Clay

the best way to predict the future is to invent it. telling clay's story and coining the frameworks that make us the authority on the future of gtm. think a mix of comms/brand/content/pmm.

Head of Narratives

Helping companies tell their story through high-quality, relevant longform writing and media.

Product and Marketing Consultant

Caffeinated Capital

Investing in early stage startups at Caffeinated Capital Collective, a group of founder and operator angels.

Investor @ Caffeinated Capital Collective

Highlighter

product and growth lead at Highlighter, a consumer social startup. hit the Top 10 in the App Store with >100k downloads with an app for serendipitous calls with friends and friends-of-friends

Product growth lead

Princeton University

invest in venture capital and buyout managers to grow Princeton's $30 billion endowment

VC / Private Equity Investor @ Princo

The Life You Can Save

Established the Indian branch of Peter Singer-founded nonprofit The Life You Can Save (TLYCS). Sourced seed funding, formed partnerships with philanthropists, nonprofits, and business leaders, and managed internal processes and strategy.

Director of Operations, India

United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF), New Delhi

Contributed writing/research to India's National Education Policy, working with 9-person executive committee. Used inputs from government officials, nonprofits, educators, and the public to provide recommendations for educational reform across all levels of public schooling.

Fulbright Research fellow

theHOBMOB

Led a team of 10+ and sourced funding to develop multidisciplinary platform to enable longform discussion on topics of shared interest. Part of Princeton Keller Center for Entrepreneurship's eLab Incubator.

Founder

I lead Clay's narrative team, manifesting concepts about creative + programmable revenue systems into real life (eg. GTM engineering, GTM alpha, etc.) 

I also write journalism and creative nonfiction about cultural diasporas. Some personal pieces: https://maildropbymishti.substack.com — and more about me on this Notion page: bit.ly/3OczqSe

Woke up and cried all the way to the news stand today — my article made it to the front page of the New York Times this morning ♥️ 

This is the first time I've ever been published in print. When I cold pitched the idea in June, I didn't expect a reply. Then one came. Then I didn't expect to get a greenlight. Then I did. Then I submitted a draft that my editor told me wasn't what he had in mind. I had the choice between completely ripping apart and reimagining it or taking a kill fee. He liked my sentences, he said, he wanted to give me a chance. So I wrote another one. Then, week by week, we worked on edits, deleting commas and rephrasing lines until just a few days ago.

Taking an online story to print — esp. on the front page — is a decision that involves many eyes at the NYT. When my editor said it was under consideration he told me not to get my hopes up, that it would be like hitting a home run at my first baseball game. (In some ways it feels like that; in others, it feels like I've been moving this direction my entire life!) 

It feels fitting that this story is about my hometown, the melting pot of Secaucus, NJ, and our longtime mayor. Mayor Gonnelli runs as an independent and has won 4 out of his  last 5 terms unopposed. As Secaucus, an Italian-American stronghold, has flipped minority white, he has held the center. He works the phones for hours every day, taking personal accountability for things that most companies & politicians immediately hire mid-level management for: fixing potholes, getting people furniture, arranging housing. There are free baby baskets, free buses, free stores where people in need can get clothing and supplies.

I've been reading hundreds of comments on the piece and one has stuck with me from someone on the mayor's FB page: "I vote and will always vote Republican, except for Secaucus mayor," he said. "There is no person better for the job, and with better intentions for the people, and that's what really matters. If I was running against him for the position, I'd vote for him. If he ever decides not to run again, I'm writing him in."

Grateful for everything that led to this and to take the next steps over the next few years towards my dream of being a career storyteller — some mix of writer, filmmaker, interviewer, artist telling stories about cultural exchange and immigration. As my mom tells me: if Anthony Bourdain, if Werner Herzog, if Oprah, if Zohran Mamdani, if Isobel Young, if Jhumpa Lahiri, if Stephen Colbert, if RBG, if AOC, then why not you? Why not any one of us, for whatever version it is, for something we believe in?

Sharing the story again in the comments <3

P.S. Among the village of people who made this happen is Theodore Brown, who encouraged me to pitch the story in the first place and helped me decode the process all the way through. Thank you for guiding me, and I can't wait to pass it on someday.

Mishti Sharma

I’m a product builder & marketer, angel investor, and writer. I’m currently working on Clay. I am also creating writing focused on building empathy across identity groups. I invest ~150k checks in pre-seed/seed companies. My writing: https://maildropbymishti.substack.com 

Read more about me on this Notion page: bit.ly/3OczqSe !

Content @ Clay | Journalist (New Yorker; NYT; Rolling Stone; The Atlantic)

Head of Narratives @ Clay | moonlight journalist

Abhi Panigrahi

Today is a huge career highlight for me — a feature article I've been thinking about for YEARS was finally published as my first byline in the New York Times!!!

This summer, as NYC mayoral drama was ripping the city apart, I cold pitched the NYT a story about the mayor of my hometown, Secaucus, NJ, just five miles away. Mayor Michael Gonnelli, who has won five consecutive terms as an independent – four of them unopposed – is a beloved and quietly inspiring public servant in town (he hates the word “politician.”) 

Secaucus was long known as an Italian-American stronghold, with Catholic Churches, Italian delis, and filming backdrops for the Sopranos. But in the last 10 years, it’s transformed hugely. 

White residents are now a minority in a diverse community where Indian, Asian and Latino populations have grown substantially. Though the town has traditionally leaned Democratic, Kamala Harris beat Trump by just 70 votes in last year’s election.

Change is visible everywhere: a Gandhi statue greets visitors at the town recreation center; the big-box chain HomeGoods sells Diwali decorations; and an Indian grocery opened last year. Even Natoli’s, the town’s oldest Italian deli, has added vegetarian options to accommodate observant Hindus.

In a political climate that is increasingly intolerant of difference (on both sides of the aisle!), most would expect those changes to spell racism, disaster, alienation. 

Not so in Secaucus. While almost every single thing about Secaucus has changed, Mayor Michael Gonnelli has remained in office and helped balance the interests of various groups. 

He...
-instituted free buses, free newborn baskets, and a free clothing and furniture store for seniors and people in need
-gets over 100 calls and emails every day and returns every single one, often in minutes (eg finding a woman affordable housing, securing some tables for a church fair, and finding a family a free couch)
-drives around in an iconic white jeep stuffed to the brim with kids' toys in case he sees a child on his daily rounds
-knows most residents by name, and sends many an annual Facebook birthday greeting 

I know people with fierce political differences in town; the one thing that many have agreed on is that their mayor does a hell of a job. 

Proud to give people a story to feel good about that started months ago. If you look beyond the headlines and towards your neighbors you will find many good people in the world ♥️

read more at the link in comments

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