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Ryan Babenzien
Founder - CEO at Jolie Skin co.
Ryan Babenzien is the Founder & CEO of Jolie Skin Co., a beauty wellness brand focused on improving skin, hair, and overall well-being by enhancing the quality of water.
Previously, Babenzien established GREATS, the first digital native footwear brand, which was acquired by the multi-billion dollar company Steve Madden in 2019 after just five years.
He serves as an advisor to Attentive Mobile and Try Now and holds board positions at Imogene & Willie and Hoek Home.
Babenzien has been featured in notable publications like Forbes, Techcrunch, Highsnobiety, and Hypebeast, among others. He was part of the Goldman Sachs 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs class of 2018.
His collaborations span a diverse range of brands such as Timex, Tretorn, J.Crew, Loro Piana, and Bobbi Brown, showcasing his versatility and industry connections.
Educationally, Babenzien pursued a Bachelor's degree in Economics at Fordham University.
Throughout his career, he has held various roles including Founder & CEO of Jolie Skin Company, investor at Okendo, board advisor at BounceX, and mentor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
His experience also includes positions such as Global Director of Lifestyle/Entertainment Marketing at K-Swiss and Puma, highlighting his expertise in marketing and brand development.
With a diverse background in entrepreneurship, advisory roles, and brand collaborations, Babenzien continues to make an impact in the beauty, fashion, and wellness industries.
Highlights
📝 A few weeks ago I wrote a post about Jolie's experience with Saks Fifth Avenue and how they have owed us $15k for over a year. That post triggered no less than 3 major articles to be written, including the most recent one today from the The Wall Street Journal.
That post was the most read and engaged post I've ever had on LinkedIn and clearly touched a nerve, not only in the founder community, but also within the retail industry and the reporters who cover it.
The intent of my post was to inform others of what Jolie was experiencing with Saks. More of a "Seller beware" post and less of a post about getting paid what Saks owed us. While we have the normal slow payments from some wholesalers we've always been paid. Saks was an extreme example and we ultimately sent them to collections after about a year. BUT, we received payment in full the other day and we're thrilled SAKS has paid us.
💲 We have been very fortunate and I know there are many brands that are owed much more than the $15k Saks owed us. I also know that some of those brands may be on their last breath and getting close to going out of business.
💲 SO, we've decided to donate this $15k to a brand in need. Here is what is required:
You're brand that is owed money by SAKS and they are more than 90 days past due on payment.
You're a brand that has less than 90 days of cash on hand to pay your bills.
If you are a brand that falls in this bucket, DM me and one of you will get a $15k gift from Jolie. Not a loan, Not an investment, a gift.
📨 Please share this post to get the word out to founders.
https://lnkd.in/ecyxaXMb
It's no secret we're fans and friends with Nik Sharma. The brand he has created as "Nik" the brand is impressive and his marketing expertise is a hot ticket. He is paid by his clients (handsomely btw) for his unique skill set and he is well respected in the world of Marketing.
So when Nik talks about Jolie and our marketing approach, I'm always flattered. Here is what he wrote to kick off his newsletter "We live in an age of performance marketing, where every endeavor needs to be tracked and measured to ensure its efficacy. It feels like there is a growing tension between performance marketers and those on the brand side who still adhere to more of a “spray and pray” mentality. And then there’s Jolie."
Jolie's approach to marketing has been consistent since before we launched. We set a strategy and have not deviated from it. 1. Because it's working and 2. Because we believe the majority of marketers today are analysts not marketers and have overvalued measurement and undervalued actual performance. Performance marketing is a relatively new form of marketing that involves measurement, which was meant to be the great silver bullet of marketing. Sadly, it has not proven out to be the great silver bullet we all hoped it would be, including myself. And because of that, Jolie approached marketing in a different way that included old school, relatively unmeasured tactics with current, highly measurable tactics. The result has been exceptional for growth, profit and brand. This is the trifecta of marketing where if you are checking each of these boxes year over year, you're doing it really right.
I'm sort of joking when I say we should start a marketing agency. Sort of. I am approached at least a few times per week to share my thoughts and insights to other founders, marketing leaders, vc's and others so there seems to be an opportunity to actually get paid to help others instead of giving it away like I do now. I'm not going to do that just yet but hey, you never know.
I'm not saying to NOT do performance marketing. But I am saying that non measured channels will likely improve your overall marketing performance. That's scary to most marketers today because the comfort of being able to report and analyze around spend and ads is far greater than the risk of going off script and doing things that can't be seen. My advice, do something different, something creative, different from what everyone else is doing. That's what real marketers do.
“Marketing today is a lost art and the belief that "measurement" makes marketing better today is simply not true. If measurement of marketing made marketing better than we would not have so many unprofitable companies. It's as simple as that,” says Babenzien.
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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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