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Ben Grabiner
Co-Founder & General Partner @ Side Stage Ventures
Professional Background
Ben Grabiner is a multifaceted professional known for his dynamic contributions to the realms of creativity and technology. He is the co-founder of Platoon, a creative company that has garnered attention for its innovative approach to helping artists and creators achieve their commercial aspirations. Currently, Grabiner brings his entrepreneurial spirit and strategic insights to his role at Apple, where he continues to push the boundaries of technology and creativity.
Before his journey with Platoon and Apple, Grabiner made significant strides at LocalGlobe, where he was an impactful Company Builder and Early Stage Investor. His tenure at LocalGlobe provided him with the opportunity to support numerous startups, enabling them to flourish in their respective markets. Grabiner's passion for fostering creativity and nurturing businesses has established him as a significant player in the investment landscape.
His career began with foundational experiences at Accenture, where he worked as a Management Consultant. This role equipped him with a profound understanding of operational efficiencies and strategic planning—skills that would later prove invaluable in his entrepreneurial ventures. Furthermore, he served in a key position as Head of Strategy & Operations at Pollonize, where he utilized his analytical prowess to guide strategic initiatives and optimize business operations.
Education and Achievements
Grabiner's educational background laid the foundation for his impressive career. He completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Government and Economics at the prestigious London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). This rigorous academic experience afforded him a robust understanding of economic principles and government policies, which he adeptly applies in his business endeavors.
Furthermore, his early education at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School contributed significantly to his development, equipping him with critical thinking skills and a passion for academic excellence.
Throughout his career, Grabiner has continuously sought to innovate and influence the intersection of creativity and technology, making him a sought-after expert and advisor in several industry circles. His investment philosophy emphasizes the importance of fostering creativity while leveraging technology to drive growth and development.
Notable Achievements
Ben Grabiner’s journey is marked by several noteworthy achievements that underscore his commitment and dedication to his fields of expertise. His role as co-founder of Platoon has seen him facilitate significant growth for a number of emerging artists and entrepreneurs, directly influencing the cultural landscape. Under his leadership, Platoon has become synonymous with supporting creatives, offering them resources and guidance in an ever-evolving market.
In addition, Grabiner’s work with LocalGlobe has positioned him as a key figure in early-stage investing, where his insights have shaped the trajectory of numerous start-ups. His strategic mindset allows him to identify promising ventures and support their growth effectively.
As a professional who bridges creativity with technological advancements, Grabiner continues to impact various organizations positively. His work at Apple is particularly noteworthy, as he contributes to projects that harmonize the company's innovative ethos with real-world applications for creators.
Conclusion
In summary, Ben Grabiner exemplifies a blend of creativity, economic insight, and technological expertise. His educational background from esteemed institutions, combined with his rich career history in various strategic roles, reflect a professional dedicated to elevating the understanding and capabilities of creativity and technology in modern society. Grabiner’s commitment to fostering innovation and supporting creators cements his reputation as a leading figure in the intersection of these two vital sectors.
Highlights
Thanks Bronwen Clune & Capital Brief for the write up.
Let's be clear - it's (always) the founders that really deserve the credit here. It's far harder to build an epic business than it is to back one.
But... we appreciate you shining a light on those of us who are building the foundations for the next generation of world class founders in Australia.
We're just getting started :)
cc Side Stage Ventures Leonardo.Ai
Wow! Excited to share some portfolio news:
Leonardo.Ai has been acquired by Canva!
First and foremost, this is a truly amazing outcome for a team that launched their first ground-breaking image generation product just 18 months ago. From their office overlooking the water in North Sydney, JJ Fiasson, Chris Gillis, and the rest of the team have built a beautiful product that has empowered millions of users around the world to unleash their creativity.
It's one thing to have a deep understanding of what your users want and what the technology is capable of but quite another thing to be able to ship the features that matter in days and hours rather than weeks and months. One of the "secrets" to their success (and my biggest learning) has been that an insane ability to ship and execute product at speed can be a real moat.
It's been a privilege to have been on the journey since we first invested back in March 2023 and we couldn't be happier for a more well-deserving, and humble group of founders.
I should also add that this is an important moment for us as a fund.
We launched the Side Stage Ventures fund almost exactly 18 months ago, at close to the same time that the Leonardo team launched their first product, because we had deep conviction that the quality of Australian entrepreneurs is as good as anywhere in the world. Seeing the coming together of Leonardo.Ai and Canva just goes to validate that thesis. These are special teams, building products loved by millions of people all over the world and they're being founded, built and shipped right here in Australia.
I couldn't be more excited for the next decade - to watch Leonardo.Ai and Canva grow together and to be able to support more of the next generation of exceptional entrepreneurs in Australia building on their success.
cc JJ Fiasson Chris Gillis Peter Runham Jachin Bhasme Ethan Smith Sami Ede Side Stage Ventures Blackbird Markus Kahlbetzer Harrison Wright Elli Hanson
https://lnkd.in/gQDQPUAH
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.