Founder · Operator · Advisor

Clarity for the decisions that shape what comes next.

Practical guidance on go-to-market, fundraising, operational scale, leadership and strategic transactions.

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Advisory expertise

Support for the decisions that become harder as a company grows.

Go-to-market

Positioning, commercial motion and customer priorities.

Fundraising

Capital strategy, investor conversations, M&A and boards.

Operational scale

Teams, systems and operating rhythms built for growth.

Founder leadership

Hiring, organization design, prioritization and hard calls.

Entrepreneur First, Le Tote, Dr. Treat, Lord & Taylor, J.P. Morgan and Y Combinator logos

Experience & background

Advice grounded in more than two decades of building companies, financing growth and navigating operational complexity.

Entrepreneur First

Venture Partner / Advisor supporting founders across AI, fintech, logistics and SaaS.

Dr. Treat

Co-founder and former CEO of a technology-enabled veterinary care company.

Le Tote & Lord & Taylor

Founder and former CEO of Le Tote; grew the platform to 2.5M+ members and 200,000+ paying subscribers, then led its acquisition of Lord & Taylor.

Technology finance

Investment banking experience at J.P. Morgan and Ridgecrest Capital Partners.

What founders can expect

Clarity before activity

Find the decision that matters before adding more work.

Candor without theater

Direct feedback, delivered constructively and without performance.

Advice that survives reality

Recommendations shaped by customers, capital, teams and operating constraints.

LinkedIn profile

A founder’s perspective on building

Rakesh Tondon is a founder, operator, investor and advisor with more than two decades of experience across technology, commerce, finance and company building.

As a Venture Partner / Advisor with Entrepreneur First, he supports founders building across AI, fintech, logistics and SaaS. He previously co-founded and led Dr. Treat, a technology-enabled veterinary care company.

Before that, Rakesh founded and served as CEO of Le Tote. Under his leadership, the company grew to more than 2.5 million members and 200,000 paying subscribers, expanded internationally, raised more than $300 million in capital and acquired Lord & Taylor.

Earlier in his career, he worked in technology investment banking at J.P. Morgan and Ridgecrest Capital Partners. He earned a B.A. in Economics from Wittenberg University.