⏮️ Origins of Tech2table

👋🏻 Hey Friends!

My team and I are super excited to launch this newsletter. Yes, there are 15+ amazing early professionals and students behind Tech2table. We would not exist without all the hard work, dedication and magic created from everyone in the team. In future posts, you will get to know the team behind T2T - their amazing backgrounds and experiences.

Purpose: By the end of this post, my goal is to ensure you get to know Tech2table and myself a bit more than you currently do.

Who is David?

Here is a quick snapshot of myself in 60 seconds (⏱️ Get your timer ready!):

🏡 Where am I based? New York City, United States is home after leaving Melbourne, Australia six years ago where I was born and lived there for my whole life. However, I travel regularly so you’re likely to see me somewhere in the world. Come say hi if we’re in the same city!

🙂 What do I do for work? Founder of Tech2table with 10+ years of experience as a product manager (Gusto and Amazon), finance management consultant (Deloitte), Chartered Accountant and tax consultant (PwC and Crowe) across Big tech to high-growth startups and Big 4 to mid-tier professional service firms. My career has taken me from being a power user in spreadsheets to powerpoint to documents. I call it the trifecta. I’ve also served businesses of all sizes from startups at idea stage to Fortune 100 companies (Pfizer, Merck, Medtronic, Astrazeneca, Citibank and many others). Additionally, this is more fun than work but for over a decade I’ve also been a startup advisor (50+ startups), angel investor (co-invested with Y Combinator and Andreessen Horowitz), a big advocate for hackathons (organized and participated in 4) and love supporting the global tech community.

🎧 What are my hobbies and interests? I enjoy sports (soccer and Australian football), fitness and podcasting - big fan of Lenny’s Podcast! You will find me listening to 10+ hours of podcasts a week. I love learning and trying to be a better person than I was yesterday both professionally and personally. There’s so many things to learn in life.

💡Why did I start Tech2table? There are many reasons but some of the core reasons are:

• When I started T2T in April 2023, professional networking felt broken. It was a personal pain point. My hypothesis was that meeting like-minded individuals was much more impactful through small-intimate gatherings and experiences vs large events. Large gatherings felt transactional and I knew there had to be a better way. 1.5 years later, 1k+ community members and dinner guests across New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angelas, London and Melbourne agrees and resonates with this problem.

• I truly do believe magic happens when you bring together intelligent, kind, no-ego individuals. We need to create more moments for serendipity.

• Delicious food + tech + people = It doesn’t get much better. What’s not to love about sharing a meal with like-minded individuals and creating new friendships and authentic connections?

💪🏻 What am I great at or passionate about and willing to help others? Since I can remember, maybe 12 years old, I’ve loved helping others and organizing things. There’s a reason why Tech2table exists - supporting others to achieve their goals and dreams is very meaningful and gives me a lot of joy. Although, I may be slightly busier compared to when I was 12, I would still love to help however I can.

Here are some things I can support you with:

• Product management

• Startup advice - Product, GTM and strategy

• Community

• Accounting, finance and tax

• Moving and starting a new life in a new country

📞 How can you connect and contact me? Feel free to contact me on LinkedIn or X. Alternatively, contact [email protected] and we will get back to you. If you reach out, please keep it short and concise with a clear “ask” so I can better help you. Since you’re still here, follow us on our socials to be kept up-to-date on the latest and greatest: Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Lu.ma, TikTok and of course this newsletter.

We’re nearly at the finish line! I hope you now have a better understanding about the origins of Tech2table and my background. The best thing about all this? We’re just getting started. This new chapter for Tech2table is going to be a lot of fun and we can’t wait to share it with everyone.

See you soon at a table near you!

DL