're currently looking for angel investors for a pre-seed round for Clipsense. Happy to chat if you'd like to learn more.
• Introductions: If you know creative agencies, brands, or video production teams that could benefit from Clipsense or Voke’s work, I’d be grateful for a connection.
The personal transformation space feels so personal and real! Welcome to the group, glad to have you over here
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Hi everyone! I’m Jess. Great to meet you all 🙌
• Originally from Singapore , lived in the SF Bay Area, now based out of Boston.
• (Currently writing this message on a plane back from Singapore.)
• Spent the last 14 years pinballing through strategy consulting, operations, and CX — at gargantuan companies and scrappy startups.
• Fun fact: I’m very invested in 3 ball juggling right now — trying to get ahead of a family Christmas talent show 😅
🚀 What I’m working on:
• I’m the co-founder of Family Style, a micro brand agency developing brands made to share. My wife is my other co-founder — we’ve been long time collaborators, and I’m lucky to have her creative chops on the team.
• We work with maturing startups that are outgrowing their ‘starter systems’, and are caught between stitching together freelancers or paying for bloated agencies.
• We help them go beyond just describing their category to carving out spaces they can truly own*.*
• I’m also decoding and writing about cult brands. For them, brand isn’t just a static layer of design or messaging to be controlled and managed; it’s dynamic, and engineered into the entire business. I find that fascinating. I also believe this is how the next wave of great brands will be built.
🤝 How I can help:
• Brand development: specifically around translating all your GTM pitches, investor storytelling, and product positioning into a compelling brand.
• Narrative framing: got cool ideas but nobody cares? Sometimes great ideas just need the right frame to resonate.
• Demystifying brand building for smaller startups — a lot of branding can feel fluffy or impractical for fast-growing companies. I’ve been designing ways to help cut through that.
✨ Why I was interested in joining Gildre:
• I’ve been looking for an entrepreneurial group that’s diverse in ambition, perspective and challenge.
• I love the problem-solving nature of entrepreneurship and wanted to be around others who find fulfillment in that.
• Everyone here seems grounded, thoughtful, and sharp 🙂
• I came in through Gildre via @Michael J Frank, and found our conversation refreshing from what is typically out there.
🙏 Where I could use support:
• I’m always gathering candid takes from founders on what’s working and what it comes to brand building / working with studios and agencies.
• Connecting with other entrepreneurs building service businesses or lean, micro consultancies like mine — I would love to learn how others are thinking about paths to growth.
• I’m also here to soak up everything I can. Always up for conversations about deep work and productivity, and learning from others how to create rhythm with creation & rest.
Here’s my Linkedin!
Looking forward to connecting with everyone.
Hi everyone! I’m, great to be here and looking forward to connecting with you all.
• Originally from London, UK , now splitting my time between India and
US.
• Background in Finance, Strategy, and Venture Building - I’ve worked across corporates, Investment banking and finance strategy areas.
• Fun fact: I love swimming but failed miserably at my first scuba diving experience.
What I’m building👷
• Currently building our Cancer Precision Diagnostics Venture, Akrivia Biosciences with my co-founder
• Our mission is to make every cancer patient a cancer survivor
• Combining Novel Scientific discovery + AI to revolutionize Cancer treatment
How I can help:
• Investment strategy, financial strategy, business planning
Why I was interested in joining Gildre:
• Love connecting with individuals in Cancer – healthcare, biotech ecosystem, investment raising
• Looking for a high-signal community to exchange ideas, tools, and support.
• Looking to connect with fellow founders in similar areas
👋 Hey Gildre! I’m Frances Pratt, joining in from Melbourne, Australia — land of great coffee and even greater conversations.
Quick Snapshot:
I help people learn to love selling, and companies how to love their sales people.
With over 30 years in sales (doing it, leading teams, consulting and coaching) I am now a Sales Coach and Fractional Sales Director. A client whisperer for founders who’d rather poke their eye out than “do sales.” With 20+ years across B2B tech, Saas, professional services, and creative industries, I’ve built and led high-performing sales teams, overhauled rusty pipelines, and helped ambitious businesses turn "hopeful selling" into high-converting systems. I’ve coached hundreds of founders — especially women — to sell with confidence, clarity and zero cringe. I’m also the author of More Sales Less Marketing, a sales guide for humans who want results without the yuck.
🚀 What I Bring:
I help growing businesses fix the real sales problem — the messy mix of mindset, method and misalignment. Whether it's reimagining your team structure, building a repeatable sales process, or stepping into a more strategic revenue role — I help you sell smarter, not louder. I’ve got a sixth sense for why things aren’t converting (and what will). I’ll bring the frameworks and the fire.
🔍 What I’m Looking For:
I’m here to connect with purpose-led founders, advisors, and collaborators who care about people and profits. I’m especially drawn to those who want to make sales a strategic superpower — not just a function. Bonus points if you love a good metaphor, believe in meaningful business, and enjoy a cheeky analogy involving yellow brick roads.
🙌 How You Can Help:
Intros to founders who are overwhelmed by sales or unsure how to grow a team that actually sells
Collabs on strategic sales projects, especially Fractional Sales Director work
Open doors to networks that support women founders, consultants, and changemakers
🌱 Why I’m Here:
Gildre stood out to me — smart humans, strong convictions, no fluff. That’s my kinda crowd. I believe great selling is helping people buy — and that, done right, it can change lives and grow legacies. Keen to swap stories, bust some sales myths, and cheer each other on.
🔗 LinkedIn:
Looking forward to connecting and co-creating!
Thank you to @Michael J Frank for the introduction here.
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👋 Hi all! It's great to be part of this dynamic community.
🇮🇹 Born and currently based in Italy, I’ve navigated a diverse path through quantitative finance, macro portfolio management, and fintech innovation in London.
🚀 Currently, I am cofounder-ceo of Etna Research, an AI company based in London focused on asset, wealth and treasury management. We are essentially offering (and keep building) an AI conversational agent that combines data scouting, data science, IT management and commercialization, one call away. We aim to bring r&d cost to zero and become the only AI partner you need to build effective solutions 24/7. Raised $1.2m already (and adding another $300k currently from US investors), good revenues in beta, $100m pipeline with Schwabs, Fidelity, and many others already in the waiting list for the full menu platform.
💡 I’m passionate about AI, deeptech and entrepreneurship. I cofounded a tech community in Italy called Pugliatechs () with the aim to create a mini SV (with potentially a lot of dual companies) in the best region in Italy for talent, lifestyle, and culture. I advise and sometimes invest in AI-first businesses in the US and Europe. I am also associate professor of Fintech at Bayes Business School, London.
🤝 How I can contribute:
• Product and GTM strategy
• Share intel on AI, fintech, capital markets and data-driven businesses
• Facilitate intros to the investor ecosystem (Angels, VC, PE)
• Facilitate connections in Europe (if you pop in Puglia/Italy for our physical events with PugliaTechs, let me know, we have folks coming from NYC too!)
• Offer a second opinion on technical products
📬 Feel free to reach out on LinkedIn:
👋 Hi everyone! I’m Whay. Excited to be here and looking forward to connecting with you all.
• Originally from Malaysia , now splitting my time between Mexico and Southeast Asia.
• Background in Finance, Strategy, and Venture Building - I’ve worked across corporates, VC, and startups.
• Fun fact: 🤿 I’m a certified open water diver and ran Malaysia’s first sip-and-paint 🎨 rooftop studio for 9 years!
🚀 What I’m working on:
• Currently I help early-stage startups with go-to-market, fundraising, and business model validation.
• Advising startups and working on short-term consulting SaaS projects.
🤝 How I can help:
• GTM strategy, PMF validation, cross-functional ops, and startup storytelling (pitch decks, growth experiments, etc.)
🌟 Why I was interested in joining Gildre:
• Love connecting with founders and operators who are building with intention.
• Curious about emerging tech and cross-border business building.
• Looking for a high-signal community to exchange ideas, tools, and support.
🙏 Where I could use support:
• Would love to learn from others working in SaaS, sustainability, or cross-border startups.
LinkedIn:
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