Welcome to The Fourth Floor!

The Mission: Growing careers and companies by connecting female legal executives and founders.



ABOUT US 


The Fourth Floor is an independent and invitation-only community for female entrepreneurs, legal executives, and industry leaders. We create symbiotic and mutually beneficial relationships by connecting founders of early stage companies with experienced in-house attorneys. Counsel will act as, for example, an advisory board member, angel investor, sponsor, or mentor to the benefit of the early stage business.

Membership:

 -Female founded/co-founded early stage companies with a clear path to revenue, targeting a large market in any vertical


- Experienced female legal executives or in-house counsel


- Seasoned industry leaders, including founders and members of the C-Suite of established companies, investors, and other prominent leaders.

Request an Invitation

Team

Breen Sullivan

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Founder

Claim to Fame - Established and built out the legal function for two high growth, early stage companies (energy efficiency and data science).


Board Experience - Has served and continues to Serve as Corporate Secretary.


Business Experience - Currently the Chief Administrative Officer and GC for Watermark Insights LLC, an Education Technology company.  Also an Angel Investor in SpotOn, and serves as an Advisor in that capacity.  


Hidden Talents - Mediator.  Yale Theater major. Can rock a thrift store like no one's business.

Aparna Srinivasan

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Co-Founder

Claim to Fame - Aparna is the CEO and Founder of SpotOn!


Board Experience - Chair of the board.


Business Experience - A serial entrepreneur,  Aparna owned and operated a successful promotional marketing & manufacturing company, until 2017 , when she founded  SpotOn.  


Hidden Talents - Axe throwing.

Sarah Feingold

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Co-Founder

 Claim to Fame - The first lawyer (and 17th employee) at Etsy, helping to take the company public. First General Counsel at Vroom.


Board Experience - Experience serving as a Corporate Secretary.


Business Experience - Seasoned business executive and startup advisor.  The New York Law Journal awarded Sarah with the GC Impact Award.


Hidden Talents - An accomplished public speaker, entrepreneur, metalsmith, and scholar at NYU Law School.

Team

Director of Branding and Operations

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Claim to Fame - Inventor of the Pedi Spacer


Business Experience - Kat has worked with many large scale US retailers including Amazon, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, JCPenney and Walmart but is a true entrepreneur at heart.  Invented, patented and brought to market a consumer product to the beauty market  and most recently launched a silk fashion line.


Hidden Talents - Cooking, Interior Design, and child wrangling.

Our Story

When a colleague asked Breen about incorporating a boys-only investment club, Breen discovered a hidden ecosystem: male founders, business execs and investors meet and exchange information, investments, and board seats, all for the benefit of overwhelmingly male participants. 


Breen founded The Fourth Floor to flip cycle, with a twist: Female founders are missing out on growth opportunities and female legal executives are underrepresented on Advisory Boards of early stage companies- so why not connect these two groups of women as the first step toward creating a new ecosystem of entrepreneurship that primarily benefits women? 


For the long version of this story, see The Fourth Floor

Statistics

Since its birth on 11/15/2018, The Fourth Floor is proud to share:


  • Almost 50 early, contributing Members who participated in focus group meetings


  • Approximately 200 applicants from 10 metro areas and 3 countries


  • 7 amazing corporate partners


  • 3 Co-founders, 1 Director, and multiple volunteer Team Members

Featured Press

Shortly after the launch of our website, Corporate Counsel Magazine published this article about The Fourth Floor. 

“There is no ecosystem for women founders to broaden their network,” said Srinivasan, who serves as co-chair of The Fourth Floor. “There are all sorts of resources to help men get into this ecosystem, but nothing for me … A lot of founders don’t realize how important it is to hav​e someone with a GC’s knowledge in your back pocket.” 

The Fourth Floor was also named as an up and coming 'Network for Entrepreneurial Women,' in an article on Medium about the global ecosystem supporting women-led companies:   "The Global Ecosystem Supporting Women Innovators and Investors," featured on Medium. 


Sarah Feingold and The Fourth Floor were recently featured by Law.com in an article following the panel Breen Sullivan and Sarah Feingold moderated for Columbia Law School as part of the 2019 Legal Tech Fair.  

FAQs

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How can The Fourth Floor benefit me?

The Fourth Floor is an exciting community dedicated to fostering female entrepreneurship and the advancement of female careers.  As a member of The Fourth Floor, you will be invited to networking and educational events.  You may also participate in a hand-selected Cohort. More information on Cohorts is found below.

Is the purpose to get women on boards of publicly traded companies?

That is not our immediate goal. We aim to connect early stage companies with female legal executives for mutual benefit. In order to scale, companies need diverse and thoughtful board members /Advisors. Talented attorneys can use the experience gained from this relationship in a professional capacity. If a member of The Fourth Floor aims to join a public board, this is a good first step. As the best way to get a board seat is by having board experience. 

Is the purpose to get women on the Advisory Boards of Privately held start-ups?

Yes!  However, Founders and their potential Advisors may need to build towards an Advisory Board Membership over time.  The Fourth Floor aims to cultivate a female ecosystem of entrepreneurship, and a variety of relationships help achieve this goal.  We make introductions, provide resources to cultivate relationships, and profile success stories. We may feature inspirational stories on our website and through our social media accounts.

What is a "Cohort," and how do I apply?

 A "Cohort" is a hand-selected group of early stage Founders/Co-founders and legal executives chosen to participate in a series of matching events.   


There is no need to apply!  All members of The Fourth Floor, are considered for participation in a Cohort.  If you are selected to participate, you can choose to opt in.

How does The Fourth Floor Work?

The Fourth Floor will host events for all Members, and facilitate matches between early stage companies and legal executives via hand-selected Cohorts.   


Members will have access to resources to facilitate meaningful relationships.  


Members agree to keep the Fourth Floor appraised of their progress. We will profile some relationships on our website and on social media.  

What resources may be available via the Member Login page?

  Resources may include:  


· Rules of Engagement for legal executives who are acting as advisors to early stage companies;


· Recommended Playbook for establishing and advancing the range of meaningful relationships from Mentor to Advisory Board Member; and


· Template Advisory Board Membership Agreements and Angel Investment related paperwork

Our Partners

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