Expert Dojo

What a week. What a community. What a reminder of why we do this. TECH WEEK by a16z wasn’t just an event — it was energy, purpose, and people coming together under one roof to build the future. Our space turned into a living heartbeat of innovation — founders pitching with fire in their eyes, investors leaning in with belief, and partners showing up not just with support, but with heart. To every partner who hosted, every founder who shared their story, every investor who stayed back for that one last conversation — thank you. You made Expert Dojo more than a space; you made it a movement. A special mention to Matchbook AI and Rushabh Mehta — your creative energy, collaboration with Expert Dojo, and commitment to building something remarkable. As our Managing Partner — Brian Mac Mahon moves forward with PE journey. We’re leading and shaping brands that matter. Here’s to more moments that move us, connections that change us, and communities that remind us why we started. Brian Mac Mahon, Jonathan Wallace, Ashutosh Kumar - Jha, Stephen Zimkouski, Startup Coil, John Moore, Sunny (Yang) Liao, Palabra.ai, Rime, HeyGen, Agora, Kanhaiya Maheshwary, Andrew Thompson, Sean G., Jimmy Quach, Stephen Elias, Jazmine Anderson, Ryan Edwards, Frances Méndez, Joe Mannion, PsyD, Manjula Naidu, Gunjan Meena, Lokesh Kumar, Kishlay Anand(Early-stage VC). #LATechWeek #ExpertDojo #MatchbookAI #CommunityOfBuilders #VC #Founders #Gratitude #Innovation

What is the soul of a brand? It's a question many ask, but few can answer with the depth, this week on DOJO LIVE, we are hosting — Prathish Nair is the Founder & Chief Business Architect at Trancend Brand & Design Partners Consulting, a leading brand and business advisory firm in India. He advises the Mediterranean Tourism Foundation (Malta), Central West African Nations Economic Mission, and Winning. Training, an upskilling e-platform. With over 20 years of experience in brand strategy across FMCG, Banking, Hospitality, Airports, and Retail, he has led rebrands and new brand launches for Canara Bank, CEAT Tyres, Tata Capital, Bengaluru & Hyderabad Airports, Livpure India, KLF Nirmal Industries (P) Ltd., Trident Hotels, Caterpillar Inc., Bosch, KAO Japan, and others. He is also the founder of Waterful, a cplant-based functional drink mix brand trusted by leading hotels, schools, and D2C consumers across India. A Stanford-certified brand innovator and marketing graduate from Pondicherry University, Prathish is a frequent speaker at global forums on branding, D2C growth, ai marketing and sustainable regional development. This week on #DOJO Live, we're going beyond the buzzwords. We're diving deep into: - The Art of Rebranding: How do you evolve without losing your essence? - Building for Growth: What are the non-negotiable strategies for creating brands that deliver real business impact? - The Future of Branding: In a world of fleeting trends, what makes a brand endure? Join us for a masterclass with one of India's leading strategic minds. This is your chance to learn from the architect behind some of the most iconic brands in the market. Brian Mac Mahon #DOJOLive #Branding #BusinessGrowth #Strategy #Leadership #Innovation #PrathishNair #Marketing

FACULTY ANNOUNCEMENT! Only a few weeks left until Growth & Exit Strategies: Scaling & Selling in the AI Era — and we’re thrilled to announce the speakers on the Investors Panel! Our panelists represent leading VC’s and growth equity firms and will reveal what’s driving investment decisions in the tech sector amid the surge of artificial intelligence. INVESTORS PANEL:  ✅ Brian Mac Mahon, Founder & Managing Partner | Expert Dojo  ✅ Tanya Horowitz, Partner | Butterfly Ventures  ✅ Gabriela Smith, Founder | LatAmplify Ventures  ✅ Steven Schlenker, Co-Founder & Managing Partner | DN Capital  ✅ Tara Zahiri, Vice President | Mainsail Partners  Moderator: Nihat Arkan, Senior Vice President | Corum Group Ltd. Join us on November 6 for this exclusive session, where investors share what’s getting funded, how AI is influencing their strategies, and what founders should know when raising capital or preparing for exit. Registration is open! US, Canada and LATAM (10 AM Pacific / 1 PM Eastern): https://lnkd.in/eXssThCF  Europe, Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (10 AM CEST):  https://lnkd.in/eRy3SvA8  ANZ and East Asia- Pacific (10 AM GMT+8/ 1 PM AEDT):  https://lnkd.in/ezx6kQZV   More details at WFS.com/conferences. #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #MergersAcquisitions #GrowthAndExit #Investment #TechBuyers #TechInvestors #StrategicBuyers #CEO #PrivateEquity #Valuations #onlineevent #growthandexit #strategies #tech #investmentbanking #software #saas #joinus #registernow #global #corporatedevelopment #WFSExecEdu 

Let's kill a term that's killing your startup: Minimum Viable Product. We at Expert Dojo believe, It's a terrible phrase, invented by people who have never built a #lovable relationship in their lives. You can't build something lovable with a "minimum viable" mindset. Your customers, your partners, your investors—they don't want the minimum viable you. They want the real you. To which our DOJO LIVE guest Ollie Tiramuragan Collard added — They want to know how you think, how you speak, and how you act before you even walk in the room. They want to see your unpolished, authentic self, complete with all the unique inflections and intonations of your voice. Stop hiding behind a 20-year-old headshot and an overly polished corporate persona. That disconnect is a trust killer. When people meet you, they should feel alignment, not surprise. The real you is your greatest asset. Start creating. Let people see the essence of who you are. Don't build a minimum viable brand. Build a lovable one, built on the foundation of your authentic self. Brian Mac Mahon #Authenticity #PersonalBranding #Founder #Startup #Leadership #VentureCapital #NoMoreMVP

Founders, we're giving you permission. Permission to stop asking for attention and start commanding it. Permission to stop hoping for growth and start engineering it. Permission to stop waiting for investors and start making them come to you. The game is simple: Build incredible media around your brand. All day. Every day. Close customers. All day. Every day. Learn from your customers. All day. Every day. Share your 100-200% growth. Let the world know you're the hottest ticket in town because you're on a path to a Series A and beyond. Unicorns aren't built by the timid. They are built by those who decide to become the center of their own universe. Brian Mac Mahon #StartupAdvice #FounderJourney #Unicorn #VentureCapital #GrowthHacking #RaiseTheBar

The energy at LA Tech Week is electric, and here at Expert Dojo, we are at the heart of the action. Our Managing Partner, Brian Mac Mahon, is particularly invigorated by the caliber of innovation this week and wants to ensure two pivotal days at the Dojo are on your radar. While we're hosting 14 events, these are the two you cannot afford to miss. - The LA Tech Week Job Fair. This Friday, we are focused on the most crucial asset in tech: TALENT. Our #job fair will connect exceptional candidates with incredible companies that are #hiring now. This is more than a networking event; it's a career-making opportunity for anyone looking to make their mark in the industry. A Special Opportunity for Hiring Companies: We have arranged something special. We are offering a FREE booth to one company ready to hire with real, funded positions. The first company to email Ria (riaarora016@gmail.com) secures the spot. It's that simple. - The Future of AI, Live. Today, the future of #AI is not a presentation; it's a live experience. We've partnered with the phenomenal team at Agora for an all-day immersive session on conversational AI. If you want to witness the most groundbreaking developments in artificial intelligence, the Dojo is the only place to be. There are great events all over the city, but the most tangible opportunities and game-changing technology are happening right here. Don't be the one who hears about it afterward. Again if you haven't already registered, here are the list of events happening at #DOJO, RSVP: - The Best of Live @ LA TechWeek (Oct 15) — https://lnkd.in/dc-CQkK4 - The Federal GTM Playbook (Oct 16 — Morning) — https://lnkd.in/dWambk5w - Branding in Public: See a Unicorn Rise & Walk the - Blueprint (Oct 16 – Afternoon) — https://lnkd.in/dnr4zUsq - Dinner With Legends (Oct 16 – Evening) — https://lnkd.in/durEmnV8 - LA Startup Job Fair (Oct 17) — https://lnkd.in/dvq4_E8S - The future of VC — Breakfast at Expert Dojo (Oct 18) — https://lnkd.in/dZhapv-W - Just Do It?: Helping Founders Perform Like Olympians (Oct 18) — https://lnkd.in/dWQtfV6Z Brian Mac Mahon, Jonathan Wallace, Ashutosh Kumar - Jha, Stephen Zimkouski, Startup Coil, John Moore, Sunny (Yang) Liao, Palabra.ai, Rime, HeyGen, Agora, Kanhaiya Maheshwary, Andrew Thompson, Sean G., Jimmy Quach, Stephen Elias, Jazmine Anderson, Ryan Edwards, Frances Méndez, Naman Sehgal, Joe Mannion, PsyD, Manjula Naidu, Gunjan Meena, Lokesh Kumar, Kishlay Anand(Early-stage VC). TECH WEEK by a16z, a16z speedrun #LATechWeek #ExpertDojo #AI #JobFair #Hiring #TechJobs #LosAngeles #Agora #Startups #ConversationalAI #Recruiting #Founder

The future of business isn't coming—it's happening live at LA TECH WEEK by a16z. This Wednesday, October 15th, join Agora for a deep dive into the future of real-time engagement and conversational AI. We're showcasing the interactive technology that is actively reshaping how we connect, communicate, and conduct business. Experience the innovation firsthand with live sessions and demos from industry pioneers: - Palabra.ai is redefining multilingual communication with AI translation that works live across voice and video.(https://lnkd.in/d5J7NgNq) - Rime will share what it takes to build, launch, and scale reliable, human-like voice AI systems.(https://lnkd.in/diV4rHq4) - HeyGen will demonstrate how photoreal, conversational avatars bring human connection to digital workflows at scale.(https://lnkd.in/dj7zUByv) This is your chance to see how this technology is revolutionizing training, hiring, sales, and global support. These sessions are filling up quickly, so be sure to RSVP. Don't miss your opportunity to witness the next wave of interactive technology. Brian Mac Mahon, Ashutosh Kumar - Jha, Jonathan Wallace, Sunny (Yang) Liao, John Moore, Kanhaiya Maheshwary, Claudia Oliva #LATechWeek #AI #ConversationalAI #FutureOfTech #agora #RealTimeEngagement #Agora #Innovation #Networking #LiveDemo

We are charged up ⚡️

Is raising $1M a success? Not if you don't have the growth to back it up. You've got to get the growth right first. Too many founders raise a seed round and become just one of many who raised half a million or two million dollars but never reached the next stage. The seed round isn't the goal. The Series A is the goal of everything. In today's market, a Series A requires somewhere between $5 and $10 million in annual revenue. Focus on hitting that milestone, and the rest will follow. Expert Dojo, Brian Mac Mahon #Startups #VentureCapital #Fundraising #Growth #SeriesA #Founder #Revenue

DOJO LIVE! AMA with Brian Join Expert Dojo's Managing Partner, Brian Mac Mahon, for our weekly Monday Live session. This week's session will feature an "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) format and serve as the official kick-off for Tech Week. Brian will be answering questions from founders and investors and will also share details about our exclusive breakfast event, "The Future of Venture Capitalists," happening this Saturday. Come prepared with your questions