Raising money as a B2C company is harder than most founders expect. Investors are naturally friendlier to B2B. Revenue is more predictable. Churn is easier to manage. For consumer companies, the bar is higher. VCs scrutinize CAC, traction, and retention more aggressively because you're not just fighting for market share. You're fighting for attention against every app, brand, and platform on the planet. That makes B2C one of the hardest games in startups. Period.
This session brings together funded B2C founders and active investors to break down what's really working in 2026, what's not, and how to position your company to win when the odds say you shouldn't.
This event: Ticket Includes: Food & Media Team
Photo Station: Photography team taking professional headshots & more at our backdrop + Candid Coverage
Videographer: Recap footage, b-roll of event
Spotlight Videos: Record spotlight video & interview(s)
Share who you are & what you’re building for reuse on socials & be interviewed by me
Concierge Check-In: Team member will check you in, share more on community, & share context on sponsors.
Win $150 + 2 event tickets follow the Instagram
🎯 Why You Should Attend
- Learn from founders who've done it. Skip the theory. Hear directly from B2C founders who raised capital, scaled products, and made the mistakes so you don't have to.
- Connect with other B2C founders. Meet people building in the same trenches. Compare scars. Find your next co-conspirator.
- Get in front of investors. Angels and VCs who are actively writing checks for consumer companies will be in the room. Show up.
🙋 Who's Getting In This Room
- B2C and marketplace founders raising or preparing for Seed to Series A
- Investors active in consumer (angels, micro-VC, institutional seed, consumer-focused funds)
- Operators and growth leaders who make companies fundable (marketing, product, analytics, finance)
- Operators and growth leaders who make companies fundable (marketing, product, analytics, finance)
🎤 Who's Taking the Stage
Krishna Dosapati - Founder & CEO of Clockout
Krishna is the Founder & CEO of Clockout, the fastest growing networking platform for Gen Z+. Under her leadership, Clockout has reached 500,000+ downloads, ranked #19 on the App Store, & hit $1M+ in ARR within 10 months.
Clockout has expanded nationwide across the U.S., Canada, is entering London this month as part of its international growth. The company has been featured across 68 Fox News stations nationwide & has raised $1.3M from Evite Corporation, Gaingels, Baytech Ventures & more.
Benji Schwartz - Founder & CEO of Tavern Community
Benji is a driven entrepreneur dedicated to building a new community infrastructure around coworking and entrepreneurship. Inspired by his experience of loneliness as a remote worker during the pandemic, Benji founded Tavern Community as a membership-based social network to foster genuine human connections.
Members gain access to hybrid restaurant-coworking spaces and an app that leverages AI-powered deep matching to connect them with like-minded peers, accountability buddies, and niche communities.
Eni Maj - Co-Founder & CEO of Travel Spoken
Eni is the Founder and CEO of Travel Spoken, a platform turning user generated content into direct bookings, acting as a travel marketplace transforming how people discover, plan, and book trips. She is building the next generation of travel infrastructure by combining creator-driven content that inspires so many on social media with agentic AI to create a seamless booking into one unified platform.
With a background spanning sales, technology and consumer growth, she is focused on solving travel planning fragmentation and unlocking new monetization opportunities for content creators as well. Eni is passionate about the future of AI, marketplace design, and building venture-scalable consumer platforms.
Moderator:
Dylan Oriundo - Founder of The Builder Series, Director of Marketing & Ops
Dylan Oriundo a growth operator & community builder in the NYC startup ecosystem. He joined Clockout & serves as Director of Marketing & Operations, playing a vital role in growth strategy, partnerships, community expansion, product feedback. He helped scale the company from pre-revenue to 500,000+ downloads, driving $1M+ in ARR within 10 months.
He also, founded The Builder Series, a 36,000+ member community that has grown into one of the fastest-growing communities in NYC since launching in October. He is taking on traditional networking & transforming it into curated, experience-driven environments built for high-value, non-transactional relationships.
💬 What We Do Not Sugarcoat
GTM and Scaling
- How to scale without burning through cash too fast
- What not to do when building your go-to-market as a B2C company
- Common misconceptions founders fall for when trying to grow
- What to measure and what metrics actually matter for consumer businesses
Fundraising
- What to prepare before approaching investors
- How to handle rejections and keep momentum
- What not to do when starting your fundraising process
🤝 Who's Hosting It
The Builder Series is a 36k member community curating founders, operators, builders & investors into intentional rooms transforming networking into curated, experience-driven environments built for lasting, high-value relationships.
Photo Highlights:
Tavern Community A membership-based physical social network with access to a network of hybrid restaurant-coworking spaces.
GREY Journal – Media partner spotlighting modern entrepreneurs (Apple News + Google News)
⭐ About Ugly Talk:
Ugly Talk started in 2019 with one rule. No sugarcoating.
We host invite-only events where founders share the lessons they learned the hard way. The failures. The pivots. The moments that almost broke them. And the moves that made them dangerous.
New York. Chicago. San Francisco. Miami. Toronto. The rooms keep growing because the conversations stay honest.
Official Website: UglyTalk.com
🎥 Get a taste of past Ugly Talk energy:
2025 Year Recap
(CANCELED) Ugly Talk: B2C Startup Fundraising and Scaling
Hosts
Thu, Mar 12, 06:30 PM - 08:30 PM (EDT)
To be shared on approval (New York)
100 attendees
Raising money as a B2C company is harder than most founders expect. Investors are naturally friendlier to B2B. Revenue is more predictable. Churn is easier to manage. For consumer companies, the bar is higher. VCs scrutinize CAC, traction, and retention more aggressively because you're not just fighting for market share. You're fighting for attention against every app, brand, and platform on the planet. That makes B2C one of the hardest games in startups. Period.
This session brings together funded B2C founders and active investors to break down what's really working in 2026, what's not, and how to position your company to win when the odds say you shouldn't.
This event: Ticket Includes: Food & Media Team
Photo Station: Photography team taking professional headshots & more at our backdrop + Candid Coverage
Videographer: Recap footage, b-roll of event
Spotlight Videos: Record spotlight video & interview(s)
Share who you are & what you’re building for reuse on socials & be interviewed by me
Concierge Check-In: Team member will check you in, share more on community, & share context on sponsors.
Win $150 + 2 event tickets follow the Instagram
🎯 Why You Should Attend
🙋 Who's Getting In This Room
🎤 Who's Taking the Stage
Krishna Dosapati - Founder & CEO of Clockout
Krishna is the Founder & CEO of Clockout, the fastest growing networking platform for Gen Z+. Under her leadership, Clockout has reached 500,000+ downloads, ranked #19 on the App Store, & hit $1M+ in ARR within 10 months.
Clockout has expanded nationwide across the U.S., Canada, is entering London this month as part of its international growth. The company has been featured across 68 Fox News stations nationwide & has raised $1.3M from Evite Corporation, Gaingels, Baytech Ventures & more.
Benji Schwartz - Founder & CEO of Tavern Community
Benji is a driven entrepreneur dedicated to building a new community infrastructure around coworking and entrepreneurship. Inspired by his experience of loneliness as a remote worker during the pandemic, Benji founded Tavern Community as a membership-based social network to foster genuine human connections.
Members gain access to hybrid restaurant-coworking spaces and an app that leverages AI-powered deep matching to connect them with like-minded peers, accountability buddies, and niche communities.
Eni Maj - Co-Founder & CEO of Travel Spoken
Eni is the Founder and CEO of Travel Spoken, a platform turning user generated content into direct bookings, acting as a travel marketplace transforming how people discover, plan, and book trips. She is building the next generation of travel infrastructure by combining creator-driven content that inspires so many on social media with agentic AI to create a seamless booking into one unified platform.
With a background spanning sales, technology and consumer growth, she is focused on solving travel planning fragmentation and unlocking new monetization opportunities for content creators as well. Eni is passionate about the future of AI, marketplace design, and building venture-scalable consumer platforms.
Moderator:
Dylan Oriundo - Founder of The Builder Series, Director of Marketing & Ops
Dylan Oriundo a growth operator & community builder in the NYC startup ecosystem. He joined Clockout & serves as Director of Marketing & Operations, playing a vital role in growth strategy, partnerships, community expansion, product feedback. He helped scale the company from pre-revenue to 500,000+ downloads, driving $1M+ in ARR within 10 months.
He also, founded The Builder Series, a 36,000+ member community that has grown into one of the fastest-growing communities in NYC since launching in October. He is taking on traditional networking & transforming it into curated, experience-driven environments built for high-value, non-transactional relationships.
💬 What We Do Not Sugarcoat
GTM and Scaling
Fundraising
🤝 Who's Hosting It
The Builder Series is a 36k member community curating founders, operators, builders & investors into intentional rooms transforming networking into curated, experience-driven environments built for lasting, high-value relationships.
Photo Highlights:
Tavern Community A membership-based physical social network with access to a network of hybrid restaurant-coworking spaces.
GREY Journal – Media partner spotlighting modern entrepreneurs (Apple News + Google News)
⭐ About Ugly Talk:
Ugly Talk started in 2019 with one rule. No sugarcoating.
We host invite-only events where founders share the lessons they learned the hard way. The failures. The pivots. The moments that almost broke them. And the moves that made them dangerous.
New York. Chicago. San Francisco. Miami. Toronto. The rooms keep growing because the conversations stay honest.
Official Website: UglyTalk.com
🎥 Get a taste of past Ugly Talk energy:
2025 Year Recap