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Boston, Massachusetts, United States
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2K followers
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Michael J. Hagan shared thisThrilled to announce LevelUp will be joining the Grubhub family today! Lots of amazing people helped us get here, present and past team included. So proud and honored to have been a part of this experience! https://lnkd.in/dSjrtdS
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Michael J. Hagan shared thisProud to share a list of great brands partnering with LevelUp to help grow their businesses, Zaxby's Franchising LLC , Smoothie King (SKFI), @Pret A Manger, honeygrow, Flour Bakery+Cafe and a bunch more!!! https://lnkd.in/dxqr5Pm
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Michael J. Hagan shared thisOne of LevelUp's earliest clients sweetgreen doing it right. “By the end of 2018, we will have over 1 million people on our digital platform, and over 50 percent of orders will be processed through our app or online platforms.”Michael J. Hagan shared thisNew sweetgreen menu drops today! https://lnkd.in/eAsY6My Thrilled to see one of LevelUp's first partners see such tremendous results: “By the end of 2018, we will have over 1 million people on our digital platform, and over 50 percent of orders will be processed through our app or online platforms.”Sweetgreen’s Tech-Driven Menu Shakes Up the Fast-Casual Food WarSweetgreen’s Tech-Driven Menu Shakes Up the Fast-Casual Food War
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Michael J. Hagan shared thisTheresa Dold sharing some of her tips and tricks for franchisees. Good read!Michael J. Hagan shared thisTheresa Dold, LevelUp's VP of Agency Strategy, shares her thoughts on how your franchisees can benefit from going digital. https://bit.ly/2DMsWDqHow Franchisees Can Take Advantage of the Shift to Digital: Insights from Theresa Dold | Blog | LevelUp | Mobile Ordering, Restaurant Loyalty, Customer Engagement, and CRMHow Franchisees Can Take Advantage of the Shift to Digital: Insights from Theresa Dold | Blog | LevelUp | Mobile Ordering, Restaurant Loyalty, Customer Engagement, and CRM
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Michael J. Hagan liked thisMichael J. Hagan liked thishttps://lnkd.in/gTJkpXQv There are moments in life that don’t just inspire you… they transform your purpose. This is one of those stories. Meet Julia DeNey — a visionary who turned compassion into innovation, and purpose into action. From her journey at Cornell to working hands-on with neurodistinct children, Julia saw what many overlook: that comfort, dignity, and self-expression should never be a barrier for any child. That realization became Sense-ational You — a brand designed not just with fabric, but with understanding. With every stitch, Julia is redefining what inclusion looks like… creating sensory-friendly clothing that empowers children to feel regulated, confident, and truly seen. This is more than fashion. This is access. This is belonging. This is empowerment. At ASPIKA, we believe in amplifying voices and initiatives that are actively changing lives — and Julia is doing exactly that. She is building a future where neurodistinct individuals are not accommodated as an afterthought… but designed for from the very beginning. 🌍 Imagine a world where every child can thrive comfortably in their own skin — at school, at home, and in society. That world is being created right now. ▶️ Watch, feel, and be part of the movement: https://lnkd.in/gTJkpXQv Julia DeNey
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Michael J. Hagan liked thisMichael J. Hagan liked this📢 New episode alert! 🎙️ Part 2 of our interview with Chris Bates, Head Coach at St. Andrew's School and Head Coach/GM of Utah Archers is live on The Nick Anthony Show website, youtube channel and wherever you listen to your audio podcasts. Let us know what you think. Find all of our episodes on our website as well as: Youtube: https://lnkd.in/efijp86u Apple: https://lnkd.in/exuavjGS Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eKvRPKXj Amazon: https://lnkd.in/eDhS3FQ8 Podbean: https://lnkd.in/eNHbMGyc Premier Lacrosse League Nick Gannon Anthony McCarley Rip Saling
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Michael J. Hagan liked thisMichael J. Hagan liked thisYesterday I ran ~16 miles of the Boston Marathon course at my goal race pace of 6:18/mile. Well, sort of. The first 7 miles I ran in the WRONG direction 🤣. And not intentionally. After about 45min, Michael J. Hagan and I realized our error, Uber'd back to Newton, where I finished the last 9 miles including Heartbreak Hill. Not the training day I planned, but productive nonetheless. None of this happens without Kevin Weatherman, who has been casually encouraging me to think bigger for years. "Go run the course before race day" sounds simple, but it's actioning that type of nudge from that type of person that makes me the animal I am. Everyone needs a Kevin. But why do this when I'm running the actual race in 3 weeks? Course previews matter beyond the obvious: research on anticipatory pacing (St Clair Gibson et al., 2006) shows your brain builds a performance template from prior course experience. The less familiar the terrain, the more cognitive load gets burned on uncertainty , which inflates perceived exertion and slows you down, even when your body is ready. I'm chasing 2:45 at Boston to qualify for London and Berlin after a humbling Chicago. I need every edge, including knowing exactly what Heartbreak Hill feels like at mile 20. Thank you to Michael for riding alongside me the entire way. Thank you to my incredible wife Elizabeth (Bell) Bergman for holding down three kids under three for 24 hours so I could chase this. And for those experienced runners who are curious how I got 7 miles before realizing my error...it turns out the elevation per mile in the opposite direction from the start line almost exactly mirrors what the first 7 miles actually look like. Who knew!
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Michael J. Hagan liked thisMichael J. Hagan liked thisASPIKA Julia DeNey available at aspika.tv https://lnkd.in/gkBS-zzU #aspika #aspikatalks #aspikatalksseries #WeAreAspika #AspikaAlliance #AspikaNeuroUniversos #AspikaXchange #AspikaSummit #AspikaGlobalNeurodiverseCommunity #neurodiversity Julia DeNey graduated from Cornell University in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Fashion Design and minors in Business and Human Development. During her time at Cornell, she founded and led a volunteer partnership between her sorority and a local preschool for autistic children. Inspired by this experience, Julia focused her academic work on adaptive fashion, designing clothing to meet the unique needs of autistic kids. After graduating during the height of the pandemic, Julia began working as a teacher’s aide for neurodivergent children. At the same time, she started turning her adaptive fashion research into a brand: Sense-ational You. While building Sense-ational You, Julia continued her work in special education. This hands-on experience gave her the opportunity to work directly with children who have sensory processing needs, test clothing prototypes in real-world settings, and collaborate with professionals to ensure her designs are both functional and supportive. Julia created Sense-ational You to extend her impact beyond the classroom and help more children feel regulated, included, and empowered to succeed academically and socially. Her long-term vision is to grow Sense-ational You into a global brand, making sensory-friendly clothing accessible to children and adults around the world so they can thrive in everyday life.
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Michael J. Hagan liked thisMichael J. Hagan liked thisI’m starting something new. Today I’m launching Shark Skin Ventures. Over the last decade, the biggest returns came from building new platforms and inventing new technologies. The next decade will look different. I believe we’re entering what I call the Execution Economy — where the real opportunity lies in applying proven technology inside profitable, under-optimized businesses that already power the real economy. That’s the thesis behind Shark Skin. But what I’m most excited about isn’t the structure. It’s the people. One of the great joys of my life was building Dreamit Ventures. Not just because of the companies we helped launch — but because it allowed me to work alongside incredibly talented, ambitious, and curious people. Builders. Operators. Problem-solvers. Shark Skin brings that energy back in a new form. Our Engagement Sharks are people I’ve worked with, often for decades — some mentors, some mentees, all exceptional. They invest alongside us and partner where their specific expertise matters most. Execution across the functions and turning experience and proven technology into measurable operational leverage. That’s the part that excites me. If you’re curious about the thesis behind it, I wrote more about why I started Shark Skin Ventures in my substack click below. We’re just getting started. Thank you to our engagements sharks some of which have already committed real time. AJ Bruno, Bill Clark, Sean Conway, Shiv Gaglani, MD, MBA, Jason Guss, Michael J. Hagan, Kelly Harper, @jeff kendall Sr., Jacob Dante Leffler, Mike Levinson, Dwight Long, Seth Priebatsch, Avi Savar, Howard O Schaffer, Matthew Stephens, Rudy Wolfs, Josh Arnold
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Michael J. Hagan liked thisMichael J. Hagan liked thisI'm thrilled to share that I've joined Auctor as its CRO. After advising the company for the past few months, I've seen firsthand how Auctor is transforming how companies implement software. Some of the world's best Professional Services teams and Systems Integrators use Auctor's agentic delivery platform to compress weeks of work into hours—while delivering better customer experiences and faster go-lives. Auctor helps convert promises made into promises delivered. I couldn't be more excited to join an already amazing team. Shoutout to the entire Auctor crew and a special thanks to Brian Halligan for making the introduction to William Sun!
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Michael J. Hagan liked thisThe team at Ripple AI makes Swoveralls (and therefore me) look so much more polished and intelligent than we maybe deserve. It's such an honor to be at the tip of the Agentic AI email spear. This message isn't for most...but if your livelihood depends on ecommerce revenue, then 25% of your livelihood depends on email revenue, and of that 25%, 50% should be coming from automated flows. And chances are right now as you read this, your "automated" flows are not intelligent in the sense they reach the right person at the right time with the right offer. So then the question becomes...Why not? DM me or better yet DM Rohan Seth and tell him you know me. He will make you more money.Michael J. Hagan liked thisWe recently set up a dynamic abandon cart flow for Kyle Bergman (Swoveralls). It uses their purchase history, name, recent events, products viewed and more to craft them a completely personalized abandon series. It changes the images, subject lines, products showcased and offers. Flows are super powerful because unlike campaigns, they are triggered on customer lifecycle events - making them high intent and therefore better converting. But one of the issues with flows has been that you set it up once and they remain pretty static. By creating a personalized flow message for every journey, we make them dynamic - and that means the right person is getting the right message at the right time.
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Michael J. Hagan liked thisMichael J. Hagan liked thisWe’re excited to welcome Kendall Cook as Manager of Events and Community at Flare Capital Partners! After moving from the Bay Area to Boston 10 years ago to attend Northeastern University, Kendall gained early experience through internships at high-growth companies like DraftKings, before spending several years as Events & Operations Manager at an early-stage venture firm. At Flare Capital, Kendall will manage our events strategy and help build strong healthcare technology communities across founders, portfolio companies, our nearly three dozen strategic investors, and our Flare Scholar Program — an incredible network of more than 500 Rising Stars in our sector. Please join us in welcoming Kendall to the Flare Capital team!
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Tom Cotter
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Thomas K.
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I’ve seen this being shared quite a bit, so I want to add firsthand and technical context to the CT Green Bank / PosiGen situation. As a former PosiGen employee and manager, and someone who has worked extensively in Connecticut’s solar market and other states, I’ve had a front-row seat to how these programs operate in practice. A no-FICO or alternative-credit solar model can work when it is properly capitalized, conservatively structured, and supported by durable tax-equity financing. The model itself is not the problem. Where this program failed was in execution, and in governance. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of government-funded or ratepayer-subsidized market interventions. Not because clean energy or access is unimportant, but because public money often distorts incentives, socializes risk, and shields poor decisions from real market consequences. When programs are insulated from failure, discipline disappears. In this case, rapid enrollment of higher-risk customers outpaced the capital structure needed to sustain it. Projected energy savings were treated as a substitute for underwriting and reserves. At scale, that assumption broke down, as it almost always does without patient, aligned capital behind it. To be clear, this program was not the same as traditional solar leases or PPAs, which typically require higher credit thresholds (often 650+ FICO) and are financed and risk-managed very differently. The deeper issue is that Connecticut ratepayers were forced to subsidize this experiment through the Public Benefits Charge on their electric bills. While some programs funded this way deliver real value, this structure lacked sufficient guardrails, transparency, and shared downside risk. If a business model cannot survive without compulsory public support, it should be questioned, not expanded. Markets, when allowed to work, tend to surface these failures earlier and more efficiently. If we want sustainable outcomes, future programs should be built to withstand stress, not just growth, and ideally, they should stand on their own without forcing the public to underwrite the downside. Article link: https://lnkd.in/eSsz-pms
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Roman Pikalenko
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Most solar companies grow by expanding into new territories. These three grew by going deeper — block by block — in Brooklyn. Meet T.R. Ludwig, Gaelen McKee, and Mark Cunningham — CEO, President, and CTO of Brooklyn SolarWorks. Before founding BSW, all three were building careers in solar. T.R. and Gaelen were at Sunrun, driving out to New Jersey and Long Island to install panels on suburban homes. But they all lived in Brooklyn. And every day, they were driving past a massive untapped opportunity. The problem? NYC's rooftops aren't like the suburbs. Flat roofs. Fire code restrictions. Limited space. HVAC equipment everywhere. One of the most complex building codes in the US. NYC desperately needed solar. But traditional racking systems couldn't work here. So in 2015, they decided to build solar where they lived — and invented a way to make it possible. Their idea: the Brooklyn Solar Canopy. A patented system that elevates panels above rooftop obstacles — creating usable living space underneath. Mark leads design and engineering, ensuring every system works within NYC's notoriously complex code. Gaelen runs operations and product development — turning their hyperlocal insights into a scalable national product. T.R. drives business growth and industry advocacy. Instead of expanding outward like every other solar company, they went hyperlocal. 90% of their 2,500+ projects sit within just 15 zip codes, all reachable from their Gowanus headquarters by car, bike, or even foot. That local focus gave them deep expertise with NYC's zoning, permitting, and code — and a level of accountability to the communities they serve that's hard to replicate. → 2,500+ residential and commercial installations across all five NYC boroughs → Over 40,000 tons of CO2 emissions avoided → Launched Brooklyn Solar Canopy Co to sell their system nationwide → Named a Top Solar Contractor by Solar Power World → T.R. named "Trailblazer in Clean Energy" by City & State New York → T.R. helped pass NYC's City of Yes Carbon Neutrality amendment, unlocking rooftop space for solar across the city They even donated a full canopy system to CHiPS, a Park Slope nonprofit running a soup kitchen and housing program — right down the street from their office. I'm convinced every European capital could replicate their success (or partner up with them). — Do you think urban solar should be the norm? — I share stories of exceptional climate leaders every Monday for #ClimateFounderMondays Follow me by clicking the bell icon on my profile to be the first notified next week.
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Charlie O'Donnell
NYU Courant Institute of… • 15K followers
At nextNYC’s Pre-Series A Offsite, Projects & Hockey Sticks moderator Brian Raphael (Propeller Industries) posed the question every founder wrestles with: “How much should you raise?” Mario Ruiz (Infinity Ventures) and Eugene Wan (Construct Capital) offered pragmatic guardrails: - Don’t over-raise — it can misalign fit investors and inflate expectations. - Do build a margin of safety — enough to survive and learn. - Raise according to your business type and market, not your peers. As Eugene put it: “When one kind of company thinks it’s another kind, that’s when things go off the rails.” A good reminder that capital strategy is as much about self-awareness as ambition. Thanks to our sponsors Propeller Industries, Foley Hoag LLP and Fonzi AI for helping us bring this offsite to life! Nicole Naidoo #nextNYC #PreSeriesA #FundraisingStrategy #InfinityVentures #ConstructCapital #StartupAdvice #SeriesA #VCPanel
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