Message from Our Founder

Without sponsorships nor membership fees, the Technology Leaders of the Delaware Valley has held meetings every month for nearly 14 years. I believe in the business concept of it’s lonely at the top. Building a company is hard. Building a tech company has its own unique challenges and if you can learn from others that are in the trenches leading their business or have successfully exited a company then they may have valuable advice to share. What I’ve heard from most of our members over the years is the reason they keep attending meetings is because they learn and they enjoy it. It’s about growing as a business leader. People build relationships that often lead to new business opportunities over time.

From the very beginning, I reached out to some of the leading tech entrepreneurs in the region because I knew they understood the issues better than I. They lived the challenge of building and selling companies. Having successful people in the group that earned great reputations would bring credibility to what I wanted to build. Two of them, Paul Melchiorre and Mel Baiada, immediately responded and embraced the concept. The whole thing has been built on the simple concept of being willing to share your knowledge and offer help to others when asked. If Paul and Mel had the time to attend then certainly others should do the same. Suddenly, new entrepreneurs in the tech sector were sharing their challenges and getting advice from others that had more experience or being supported by other early-stage founders that were experiencing similar challenges. Collectively, everyone learns and grows. No aggressive soliciting from service providers. Just learning, sharing and what I’m probably most proud of is the comradery that has evolved, friendships and laughter.

I’ve led the group simply by my commitment to the basic concepts of transparency, learning and fun. I’ve become more successful in business from my commitment to building the Tech Leaders. I’ve also watched members grow their companies over the years and have had their life-changing exits. Many would tell you the knowledge and connections they made through this group significantly contributed to the growth of their business and the wealth they now have.

There is something very special about the integrity of a group that is built simply around a commitment of attending, learning, sharing, growing and lots of laughter. Thanks to all of the amazing people over the years that have come out to our meetings as guest speakers and to the individuals that have been the committed members that have built the unique culture and success of the Technology Leaders of the Delaware Valley.