Blue Startups

CleverFi at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 🚀 The time is almost here! We’ll be at TechCrunch Disrupt on October 28, 29, and 30, and we’re very excited to be among the 200 selected startups! We’ve got some exciting surprises, challenges, raffles, games, and live demos lined up just for attendees. Plus, don’t miss seeing our CEO, Mario Soave, pitch CleverFi live on stage! 🎤🔥 Thank you to Michael J Schick, and Isabelle Johannessen for your weekly support. A special thanks to Speakers Sara Thomas Deshpande, Ishani Thakur, Kevin Ryan, Jeff Taylor, Jen Diffenderfer, Uday Ghatikar, Kristen Korosec, and Marcelo Lebre for all the help and the valuable lessons 📍 Visit us at booth N20 to learn how we’re transforming secure connectivity nationwide and experience our innovative solution firsthand—just like you would with your home Wi-Fi! 🏠 📌 Location: Moscone West, 800 Howard St, San Francisco. 👉 Discover more at www.cleverfi.com 📲 Follow us on social media to stay updated with all the latest news and events! #Techcrunch #techcrunchdisrupt2024 #startupbattlefield #technology #networking #wifi #venturecapital #fundraising #startup #innovation #entrepreneurship #informationsecurity #cybersecurity

✨💡What if every student had a personal college counselor available 24/7? That's exactly what we're bringing to the TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield! 𝒅𝒂𝒃𝒃𝑳'𝒔 AI-powered app is set to transform college and career planning. We’re helping students own what’s next. If you’re at #TechCrunchDisrupt and are interested in the future of #edTech let's meet! You can find us at booth M4. #AIinEducation #edTech #StudentEmpowerment #OwnWhatsNext #TechCrunchDisrupt #EdTech #TechCrunchDisrupt2024

Blue Startups acceleration complete—and wow, did we accelerate! 🐧 🚀 We wrapped up with a demo day in San Francisco, and I even did a bonus one in NYC. You have to check out the pitches! https://lnkd.in/gyzF9mGF If you’re wondering whether an accelerator is right for you, or if you’re building in isolation and want to grow as a founder, read on. When we applied to Blue, we were at $40K in monthly revenue. By the end of the cohort, we hit $135K. Even though I’m American, all my startup experience was in China. I wasn’t familiar with the fundraising process or how American VCs think. I also didn’t have a strong network here. I needed to level up my game. If you want to build something huge, you can’t do it alone—you need mentorship and advice. And Blue Startups provided that in spades. We started with a bang thanks to Patrick Lee (Rotten Tomatoes founder), who gave an incredible presentation on focus. The guidance from Blue’s founder and director, Chenoa Farnsworth, was invaluable. She’s unapologetically tough, forcing you to maintain a high standard. Her far-reaching connections brought us every type of advice we could need. We were introduced to an amazing lead mentor and advisor, Steve Markowitz. Everyone needs to find their “Steve”—someone who's done it before and will go with you the whole way. Blue helped us build a network. We got connected with incredible founders and advisors, like Joey Katzen, Christopher Farm, Holly Liu, Chris Yeh, Keyvan Peymani, Nobu Morita, Jennifer Apy, Rachan (Butch) Reddy, Assaf Karmon— and so many more amazing people who have already helped us immensely on this journey. David Holt always went the extra mile (as did Kia Yang). Chris Lam helped me think about design. Cristina Moon taught zen and resilience. Romesh Jayawickrama was invaluable in guiding mindset and balance. Blue also partnered with Piʻikū Co. and brought on two amazing designers (Gage Minamoto and Michelle Tran) to give the app a needed glow up. But most importantly—our cohort. I can’t imagine building a startup alone. The cohort becomes like family, and it's important to surround yourself with brilliant passionate people. Huge shoutout to Cohort 16: Sirisha Kaipa and Madhu Vohra, Jacqueline Hall (Sunday grinders club), Randy Marsden and Arianna Rose, Mathew Goldsborough, Mario Soave, Paul Karaffa, Dr. Stevens Bonhomme, D.B.A, M.A, Melis Dural, Vincent Brathwaite, Andrew Spencer, Michael Choi Special thanks to Trung Lam and Johnny Chankhamany of ThriveHI for introducing me to Hawaii’s tech community and Clif Purkiser for guiding me in. And, of course, we can’t forget Maya Rogers and Tetris! Why do an accelerator in Hawaii? Because building a startup is hard, and you need support from people that really care about you. Blue startups isn't just an accelerator, it's Ohana 🤙

Celebrating 10 Years of Selly Automotive CRM ! 🎉 It's hard to believe it's been a decade since starting Selly from a dorm room idea inspired by my time working in the car business while at Emory University. I wanted to share some milestones from our journey: 🎓 - At 23 years old, was accepted into the Blue Startups accelerator program, where we built our MVP and incorporated. 💡 - We raised our initial seed funding from Blue Ventures, Topaz Fund, Hawaii Angels; Ryne Sitar joined the team to lead product and engineering! 🧱 - We built Selly brick by brick over the next couple of years, partnering with companies like AutoManager (whom we would eventually join). 🤝 - Matt Watson came on board as an investor and advisor; we hired a new sales leader (Steve) and began scaling up. 🌐 - The pandemic flipped the world upside down, but it pushed #usedcardealers to embrace technology. 🚀 - We joined forces with AutoManager and Beekman after interest from multiple automotive / PE players. 🎯 - At 30 years old, Selly was acquired by private equity, and I'm proud to still be part of this incredible portfolio team, growing and scaling together. A huge thank you to our dealership customers, investors, and both current and former employees—you made this journey possible! 🚀