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Jess Larsen
Chairman at Graystoke Investments, Graystoke Media & Graystoke Advisors. Founder, Child Rescue Association.
Professional Background
Jess Larsen is a prominent figure in the investment landscape, currently serving as the Chairman and Co-Founder of Graystoke Investments, where he specializes in income-generating real estate investments. Graystoke Investments is renowned for its commitment to enhancing financial portfolios through strategic property assets. Furthermore, he is the creative mind behind Graystoke Media, which focuses on delivering impactful media strategies that resonate with audiences globally. Beyond his entrepreneurial ventures, Jess is actively involved with the Child Rescue Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting vulnerable children. His career trajectory reflects a blend of financial acumen and a passion for social betterment, which has propelled him into influential positions across various sectors.
Previous to his roles at Graystoke, Jess Larsen contributed significantly to the mergers and acquisitions team at Citi, where he honed his expertise in corporate finance and strategic planning. Following this, he embarked on a successful tenure as CEO of the Katana Fund, a private equity firm recognized for its innovative investment strategies and focus on high-potential ventures. This experience has equipped him with a comprehensive understanding of the financial markets and the critical elements that drive investment success.
Education and Achievements
Jess's academic background is as impressive as his professional accomplishments. He studied Entrepreneurship at the esteemed Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Education, where he gained invaluable insights into developing and sustaining successful business practices. This rigorous education laid the groundwork for his entrepreneurial ventures, instilling a deep understanding of innovation and market dynamics.
In addition, Jess studied Private Equity and Venture Capital (PEVC) at Harvard Business School Executive Education. This advanced training further enhanced his analytical skills and strategic thinking, enabling him to navigate the complexities of investment landscapes with confidence and expertise.
His educational journey through two of the world’s most prestigious institutions underscores his commitment to continuous learning and professional development, making him a thought leader in both investment and media.
Achievements
Beyond his roles and education, Jess Larsen has made significant contributions to the fields of investment and social impact. As the Founder of Special Operations at Graystoke Media, Jess has leveraged his background in finance to reshape the media landscape through innovative content and strategic partnerships. His leadership has led to the development of multifaceted campaigns that educate, inform, and inspire audiences, showcasing his multifaceted skill set.
Jess's influence extends beyond the corporate world into philanthropy through his involvement with the Child Rescue Association. His dedication to safeguarding children in need reflects his belief in social responsibility and community engagement, making him a respected figure not only in business but also in humanitarian efforts.
Throughout his career, Jess has remained committed to fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation, driving positive change within organizations and communities alike. Whether through real estate investment, media initiatives, or philanthropy, he continually seeks to leave a lasting impact that extends far beyond financial success.
Highlights
It was great to have one of their operational leads of the elite Artificial Intelligence unit at Google, the Google DeepMind, Joshua Yellin, on the show. We talked about his years helping startups at Google, and the four biggest traps that cause startups to fail. Josh is a super-intelligent guy, and I’m sure you’ll love the episode. Check it out on my Innovation and Leadership Podcast: https://lnkd.in/gQXKPyDm
As a 21-year-old, my California-raised newlywed wife and I moved from Canada to Huntington Beach because she didn't want to live where it was cold, and I figured if I was not snowboarding, I should be surfing.
I was way worse at it than I thought I'd be. At that point, I'd been a skateboarder for years, got up my first pull wakeboarding, and on a snowboard, could land rodeos (backflips with a twist) and thought, how hard could this be?
Hard on a longboard.
Really hard on a shortboard.
It took six days a week before work for months before I could consistently catch waves on a shortboard.
But the acceleration of paddling at 2 miles an hour to racing at 35 mph across a head-high wave was as wildly exhilarating as the fastest sports car I'd ever been in or dropping a 30-foot cliff jump on a snowboard.
The cool thing surfing the Huntington peer was all the grey-haired guys on their longboards at dawn patrol with us. They were having as much fun as us.
I decided that I never wanted to "get old" and stop surfing. So, Sano Seiichi, 90, is a new hero of mine. He shows how exercise might be longevity's most potent wonder drug. It kills me when I hear my friends in their late 30s to late 40s tell me, " Now that I'm older, I can't really be (snowboarding/surfing/ BMX/ or whatever we are talking about) anymore."
My partners and I are getting ready to ramp up our new biotech/life sciences venture capital firm, primarily focused on preventive medicines and technologies that extend people's healthy and happy years on earth.
In preparation, I have been interviewing several top longevity scientists and other subject matter experts on my Innovation & Leadership podcast.
I'm trying to wade through the conflicting opinions from scientists and doctors, let alone all of the hypesters/ snake oil salesmen/ and unqualified self-proclaimed experts. My current opinion, of which I reserve the right to change based on more evidence, is that the three major areas I should be focused on learning our
One: lifestyle.
Specifically, I need to exercise, eat and sleep well, and have a sense of connection, community, and meaning in life.
Two: preventive medicines and rigorously tested supplements.
And
Three: Technologies and procedures.
AI assistance for the things listed above and speeding up drug development and other tech breakthroughs.
Even though our most significant financial opportunities are likely to be with preventative medicines and technologies, I am deeply fascinated with behavior and change and trying to help my family, friends & investors change their habits with me regarding exercise, eating, and sleeping.
One book I am finding super helpful with this is "Change or Die" by Alan Deutschman.
If you have any other good books or other recommendations for me, I'd love to hear how to help more people who want to still be surfers in their 90s; please leave them in the comments.
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Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
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
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- 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.
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