First Degree Capital

We started First Degree with one belief:
AI isn’t tomorrow. It’s now.

If you’re building something ambitious in productivity, collaboration, or workflow automation — let’s talk. DM us or send your deck to kaan@firstdegree.capital

Founder & General Partner

Graphio.ai

Revenue failures don’t happen overnight. Silent stalls, missed renewals, and broken handoffs start weeks earlier — but most leaders only see them when it’s already too late.

Graphio solves this.
It’s the AI-powered operating layer for modern GTM and ops leaders — what strategy consultants recommend once a year, running continuously.

Backed by 100+ senior exec angels from Mastercard, PwC, Snowflake, Experian, HelloFresh, BambooHR and more, we’re proud to support Dmitry, Andrey, and the Graphio team via firstdegree.capital

Investor (+ Partner)

Limelight

B2B go-to-market has changed. Buyers trust people more than brands, and the creator-led model is exploding — growing 30% year over year. Yet most brands still lack the analytics, attribution, and automation needed to make creator marketing work at scale.

Limelight solves this by giving GTM teams one place to:
Discover the right creators with the right audience
Automate outreach, contracting, and activation
Run creator and employee-led campaigns across LinkedIn, newsletters, podcasts, YouTube, X, and more
Connect the dots between social signals, CRM data, and revenue
It’s SaaS, marketplace, and AI outbound all in one — built for modern GTM leaders who want results without the manual hustle.

Backed by great co-investors and super-angels, we're happy supporting David, and Youngjae and the team via firstdegree.capital

Trampoline AI

Trampoline is building the AI-native workspace for proposals — starting with RFPs. It automates everything from brief ingestion to draft generation and collaboration. The result: service teams close more deals, faster.

We’re proud to partner with Edouard, Gabriel, and their team alongside investors like Salesforce Ventures, betaworks, and True Ventures.

🔗 Learn more https://trampoline.ai
🔗 Or check https://firstdegree.capital/portfolio/trampoline

WINN.AI

Winn.ai is your AI-powered meeting assistant built for revenue teams.

It joins your calls, tracks action items, and automatically syncs notes to your CRM — all without manual input.

No more “Oh, I forgot to ask!”
Set up your playbook — or adapt one of Winn’s with a click.
Winn tracks conversations in real-time, showing you which talking points you’ve covered and what’s still left to say.

It goes beyond transcription. It understands context, tracks pipeline impact, and ensures nothing slips through the cracks.

Backed by top-tier investors (Insight Partners, Sarona Ventures, S Capital VC + multiple prominent operators and angels) and loved by sales teams, we’re proud to support Eldad and Bar + the entire team at Winn.ai via firstdegree.capital.

Topo (YC W24)

Topo.io provides AI SDR agents to execute custom B2B outbound playbooks tailored to each company and industry. 

It identifies, qualifies, and engages high-value leads using real-time data signals. Beyond basic personalization, it delivers strategic, context-driven outreach.

Topo.io (YCW24) is backed by leading VCs and industry experts, happy to supporting Dan, Leonard, Robin and the team at Topo.io via firstdegree.capital

FullEnrich

Enrich anybody on LinkedIn with 1 click. You’re visiting a LinkedIn profile and want the contact info? Boom, you click on "Enrich", and your contact is enriched and saved in a list.

Backed by leading VCs and super-angels, we're happy supporting Benjamin, Grégoire, Jean-Luc and team at FullEnrich via firstdegree.capital

AlphaLens

Who is building something similar? Get razor-sharp intelligence on your market in seconds.

Whether you are a bootstrapped founder looking to map your market, an M&A professional  looking for a deal, or the head of data at a multi-stage firm, have a look at Alphalens and what it can do for you.

Supporting the Leo, Walid and team via First Degree.

Deckmatch uses the power of AI and advanced analytics to revolutionize investment deal flow. Our platform seamlessly integrates your deal flow with external data, offering investors intelligent parsing, precise startup-investor matching, and actionable insights through tailored memos.

With our API, Deckmatch fits effortlessly into your existing workflow and CRM, enhancing your investment strategy with sharp, data-driven insights.

Supporting the team at DeckMatch via First Degree.

WhiteBridge.ai

Whitebridge.ai is an AI-powered digital identity research tool that finds, verifies, and analyzes publicly collected data about someone and structures it into an insightful report. 

Supporting the team at Whitebridge via First Degree.

lablab.ai

Supporting Pawel, Simon and the team at LabLab via First Degree.

Investor

Cooking up something new. Stay tuned!🧑🏼‍🍳🪄

10x Founder → Early Stage Investor. 
General Partner @ First Degree Capital.

We’re backers of brave beginnings:

Dmitry & Andrew — graphio.ai (Sep ‘25)
David & Youngjae — limelighthq.com (Aug ’25)
Gabriel & Edouard — trampoline.ai (Jul ’25)
Eldad & Bar — winn.ai (Jun ’25)
Dan, Robin & Leonard — topo.io (May ’25)
Benjamin, Jean-Luc & Grégoire — fullenrich.com (Jan ’25)
Leopold & Walid — alphalens.com (Sep ’24)
Paulius, Tomas, Irmantas & Justin — whitebridge.ai (Sep ’24)
Simon & Pawel — lablab.ai (May ’24)

We co-invest alongside great angels and co-investors such as Y Combinator, Insight Partners, Kima Ventures, Flex Capital, Alliance VC, AltaIR, Luminar, Skyfall, and more.

We 💜 AI-driven companies “changing the way we work” and take out the 🫏 work. 

If you’re building something ambitious in productivity, collaboration, or workflow automation — let’s talk.

DM us or send your deck to kaan@firstdegree.capital

Kaan Anit

Nothing beats building. 

Before starting First Degree Capital, we’ve started and scaled RocketX. 

Back then, we were building every day.

Helping founders solve problems.
Finding product–market fit.
Scaling what worked.

We worked with over 300 founding teams.
And no matter the stage or industry,
the challenges were always the same:

⏱ Time.
🧠 Expertise.
🤝 Access.

Access to revenue.
Access to people.
Access to capital.

We turned those lessons into playbooks — real stories, distilled into practical steps. 99problems 😉

But even with playbooks, founders still wanted to talk.

Not theory. Not advice from afar.
Just a real conversation.

That’s why we’re proud to join Hubble Cohort 22 🚀

A platform built for exactly that —
where founders, operators, and investors
share what they’ve learned the hard way.

No panels.
No pitches.
Just honesty.

Because giving back is part of the journey.
And if what we’ve learned can save someone else a few steps, that’s time well spent.

💡 Early-stage fundraising
🎯 GTM & product–market fit
🤝 Founder-to-founder guidance
⚙️ Building with (and around) AI
🧭 Recruiting & hiring

Playbooks → https://lnkd.in/eCCdVPty
1:1 Talk → app.hubble.social/kaananit

Kaan Anit 🫧

Guillermo’s post on Harry Stebbings hit me harder than most content does.

Not because of Harry’s success (we love people to succeed), but because it exposed the one thing we haven’t built yet.

Harry has mastered something we haven’t:

A disciplined, systematic approach to closing capital.

✅ Weekly LP conversations.
✅ Quarterly updates.
❌ Hundreds of relationships nurtured long before he ever raises a fund.
❌ Relentless follow-through.
❌ Velocity that compounds.

It’s the opposite of how most funds raise.

And it’s the exact opposite of what we’ve been focused on.

We’re very good at building the engine — sourcing, evaluating, connecting people, and creating systems that actually work.

We’re good at moving fast, building trust, giving founders access, and turning zero into something.

But we’re not good at one thing: closing capital. 

And without that, nothing scales. 

We haven’t build a network of investors way before we started…

So we’re making a shift.

We’re looking for someone exceptional to join us — someone who lives and breathes capital raising.

Someone who treats LP relationships the way we treat founders.

Someone who can take our system, our network, our engine, and turn it into momentum on the capital side.

We’re a small team — Anouk and myself, supported by great people around us — and we’ve built everything from scratch over the last 18 months.

Now we’re ready for the person who completes the circle.

If you want to read the whole thing subscribe to Guillermo Flor his newsletter (link in comments) 🔗

But more importantly for us 😉
you know someone who should be doing this with us, we’d love an introduction.

Please share and repost this so we’ll get hold of this person we really need. 

And if this sounds like you, reach out.
DM me. 💜

No alternative text description for this image

We first met David. 💜
Clear. Fast. Obsessive about the problem.
A founder who sees exactly where GTM is heading — and is already building for that world.

Then we met Youngjae.💜
Technical, calm, incredibly sharp.
The kind of builder who gives you immediate confidence the product will keep improving every single week.

And together with Demir, Blas, and Janine, they form a small, fantastic team… focused, product-first, and relentless.

That’s when we said:
“We’re in.”

The problem they’re solving?

Everyone sees the shift:

• creators = distribution
• employees = media
• buyers follow people, not slide decks

But until now, nobody could measure it.
Everyone knew influence drives revenue nobody could prove it.

Limelight fixes this.

Their platform shows exactly how content turns into pipeline, with real attribution and real buyer intent.
And their new AI agent:

→ learns your company
→ defines your ICP
→ maps competitors
→ listens to social
→ surfaces intent
→ turns it into pipeline

Exactly the kind of AI-native product we back.

The proof?

A world-class group of investors joined + respected operators from across the ecosystem.

And of course they won the Global Pitch Competition at SaaStock, taking home €1,000,000.
Hard proof. Real momentum. 🙌🏼

That’s why we invested.

Great people.
A real problem.
A product that already delivers.

Proud to be in the round with this team.

#Limelight
#FirstDegreeCapital
#BackersOfBraveBeginnings

Founder & CEO @ Limelight | B2B Creator Marketplace | 3x Founder | MBA Mentor

Today I’m announcing our $2,100,000 funding round 🎉💰
And a HUGE NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH!! ...

Our brand new AI agent for Social Listening is live.

It can:

→ Research your company
→ Precisely define your ICP
→ Identify all of your competitors

Then automatically surface buyer intent from social content and turn it into sales pipeline. 

Early users are raving about it already!!

And just a few weeks ago,
We won the Global Pitch Competition!
On stage at SaaStock (€1M prize money)

THIS. IS. WHAT. MOMENTUM. LOOKS. LIKE.

Here’s why investors are loving Limelight

👇🏼👇🏼

Everyone is talking about personality-led marketing.

- Niche B2B creators are stealing trust.
- Employees are becoming mini media brands.
- Buyers follow PEOPLE, not 40-page whitepapers.

But the problem - up until now?

Everyone KNOWS influence drives revenue.

Yet nobody can measure it.

So budgets have stayed trapped in paid ads & cold outbound.

Limelight SOLVES this problem.

We’re showing brands - how CONTENT drives REVENUE.

We are making influence marketing performance-based.

So brands can track:

🔎 Which post led to $142,000 in pipeline
🔎 Which creator drove 237 product signups
🔎 Which campaign closed $1.9M new business.

(All REAL Limelight case studies! 📈)

We’re turning B2B influence from a “nice-to-have branding play” into a scalable revenue engine.

Big SHOUT out to our new investors for believing in us

Amit at SNR (led the round!) 
Eran at Savyon Ventures 
Kenneth at BackFuture
Kaan at First Degree 
Josh at OpenSky 
Kirby at Ascend

And many others like Ran Makavy, Gert Lanckriet, Suhit Gupta, Amir Ashkenazi, Mike Head, Eli Schwartz, Tom Waddington, Dan Murray🧠, Garrett Scott, Michel Lieben 🧠 & Alex Vacca 🧠🛠️.

A group of incredible operators/investors who know personality-led growth will define the next decade of GTM.

What’s next?

Goal remains the same:
→ Hit $10M ARR with a team of 10.

This funding round lets us:

⚡ Build even faster
⚡ Hire a few elite engineers + AMs
⚡ Push deeper into creator-based attribution
⚡ Power influencer programs for every GTM org

Huge gratitude to my tiny but might team Youngjae JI, Demir Capan, Blas C. and Janine Bulao. 

And most importantly...

The creators and brands (HubSpot, Webflow, Clay + 100s more) who are building this category WITH us 💪🏼

THIS IS JUST THE START.

PS. if you sign up as a new customer in the next 48 hours you get your 2nd month free! (DM me and I will do it for you)

How we bootstrapped First Degree Capital in 2025.

We tried a lot of tools this year — many AI-native, many custom-centric.
Here’s my Top 15 that helped me run the whole operation for < $250/month.


COMMUNICATION & OUTREACH

1. Wispr – People have spoken to my people for years because I can’t type.
Now I use voice. https://wisprflow.ai

2. Superhuman – Email, speed, focus. Beats Gmail. And definitely Microsoft.
https://superhuman.com

3. TryKondo – LinkedIn is part of my stack, but for messaging I use Superhuman for LinkedIn.
https://app.trykondo.com

4. Folk CRM – My digital Rolodex. Works seamlessly with LinkedIn and Superhuman.
https://folk.app

MEETING PREP & INTEL

5. WhiteBridge.ai – For meeting prep and personal intel.
https://whitebridge.ai

6. Alphalens – Company, competitor & product intel in seconds.
https://alphalens.com

7. FullEnrich – I don’t look for numbers or email addresses anymore.
https://fullenrich.com

RESEARCH & THINKING

8. Perplexity – Research, answers, clarity.
https://perplexity.ai

9. ChatGPT – My colleague. After two years, (s)he knows me by now.
https://chat.openai.com

PLANNING & ORGANISATION

10. Google Workspace – Docs, Sheets, Drive, and Gemini for meeting notes — all in one place.
https://lnkd.in/eCFawhbV

11. Google Drive – Still undefeated for storing and sharing.
https://drive.google.com

12. Happenstance – Natural-language search on my network. Outperforms LinkedIn Recruiter Seat or Sales Navigator by far.
https://happenstance.ai

RUNNING THE DAY

13. Calendly – Keeps my calendar under control.
https://calendly.com

14. Comet – My daily command centre.
https://comet.com

15. Gamma – Turns any content into clean, sharp slides.
https://gamma.app

THE HARDWARE BEHIND IT ALL
My iPhone and MacBook Pro – The foundations everything runs on.

If one of these saves you even 30 minutes a day, use it.
And if you’re building tools that change the way we work — I want to meet you.

Another great post from Mr. Stockholm aka Oliver Molander. 

Great insights for anyone thinking enterprise and AI. 

Especially point 6, "Change the way we work." As in get work done. 👀⤵️

I don't think people truly understand how early we're in enterprise adoption of AI agents.

McKinsey just released their 2025 AI report. 

Some nuggets:

1️⃣ 90% of companies “use AI,” but 67% are still stuck in pilot mode. Corporate AI theater is alive and well.

2️⃣ 62% of orgs are experimenting with AI agents, 23% are scaling AI agents. Most are in tech and healthcare.

3️⃣ The impact gap is massive. 64% say AI helps innovation, but only 39% see real EBIT gains. 

4️⃣ The high performers (top 6%) think bigger. They rebuild workflows, set growth goals, and invest real budgets not just PoCs.

5️⃣ Leaders who own AI personally are 3x more likely to scale it. Makes sense.

6️⃣ The winners use AI to transform how work gets done, not just speed it up.

7️⃣ The average company measures efficiency. The best ones measure how fast their agents can act.

8️⃣ Risk management is catching up with 51% have already seen AI backfire, mostly from inaccuracy.

9️⃣ The workforce impact is foggy. 32% expect cuts, 13% expect growth, everyone else is guessing.

Agentic AI looks magical in demos, but scaling it across teams and systems (especially in enterprise settings) is where it still breaks. You can do basic single-step automation reliably right now (tool calling).

As Andrej Karpathy recently noted on LLM agents:

"My critique of the industry is more in overshooting the tooling w.r.t. present capability."

Bottom line: we're still super early, this transformation will go on for another decade.

I'm bullish, but this will take a bit longer than we think, having fully autonomous agents. Just like autonomous driving took a bit longer than we thought, but here we are.

E.g. one of the biggest challenges in building AI agents today is agents' long-term memory.

#artificialintelligence

AI isn’t taking jobs — it’s taking tasks.

I just read Deel’s new AI & Workforce Policy Report (a fantastic report!!) and one thing stood out:

What AI means for people, employers, and founders is no longer theoretical.

It’s happening. Right now. 
Here are my key takeaways: 

👩🏻‍💻 For people:
Entry-level roles: the classic way in — are being automated out.

But new jobs are emerging just as fast: 
AI Librarians, Trainers, Tutors. The shift isn’t from human to machine… 

It’s from execution to judgment.

🏢 For employers:
AI is no longer an experiment.

70% of companies have moved beyond pilots. Yet compliance, trust, and talent are now the real constraints.

The question isn’t “if we use AI,” but “how responsibly we do it.”

🚀 For founders:
Every industry is hiring AI talent.

And the biggest opportunity isn’t building the next model, but it’s helping people and companies use AI safely, productively, and in ways that make work better.

Read the full report here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eZ8CgSaj

#AI #FutureOfWork #Productivity #Founders #VentureCapital

If I had the skills — and lived in LA — I’d apply myself.

David, Youngjae, and the team at Limelight are building something truly special.

They’ve cracked what every creator, brand, and marketer dreams of: real, data-driven influencer partnerships that actually convert.

They’re growing fast.
They move like true founders.
They treat customers like partners.
And they’re now looking for a Customer Success Manager who can help them scale that magic.

If you’ve ever wanted to join a rocket ship at just the right time — this is it.
An opportunity you don’t want to miss.

Trust me, you’ll want to keep an eye on this team.

#BackersOfBraveBeginnings
#LimelightHQ
#FirstDegreeCapital

I’m HIRING a Customer Success Manager!! 🎉 👀 Want to join a tech startup DOMINATING the creator economy space?!

Keep reading 👇

I don’t care about your fancy degree.
Or what brands are on your CV.
Or how old you are.

If you're awesome at what you do...

WE WANT YOU!!!

Simple as that 👏👏

The ideal candidate:

🔥 Has startup experience (and can work fast)
🔥 Can build relationships with enterprise customers
🔥 Understands B2B influence/creator partnerships
🔥 Has the grit and accountability to own outcomes

You'll get:

→ Ability to work from anywhere
→ Skin in the game + bonuses
→ Responsibility from day one
→ Total creative freedom

This is a rare opportunity for someone to join our early team and go on a MAJOR growth journey with us.

A bit about Limelight:

- Just won SaaStock Europe’s global pitch
- Growing fast with $3.6M in proposals sent
- Working with brands like HubSpot, Clay, Xero
- Building the future of B2B influencer marketing
- Used by thousands of world-class content creators

We made our last hire in under 10 days.

And we’re looking for someone incredible again.

Ready for the challenge?

Apply here: https://lnkd.in/d6bnJyJP

Know someone who is?

Tag ‘em!

“Europe is fine to start.
But once you want real numbers, you need to go where people buy fast.”

A fantastic post and must read for any European founder. 👀⤵️

All credits to Jérémy

CEO @The Mobile-First Company 📱Fixing broken desktop software with AI mobile apps 🌍 Angel Investor in +40 startups

Sell only in France if you want a small company.

Patrick Collison, the cofounder of Stripe, shared a chart this week that speaks for itself.  

If you build software and you don’t sell in the US, you miss the biggest part of the opportunity.

The US revenue curve goes up fast.
Even without AI companies in the mix, the US still grows faster than Europe.

The US is one big market with buyers who move fast.
Europe is split, slow, and full of small rules that block you the moment you try to scale.

Look at Pigment, PhotoRoom, Hyperline.
French teams growing fast because they sell in the US.

Europe is fine to start.
But once you want real numbers, you need to go where people buy fast.

If you want a big company, you go to the US.
If you want a small one, stay in France.

WWW.Williamrochelle.com

www.williamrochelle.com, a new era in business consulting aimed at delivering unmatched value and transformative solutions. Our inaugural offerings include exclusive discounts and expert guidance on ADP Payroll and ADP TotalSource, available at http://www.williamrochelle.com/adp, setting a new standard in business support.

Decades of Expertise, Tailored for Success

With over 20 years of experience, we're uniquely positioned to elevate businesses from startups to Fortune 500 giants, focusing on precision, efficiency, and growth. Our mission is simple: to transform your business for peak performance and market leadership.

Comprehensive Services for Holistic Growth

Our services are designed to enhance every facet of your business:

•	Strategic Planning and Contract Negotiations: Turn complexity into opportunity with expert 
        negotiation.
•	Budgeting and Financial Management: Maximize efficiency and profitability.
•	Client Relationship Management: Build enduring, profitable partnerships.
•	Multi-Channel Call Center Operations: Serve a global audience with excellence.
•	Sales Force Management: Drive your team to surpass every target.
•	Supply Chain and Inventory Management: Achieve seamless operations.
•	Team Building: Foster collaboration and productivity.
•	KPIs: Track success with customized metrics.
•	Hiring Plans: Scale intelligently.
•	Technology Integration: Enhance productivity smartly.

Join Our Journey to Excellence

We invite you to embark on this transformative journey with us. Together, we'll navigate the path to operational excellence, ensuring your business not only thrives but sets new benchmarks in efficiency and growth. Let's redefine what's possible, together.

#BusinessConsulting #OperationalExcellence #Innovation #GrowthStrategy #WilliamRochelleConsulting

Chief Executive Officer

Celeb Luxury

Developing a new company approach that allows the business to scale without adding additional payroll assets.

Onboarded ADP for payroll and Health Care, Automated all Amazon, Inventory, Retail and ecommerce data entry functions by introducing EDI processes that eliminated manual input, increased productivity and reduced errors.. 

Moved our entire warehouse from Davie Florida to Central Georgia to optimize the technology offered to provide real-time insight into order flow, inventory and lead-times across all sales channels.

Maintained Amazon performance metrics while launching eBay, Walmart and Target +

Consistently challenging existing workflow to create a better process

Vice President Operations

ivgStores

Exceeding $20 million in annually with 35 onsite employees and 75 offshore. Closed due to Covid reduction in sales

IVGSTORES is a leading online Retailer with revenues exceeding 20 million dollars per year, offering hundreds of thousands of products for home, work, and play from 3,000 of the world's best brand name partners. We stand ready to ship their high quality furniture, decor, sporting goods, appliances, outdoor and children's products directly from their factories and warehouses to your home or business. We hold ourselves and our suppliers to the highest standards of performance, style, elegance, craftsmanship, uncompromising quality, and reliability.

Our Relationship with Our Customers is Our Highest Priority
Fueled by superb quality, good value, and the strength of a team that stands behind its promises, we are an A+ BBB rated business with an unwavering commitment to our customers. Working 7 days a week, our Florida staff have grown into one of the sharpest, most responsive Customer Service Teams in Retail.  We are committed to every team member in every department, each of whom are committed to success of our company.

Exceeding $20 million annual revenue

Parent Company of ShopLadder.com and Internet Shopping Club
Executive Responsibility for Customer Service, Shipping/Logistics, Purchasing and Product Development. Developed and continue to maintain strategic partnerships with the largest 3rd party marketplaces in the ecommerce space, including but not limited to Amazon, Ebay, Wal-Mart, Houzz and Jet, each of which we maintain top rated seller ratings and consumer feedback scores.

•	Restructured four independently operating departments into one unified team with individual goals focused on our core business strategy 
•	Initiated an international shipping strategy with an annual gross profit increase projection of 7%
•	Revised return policy with an emphasis on customer retention, resulting in an immediate increase in customer satisfaction and an overall decrease in refunds as a percentage of sales 
•	Decreased order processing and shipping lead times, creating a more competitive shopping experience and resulting in increased daily sales 
•	Recognized potential within core team. Created internal career paths, mentored, coached and developed key players into Team Leaders, Middle Tier Management and Director level positions. Identified and eliminated bottom performers and replaced with self motivated, strategically-driven individuals to create a more dynamic team and corporate culture 

Key Results:
➢	Increased production by 200% while reducing operational expenses by 25%
➢	Decreased refunds as a percentage of sales by policy improvement
➢	Reduced customer response times from 24 hours to an average 2 hour response time
➢	Increased website Seller Ratings with an average Customer Satisfaction Score of 98%
➢	Created a more competitive shopping experience and increased daily sales

Chief Operations Officer

eVoter, Inc.

eVoter.com                         
Political Technologies         

Highly interactive onsite consulting providing strategic analysis and direction. Engaging existing staff to examine and determine business objectives and requirements; planning call center technical systems; identifying and correcting technology and operational problems; determining operational call routing strategies, implementing improvements and system upgrades. Building Call center infrastructure; creating org charts, hiring plans and timelines to effectively define the Optimal model for business growth and flexibility.

•	Directly worked with CEO/COO to define business objectives and requirements
•	Created staffing strategy and organizational charts aligned to effectively define optimal model for business growth and flexibility

Independant Consulting Servces

GodTube

Parent Company of Tangle.com/Godtube.com, a leading social media network with over 2 million unique monthly visitors. Specifically recruited from Spark Networks to join Godtube.com to establish processes and scalable solutions to the fast-growing website in 2007, primed for going public or corporate sale. 

•	Planned, executed and developed the Operations, Video Editing, Call Center, Customer Service, In-Bound Sales, Quality Assurance and Human Resources departments
•	Authored technical specification document to enhance the teams ability to review all user generated content more efficiently; allowing for the ability to scale exponentially while reducing the overall cost per contact
•	Managed department of 80 customer service agents and 4 middle managers and onsite in Texas and Virginia, as well as geographically dispersed network of remote agents
•	Created company-wide strategic hiring plan focused on the company’s quarterly goals, and spearheaded all recruiting efforts from C-Level to administrative support
•	Developed strategic partnership with FBI to ensure brand jeopardizing issues were immediately identified and escalated

Key Results:
➢	Reduced staffing levels by 30% while simultaneously increasing service levels across all verticals
➢	Purchased and implemented Cisco Call Center, ZenDesk Email and SalesForce CRM
➢	Established all operational support systems and customer process flows, including the specification and design of a proprietary content approval and management system for the review of user generated video, photos, blogs and comments; response time improved from a 6 week backlog to a 24 hour response

Vice President, Operations GodTube/Tangle.com

Spark Networks

Publicly traded since 2001 exceeding $50 million in annual revenue

Parent Company of over 20 niche online dating sites including JDate.com, ChristianMingle.com and BlackSingles.com with 10 million members globally, operating in 8 languages. Executive responsibility for 24/7 call center operations located in multiple countries; U.S.A., Israel and Sri Lanka.

•	Developed all policies, procedures, payroll, benefits, recruitment, Quality Assurance and Office Operations
•	Identified candidate systems and facilitated domestic and international outsourcing, resulting in significant cost reduction across the operation
•	Provided leadership and direction to staff members in the execution of daily roles and responsibilities, and established a high performance, innovative team that worked cooperatively to achieve common goals
•	Managed the development and selection of HR benefit programs for all employees, hired and trained HR team, managed compensation and recruiting process across the organization for all employee levels
•	Managed after hours Network Operations team, created black box testing Quality Assurance team that was responsible for testing the entire site prior to any new code releases

Key Results:
➢	Built support operations and call center from conception to becoming an industry leader 
➢	Consistently brought operations in $1.2 M under budget while exceeding growth and retention rates
➢	Reduced costs by 25% and increased customer retention by 8%, while generating an additional $8.6M in annual revenue growth
➢	Generated $1.2M annual revenue through the execution and management of JDate member travel program
➢	Achieved 93% customer satisfaction with a significant reduction in support touch per customer

SVP Member Relations and Support Operations

The Wonderful Company

Launched the inaugural web-hosting and e–commerce department of what serves as the primary clearinghouse for transmitting and processing floral orders to customers throughout the United States and internationally.

•	Created department tools for optimal functionality, hired and trained appropriate teams, and developed email solutions to address and resolve department conflicts
•	Managed key accounts for mass merchants and TeleFlora
•	Forecasted and recruited staffing needs for seasonal influx business, and conducted training for up to 250 contingent employees, 6 times annually

Mass Merchandising and E-Commerce Manager

Contact Center Guru, E-Commerce Sales and Business Operations, Team Builder, Collaborative Leader CEO/COO/VP Operations

I am not just an employee—I am an investment in the future success of your organization. I bring a collaborative, results-driven approach to solving complex challenges, unlocking potential, and delivering outcomes that matter. 

My leadership isn’t about titles or accolades—it’s about creating meaningful partnerships, guiding organizations through change, and driving transformational success.

With 15+ years of leadership experience, I’ve redefined what’s possible:

As CEO: Scaled annual e-commerce sales to $20M+, spearheading market expansion and delivering unprecedented growth.

As COO: Led 200+ team members across major U.S. markets, achieving seamless operations and exceptional outcomes.

Globally: Built and optimized contact centers in Israel and Sri Lanka, driving efficiency and extending international presence.

My Approach: I specialize in big-picture thinking, precise execution, and relentless innovation, excelling in:

Strategic Planning & Contract Negotiation
Multi-Channel Contact Center Operations
Customer Service & Tactical Sales Force Leadership
Supply Chain Optimization & Demand Forecasting
Financial Management & Budget Planning

But my proudest achievements go beyond the numbers—they’re reflected in the teams I’ve empowered, the systems I’ve transformed, and the lasting value I’ve created.

Why It Matters: Your business deserves more than operational expertise—it deserves a leader with emotional intelligence, strategic foresight, and a passion for building a stronger future. Together, we can align teams, foster innovation, and drive your organization to new heights.

If you’re ready for a leader who believes in people and the promise of potential, let’s connect. Let’s build your success story.

Confident. Collaborative. Future-Focused.

William Rochelle

Game-Changing Global Leader | Architect of Operational Excellence | Multi-Channel Contact Center Powerhouse | Scaling Startups & Fortune 500s to $90M+ Heights and Beyond | C-Suite Level Go-Getter

When I met NIC, Nicole (NIC) Angai-Galindo, on Sunday, I had no expectations. No script. No agenda. But within minutes, I felt something rare, the kin

Open article: NIC IS NOT A BUSINESS. SHE IS A FORCE by William Rochelle • 3 min read

🧑🏽‍💻Power BI: Business Intelligence Dashboards, Analysis for Analysts & Chief Operating Officers

View group: 🧑🏽‍💻Power BI:  Business Intelligence Dashboards, Analysis for Analysts & Chief Operating Officers

“When you micromanage, you’re not leading…
you’re slowly suffocating your own team.”

You’re not guiding — you’re gripping.
You’re not building trust — you’re building tension.

I once had a manager who checked every email I sent.
Every. Single. One.

He’d hover behind me like a human antivirus.
Watching. Correcting. Hovering.

I started doubting myself.
Second-guessing my every move.
Even asking permission to breathe (okay, almost 😅).

And then it hit me —
micromanagement isn’t about perfection.
It’s about fear.

Fear of losing control.
Fear of being irrelevant.
Fear that if they’re not in every decision, the world will collapse.

But here’s the truth —
the world doesn’t collapse without control.
It collapses without trust.

The problem?
Micromanagement kills creativity faster than bad coffee kills motivation.
It turns capable people into cautious ones.

The solution?
Replace control with confidence.
Replace checking up with cheering on.

The benefit?
When people feel trusted, they don’t just perform — they own the mission.

Because great teams aren’t powered by supervision.
They’re powered by belief.

When you trust your people, they start trusting themselves.
And that’s when magic happens.

So what?
Leadership isn’t about being everywhere —
it’s about being anchored where it matters most.

Now what?
Step back.
Let them breathe.
And watch them rise higher than your control ever could.

Because the strongest teams aren’t built on fear —
they’re built on freedom.

Do you agree or disagree?
Drop your take in the comments — I’d love to hear your view.

And if this resonated —
👉 Follow Samson Akinola for daily insights that accelerate growth and solve real problems in Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Intrapreneurship.

I’m also planting young people through Outcome School to become the next generation of leaders shaping technology and business.

Every post I share is built from real failures, real wins, and real lessons — refined through business school rigor —
to help you lead with purpose and confidently negotiate.

Repost this.
Share it with your network.
Because someone in your company needs to read this today.

Lead and Negotiate persuasively.

Power BI - AI Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms -  Microsoft Power BI, Microsoft BI, BI tools, data visualisation, data visualisation tools, interactive data

Turn data into opportunity with Microsoft Power BI data visualisation tools. Drive better business decisions by analysing your enterprise data for insights


Literally me every time I go to the store have an amazing week. Why be normal when you can be iconic

taplio

The Battle

Kaan Anit

William Rochelle

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreKaan Anit's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreWilliam Rochelle's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Kaan Anit

William Rochelle

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Kaan Anit's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreWilliam Rochelle's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreKaan Anit's LinkedIn Performance