Turning relationships into revenue
First Chair Advisors is a go-to-market and investor relations practice for early-stage startups. We sharpen the positioning, turn in-person relationships into pipeline, run the raise, and open the resources a founder needs next — with the hands-on involvement of a venture partner, on contract.
Founders from pre-seed to Series A. Funds that want an operator in the room.
SaaS and platform businesses first, with deep roots in consumer and beverage, including bev-tech. A short note with where you are and what you need is enough to start.
The work between the thesis and the term sheet
Go-to-Market
IRL-to-revenue go-to-market: positioning, the customer thesis, and the first institutional pilots. We take a product from "interesting" to a story a buyer repeats internally, then turn the rooms you are already in into a pipeline you can measure.
Investor Relations
Running the raise end to end with AI-enabled, human-controlled tools: the narrative, a scored target list, the pipeline and the follow-through. Software does the tracking and the research; the judgment and the relationships stay with people.
Deal Flow & Diligence
Investment memos and operator-grade diligence for funds, and a two-way flow of deals with the investors we work alongside.
Founder Advisory
Hands-on coaching on GTM, revenue management and pricing, and the warm introductions that carry weight because they carry context.
Advisor Resource Planning
The resources a startup needs between rounds, from people who have used them: startup bank referrals, CRM setup and insight, advisor and board structuring, vendor and service-provider introductions, and a plan for which resource to pull when. Practical advice from operators who have built, lived, raised and exited.
Five years testing one thesis in the field
The practice was built on work inside companies, not around them. From a consumer app to a family-office platform, the same idea held: relationships are the asset, and the job is turning them into revenue.
Stealth network-intelligence tool
- Repositioned the product as retention infrastructure for high-net-worth networks and built the family-office GTM thesis.
- Lined up a major institutional pilot for early 2027.
- Leading investor relations for the $2M pre-seed across accelerator, early-stage and family-office circles.
Proxi
- Took Proxi from idea to market with advisors from LinkedIn and DoorDash; owned the roadmap, beta and customer onboarding.
- Hosted 20+ events that led to over $3MM in value for the people in the room.
- Sold the company's assets, including its customer base.
HangTight
- Became a top-5 RA app on college campuses with a 4.9-star App Store rating.
- Its network insights became the thesis behind Proxi.
Astra Labs
- Coached founding teams on GTM, revenue management and pricing, resulting in two board seats.
- Brokered 30+ founder–investor introductions totaling $2MM.
- This network became the foundation of First Chair Advisors.
A venture partner you can bring in on contract
First Chair Advisors is a New York consulting practice built on one thesis: that relationships, handled with discipline, become revenue. The thesis has been tested from every seat: founder, venture partner, and the operator a startup brings in to run go-to-market and the raise at the same time. Built, lived, raised, exited.
The practice works with early-stage startups and the funds that back them: go-to-market and investor relations for founders, investment memos and deal flow for funds, and the resource planning that sits between rounds. Engagements run on contract, with the hands-on involvement of a partner rather than the distance of an agency.
Beverage is home turf. First Chair supports bev-tech companies — software, data and commerce tools built for the drinks trade — with go-to-market, distributor and supplier relationships, and investor relations, drawing on 14+ years across the US beverage value chain. It is also building BevLoop, a bev-tech product in stealth, currently in development.
First Chair also supports non-profit fundraising: campaign strategy, donor and board cultivation, and funder events, drawing on a background in performing-arts development and board service at American Ballet Theatre and Lincoln Center.
- Founded 2021 · New York
- NYU Stern MBA · M.A. Arts Administration, Boston University
- Bev-tech go-to-market and investor relations · 14+ years across the beverage value chain
- BevLoop · bev-tech product in stealth, in development
- Non-profit fundraising support
- Investment memos, Goddess Gaia Ventures and Unorthodox Ventures
- Deal flow with InvestBev, Springdale Ventures and Midnight Ventures
Good deals start with good conversations
Whether you're a founder preparing to raise, a startup that needs go-to-market run properly, or a fund looking for operator diligence — we'd like to hear from you.
Based in New York. Working with founders, funds and operators across the US.