PointFive’s Post

Earlier this week John Germinario, VP of People at PebblePost, sent me this thoughtful and unprompted note after his company’s offsite that we were lucky enough to support at Marco Experiences. Building and working at a startup is a grind. Notes like this remind me that it’s worth it. First off, hats off to John Germinario. He went out of his way to not only show gratitude for our partnership but also ensure I was aware of the efforts of our TEAM in making the event a success. In business relationships, it’s better to work with partners on the same team. The fact that John went above and beyond, offering to act as a reference or help close a deal also demonstrates that he’s exactly the kind of customer that we feel lucky to work with (don’t worry I asked him before posting this note 😉). Sometimes it’s hard to quantify or measure human connection's impact in an increasingly disconnected world. This is that value. The impact of intentional gatherings, both on a human and business level, is clear. Big praise to Anna Nikiforov and Court Roberts. Both are huge contributors to what we’re building at Marco. #employeeexperience #offsites #futureofwork #futureofculture #hybridwork

Two years ago, I made a pivotal decision to exit a startup that I had co-founded Redbird and helped grow into a network of 500 pharmacies in under four years. It was a challenging yet transformative period in my life. Someday, I look forward to sharing more about my experiences and the valuable lessons I learned. During exit, one of the most thoughtful gifts I received was a send-off album (Hats Off to my co founders especially our CTO and the team for this). As I bid farewell, I reflected on the key lessons I shared with an exceptional team: 1. Know Thine Self: Each of us is uniquely different, and understanding oneself is crucial for finding true purpose and direction. Knowing our strengths and preferences guides us through both smooth and tough times, enabling us to stay focused on our vision. 2. Integrity Matters - Be A Good Person: Being a good person should never be compromised. Demonstrating integrity through our actions builds a reputation that precedes us. It's this reputation that can lead others to offer empathy rather than condemnation during challenging moments. Give people who know you the opportunity to give you the benefit of the doubt in your absence, it can make or break you! As we navigate the second half of the year, some of us have exceeded our goals, while others are still working towards theirs. Wherever you find yourself, take heart. Remember the wisdom of the Psalmist: "I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread." #HappyJuly1st

The Payabli team just capped off our 2024 bi-annual offsite in Miami, FL. We are all feeling refreshed and inspired! ✨ Despite battling extreme tropical weather with flight cancellations and power outages, we stayed resilient and focused on our theme: "Leveling Up: This is HOW we do it.” Highlights of this offsite include sessions led by our leaders William Corbera & Joseph Elias Phillips as well as the rest of the team, including: ✅ Ice breaker exercises, recapping our core company values, and discussions on aligning them with "Leveling Up." ✅ Team updates from operations, sales, marketing, and customer success. ✅ Key business updates and upcoming product releases. ✅ An exciting session on AI applications at Payabli, with new features rolling out in the next two quarters. 💃 And of course, dancing and amazing team dinners at Miami's Sazon and MILA RESTAURANT MIAMI BEACH restaurants. We also had the pleasure of welcoming and thanking two very special guest speakers who delivered impactful talks: 🎤 Guillermo Cancio-Bello, renowned business psychologist, who discussed "Sticking Together: Practicing Radical Candor & Empathy." 🎤 Michael Marmo, CEO and Founder of CurbWaste, who shared his inspiring entrepreneurial journey and the role Payabli’s solutions play in CurbWaste's success. Want the full recap? Check out our blog! 🚀https://hubs.ly/Q02C7LDf0 #PayabliOffsite #TeamBuilding #LevelingUp #MiamiAdventures #StartupLife #Payabli

100% this from Ha Nguyen "That’s why I believe the most powerful legacies leaders leave behind aren’t their projects or their accomplishments—it’s the culture they helped build." A positive corporate culture is intentional. A negative one is usually not a result of a focus on doing bad things but a lack of value placed on intentionally crafting as exceptional an experience for your employees as you do for your customers. In fact, I believe that a focus on the former will organically elevate the execution of the latter. A negative culture is the result of neglect: thinking culture doesn't matter or crafting lovely sounding statements that are not cascaded into organizational behaviors and norms. A company without an intentional and authentic culture is like a human being without a soul. It operates but nobody wants to be around it. https://lnkd.in/gqFjyKrk

San Francisco is a city of builders and we really can't get away without hosting a few events for founders in the Bay Area. Aayush and I have attended multiple founders events in the last month and we have probably met dozens of founders. Everyone is so inspired to build something meaningful around here. The only problem with the founders events we've been to so far is the number of people in them! There are so many founders in SF! That is indeed a good problem to have. When we organized our first-ever founders happy hours a couple of weeks ago, we talked in so much depth. Our conversations were a lot more intimate. We could really dig deeper into the challenges we were facing - sales, revenue, retention, GTM, we talked about it all. This was only possible because our gathering was tight! A shoutout to Michael, Diana, Anurag, Anshul & Juan Valladares for joining our first-ever Founders Happy Hours. This is what we're trying to repeat with our next Founders meet-up. So if you're a founder in the Bay Area, join our Founders Happy Hours 2.0 on Thursday, October 10 in SoMa, San Francisco - https://lu.ma/ytgr5xcn

Meet David Politis, the visionary founder of BetterCloud, recently acquired by Vista Equity Partners Our friendship spans over 15 years, and the story of how it all began is quite something: After being introduced via email, David and I decided to meet for lunch and in person for the first time. After enjoying good food and small talk, we figured we might reconnect sometime in the future. That very night, at the season opener for the Atlanta Hawks basketball game, I spotted a familiar face walking down the aisle - it was David. Both of us were stunned. Me: What are you doing here? David: I got season tickets! Me: Me too, where are your seats? David: Right next to yours. What were the odds? From a casual lunch to discovering we were season ticket neighbors on the same day, we still laugh about it today. Yesterday, we met for lunch and reminisced about old times. It was great to hear about David's professional success, but more importantly, about his personal happiness with life, his wife, and his kids. David hasn’t changed one bit; he's only become smarter and more successful. Yet he remains as funny, generous, and eager to share his knowledge with entrepreneurs as ever. Moments like these remind us of the incredible connections we make along life's journey. The lesson here is that life has a way of bringing good people together. They share lessons, break bread, and always be there for each other. #Friendship #Networking #LifeLessons #StartupJourney

Exciting times for our JV in the creative and digital space - The Novkins Group, where myself and Danny O. are working alongside David Green of Echo Eight and Marc Shelkin of the Social Shop. Momentum is building as the business rapidly expands, there is a huge pipeline of opportunities coming through and we should have some more exciting news to announce very shortly about another new addition to the Group. The Novkins Group is designed to deliver an exit for any owner-operator. Key Objectives: - Build a group of connected complementary businesses - Create an exit plan for each joining owner-operator - Achieve a simple EBITDA target and prepare for sale If you or any of your business owner friends would be interested in joining this Group or would like to talk about an exit from their business, please reach out. #digitalbusiness #marketingcompany #creativeagency #privateinvestment #businessgrowth #exitstrategy

Hear from one of our partners: Reneé Roe, about how GrowthHouse has helped her expand her practice and better serve her clients. "Joining GrowthHouse has been a great experience, and I am very happy I took the plunge and made the change. I felt supported and looked after before I even joined the team, and making the change, while these things are always disruptive, went very smoothly. No empty promises, and I’ve received a lot of support from the different departments. I have access to resources I didn’t previously have, and someone is always available to assist with matters, you will find an answer to any questions. The paperwork was handled efficiently and quickly, and I was back up and running as normal very soon after joining. Most importantly, the GrowthHouse team is warm and welcoming, with friendly people, creating a happy office atmosphere. My business has grown in the time I’ve been part of the GrowthHouse team, and I look forward to many years of success with the GrowthHouse team." - Reneé Roe See how partnering with us can transform your practice. Review our resources page on our website: https://lnkd.in/d5gKQqEa #GrowthHouse #FinancialAdvisors #Independence #Innovation #PracticeGrowth

When we asked CPG founders who they wanted at Founderland... Their answer was clear: People who can help them grow their business & achieve their goals. Specifically: - The top retailers - The most founder-friendly investors, and - Other founders they can learn from and share with This conversation that I'm hosting at Founderland is a perfect representation of this group, plus one BIG bonus. We're also including Joel Toledano and ChargeUp.ai which is one of my favorite tech companies that is supporting consumer brands today. They automate the retail deduction and chargeback process for brands, saving them an insane amount of time and money. Such a cool co. Excited to teach, share and connect...and get some deals done, while of course having lots of fun. Joel Toledano Jen Zeszut Kim Coffin Deb Conklin

Being in partnerships doesn’t have to feel like you’re on your own! Adrienne Coburn, Director of Global Partner Programs at Oyster®, shares how Partnership Leaders has been a fantastic support system – whether it’s jumping into a roundtable for fresh ideas or getting advice on partner ops challenges, she’s found her go-to support here. Hope everyone’s having a great Monday! We’d love to hear your story – how has the community helped you since you joined? Share your experience in the comments! #PartnershipLeaders #CommunityVibes #PartnershipSuccess