Naples Tech Meetup, by Espresso V - February 2026
Welcome to Naples Tech Meetups, by Espresso Ventures!
Our desire is to help share inspiring entrepreneurial stories and connect great Innovation, Capital and Entrepreneurship in an effort to make Naples one of the best places to do business in America.
We all know about the outstanding quality of life - but what about as a place to build innovation?
###
Our Agenda for February 17th, 2026
5pm-6pm: Arrival, open networking with participants.
6pm: Our panel in February is yet to be fully completed.
First, we will be hearing from Rob Basso, a seasoned entrepreneur, author, and media commentator who has started & scaled businesses, supported $250M+ in exits, and invested in numerous successful companies across industries including fintech, real estate, and aviation. A former vice president at a major public firm, he has led national sales growth, advised over 2,000 businesses, and appeared in top media outlets such as Fox News and The New York Times. Beyond business, Rob is a philanthropist, public speaker, and advocate for small business success, known for inspiring entrepreneurs through his book The Everyday Entrepreneur and his engaging social media presence.
Ken Goldman is a Big 4 CPA who has served as CFO for ten companies, including three public firms and a Fortune 100 division, and has also held CEO, COO, investment banking, and board roles. He has raised over $1 billion in capital and completed 86 M&A transactions, and currently mentors entrepreneurs through SCORE while serving as COO and partner at Benevolent Capital Group. With deep tech-sector experience, he helped lead one of the first SaaS IPOs, co-founded an early E-commerce company, and served as CFO of Student Advantage, which reached a $1 billion market cap during the dot-com boom. Eight of the ten companies where he was CFO were technology or tech-enabled businesses.
The session is moderated by your host, Espresso Ventures founder, Sebastien Leduc. Sebastien is a Tech Entrepreneur, Advisor & Investor, passionate about helping exceptional entrepreneurs grow their venture and achieve their most ambitious objectives.
###
Naples Tech Meetups: 3 simple rules
1. Entrepreneurs First
Our objective is to help foster entrepreneurship and innovation in SWFL. We believe in community and synergy, to help existing and aspiring entrepreneurs build great companies from SWFL to the world.
2. Be Generous
We all have our businesses and projects to promote, but arrive to this group with an open mind and an objective to give to the community, first. Then magic happens.
3. Southern Hospitality
Be hospitable the Southern way. That's something that attracted many of us to relocate to our beautiful paradise of SWFL. Let's keep ourselves courteous, respectful, constructive with each other.
Looking forward to being your hosts,
Seb & Naomi
###
Photography, video and marketing content generating during the event:
I understand and agree that Espresso V Corp (or "Espresso") may use, reproduce, distribute, perform, and publicly display my name, photographic likeness, and videography.