Accel Kicked Off Their 2020 ‘Connect Series’ In Philadelphia

Philly Startup Leaders (PSL) partnered with Accel, a venture capital firm in San Francisco, to kick-off their national Connect Series in Philadelphia. The special night took place at a Philly favorite, Harp & Crown, and made for a unique occasion to support and engage Philly’s startup community.

Accel, who is committed to investing resources outside of Silicon Valley to find the best tech companies, reached out to Philly Startup Leaders for their first 2020 event. At PSL, we connect technology-focused startups with the things they need most – information, inspiration, and a community of peers. Although we focus on early-stage founder development, partnerships like this help us continue to support the founders who are further along, who still need support and value within the Philly startup community.

About The Event

The event kicked off with our own Kiera Smalls, Executive Director, who welcomed attendees and gave a brief overview of PSL. Miles Clements, a partner at Accel, gave a presentation on what Accel looks for when investing and why the firm has its eyes on Philadelphia.

The night was filled with stories and insights from local and national experienced entrepreneurs. From ‘Building Outside the Valley’ Fireside Chat with the COO of Bumble to the 'Built-In Philly' panel discussion with a few Philly favorites.

Some of the speakers and attendees included:

Bob Moore, Co-Founder of Crossbeam and RJMetrics
Christine Esserman, Investor at Accel
Maya Noeth, Partner at Accel
Mike Vaughan, former COO of Venmo
Sarah Jones Simmer, COO of Bumble
Rick Nucci, CEO and Co-Founder of Guru
Yakir Gola, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of goPuff
Yasmine Mustafa, CEO and Founder of ROAR for Good
Mike Maher, CEO and Founder of Houwzer
Emeka Oguh, CEO and Founder of PeopleJoy
Tiffanie Stanard, CEO and Founder of Stimulus
Gabriel Weinberg, CEO and Founder of DuckDuckGo
Jake Stein, Co-Founder, RJMetrics & Co-Founder, Stitch

five takeaways:

Doing Business in Philly

"We made a calculated decision to plant our flag here. We are committed to the city, we're going to spend a lot more time on recruiting and hiring, and we are going to convince people why Philly is the place to be." - Yakir Gola, goPuff

Maintaining Workplace Culture

"Put an emphasis on the people and talent first and foremost because the business model falls apart if you don't have people to execute it." - Sarah Jones Simmer, Bumble

Making A Great Hire

"Talk to people who are in the open role that you're not going to hire, and have them reverse back down to you on how to think about that first hire." - Rick Nucci, Guru
"We shouldn't be the best at everything. The CEOs job is not to be the best at every single role, but I think it's to make people better and to surround yourself with people that are smarter than you." - Yakir Gola
"Your people are your greatest asset. You have no business without them. Really cherish your employees, care deeply about them, and create an environment where they can do their best." - Sarah Jones Simmer

Creating A Strong Brand

"If you don't control the brand, it will be defined for you." - Sarah Jones Simmer
"What are the things that make you different no matter how much money someone had? Think about the things that someone can't buy with money, but buy with time." - Yakir Gola

Advice for Founders

"One of the hardest things is figuring out what not to do and how to say no to things. As you grow, you want to work out the things that only you can uniquely do and where you can have that multiplier effect." - Mike Vaughan, formerly Venmo
"The things that only you can do are constantly changing, and because of that, just when you think you've gotten good at something is exactly the time you should no longer be doing it and probably delegate." - Bob Moore, Crossbeam

The fireside chat and panel discussion were valuable for both the early-stage and growth-stage leaders in the PSL community, and we look forward to creating more experiences like this in the future.

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