Startup Coaching & Mentorship

Coaching appointments are virtual by default (for an in-person appointment, please book below and then send an email request to the Coach you have selected)
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Got an idea for a new venture? Need help scaling your startup operations? Don’t know where to start? Get one-on-one or group coaching from startup experts at the Entrepreneurial Institute. All students, researchers, faculty, and staff—regardless of area of study, experience, discipline, or NYU school affiliation are eligible to participate.

Schedule an appointment with a Startup Coach today!

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About the Startup Coaching Program

The Startup Coaching Program supports aspiring entrepreneurs at every stage of their startup journey. Whether you just came up with a concept an hour ago or have thought about it for years, the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute gives you – students, faculty, researchers and staff – access to a network of entrepreneurs, venture coaches, and industry experts to help your venture launch and scale.

The NYU Entrepreneurial Institute offers a variety of resources to support NYU startups at all stages of development including:

  • 1:1 Coaching: Meet with coaches and advisors from inside and outside NYU to get the guidance you need
  • Group Coaching: Learn about the resources available to you with peers who are on the same path as you
  • Community: Share knowledge and best practices, post jobs, and find team members for your venture
  • Resources & Deals: Get exclusive access to deals to help you get started, from software development to online courses
Who Can Participate

The Startup Coaching Program is open to anyone currently at NYU, including:

  • Current NYU students, faculty, researchers, staff, and their team members
  • Startups at all stages of development
  • No prior experience with entrepreneurship necessary

NYU Startup Coaches

Frank Rimalovski

Frank Rimalovski

Executive Director

Frank Rimalovski

Frank Rimalovski

Executive Director

Heads the Entrepreneurial Institute and is the Managing Director of the NYU Innovation Venture Fund which invests in early stage NYU startups. Frank also provides coaching to NYU startups. He is a member of the national teaching team for the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps program and an Adjunct Faculty at the NYU School of Engineering. He has been a venture capitalist for over 23 years.

Rebecca Silver

Rebecca Silver

Director

Rebecca Silver

Rebecca Silver

Director

Is the Director of the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute, where she leads the Institute’s programs portfolio, mentors entrepreneurs, and contributes to fundraising, operations, and strategy. Since joining NYU in 2017, Rebecca has designed and led the Institute’s award-winning Startup Accelerator Program series for students, and the Tech Venture Program series for faculty and researchers. Rebecca also spearheaded and leads the Institute’s Female Founders initiatives, launching five new programs aimed at supporting gender equity in entrepreneurship. As a result, since 2017 there has been a 31% increase in engagement from women-founded ventures on campus, and NYU is ranked in the top 10 universities globally for supporting women founders (via Pitchbook University Rankings).

Before NYU, Rebecca was an innovation and sustainability consultant working to build startup ecosystems and spur environmental innovation. Rebecca’s past clients include Adidas, Walmart, Merck, Sanofi, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund, and the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Prior to this work, Rebecca was industrial designer and leader in the New York City sustainable design community, where she co-founded the non-profit O2-NYC. Rebecca has taught entrepreneurship, design and sustainability at Columbia University, the School of Visual Arts, Parsons the New School for Design, and at NYU. Rebecca holds an MBA as well as an MS in Environmental Science from the University of Michigan, and obtained a BFA in Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Jen Curtis

Jen Curtis

Associate Director

(Wagner '24)

Jen Curtis

Jen Curtis

Associate Director

(Wagner '24)

Jen Curtis is the Associate Director of the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute where she manages the Leslie eLab, the Institute's finances, and leads events & operations, including the NYU Entrepreneurs Festival.
She is also the Treasurer of the NYU Administrative Management Council, which fosters University-wide relationships that inspire thoughtful engagement, innovative progress, and professional excellence.
 
Jen is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Benin '14-'15) and previously worked at the UN World Food Programme in Rome, Italy. She holds a BA/MA in International Relations from St. John’s University and recently received her MPA in Public and Nonprofit Management & Policy from NYU Wagner School of Public Service.

Keith Mauppa

Keith Mauppa

Senior Programs Manager

Keith Mauppa

Keith Mauppa

Senior Programs Manager

Leads Institute programs and provides coaching. Keith has over 12 years of experience covering Management Consulting, Asset Management, Private Equity and Venture Capital. Most recently, Keith was COO of Flat World Partners an impact-focused investment & advisory firm. Keith has led the execution of over 9 dozen private market transactions on 4 continents. He has a double major in Economics & Politics from the University of Cape Town (South Africa), and received his MBA on scholarship at Hult Business School (San Francisco) in 2014.

Jonas Guenther

Jonas Guenther

Programs Manager

(Tandon '18)

Azade Hosseini, PhD

Azade Hosseini, PhD

Venture Associate

Azade Hosseini, PhD

Azade Hosseini, PhD

Venture Associate

Leads investments in life sciences and healthcare on behalf of the NYU Innovation Fund, and provides startup coaching. Azade has worked in business development and operations for a number of venture-backed health and climate tech startups. Previously, she was Head of Business Development at the public-private accelerator Innouvo, where she built global innovation ecosystems, sourced deals for pharma companies, and helped scale >30 pre-seed to Series A stage startups. Prior to that, Azade was Senior Scientist at BioNTech (previously Neon Therapeutics). She completed her postdoctoral training at MIT, and earned her PhD in Chemistry from Boston College.

Darren Yee

Darren Yee

Senior Venture Associate

(Tandon '16)

Darren Yee

Darren Yee

Senior Venture Associate

(Tandon '16)

Leads investments on behalf of the NYU Innovation Venture Fund in Information Technology and Consumer Products and provides coaching. Prior to joining the Fund, Darren co-founded a startup in construction tech (Summer Launchpad 2016). Darren later went on to participate in the Techstars NYC accelerator and moved on to operations in startups in real estate tech, mental health, and online education.

Founders In Residence

The NYU Entrepreneurial Institute welcomes several startup founders who are alumni of the NYU Startup Accelerator Program to build their companies out of the Leslie eLab. These founders are available to serve as mentors and advisors to up-and-coming NYU startups. Meet the Founders In Residence:

Mir Hwang

Mir Hwang

GigFinesse

(CAS '19)

Hilary Dubin

Hilary Dubin

Jones

Drew Lederman

Drew Lederman

Resist Nutrition

(Tisch '20)

Gabe Warshaw

Gabe Warshaw

Baton

(Tisch ITP '23)

Marcos Brisson

Marcos Brisson

Kaizntree

(Shanghai '23)

Jasmin Hume, PhD

Jasmin Hume, PhD

Shiru

(Tandon '15)

Britt Martin

Britt Martin

Phases

(GSAS '17)

Josh Sakhai

Josh Sakhai

Ephemeral

(Stern)

Dror Margalit

Dror Margalit

Context

(Tisch ITP '24)

Lokesh Sharma

Lokesh Sharma

CaroRhythm

(Tandon '24)

Nyamitse-Calvin Mahinda

Nyamitse-Calvin Mahinda

Vital Audio

(Tandon '23)

Henry Armistead

Henry Armistead

Hedge

(SPS '24)

Mentors

Dana Mauriello

Dana Mauriello

Is This a Thing?

Olivia Landau

Olivia Landau

The Clear Cut

(Steinhardt ‘13)

Nobu Nakaguchi

Nobu Nakaguchi

Zola

(ITP '10)

Adrian Grant

Adrian Grant

StarLiner

(Stern ‘05)

Phantila Phataraprasit

Phantila Phataraprasit

Sabai Design

(Law '20)

Roslyn Jin

Roslyn Jin

Antler

(Stern '21)

Yasser Ansari

Yasser Ansari

Polymer Search

(Tisch '10)

Theo Nissim

Theo Nissim

LTN Ventures

Laura Katz

Laura Katz

Helaina

(Steinhardt ‘16)

Caroline Vasquez Huber

Caroline Vasquez Huber

Jones

(Stern '23)

Zoe van den Bol

Zoe van den Bol

Alpha Partners

(Stern '21)

Oscar Adelman

Oscar Adelman

Remi

(Stern '18)

Alyssa Petersel

Alyssa Petersel

MyWellbeing

(Silver '17)

Noah Dinkin

Noah Dinkin

Stensul

(Stern '06)

Lori Berenberg

Lori Berenberg

Bloomberg Beta

(Stern '17)

Lisa Burton

Lisa Burton

HearstLab

Lia Zhang

Lia Zhang

Makers Fund

(Stern ‘17)

Laura Rocha

Laura Rocha

Dathic

(Wagner '20)

Khurram Gore

Khurram Gore

Verizon

(SPS ‘02, CAS ‘03)

Joe Chittenden-Veal

Joe Chittenden-Veal

Invisible Technologies

(GSAS ‘18)

Phuong Ireland

Phuong Ireland

Interplay VC

Jeff Levick

Jeff Levick

Redesign Health Venture

(CAS '93)

Jane Chen

Jane Chen

StepWise

Jamey Stout

Jamey Stout

Pavilion Capital Partners

Ali Heron

Ali Heron

Two Sigma Ventures

(Stern '13)

Kristina Chodorow

Kristina Chodorow

Google Ventures

(CAS ‘07)

Kunal Mehta

Kunal Mehta

Isos Capital Management

(Stern '11)

Joe West

Joe West

Launch Control

Success Stories

Jones is a judgement-free journey to a vape-less life, through a personalized nicotine replacement subscription, behavioral support and digital community.

Caroline Huber

Co-Founder

(Stern '23)

All-natural food products packed with endocrine supportive nutrients that can naturally improve menstrual symptoms.

Britt Martin

Co-Founder

(GSAS '17)
Meet the Founder

Visura is a curated market-network for publishers to discover and hire the world’s top freelance visual journalists.

Adriana Teresa Letorney

Co-founder

(GSAS '21)

Vital Audio makes quality healthcare more efficient, affordable, and universally accessible through voice-based cardiac monitoring.

Nyamitse-Calvin Mahinda

Co-Founder & CEO

(Tandon '23)

Dathic creates an AI-based platform for CPG that understands the US Hispanic consumers, recommends the best locations to grow and connect communities with the products they love.

Laura Rocha

Co-founder

(Wagner '20)

A platform that connects artists and venues to create unforgettable shows.

Mir Hwang

Co-founder

(CAS '19)

Matching individuals with quality therapists to ease access to a personalized healing relationship and enable therapists to help more people.

Alyssa Petersel

Founder & CEO

(Silver '17)
Meet the Founder

Rilla provides conversation intelligence software for outside sales and service. Industries such as roofing, solar, interior design, banking, and telco send sales representatives to talk to potential customers face to face in their homes and businesses. Rilla uses AI to automatically transcribe, analyze and give feedback to sales managers on their representatives’ performance with customers, enabling them to remotely monitor their teams, saving two to three days a week from having to accompany field sales reps on training calls.

Sebastian Bienen

Founder & CEO

(CAS '18)

Baton is a blockchain-enabled collaboration protocol designed to facilitate the future of creative digital exchange to help artists maintain control over their material and get the credit they deserve.

Gabe Warshaw

Founder

(Tisch '23)

By creating the world’s first tattoo that fades in a year, Ephemeral gives everyone the opportunity to express their individuality without fear or regret.

Anthony Lam

Co-Founder

(Tandon '15)

Frich is the first social finance app that enables Gen Z to develop mindful spending habits by setting goals together with friends and keeping each other accountable. Imagine a fitness app but for your finances.

Aleksandra Medina

Founder

(Abu Dhabi '21)

The first brand to design products specifically for women with small boobs, starting with bras.

Lia Winograd

Co-founder and COO

(Stern '19)
Meet the Founder

Portable Diagnostic Systems's Integrity-1 Analysis System was designed to detect over 100 different substances simultaneously, allowing practitioners to build comprehensive test menus.

Glennon Simmons

Co-Founder

(Dentistry)

Resist Nutrition makes plant-based, keto protein bars filled with science-backed ingredients with functional benefits for hormone health and blood sugar support.

Drew Lederman

Founder & CEO

(Tisch '20)

Offering affordable, deconstructable, and stylish furniture for modern and transient living with a focus on financial flexibility. Through a buy-back program, Sabai Design solves the headache of disposal/reselling and offers an even cheaper line of refurbished furniture.

Phantila Phataraprasit

Co-Founder & CEO

(Law '20)

Rooted Fare aims to financially empower immigrant chefs by providing them with resources to successfully turn recipes into commercial products.

Ashley Xie

Co-founder

(Steinhardt '20)

She Matters trains healthcare workers in culturally competent care for Black women and offers an online platform to support Black women who experience postpartum comorbidities (e.g., anxiety and/or depression) through community and culturally relevant resources

Jade Kearney

Co-founder

(Steinhardt '20)

Shiru is creating the next generation of sustainable ingredients.

Jasmin Hume, PhD

Co-founder

(Tandon '15)

Provides a cost effective chemical path to manufacture sustainable nylon.

Daniela Blanco, PhD

Co-Founder

(Tandon '21)

Math & Coding tutoring for children in the US by women student tutors in India - makes tutoring accessible and affordable to every child in the US, normalizing STEM among girls, empowering students to work in India, helping young women tutors do fulfilling work from the safety of their homes.

Ann Andrews

Founder

(Stern '23)

The Diversity Org (DO) hosts high school assemblies that educate low-income students on how to obtain corporate and high-income careers.

Joshua Pierce

Founder

(Tisch '18)

Trousso is a resale platform making upscale wedding wear financially accessible and environmentally sustainable for the next generation of brides. They're building a circular economy for weddings, where brides can buy and sell nearly-new wedding fashion for the 8+ celebrations surrounding the ceremony/reception.

Erica Ramos

Co-Founder & Co-CEO

(Stern '23)

UBet is a decentralized exchange for sports trading.

Daniel Im

Founder

(GSAS '23)

ViBILLER aims to develop technology to measure group engagement and emotional arousal in real time and in naturalistic settings like live concerts and performances.

Dana Bevilacqua

Co-founder

(GSAS '17)

Voltela offers ubiquitous, ultra-reliable, and low-latency connectivity, allowing drone service providers to reliably control their long-range delivery drones and benefit from fewer mission abortions and reduced costs compared to satellite links.

Kim Mahler

Co-founder

(Tandon '20)

Immersive virtual copies of the world, built by algorithms, for architecture, real estate, and beyond.

Christopher Mitchell

Co-founder & CEO

(Courant '16)
Meet the Founder

Jones is a judgement-free journey to a vape-less life, through a personalized nicotine replacement subscription, behavioral support and digital community.

Founder(s)

  • Caroline Huber (Stern '23) |
  • Hilary Dubin |

Social

Participated in

All-natural food products packed with endocrine supportive nutrients that can naturally improve menstrual symptoms.

Founder(s)

  • Britt Martin (GSAS '17) |
  • Jenn Kim |

Website

Social

Visura is a curated market-network for publishers to discover and hire the world’s top freelance visual journalists.

Founder(s)

  • Adriana Teresa Letorney (GSAS '21) |
  • Graham Letorney |

Website

Social

Vital Audio makes quality healthcare more efficient, affordable, and universally accessible through voice-based cardiac monitoring.

Founder(s)

  • Nyamitse-Calvin Mahinda (Tandon '23) |
  • Harsh Sonthalia (Tandon '23) |

Website

Social

Dathic creates an AI-based platform for CPG that understands the US Hispanic consumers, recommends the best locations to grow and connect communities with the products they love.

Founder(s)

  • Laura Rocha (Wagner '20) |
  • Jose Daniel Ramirez |
  • Luis Felipe Giraldo
  • Santiago Alvarez
  • Diana Prieto
  • Juan David Ramirez

Website

Social

A platform that connects artists and venues to create unforgettable shows.

Founder(s)

  • Mir Hwang (CAS '19) |

Website

Social

Matching individuals with quality therapists to ease access to a personalized healing relationship and enable therapists to help more people.

Founder(s)

  • Alyssa Petersel (Silver '17) |

Website

Social

Rilla provides conversation intelligence software for outside sales and service. Industries such as roofing, solar, interior design, banking, and telco send sales representatives to talk to potential customers face to face in their homes and businesses. Rilla uses AI to automatically transcribe, analyze and give feedback to sales managers on their representatives’ performance with customers, enabling them to remotely monitor their teams, saving two to three days a week from having to accompany field sales reps on training calls.

Founder(s)

  • Sebastian Bienen (CAS '18) |

Website

Social

Baton is a blockchain-enabled collaboration protocol designed to facilitate the future of creative digital exchange to help artists maintain control over their material and get the credit they deserve.

Founder(s)

  • Gabe Warshaw (Tisch '23) |

Website

Social

By creating the world’s first tattoo that fades in a year, Ephemeral gives everyone the opportunity to express their individuality without fear or regret.

Founder(s)

  • Anthony Lam (Tandon '15) |
  • Joshua Sakhai (Stern '18) |
  • David Shin (Tandon '15) |
  • Brennal Pierre, PhD (Tandon '15) |
  • Vandan Shah, PhD (Tandon '16) |

Social

Frich is the first social finance app that enables Gen Z to develop mindful spending habits by setting goals together with friends and keeping each other accountable. Imagine a fitness app but for your finances.

Founder(s)

  • Aleksandra Medina (Abu Dhabi '21) |
  • Katrin Kaurov (Abu Dhabi '19) |

Website

Social

The first brand to design products specifically for women with small boobs, starting with bras.

Founder(s)

  • Lia Winograd (Stern '19) |

Website

Social

Portable Diagnostic Systems's Integrity-1 Analysis System was designed to detect over 100 different substances simultaneously, allowing practitioners to build comprehensive test menus.

Founder(s)

  • Glennon Simmons (Dentistry) |
  • Michael McRae, PhD (Dentistry) |
  • Igor Muravchik (Stern '10) |

Website

Resist Nutrition makes plant-based, keto protein bars filled with science-backed ingredients with functional benefits for hormone health and blood sugar support.

Founder(s)

  • Drew Lederman (Tisch '20) |
  • Emily Cohen (Steinhardt '22) |

Social

Offering affordable, deconstructable, and stylish furniture for modern and transient living with a focus on financial flexibility. Through a buy-back program, Sabai Design solves the headache of disposal/reselling and offers an even cheaper line of refurbished furniture.

Founder(s)

  • Phantila Phataraprasit (Law '20) |
  • Caitlin de Lisser-Ellen (Stern '21) |

Website

Social

Participated in

Rooted Fare aims to financially empower immigrant chefs by providing them with resources to successfully turn recipes into commercial products.

Founder(s)

  • Ashley Xie (Steinhardt '20) |
  • Jasmine Shen (Stern '22) |
  • Hedy Yu |

Website

Social

She Matters trains healthcare workers in culturally competent care for Black women and offers an online platform to support Black women who experience postpartum comorbidities (e.g., anxiety and/or depression) through community and culturally relevant resources

Founder(s)

  • Jade Kearney (Steinhardt '20) |
  • Marguerite Pierce |

Social

Shiru is creating the next generation of sustainable ingredients.

Founder(s)

  • Jasmin Hume, PhD (Tandon '15) |

Website

Social

Provides a cost effective chemical path to manufacture sustainable nylon.

Founder(s)

  • Daniela Blanco, PhD (Tandon '21) |
  • Myriam Sbeiti (Tandon '18) |
  • César Urbina-Blanco |

Website

Social

Math & Coding tutoring for children in the US by women student tutors in India - makes tutoring accessible and affordable to every child in the US, normalizing STEM among girls, empowering students to work in India, helping young women tutors do fulfilling work from the safety of their homes.

Founder(s)

  • Ann Andrews (Stern '23) |

Website

Social

The Diversity Org (DO) hosts high school assemblies that educate low-income students on how to obtain corporate and high-income careers.

Founder(s)

  • Joshua Pierce (Tisch '18) |

Social

Trousso is a resale platform making upscale wedding wear financially accessible and environmentally sustainable for the next generation of brides. They're building a circular economy for weddings, where brides can buy and sell nearly-new wedding fashion for the 8+ celebrations surrounding the ceremony/reception.

Founder(s)

  • Erica Ramos (Stern '23) |
  • Justina Breen |

Website

Social

Participated in

UBet is a decentralized exchange for sports trading.

Founder(s)

  • Daniel Im (GSAS '23)
  • Alexander Kondratskiy

Website

Social

ViBILLER aims to develop technology to measure group engagement and emotional arousal in real time and in naturalistic settings like live concerts and performances.

Founder(s)

  • Dana Bevilacqua (GSAS '17) |

Website

Voltela offers ubiquitous, ultra-reliable, and low-latency connectivity, allowing drone service providers to reliably control their long-range delivery drones and benefit from fewer mission abortions and reduced costs compared to satellite links.

Founder(s)

  • Kim Mahler (Tandon '20) |
  • Tom Piechotta

Website

Immersive virtual copies of the world, built by algorithms, for architecture, real estate, and beyond.

Founder(s)

  • Christopher Mitchell (Courant '16) |
  • Thomas Dickerson (NON-NYU) |

Website

Social