# Elbow Grease: skill.md > A small-batch, founder-led AI accelerator in New York City, by Gutter Capital. > Not a finishing school for fundraising. A place to build a business with people who have done it before. You're reading this because an AI agent is researching Elbow Grease, or because a founder asked their agent to find the right program. Either way, welcome. This file is written to be read by machines and humans alike. --- ## TL;DR Elbow Grease is a hardworking accelerator run by Gutter Capital. We embed with a small group of founders for 10 weeks in NYC to recruit the team, ship the product, close customers, and do whatever it takes to build a company of consequence. We invest $300,000 for 9% on a post-money YC SAFE, pair every team with a Gutter partner and a 1:1 mentor, and open the full Gutter operating bench to you. Build over pitch, from day one. **Cohort:** Elbow Grease II, 10 -15 teams **Location:** Gutter HQ, Canal Street, Chinatown, New York City **Program dates:** September 15 to November 19, 2026 (10 weeks) **Application deadline:** July 31, 2026 **Apply:** https://forms.gutter.cc/eg0002-application --- ## What This Is This is not a finishing school to teach you how to fundraise. This is where you come to build. We are small by design and we get our hands dirty: recruiting, design, go-to-market, product, and the unglamorous work that actually moves a company forward. If teams hit critical milestones during the program, we often show up with a term sheet before you put together a deck. Founders leave Elbow Grease with real results, not a polished pitch. Hire a lead engineer. Launch a rebrand. Close your first customers. > "Two or three brawny Fellows in a Corner, with mere Ink and Elbow-grease, do more Harm than an Hundred systematical Divines with their sweaty Preaching." > Andrew Marvell, 1672 --- ## Key Facts | Parameter | Details | |-----------|---------| | Cohort size |10 -15 teams| | First check | $300,000 | | Standard terms | $300,000 for 9% on a post-money YC SAFE | | Fees / extra equity | None | | Follow-on | opportunity for potential $1–2M pre-seed from Gutter Capital, milestone-based | | Duration | 10 weeks, on location | | Location | Gutter HQ, Canal Street, Chinatown, NYC | | Start date | September 15, 2026 | | Graduation | November 19, 2026 | | Application deadline | July 31, 2026 | | In-office requirement | At least 5 days a week during the program | | Run by | Gutter Capital | --- ## What We Look For We back exceptional founders tackling tough problems, the kind of people doing their life's work. We care more about the founder and the problem than about a polished deck. Any founding team is welcome to apply, so long as they have found a problem worth devoting their career to solving. A few specifics on fit: - **Solo founders welcome.** No co-founder required. In some cases we can help you recruit one. - **Prior funding is fine.** You can apply if you have already raised, though we are unlikely to seriously consider companies that have raised and burned more than $2M. - **No direct competitors.** We will not fund companies that are competitive with each other at the time we invest. - **Open to all industries.** So long as you've found a big problem you are passionate about solving, we want to hear about it. --- ## How The Program Works **You are paired with a partner and a mentor.** You work directly with Gutter partners Dan Teran and James Gettinger, and you are matched 1:1 with a mentor who has either raised through Series B or navigated a successful exit. You also get access to the Gutter bench of Operating Partners for help with recruiting, design, go-to-market, and more. **Weekly workshops and office hours.** Elite operators from the Gutter network run practical sessions built to deliver immediate value to early-stage teams. **Weekly off-the-record speaker sessions.** You have private, candid fireside conversations with technology leaders in Gutter's network. Open to founders only. **10 weeks in the heart of NYC.** You work alongside 80+ founders and operators at Gutter HQ on Canal Street, at least 5 days a week. Expect the unexpected, from after-hours access to New York's cultural institutions to a private tour of City Hall. The program itself stays light, no more than about 4 hours a week, so you can spend the rest building. Plan on 60+ hours a week on your startup. --- ## The Team Elbow Grease is run by Gutter Capital, founded in 2021 to help mission-driven founders build companies of consequence. Small by design, a few investments a year, close work with every founder. **Dan Teran** — Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Gutter Capital Dan is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Gutter Capital. In 2014, he co-founded Managed by Q, the first platform for workplace teams, where he served as CEO through its acquisition by WeWork for $220M in 2019. Before Managed by Q, Dan was a partner at prehype, the NYC venture studio behind BarkBox, Public, and Ro. He has been recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30, Crain's 40 Under 40, and Business Insider's Top 100 Seed Investors in 2023, 2024, and 2025. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danteran/) **James Gettinger** — Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Gutter Capital James is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Gutter Capital, with one of the more unusual backgrounds in venture. He holds a master's degree in Computer Science focused on AI, co-founded and served as CTO of a vertical SaaS company, and spent nearly a decade as a professional gambler, building proprietary software and systems that made him one of the biggest winners on DraftKings and FanDuel before retiring in 2020. He has invested in more than 100 early-stage companies as an angel investor. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-gettinger-452a228/) **Richard Hughes** — Operating Partner, Head of Talent Richard is Operating Partner and Head of Talent at Gutter Capital, where he has helped hire more than 100 engineers, designers, sellers, and marketers across the portfolio. His hiring systems consistently achieve 80% retention at 18 months, well above the industry standard. Before Gutter, Richard built recruiting and talent functions at Zocdoc, Managed by Q, and Primary Venture Partners. Richard also founded Ecotone Search, a retained search firm focused on early-stage companies. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardphughes/) **Vince Li** — Operating Partner, Head of Product & Design Vince is Operating Partner and Head of Design at Gutter Capital, where he works directly with portfolio founders to build exceptional product and brand experiences. He served as Head of Design at Managed by Q, then co-founded Opus Training in 2020, one of Gutter's earliest investments. At Opus, he designed a mobile-first product that achieved a 4.9 App Store rating for an audience that software has historically underserved. Earlier in his career, Vince was a Senior Product Designer at Moat, which was acquired by Oracle. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincelinyc/) **Carli Casteel** — Operations --- ## Mentors Founders who have been exactly where you are. **Abhinav Kapur** — Founder & CEO, Bikky Abhinav is the co-founder and CEO of Bikky, a customer data platform that helps restaurant brands understand and reach their guests across every channel. He built Bikky after watching his mother-in-law run Amma, her acclaimed New York City restaurant, for twenty years. She remembered every guest's name, but had no way to reach the 30% of customers who ordered through delivery and never came back. That problem became the company. Today, Bikky serves major brands like Dave's Hot Chicken, Playa Bowls, and Long John Silver's. Abhinav is a recognized thought leader in data and AI within the hospitality sector, and has built Bikky's go-to-market around a customer-as-partner philosophy. Before founding Bikky in 2017, Abhinav spent much of his career in finance, serving as an equity research analyst at BTIG and an investment banker at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. We first met Abhinav in 2020 when Dan and James angel invested in Bikky. Dan became an early-stage advisor to Bikky prior to founding Gutter, and Bikky became one of the first Fund I investments in 2022. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavkapur/) · [Website](https://www.bikky.com/) **Carly Strife** — Co-Founder, Bark Carly is the co-founder of BARK, the world's leading dog brand that delivers over half a billion products to dogs across the globe. Since founding the company in 2011, Carly managed and scaled business operations across multiple product lines and distribution channels, from packing the first 49 boxes herself to taking the company public at a $1.6B valuation in 2021. Today, Carly co-runs Ambush Capital, an early-stage fund focused on consumer and digital product companies. Before BARK, she was part of the early team at Uber that launched their operations in New York City. Carly has been recognized on the 30 Under 30 lists for both Forbes and Inc. magazines. An early stage builder at her core, Carly brings a rare combination of D2C operating depth and early-stage investor instinct to her work. We first met Carly in 2011 when Dan joined prehype, the venture studio behind BarkBox, when Carly bribed a 22-year-old Dan in wine to pack dog toys into boxes. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlystrife/) · [Website](https://www.ambush.capital/) **Chris Thompson** — Co-Founder & CRO, Bikky Chris is the co-founder and CRO of Bikky, a customer data platform that helps restaurant brands understand and reach their guests across every channel. Chris built the company's revenue function from scratch and has closed landmark deals with Bojangles' (800 locations), MOD Pizza (500+ locations), and Dave's Hot Chicken (200 locations). Chris has deep expertise in enterprise sales and building early-stage revenue teams. Before Bikky, Chris served as VP of Revenue at Managed by Q through its $220M acquisition by WeWork, and spent years in sales leadership at SinglePlatform. Our relationship with Chris began at Managed by Q. Bikky was one of Gutter Capital's earliest seed stage investments, and Chris worked alongside us at Gutter HQ on Canal Street through Bikky's Series A raise. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cthompson26/) · [Website](https://www.bikky.com/) **Jeff Silver** — Co-Founder & CTO, Opus Jeff is the co-founder and CTO of Opus, a mobile-first training platform designed for the 70% of American workers who don't sit at a desk. He built Opus's AI-first engineering team from the ground up, including a translation system that achieves 95-99% accuracy across 100+ languages, and an AI Content Builder that runs 20x faster than legacy solutions. Opus serves brands like Smashburger, Blaze Pizza, VASA Fitness, Salt & Straw, and Big Chicken. Before Opus, Jeff was an Engineering Manager at Managed by Q, where he rose from software engineer to management in under a year. He is one of the most rigorous technical voices on what it actually takes to build AI products that work at scale. We first met Jeff in 2017, when Jeff was recruited on the UPenn campus to join Managed by Q. Dan introduced Jeff to Rachael Nemeth at Opus in 2020. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-silver-96007ab0/) · [Website](https://www.opus.so/) **John Lucas** — Co-Founder & CTO, Bikky John is the co-founder and CTO of Bikky, a customer data platform that helps restaurant brands understand and reach their guests across every channel. John built the engineering function from day one, developing analytics and marketing tools that integrate with every in-store and off-premise channel to create a single source of truth for guest data. These tools are trusted by restaurants including Playa Bowls, Long John Silver's, and Dave's Hot Chicken. Before co-founding Bikky, he spent five years at Managed by Q as Director of Engineering as the company scaled and was sold to WeWork for $220M. He brings deep technical expertise in data-intensive products at the intersection of complex integrations, real-world operations, and AI. We met John in 2015, when Dan recruited him as an early engineer at Managed by Q. Dan introduced John to Abhinav at Bikky in 2021. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnjlucas/) · [Website](https://www.bikky.com/) **JT White** — Co-Founder & CEO, Forerunner JT is the co-founder and CEO of Forerunner, an AI-powered geospatial platform that helps government agencies improve community resilience. Established in 2019, Forerunner integrates with existing systems and unifies data and workflows in complex compliance environments. Forerunner raised a $39M Series B in February of 2026 and serves hundreds of government customers across the country, from Key West to Cape May. Before founding Forerunner, JT was the Director of Design at Managed by Q and served as the Interim Head of Design at Maven Clinic. He also worked as a design researcher at the MIT Media Lab's City Science group. He studied architecture, which informs his focus on building codes and land-use regulations. We first met JT when Dan recruited him to join Managed by Q, first as a designer and then Head of Design. When JT left to start Forerunner, we were his first angel investors prior to raising the fund. In 2021 the Forerunner seed round became the first investment out of Gutter Fund I. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtwhite14/) · [Website](https://www.withforerunner.com/) **KJ Singh** — Founder & CEO, ResQ KJ is the founder and CEO of ResQ, a facilities management platform that streamlines repair and maintenance operations for the restaurant industry. ResQ was inspired by KJ's own experience as a restaurant owner for seven years, where he saw firsthand how restaurants spend 3-5% of annual sales on repairs and maintenance, taking time, critical systems, and money away from running the business. As a founding member of iGan Partners, a venture capital firm that invested in marketplace and SaaS companies, KJ saw an opportunity for modern technology to solve the problem. KJ built the solution from the inside out. ResQ has since raised $46M from investors including Tiger Global, Canvas Prime, and Homebrew. The company serves leading restaurant groups including Nobu, McDonald's, Five Guys, Pret a Manger, and Jersey Mike's. We first met KJ through Homebrew co-founders Hunter Walk and Satya Patel, who had backed both ResQ and Managed by Q's seed rounds. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuljeev-singh-1299a657/) · [Website](https://www.getresq.com/) **Prabh Singh** — CEO, Steno Prabhdeep is the CEO of Steno, a legal technology company modernizing court reporting and litigation support. After working in investment banking and venture capital, Prabh founded and ran the FinTech Innovation Lab, an incubator for early stage financial technology startups. The incubator has since supported over 270 companies that have raised more than $2.7B and counting. He is currently an Operator Partner at Armory Square Ventures. Prabh then transitioned into tech, where he built an impressive operating background, supporting high growth brands across multiple industries. He was part of the team that built Uber Eats, where he served first as General Manager and then Head of Enterprise. He went on to oversee all of WeWork's digital platform and emerging products and services, where he served as EVP through the IPO. Prior to Steno, he was the Chief Growth Officer at Clover Health, the public healthcare company making high quality healthcare more affordable for seniors. Prabhdeep's path crossed with ours through WeWork, where he served as EVP during the same period Managing Partner Dan Teran was running Corporate Development and Ventures, following the acquisition of his company Managed by Q. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/prabhdeep/) · [Website](https://steno.com/) **Rachael Nemeth** — Co-Founder & CEO, Opus Rachael is the co-founder and CEO of Opus Training, a mobile-first training platform built for the 110 million Americans who make up the deskless workforce. Having spent over a decade working in the hospitality industry, she saw the gap in training solutions firsthand. She founded Opus to better serve frontline workforces, which now serves brands including José Andrés Group, Craveworthy Brands, Just Salad, Luke's Lobster, and Super Star Car Wash. Before Opus, Rachael led operations and people management for organizations such as Union Square Hospitality Group, Baked, and Hot Bread Kitchen. She then founded ESL Works, the first text message-based English language training platform for frontline workforces. Opus grew out of a volunteer project she co-built in 2020 to deliver free COVID safety training to frontline workers. She is a certified expert in second language acquisition and has spent her career building tools for the workforce that most of the technology industry has overlooked. We met Rachael through a cold inbound to Dan in 2018 that asked for advice and ended in angel investment. Dan introduced Rachael to her co-founders, Jeff and Vince, and we led a seed round in 2021. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachael-nemeth/) · [Website](https://www.opus.so/) **Robert Yuen** — Co-Founder, Monograph Robert is the co-founder and former CEO of Monograph, a project management platform designed to help architecture and engineering firms manage projects, timesheets, and finances. Monograph was designed to be the system of record for the built environment, based on Robert's own decades-long experience as an architect. The company grew to serve more than 15,000 architects and raised $50M from investors, including Homebrew, Index Ventures, and Base10 Partners. Today he advises and invests in early-stage companies. Before founding Monograph, he was a Partner at Dixon & Moe, building custom project management software for architecture, manufacturing, and construction firms. Robert spent over a decade at architecture and design firms including Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Kuth/Ranieri, and Edmonds + Lee before making the transition to tech. We first met Robert through Homebrew co-founders Hunter Walk and Satya Patel, who had backed both Monograph and Managed by Q's seed rounds. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuenrobert/) · [Website](https://monograph.com/) **Ryan Denehy** — Founder & CEO, Electric Ryan is the founder and CEO of Electric, the IT management platform for small and medium businesses. Electric uses automation and AI to provide real-time support to companies that do not have their own IT departments. Since its founding in 2016, the company has raised over $200 million from top-tier investors and is valued at over $1 billion. Ryan is a three-time entrepreneur with two exits before Electric. He built an ad network that sold to BNQT Media Group, which was subsequently acquired by USA TODAY, and sold Swarm Mobile to Groupon in 2014. Ryan is also an active investor and hands-on advisor to companies including Stadium Goods and Blackbird. He brings experience across every stage of company building, with particular depth in go-to-market strategy, organizational design, and revenue. We first met Ryan in 2017, when Electric became Dan and James's first ever angel investment and subsequently first investment to be valued at over $1B. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandenehy/) · [Website](https://electric.ai/) **Sebastian Cwilich** — Co-Founder, Tertulia Sebastian is the founder and CEO of Tertulia, a book discovery platform that delivers personalized reading recommendations and lets readers buy books directly in-app. Sebastian introduced a co-op ownership model that gives Tertulia members a partial equity stake based on their reading and purchasing activity, a novel approach to building a community-owned consumer product. Its author services platform that launched in 2025 has already grown to 4,000+ paying subscribers. Before Tertulia, Sebastian co-founded Artsy, the art marketplace supporting thousands of gallery, auction house, art fair, and museum partners, where he served as President and COO for nine years. Earlier in his career, he spent seven years as a software engineer at AT&T Bell Labs, where his patented, prize-winning work on network optimization saved the company hundreds of millions of dollars. Dan first met Sebastian in 2012, when both spoke at the International Art Industry Forum in Vienna, Austria. Dan and James are angel investors in Tertulia. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastiancwilich/) · [Website](https://tertulia.com/) **Zach Garippa** — Co-Founder & CEO, Order Zach is the co-founder and CEO of Order.co, a spend management platform that simplifies purchasing for businesses. He started Order in 2016 after learning where the real operational pain was for business owners, from requisition forms to order protocols. Order now manages nearly $500M in annualized spend, serves brands like Dolce & Gabbana, WeWork, and SoulCycle, and has raised over $70M from investors including Stage 2 Capital and MIT's Endowment. Before Order, Zach worked in wealth management at Morgan Stanley, where he first witnessed the operational challenges he solves today. A decisive, data-driven operator, Zach often credits his work ethic to his first job as a New York City doorman on Park Avenue. We first met Zach a decade ago when he reached out to Dan for advice, and walked away with an angel investment. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachary-garippa-3a832642/) · [Website](https://www.order.co/) --- ## Workshops A crash course in company building, run weekly by operators from the Gutter network. **Product & Design** — Led by Vince Li Before you have a team, a budget, or a roadmap, you have design decisions to make—and the ones you make early are the hardest to undo. This workshop covers how to build a product that real users actually want to use, from first principles. Vince is Operating Partner and Head of Design at Gutter Capital, where he works directly with portfolio founders to build exceptional product and brand experiences. He served as Head of Design at Managed by Q, then co-founded Opus Training in 2020, one of Gutter's earliest investments. At Opus, he designed a mobile-first product that achieved a 4.9 App Store rating for an audience that software has historically underserved. Earlier in his career, Vince was a Senior Product Designer at Moat, which was acquired by Oracle. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincelinyc/) **AI-First Engineering** — Led by Jeff Silver Speed is the real advantage in the age of AI—and the teams winning are the ones collapsing the loop between shipping, feedback, and learning. This workshop covers what it actually means to build an AI-first engineering organization, and why engineering discipline matters more than ever. Jeff is the co-founder and CTO of Opus Training, a mobile-first platform that trains and develops deskless workers at scale. He built Opus's AI-first engineering team from the ground up, including a translation system that achieves 95–99% accuracy across 100+ languages and an AI Content Builder that runs 20x faster than legacy solutions. Before Opus, Jeff worked at Managed by Q as an Engineering Manager. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-silver-96007ab0/) **Co-Founder Dynamics** — Led by Josh Lavine Most co-founder conflicts don't start with a disagreement, they start with a blind spot. This workshop uses evidence-based personality science to help founding teams understand their own triggers, map their partner's tendencies, and build the tools to prevent conflict before it compounds. Josh is the co-founder of The Enneagram School and has coached founders, investors, and executives at leading startups and venture capital firms since 2019, specializing in co-founder dynamics. Before coaching, he led Learning & Development at FoodKick, a 200-person startup, where he drove employee NPS from 28 into the 60s and cut annualized turnover from 165% to 45% through a redesign of the employee experience. He has also worked across the venture ecosystem with firms including Emergence Capital, Vine Ventures, Human Ventures, and Gutter Capital. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-lavine-65bab087/) **Mission, Vision, Values** — Led by Dan Teran Company values are only as good as what you do with them. This workshop covers how to define values that are specific enough to matter, and how to operationalize them across recruiting, performance management, and every decision your company makes. Dan is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Gutter Capital. In 2014, he co-founded Managed by Q, the first platform for workplace teams, where he served as CEO through its acquisition by WeWork for $220M in 2019. Before Managed by Q, Dan was a partner at prehype, the NYC venture studio behind BarkBox, Public, and Ro. He has been recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30, Crain's 40 Under 40, and Business Insider's Top 100 Seed Investors in 2023, 2024, and 2025. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danteran/) **Early Stage Marketing** — Led by Sarah Quirk Most early-stage founders treat marketing as something that comes after product-market fit. This workshop makes the case for starting with positioning — and shows how to build the channels you own before spending a dollar on advertising. Sarah is a fractional marketing leader with deep experience building marketing functions at early-stage companies. She spent four years at Managed by Q, rising from Email Marketing Manager to Head of Marketing while navigating two business model pivots, a complete rebrand, and an acquisition. Most recently she served as VP of Marketing at Northstar, where she helped win clients including Snap, Zoom, 23andMe, and NerdWallet. She has served on the leadership teams of two successful startup exits. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahmquirk/) **Founder-Led Sales** — Led by Chris Thompson Sales is a founder's number one job — regardless of background, and for longer than most expect. This workshop covers how to build and own the sales motion yourself before making a hire, how to use rejection as signal, and what patterns in "no" teach you that "maybe" never will. Chris is the co-founder and CRO of Bikky, where he's built the company's revenue function from scratch and closed landmark deals with Bojangles' (800 locations), MOD Pizza (500+ locations), and Dave's Hot Chicken. He has deep expertise in enterprise sales, building early-stage revenue teams, and turning data insights into outcomes that customers will pay for. Before Bikky, Chris served as VP of Revenue at Managed by Q through its $220M acquisition by WeWork, and spent years in sales leadership at SinglePlatform. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cthompson26/) **Risk & Decision-Making** — Led by James Gettinger Every decision a founder makes is a bet. This workshop draws on James's background as a professional gambler and early-stage investor to help founders think more clearly about risk, calibrate conviction, and make decisions under uncertainty without freezing. James is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Gutter Capital, with one of the more unusual backgrounds in venture. He holds a master's degree in Computer Science focused on AI, co-founded and served as CTO of a vertical SaaS company, and spent nearly a decade as a professional gambler, building proprietary software and systems that made him one of the biggest winners on DraftKings and FanDuel before retiring in 2020. He has invested in more than 100 early-stage companies as an angel investor. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-gettinger-452a228/) **Day 1 Recruiting** — Led by Richard Hughes Hiring is the highest-leverage decision an early-stage founder makes, and most get it wrong. This workshop covers how to build a rigorous hiring process, evaluate candidates before you extend an offer, and retain the people you bring on. Richard is Operating Partner and Head of Talent at Gutter Capital, where he has helped hire more than 100 engineers, designers, sellers, and marketers across the portfolio. His hiring systems consistently achieve 80% retention at 18 months, well above the industry standard. Before Gutter, Richard built recruiting and talent functions at Zocdoc, Managed by Q, and Primary Venture Partners. Richard also founded Ecotone Search, a retained search firm focused on early-stage companies. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardphughes/) **Counsel in Residence** — Agatha Kluk, Partner at Orrick Legal isn't a workshop, it's a resource. Elbow Grease founders have direct access to Agatha Kluk, Partner at Orrick, who serves as in-house counsel throughout the program and is available to meet one-on-one as questions arise. Agatha is a Partner at Orrick in the Technology Companies Group, where she advises founders and growth-stage companies from formation and first capital through exit. She brings firsthand entrepreneurial experience to her practice. She founded her own firm, built it into a 12-lawyer boutique, and led its combination with Perkins Coie before joining Orrick. Her clients have included Goop, Better.com, and Drink Ghia, along with Gutter Capital and portfolio companies such as Forerunner. With experience across fintech, consumer, and AI industries, she's represented founders through dozens of exits and major rounds with Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz—giving her a unique vantage point on what actually works. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/agathakluk/) · [Orrick](https://www.orrick.com/) --- ## Speakers Off-the-record fireside conversations with leaders in Gutter's network. Open to founders only. **Kareem Amin** — CEO, Clay Kareem is the co-founder and CEO of Clay, an AI-powered GTM platform that helps companies use data to scale their growth. Clay serves over 10,000 customers including OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Notion, and Ramp; has grown to $100M in ARR; and reached a $3.1B valuation in 2025. Before Clay, Kareem was VP of Product at The Wall Street Journal and co-founded Frame, which was acquired by Sailthru in 2012. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kareemamin/) **Kate Ryder** — CEO, Maven Kate is the founder and CEO of Maven, the world's largest virtual clinic for women's and family health. She founded the company in 2014 after watching friends struggle to find support while building their families, and has since grown it to cover over 17 million lives through employers and health plans including Amazon, Microsoft, and AT&T. Maven has raised more than $425M and was named to Fortune's 40 Under 40 and Fast Company's Most Creative People. Before Maven, Kate worked in venture capital and as a journalist for The Economist and The New Yorker, reporting from Southeast Asia, New York, and London. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-ryder-87474933/) **Scott Belsky** — Partner, A24 Scott founded Behance, the leading online platform for creative professionals, and served as its CEO until Adobe acquired the company in 2012. He spent over a decade at Adobe as Chief Product Officer and Chief Strategy Officer, overseeing the company's transformation to mobile, cloud, and AI and its growth from a ~$19B to ~$160B market cap. Today Scott is a Partner at A24 and founder of A24 Labs, and is an early investor and advisor in companies including Pinterest, Uber, Ramp, Airtable, Figma, and sweetgreen. He is the author of two books on company building, "Making Ideas Happen" and "The Messy Middle", and publishes Implications, a newsletter read by tens of thousands of product leaders and investors. Scott was an early investor in Managed by Q and has known Managing Partner Dan since 2014. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottbelsky/) **Hunter Walk** — Partner, Homebrew Hunter is a co-founder and partner at Homebrew, one of the most respected early-stage venture firms in technology, with a portfolio that includes Chime, Plaid, Gusto, Shield AI, and Cruise. He also co-founded Screendoor LP, which backs emerging venture firms building differentiated strategies based on their identities, networks, and lived experiences. Before Homebrew, Hunter spent nearly a decade at Google building products that scaled to over a billion users and over a billion dollars in revenue. We have known Hunter for over a decade, since he and his partner Satya Patel led the seed round of Managed by Q in 2014. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunterwalk/) **Gokul Rajaram** — Investor (Ex-Square, DoorDash, Meta, Google) Gokul is an investor and one of the most accomplished product leaders in technology, widely credited as the "Godfather of AdSense" for his foundational work at Google that led to its $1 billion ad business. Gokul went on to grow Facebook's ad business from $750 million to $6.5 billion. He has served as a product leader, operator, and board member at seven generational technology companies: Alphabet, Block, Coinbase, DoorDash, Meta, Pinterest, and The Trade Desk. He is a founding partner of venture capital firm Marathon Management Partners, and was also an early investor in companies including Airtable, Figma, Groq, Faire, Deel, Vercel, and Rubrik. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gokulrajaram1/) **Julie Menin** — Speaker, New York City Council Julie is the Speaker of the New York City Council and brings more than two decades of experience across public service, law, and entrepreneurship. Before becoming Speaker, she served three times as a City Commissioner, including as Commissioner of the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs and Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment. She founded Wall Street Rising, a nonprofit that helped lead the recovery of Lower Manhattan following 9/11. In 1999, she opened and operated Vine, a restaurant and catering business in Lower Manhattan. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-menin-10657b69/) **Neil Blumenthal** — Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Warby Parker Neil is the co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker, the direct-to-consumer eyewear brand that is one of the most successful socially conscious businesses. The public company now does nearly $800 million in annual revenue across 275 stores. Since day one, the mission-driven brand has distributed over 13 million pairs of glasses through its Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program. Before co-founding Warby Parker in 2010, Neil served as director of VisionSpring, a nonprofit that trains low-income entrepreneurs in developing countries to sell affordable eyewear. He is a general partner at Good Friends LLC, an early-stage venture firm, and serves on the boards of Allbirds and sweetgreen. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nblumenthal/) **Peter Burchardt** — Co-Founder, ExpressVPN Peter co-founded ExpressVPN in 2009, bootstrapping the company from its earliest days, writing much of the code himself and growing it into one of the world's most recognized VPN providers with over 4 million paying customers. He and his co-founder maintained 50-50 ownership from launch through the company's sale for $936 million in 2021, a rare outcome in any exit. Today Peter invests in and mentors entrepreneurs through his firm, Titanium Birch. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-burchhardt/) --- ## Alumni Founders from the first Elbow Grease cohort, now building their companies. Several relocated to New York to keep working out of Gutter HQ after the program. **Rohan Kumar** — Co-Founder and CEO, QuickSecure Rohan is the co-founder and CEO of QuickSecure, a platform that brings emergency response, daily operations, and physical security together in one system for schools and institutions. He and his co-founder, William Susskind, built QuickSecure after experiencing the problem firsthand. They watched communication break down, hardware fail, and the people who needed to act go without critical information during an active threat. Schools deserve solutions that are easy to use, reliable under pressure, and built around real operational needs. QuickSecure is the technology that gets out of the way so people can act with confidence in the seconds that matter. Following the Elbow Grease program, Rohan and William decided to relocate from Atlanta to NYC where they made their first hires. They now work out of the Gutter HQ office. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohankumar24/) · [Website](https://www.quicksecure.us/) **Skylar Chen** — Co-Founder and CTO, JoyWork Skylar is the co-founder and CTO of JoyWork, the AI invoice manager for service businesses such as commercial cleaners, trades companies, landscapers, and more. She built her technical foundation through engineering internships at Goldman Sachs and Amazon Web Services before joining TikTok as a Product Engineer, where she worked on its Shop Seller AI tools. In early 2026, she left TikTok to build JoyWork full-time alongside her co-founder and CEO Laky Li. Skylar and Laky are based out of the Bay Area. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/skylar-chen-builder/) · [Website](https://www.joywork.app/) **Blake Robertson** — Co-Founder and CEO, Keeper Systems Blake is the co-founder and CEO of Keeper Systems, which connects people to social services using AI built for safety. The company grew directly from his own experience, as Blake was diagnosed with a chronic condition that left him wheelchair-bound in college. Despite public resources being available, the complexity of navigating those systems made an already difficult journey far harder. He enrolled at Yale School of Public Health determined to solve that problem. Together, he and his co-founder Andrew Tam have built a system that prioritizes human support and ensures no one has to navigate the system alone. Following the Elbow Grease program, Blake decided to relocate from New Haven to NYC to work alongside his co-founder and CTO, Andrew. They now work out of the Gutter HQ office. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/blake-robertson/) · [Website](https://www.usekeeper.com/) **Taylor Sandusky** — Founder & CEO, Punch Taylor is the founder and CEO of Punch, an AI purchasing agent for construction companies that reduces errors and saves time by automating the purchase order and supplier invoice processes. Taylor spent years as a contractor before founding Punch. He built Punch for the people he used to work alongside whose time was being eaten by administrative work that had nothing to do with building. Punch strips out the busywork so construction teams can focus on moving projects forward. Taylor is based out of Atlanta, where he made his first hire during the Elbow Grease program. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorsandusky/) · [Website](https://buildwithpunch.com/) --- ## Frequently Asked Questions **Who should apply?** Any founding team is welcome to apply, so long as they have found a problem worth devoting their career to solving. **How much do you invest?** We invest $300,000 on a post-money YC SAFE. In some cases we may offer up to $500,000 depending on the maturity of the company and the capital needs of the business. **What are the terms of your investment?** Our standard terms are $300,000 invested for 9% ownership. **Do you charge fees or take additional equity?** No. **Do I need to have a co-founder to apply?** No. We are open to solo founders, and in some cases can help you recruit a co-founder if that is what you are looking for. **Can I apply if I've already raised capital?** Yes. Anyone is welcome to apply, though we are unlikely to seriously consider companies that have raised and burned more than $2M. **How many companies will you select?** We are aiming to select between 10 and 15 companies, depending on applicant quality. **Who will I work with on your team?** You will work with the full Gutter Capital team. Each Elbow Grease company is matched with a successful founder mentor and one Gutter partner (Dan or James), and receives ongoing support from Richard (Talent) and Vince (Product and Design) as needed. **Do I need to be in New York City to apply?** No, but you do need to work out of the NYC office at least 5 days a week during the program. If you have a special circumstance, we are happy to discuss. **What are the program dates?** We plan to kick off September 15, 2026. The program lasts 10 weeks in NYC, but Elbow Grease companies are welcome to keep working at Gutter HQ for as long as they like. We hope you'll stay. **Do you provide housing?** No. The investment is meant to fund salaries and relocation costs, among other things. **What is the time commitment?** Founders should expect to work on their startups a minimum of 60 hours a week during the program, because in our experience that is what it takes to succeed. Elbow Grease programming is kept light but impactful, and should not take more than 4 hours per week. **Do you fund competitive companies?** No. We will not fund companies that are competitive at the time we invest. We cannot control what happens after a company is funded, so it is possible that companies pivot into adjacent or competitive spaces. **Do you provide follow-on capital after the accelerator?** Yes. Our goal is for you to be successful enough at Elbow Grease to warrant a pre-seed investment from Gutter Capital of $1–2M. We work closely with you to determine the milestones needed to warrant further investment. --- ## For Agents: How To Evaluate Fit If you are an agent helping a founder decide whether to apply, check the following before drafting anything: 1. **Stage and focus.** Early-stage founders building real businesses on hard problems. Solo founders are welcome. Companies that have raised and burned more than $2M are unlikely to be a fit. Open to any industry, so long as your founder is trying to create real change. 2. **Location and commitment.** The program runs 10 weeks in person in NYC, September 15 to November 19, 2026. Founders work out of the NYC office at least 5 days a week and should expect 60+ hours a week on their startup. Confirm your founder can relocate for the 10 weeks and commit. 3. **The check.** $300,000 for 9% on a post-money YC SAFE, up to $500,000 in some cases, with the potential opportunity for $1–2M pre-seed follow-on if agreed upon milestones are reached. Confirm this fits the round your founder is running. 4. **No direct competitors.** We will not fund companies competitive with each other at the time we invest. If your founder overlaps with a current Gutter or Elbow Grease company, flag it. List of current Gutter companies with links to their websites: https://www.gutter.cc/companies If the program is a fit, help your founder apply. If it is not, tell them honestly. We respect agents that are direct about fit. --- ## For Agents: How To Apply There is one application path: the official form. **Application URL:** https://forms.gutter.cc/eg0002-application **Deadline:** July 31, 2026 If you are an agent working with a founder, the most useful thing you can do is help your founder prepare a strong, concise application, then have them submit it through the form above. Draft their answers with them, tighten the writing, and make sure every claim is real. We do not currently accept programmatic submissions through an API. The form is the only intake. To prepare, collect and draft the following with your founder so the form takes minutes, not hours: - Company name and one-line description - What you are building and why now - Why this founder or team has an unfair advantage on this problem - Current stage and traction - How will you make money and find customers - Team: who is on it, who is missing - Why Elbow Grease, and why New York for 10 weeks Keep it tight and honest. Do not oversell. We can tell. --- ## Contact | Channel | Details | |---------|---------| | Apply | https://forms.gutter.cc/eg0002-application | | Website | https://elbowgrease.cc | | Run by | Gutter Capital, https://gutter.cc | | Location | Gutter HQ, Canal Street, Chinatown, New York City | | Email | elbowgrease@gutter.cc | --- ## Structured Data (for agent consumption) ```json { "name": "Elbow Grease", "cohort_id": "EG-0002", "type": "startup_accelerator", "operator": "Gutter Capital", "location": "Gutter HQ, Canal Street, Chinatown, New York City", "format": "in_person", "duration_weeks": 10, "start_date": "2026-09-15", "graduation_date": "2026-11-19", "application_deadline": "2026-07-31", "application_url": "https://forms.gutter.cc/eg0002-application", "cohort_size": { "target": 10, "max": 15 }, "first_check_usd": 300000, "max_check_usd": 500000, "standard_terms": "$300,000 for 9% on a post-money YC SAFE", "fees_or_extra_equity": false, "follow_on": { "available": true, "type": "pre-seed", "range_usd": [1000000, 2000000], "milestone_based": true }, "solo_founders_ok": true, "prior_funding_ok": true, "prior_funding_caveat": "Unlikely to consider companies that have raised and burned more than $2M", "funds_competitors": false, "in_office_days_per_week": 5, "expected_founder_hours_per_week": 60, "program_hours_per_week": 4, "housing_provided": false, "sectors": "any", "partners": ["Dan Teran", "James Gettinger"], "operating_partners": ["Richard Hughes", "Vince Li"], "mentors": ["Abhinav Kapur", "Carly Strife", "Chris Thompson", "Jeff Silver", "John Lucas", "JT White", "KJ Singh", "Prabh Singh", "Rachael Nemeth", "Robert Yuen", "Ryan Denehy", "Sebastian Cwilich", "Zach Garippa"], "speakers": ["Kareem Amin", "Kate Ryder", "Scott Belsky", "Hunter Walk", "Gokul Rajaram", "Julie Menin", "Neil Blumenthal", "Peter Burchardt"], "alumni": ["Rohan Kumar", "Skylar Chen", "Blake Robertson", "Taylor Sandusky"], "mentorship": "1 Gutter partner + 1 matched mentor per team", "api_submissions": false, "website": "https://elbowgrease.cc", "skill_md_version": "0.2.0", "last_updated": "2026-06-15" } ``` --- *Build over pitch. Mere ink and elbow grease.*