Tavern Community Presents: Startup Strategies: From Chaos to Clarity
Startup Strategies: From Chaos to Clarity
Join us for an inspiring and collaborative event with Tavern Community and Lawrence Krubner at Virgin Hotels Midtown!
Event Highlights:
Communal Lunch: Meet and connect with fellow entrepreneurs over a relaxed, communal lunch while sharing insights and experiences. (Lunch is ordered à la carte, not included in your ticket)
Panel Discussion: Hear from seasoned startup experts, including Anthony Rose, Nelly Yusupova, Payal Rohira, Alyssa Harvey Dawson, Brooke Smarsh, and Chris Pisarski who will share their journeys, challenges, and strategies for turning chaos into clarity while funding a startup.
Happy Hour: Wind down and solidify new connections in a casual happy hour setting. (First drink-house beer or wine-included in your ticket)
Meet the Speakers:
Anthony Rose is founder and CEO at SeedLegals, a legaltech platform that lets startup founders get investment ready, do a funding round, and complete the legals needed to build their business at a fraction of the cost of using a law firm. Over 50,000 startups use SeedLegals. Anthony's career has included 3D graphics, P2P music, internet video, social TV and heading up BBC iPlayer. Back in 2009 Wired Magazine's cover story billed him as The Man Who Saved The BBC.
Nelly Yusupova is a founder and CTO of Wellbeing, Inc., a mental health support and wellbeing software application. She is the creator of TechSpeak for Entrepreneurs, a self-paced bootcamp, and an expert-guided 10-week tech accelerator designed to help start-up founders. With more than 20 years experience leading companies to technical excellence, Nelly is a highly sought-after fractional CTO and startup tech advisor. In addition, Nelly is a mentor for Techstars, Founder Institute, StartOut, WEVE Acceleration, and DigitalUndivided, and more. She has been included on many lists of transformative women in tech, including Fast Company’s “League of Extraordinary Women'' and Wall Street Journal’s “Women on the IT Fast Track.” Nelly has been at the forefront of the women’s movement online since 1997. Nelly is a speaker and presenter for many organizations and major industries events including: Women’s Enterprise Center, Founder Institute, Saas Academy, Black is Tech, GSV Bootcamp, WeWork Labs, TechDay, Unvalley, FastTrac NewVentures, and many more.
Payal Rohira is an AI leader with a track record of impact — played a pivotal role in a $1.2B acquisition by Oracle and has led high-performing data science teams at scale. Now serving as a fractional Chief Data Officer, partnering with visionary founders to build and scale AI-powered businesses. Founder of Accessible AI for All, a mission-driven initiative focused on making AI more inclusive and accessible. Also an active board member and advisor to multiple startups, helping shape data and AI strategy at the earliest stages.
Alyssa Harvey Dawson is a board member, investor, and governance expert who helps high-growth companies and startups navigate AI, responsible scaling, and corporate strategy. With deep expertise in legal, risk, and governance, she advises on how businesses can integrate innovation with ethical responsibility. Alyssa serves on multiple boards, including AppLovin and Make-A-Wish, and has worked with Fortune 500 companies, late-stage startups, and AI-driven enterprises. She is passionate about aligning leadership, policy, and technology to drive sustainable, inclusive business growth.
Brooke Smarsh is a seasoned legal executive with over two decades of experience specializing in technology startups, including cross-border e-commerce and adtech. Before establishing Brass Law, Brooke served as General Counsel for Flow Commerce Inc., where she led a $37 million Series B funding and managed a swift merger process. At The Trade Desk, she was the in-house legal lead for the company's IPO, drafting S-1 risk factors and overseeing investor due diligence. Her tenure at Roku, Inc. involved negotiating cloud-based ad sales platform contracts with major TV networks, contributing to significant revenue growth. Brooke led global expansion at several of her companies, including China (twice), Japan, the Netherlands, Indonesia, Canada, the UK, Germany, and Australia. Her expertise extends to guiding product development teams on legal and regulatory compliance, ensuring that innovations align with business objectives while mitigating potential risks. She is also adept at preparing companies for fundraising or sale by structuring comprehensive datarooms and anticipating acquirers' needs, facilitating efficient due diligence processes.
Chris Pisarski built and grew PrivCo.com, a VC backed FinTech company, to 45 FT employees and profitability. He also built Chet, a way to democratize professional wisdom and education. Now he is building Crustdata.com, a Y Combinator and venture-backed company building the future of the internet for AI agents.
Join us for the whole day, or just come for the Panel Discussion at 1:30 PM.
Let’s turn chaos into clarity and create the future of startups together!
🕒 Start Time: 11:30 AM
Location: Virgin Hotels Midtown
RSVP Required
Schedule:
11:30 AM: Welcome, mingle, cowork
12:00 PM Communal lunch (Lunch is ordered à la carte, not included in your ticket)
1:30 PM: Panel talks, followed by audience conversation
3:00 PM: Coworking
4:30 PM: Happy hour
RSVP now to secure your spot!