UGLY TALK: BUILDING YOUR CORE TEAM
Your first few hires beyond your founder team shape your company’s future. A wrong hire early on costs more than money. It slows you down, hurts morale, and can throw off your entire direction. Most founders don’t come in knowing how to hire or retain talent. This Ugly Talk is a no-fluff look at how to grow beyond your founder team and build a strong foundation—through mistakes, pivots, and the hard lessons that come with it.
🎯 Why You Should Attend
This isn’t your typical “how to hire” panel. We’re getting real about:
Spotting red flags before they tank your culture
Knowing when to let someone go—and how to do it right
What actually matters in a first hire (and what doesn’t)
Building a team aligned with your mission—not just your skill gaps
You’ll walk away with practical frameworks and gut-check wisdom to help you confidently build the team your startup deserves.
🙋 Who You’ll Meet
Tech founders building their first teams
Startup operators looking to grow efficiently
Business owners hiring beyond their co-founders
Talent professionals and recruiters who work with startups
People who’ve made hiring mistakes and are eager to share
Others figuring out how to retain and scale with the right people
🎤 Who’s on the Panel
Jie Feng - CEO of KELLS
Jie Feng is the Co-Founder and CEO of KELLS, a modern AI-powered dental benefit platform making oral care smarter, easier and more affordable.
Prior to KELLS, Jie has founded AI startups in healthcare and retail with funding raised from Verizon and NYCEDC. He was the recipient of the People's Choice Award at Innovative Health Tech NYC. Jie worked at companies including Amazon, Microsoft and Google where he built and launched AI-powered products to the market used by millions of customers around the world.
Jie received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Columbia University. His research work was published in numerous top-tier AI conferences and he holds several U.S. patents.
Tinia Pina - Founder of Re-Nuble
Tinia Pina has a knack for creating the tangible from the unseen. She has launched her new climate tech company focused on developing new dual-use materials for increasing the sustainability of data center cooling and wildfire prevention. This was led by her wanting to create more impact given her experience and the lessons learned from being the solo Founder, CEO and President at Re-Nuble.
Tinia has a B.S. in Business Information Technology from Virginia Tech. She began her career in sustainability as a former student pursuing a Masters of Science degree at Columbia University prior to becoming the CEO and Founder of Re-Nuble, Inc., a climate tech company in New York City focused on enabling more closed loop food production within Controlled Environment Agriculture. A strong advocate for sustainable waste management and regenerative agriculture, she has led a career that began in IT, transitioned from finance (of 8 years), and continues in launching new companies within the sustainability industry.
Ibrahima Diallo - Co-Founder of Ginjan Bros
Rahim is the co-founder of Ginjan Bros, a hospitality and CPG company on a mission to bring african flavors to the world.
Moderator:
Lisa-Marie Pierre - Executive Director at Founder Forward
Dr. Lisa-Marie Pierre is passionate about neighborhood revitalization and economic development. She is the Executive Director of Founder Forward, a nonprofit that supports economic participation in overlooked regions. She previously served as an innovation strategist at Luminary Labs, working on future of work and infrastructure projects for federal agencies. Dr. Lisa-Marie also provided strategic direction on entrepreneurship programming at Bronx Community College/CUNY. She holds degrees from Spelman College, University of Miami, and Michigan State University, and serves on the board of Grown in Haiti.
💬 What We’ll Talk About
Building a team beyond your co-founders
Referral strategies
Spotting high-potential talent
Defining and scaling your culture
Salary, equity, and hiring models
Knowing when to move on
🤝 Co-hosted With
Founder Forward - A non-profit supporting diverse founders with unrestricted funding, expert advising, and powerful networks to scale their businesses in emerging U.S. markets.
GREY Journal – Media partner spotlighting modern entrepreneurs (featured on Apple News + Google News).
🤝 Venue Partner
The Yard - Private offices & coworking spaces for individuals and teams
⭐ About Ugly Talk:
Started in 2019, Ugly Talk has been transforming business setbacks into breakthrough “aha!” moments by hosting unfiltered, no-nonsense events where battle-tested entrepreneurs share their raw lessons and insights.
With a growing presence in cities like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami, we’ve built a vibrant community of thousands of founders and industry leaders making a profound impact on the entrepreneurial landscape.
Official Website: UglyTalk.com