Mentor Session: John Rodriguez (J-Ro) (Stage Two)

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      "details": "John Charles Rodriguez, also know as J-Ro, is an accomplished brand marketing and communications executive with 20+ years of experience supporting nascent and established brands, venture capital funds, accelerators, and early-stage startups. From SXSW to Mozilla to LG, John has been responsible for launching new technologies and products through narratives that define their place in the world. He is currently a principal at Stage Two, a fractional CMO consultancy.\r\rAt Stage Two, he helps clients build marketing vision, positioning, strategy and the teams to support them. Often described as a leader who is a storyteller and adept in technical engineering concepts, John's passion is exploring user behavior, patterns in culture and using insights to create effective strategies. Stage Two designs campaigns to help determine product market fit, develop advocacy, foster press, analyst and investor relations, and source and land critical funding and partnerships. The Stage Two model is simple: Explore, define, create, test, repeat.\r \rFostering community and experiences across the industry, Stage Two has built global press and demo tours, hosted speaker events and curated dinners, and even helped launch a new venture design studio called Combine. Stage Two also created the SX Hardware House at South By Southwest (SXSW).\r\rJohn brings a founder/creator mindset to the table. In 2018, he launched Visva, a social collaboration platform, whose thesis was that impactful civic participation needs strong collaboration, productivity, and governance support. Visva raised $10M, had teams in Austin, LA, and the Bay Area, and worked with fashion influencers, student organizations, progressive political groups, and climate change/social justice activists. John attended the University of Texas at Austin and lives with his family in Marin County, California.",
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