Ugly Talk: Building Fandoms in 2027

Kiki (Kirsten) Couchman is the co-founder of Sourmilk, a greek yogurt designed specifically for your gut. Together with her best friend Elan, they are on a mission to heal America's gut through real whole foods. Prior to this, Kiki worked in private equity for 4.5 years at Alpine Investors. She received a BA from Stanford University (where she met her co-founder Elan!) in Human Biology.

Chau Mui is Co-Founder and Executive Producer of ciaooo! Media, a New York creative culture studio. Through strategy, content, and IRL activations, ciaooo! helps brands turn customers into communities, and communities into superfans. Chau has led that work for Stetson, Zara, and MyFitnessPal, learning what makes community grow on both sides of the equation: measurable returns for the brand and real belonging for the people. Her perspective sits right in the middle, where fandom becomes good business.

Iqram Magdon-Ismail is the co-founder of Venmo and the founder of JellyJelly, a video app where creators post short videos and get rewarded. He started his career building products that move money and people, and has spent two decades at the intersection of payments, social, and creator culture. At JellyJelly, he's building a platform where authenticity beats polish and creators earn directly from their audience. His work has been covered widely, and he speaks about startups, money, and the future of the creator economy. He lives in New York City.

Jesse Multani is the founder of BIDLYY, an AI-powered creator marketplace that helps creators and brands turn audience engagement into monetizable experiences. Previously, he founded Ehtrix Gaming, growing the platform from zero to over 2,000 users and generating microtransaction revenue through product development, paid acquisition, and partnerships with gaming influencers. His work explores how creators and brands can transform audience attention into deeper engagement, exclusive experiences, and new revenue streams.

Rob Fajardo is an entrepreneur, operator, and cultural architect whose work centers on a simple question: what does winning look like? Early in his career, Rob helped drive the fidget spinner phenomenon by building and activating an influencer network across Instagram and Facebook, reaching over 150 million people. Since then, he has worked with brands including DoorDash, Lowe’s, FedEx, Converse, Red Bull, and Wyndham Resort Group, and has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc., Thrive Global, and BuzzFeed. Rob is the founder of Leave Normal Behind, a global network of purpose-driven leaders, creators, and investors built around meaningful connection, personal growth, and human flourishing. Over the past decade, he has brought together people across industries and generations through designed gatherings and strategic collaborations. He also serves as Head of Operations for the School of Content at The School of Hard Knocks, one of the world’s largest business media platforms with 26M+ followers, where he coaches business owners generating six to nine figures on go-to-market. In addition, he is a Strategic Advisor to The AI Collective, the world’s largest AI community, with 70,000+ members across 25+ global chapters.