The Power Circle
By Plug In South LA
Every month, we bring together 15-20 founders and Plug In mentors to set benchmarks, work through challenges, and help startups scale.
The Power CircleMar 28, 2021
Lori Shao, Finli | How Fundraising Changed for Finli Founder Pre-During-Post Pandemic
originally recorded December 16, 2020
Lori Shao is the CEO and Founder of Finli, a family-centric enterprise payment platform for neighborhood businesses. Prior to her journey into entrepreneurship, Lori spent 18 years in financial services and was most recently an Executive Director at JPMorgan focused on technology and innovation.
The Mentors: Lauren Pruneski, Tala, VP Global Brand & Communications; Lori Shao, Founder & CEO of Finli; Mikal Khoso, Wavemaker Partners, Investor; Mike Su, Yellow Accelerator at Snap, Director
Founder-Presenters: Stacy Griffin, Cherimoya.io; Eugenia Marshall & Wendy Berry, ConditionHER
Crown and Hops Brewing Co. | Leveraging Culture + Technology to Build a Brand
What does it mean to leverage culture to build a brand?
Founder duo Teo Hunter and Beny Ashburn of independent craft beer company Crown and Hops will be giving us a deep dive into their startup journey and how they cultivated a community around black beer connaisseurs. Afterward, we hear from two founders as they receive feedback about their startups in real-time.
Who are the founders?
Denise Pines is the co-visionary and head taskmaster for Tea Botanics.
An award-winning marketer and serial entrepreneur, Denise has participated in 10 startups, including multimedia companies and a foundation. She has 20+ years of management, sales, and marketing experience in personality brand management and traditional media. Denise has a BS in marketing and an MBA in international trade.
Lauren Gregor is the founder and CEO of Rent-a-Romper, a baby rental clothing company that’s helping parents get through the early years. Prior to starting her own company, Lauren worked in strategy and operations and has over 15 years of experience delivering large-scale, complex projects across industries.
If you're a founder looking to workshop your business venture with diverse industry experts and disruptors from LA's tech community visit us here.
Joel Ifill, DASH Systems | Fundraising as a Black Engineer
Joel Ifill, CEO of DASH Systems, joins the audience for a talk about fundraising as a black engineer founder. Afterward, we hear from two founders as they receive feedback about their startups in real-time.
Who are the founders?
Mexico-born Carolina Nucamendi is the founder of Waiver, a startup that protects any bank account from overdraft and maintenance fees. Brittani Hunter, and her media startup Mogul Millennial, creates content, resources, and virtual programming to help the Black founders community professionally grow.
If you're a founder looking to workshop your business venture with diverse industry experts and disruptors from LA's tech community visit us here.