The 5-Minute Founder

Gerard Masci is the Co-Founder of Lowercase, an eyewear manufacturer based out of Brooklyn. Ever since the age of 13, Gerard has had a passion for glasses. And in 2014, he ditched his career in finance to start his journey as an entrepreneur, founding the eyewear brand Lowercase.

In the interview, Gerard discusses his passion for glasses as well as the many challenges of starting and operating an eyewear manufacturer in NYC.

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Partners

ZipRecruiter –  ZipRecruiter is rated #1 for hiring by employers in the US based on more than 5,000 reviews on Trustpilot. Try ZipRecruiter for free today at ZipRecruiter.com/Founder.

Prosper Gowork –  Prosper Gowork is a shared work space with multiple locations across Brooklyn. For less than $100/mo, you can have 24/7 access to all of Prosper’s locations. Listeners of the show get $50 total off their first 3 months of membership, and then 10% off the normal monthly rate after that (you’ll only pay $89/mo). Sign up today at ProsperGowork.com/Founder.

Mia Choi is the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of MAS Event + Design, a creative event agency based in Brooklyn. After working for another agency for several years, in 2007, Mia left to start MAS with her Co-Founder Sneha Bhatia.

In the interview, MIA discusses how her and Sneha leveraged their friends and network to land their first clients, and how they built an impressive client list in just their first year in business, with a roster that included The New Yorker magazine, Google, YouTube, Theory, Nespresso, and eBay. She also talks about why her and Sneha recently decided to sell the company.

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Partners

ZipRecruiter –  ZipRecruiter is rated #1 for hiring by employers in the US based on more than 5,000 reviews on Trustpilot. Try ZipRecruiter for free today at ZipRecruiter.com/Founder.

Prosper Gowork –  Prosper Gowork is a shared work space with multiple locations across Brooklyn. For less than $100/mo, you can have 24/7 access to all of Prosper’s locations. Listeners of the show get $50 total off their first 3 months of membership, and then 10% off the normal monthly rate after that (you’ll only pay $89/mo). Sign up today at ProsperGowork.com/Founder.

Jimmy Chen is the Founder & CEO of Propel, whose app Fresh EBT helps people who use food stamps check their monthly balance. In the interview, Jimmy shares his desire to serve low-income Americans, focusing on a sector of the market that is often overlooked by other tech startups.

Prior to starting Propel, Jimmy was a Product Lead for the Facebook Groups team at Facebook.

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Partners

ZipRecruiter –  ZipRecruiter is rated #1 for hiring by employers in the US based on more than 5,000 reviews on Trustpilot. Try ZipRecruiter for free today at ZipRecruiter.com/Founder.

Prosper Gowork –  Prosper Gowork is a shared work space with multiple locations across Brooklyn. For less than $100/mo, you can have 24/7 access to all of Prosper’s locations. Listeners of the show get $50 total off their first 3 months of membership, and then 10% off the normal monthly rate after that (you’ll only pay $89/mo). Sign up today at ProsperGowork.com/Founder.

Kai Tang is the Co-Founder & CEO of Light, the creator of The Light Phone. The Light Phone is was designed to help people disconnect from their phones and reconnect with one another. Kai tells the story of how they sold out of their first run of The Light Phone while spending essentially zero dollars on marketing.

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Partners

ZipRecruiter –  ZipRecruiter is rated #1 for hiring by employers in the US based on more than 5,000 reviews on Trustpilot. Try ZipRecruiter for free today at ZipRecruiter.com/Founder.

Prosper Gowork –  Prosper Gowork is a shared work space with multiple locations across Brooklyn. For less than $100/mo, you can have 24/7 access to all of Prosper’s locations. Listeners of the show get $50 total off their first 3 months of membership, and then 10% off the normal monthly rate after that (you’ll only pay $89/mo). Sign up today at ProsperGowork.com/Founder.

Marco Perry is the Founder & Principal at Pensa, a company that invents high-tech physical products. Marco talks about his approach to client acquisition, and how their decision to build the things they wanted, garnered the right press, and how this press buzz attracted the right type of client to their business.

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Partners

ZipRecruiter –  ZipRecruiter is rated #1 for hiring by employers in the US based on more than 5,000 reviews on Trustpilot. Try ZipRecruiter for free today at ZipRecruiter.com/Founder.

Prosper Gowork –  Prosper Gowork is a shared work space with multiple locations across Brooklyn. For less than $100/mo, you can have 24/7 access to all of Prosper’s locations. Listeners of the show get $50 total off their first 3 months of membership, and then 10% off the normal monthly rate after that (you’ll only pay $89/mo). Sign up today at ProsperGowork.com/Founder.

Brett Podolsky is the Co-Founder of The Farmer's Dog. Brett tells the story of how he couldn't find a solution to fix his dog's stomach issues, until he realized his dog's food was the problem. His company, The Farmer's Dog, is the first dog food made in the same facilities as human food.

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Partners

ZipRecruiter –  ZipRecruiter is rated #1 for hiring by employers in the US based on more than 5,000 reviews on Trustpilot. Try ZipRecruiter for free today at ZipRecruiter.com/Founder.

Prosper Gowork –  Prosper Gowork is a shared work space with multiple locations across Brooklyn. For less than $100/mo, you can have 24/7 access to all of Prosper’s locations. Listeners of the show get $50 total off their first 3 months of membership, and then 10% off the normal monthly rate after that (you’ll only pay $89/mo). Sign up today at ProsperGowork.com/Founder.

Avi Karani is the Co-Founder & CEO of Alice. Avi talks about why he chose to focus on pre-tax spending for his second venture-backed startup.

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Partners

ZipRecruiter –  ZipRecruiter is rated #1 for hiring by employers in the US based on more than 5,000 reviews on Trustpilot. Try ZipRecruiter for free today at ZipRecruiter.com/Founder.

Prosper Gowork –  Prosper Gowork is a shared work space with multiple locations across Brooklyn. For less than $100/mo, you can have 24/7 access to all of Prosper’s locations. Listeners of the show get $50 total off their first 3 months of membership, and then 10% off the normal monthly rate after that (you’ll only pay $89/mo). Sign up today at ProsperGowork.com/Founder.

Michael Lebowitz is the Founder & CEO of Big Spaceship. In this episode, we talk to Michael and learn how he got his first customer and how his agency managed to weather two recessions.

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Partners

ZipRecruiter –  ZipRecruiter is rated #1 for hiring by employers in the US based on more than 5,000 reviews on Trustpilot. Try ZipRecruiter for free today at ZipRecruiter.com/Founder.

Prosper Gowork –  Prosper Gowork is a shared work space with multiple locations across Brooklyn. For less than $100/mo, you can have 24/7 access to all of Prosper’s locations. Listeners of the show get $50 total off their first 3 months of membership, and then 10% off the normal monthly rate after that (you’ll only pay $89/mo). Sign up today at ProsperGowork.com/Founder.