New Service Gives Startups Access to World’s Largest Membership for Professional Learning and Expertise
Connecting Startups to More than 375,000 Leading Global Experts for Strategic Advice, Insights, and Partnership; Launch Members Include General Assembly, HowAboutWe, The Muse, Recombine, Soylent
New York, New York — Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc. (GLG) today launched GLG Share (www.GLGShare.com), providing startups access to GLG’s global membership of more than 375,000 Network Members – leading executives, scientists, technologists, and public policy leaders – for unlimited, on-demand advice, counsel, and partnership on how to grow their businesses faster.
GLG’s mission is to transform the way top professionals – including those in the startup world – share expertise, learn, and make decisions.
GLG Share provides members targeted connections on their most pressing strategic and operational questions – whether they concern market sizing, product design, pricing and sales strategy, operational improvement, or any other matter. GLG Share members leverage that insight to avoid predictable mistakes and to double-down on good ideas that accelerate growth.
GLG Share members are assigned a GLG manager who combs through the world’s largest membership for professional learning to match startups with Network Members eager to give their time and share their expertise.
GLG Share is application-only; spots will go to innovative startups that bring unique solutions to large, addressable markets. GLG Share’s launch members include General Assembly, HowAboutWe, The Muse, OrderWithMe, Recombine, Soylent, and Tongal, among others.
“Entrepreneurs need product feedback and mentorship fast, and from exactly the right people,” said GLG President and CEO Alexander Saint-Amand. “GLG Share will significantly accelerate learning for entrepreneurs. And it gives our Network Members the opportunity to share their insight, perspective, and feedback with promising new enterprises. Fifteen years ago, GLG was a startup with three employees, so we understand the startup mindset. We’ve been there. Today we’re making our service accessible to a community we came from and continue to thrive in.”
GLG Share’s beta members have already found the program valuable. “GLG Share introduced Soylent to a leading expert in our field, at a crucial moment in our development when no one else could,” said David Renteln, co-founder of Soylent, which is backed by Andreessen Horowitz. “Any young firm eager to learn and to take their business to the next level should want GLG Share on their team.”
“GLG Share is a great asset for a startup like us,” said Recombine founder and CEO Alexander Bisignano, who just raised $3.3 million from FirstMark Capital and Vast Ventures for his young company. “It has been essential in helping us navigate the more opaque areas of our sector, allowing us to grow our business. Our team feels stronger knowing that we have access to experts in everything from sales and billing to regulation and industry history. It’s been a great way to get questions answered and cultivate longer-term advisory relationships.”
John Donoghue, GLG Head of New Markets added, “GLG Share helps founders meet the leaders they need to know – leaders who can help them to ask the right questions, who can answer their hardest questions, and who can expand their networks to yield faster growth. These leaders – our Network Members – embrace and enjoy teaching, and want to contribute to the next generation of disruptive innovation.”
GLG Network Member William Reid – former Director of Financial Innovation at PayPal and a veteran of Visa, American Express, and IBM – recently consulted with OrderWithMe through GLG Share. He said, “Consulting through GLG Share has been a win-win for me and for OrderWithMe. I know these startups need this kind of help and can’t get it anywhere else, and I’m happy to give back by helping a dynamic young company. I’ve enjoyed going deeper into this market and learning about the exciting changes coming. I want to do more, and I look forward to an ongoing relationship with OrderWithMe.”
GLG, venture-backed by Silver Lake Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners, was founded to serve professionals who needed long-tail, nuanced insights that couldn’t be found in one-size-fits-all industry reports. It began connecting these professionals with smart people who had firsthand expertise or operational experience. Today, GLG serves the world’s leading investors, entrepreneurs, corporations, consulting firms, and nonprofits – thousands of times a week, across the globe.
GLG Share emerged from GLG Labs, the company’s in-house incubator for new business ideas and services. Prabhdeep Singh, Head of GLG Labs, explained, “We believe that the introductions GLG provides are indispensable to businesses regardless of industry, size, or stage. In fact, startups may get the most value out of our network, so we wanted to make GLG accessible to them. We also have amazing Network Members, who are eager to share their expertise and participate in innovative new products and ideas. With GLG Share, our Network Members have the opportunity to be part of exciting new ventures, and entrepreneurs will be able to get answers, get smart, and get help figuring out what’s next.”
GLG Share ensures no risk to the companies applying for the program by offering a two-month money-back guarantee. Firms can apply for GLG Share at www.GLGShare.com/apply.
About GLG/Gerson Lehrman Group
GLG is transforming the way the world’s top professionals share expertise and learn. GLG curates custom learning experiences among professionals and thought leaders across fields, within a rigorous compliance framework. GLG scales one-to-one learning through conversations, mentorships, small group convening, surveys, and other interactions with its network of more than 375,000 experts. Global, technology-driven, and nimble, GLG is the world’s largest membership for professional learning and expertise. Its 850 employees work in 21 offices in 12 countries. To find out more, visit www.GLG.it and follow @GLG.
About GLG Share
GLG Share offers select startups unlimited access to the world’s largest membership-based network for professional learning and expertise. GLG Share connects members with advice, feedback, and partnership on crucial strategic, operational, and developmental questions from its network of more than 375,000 leading professionals. GLG Share members are promising and inquisitive founders who view ongoing learning and mentorship as essential to personal and professional growth and success. Membership is limited to the most innovative and disruptive growth companies. To find out more, visit www.GLGShare.com and follow @GLGShare.
Contact: press@glg.it