Entrepreneurship in Action: Rich Dallojacono’s Journey from LIYEC to Spotify
Rich Dallojacono, winner of the 2012 Long Island Young Entrepreneur Challenge, pictured with Daymond John and Joseph Scaretta.
“I was so grateful to win the New York Young Entrepreneur Challenge back in 2012. It gave me valuable insight into the world of business, how to design and build a product, and how to make a compelling pitch to potential investors. It also showed me how much grit it truly takes to build and launch a business.”
At MasonMade Ventures, we believe that purpose and profit are deeply connected. Every business—regardless of size or revenue—has the potential to make a meaningful social impact.
In 2012, several members of our founding team — Joseph Scaretta, Moses Carrasco, Desiree Russo, and Jennifer Bernheim — launched the Long Island Young Entrepreneurs Challenge (LIYEC) in partnership with Capital One Bank. The competition awarded two $10,000 grants to promising young entrepreneurs in the region.
Thirteen years later, we caught up with winner Rich Dallojacono, who is now a Principal Product Manager at Spotify and holds an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business. True to the spirit of the challenge, Rich has continued to lead with entrepreneurial vision—both inside and outside of corporate environments. Learn more about our 2012 LIYEC winner Rich Dallojacono who is now Principal Product Manager at Spotify, MBA Stern School of Business.
Q: It’s been 13 years since LIYEC, tell us about how your career has evolved.
A: Since winning the challenge, my love for product building grew strong, and I have built a career building products in the Advertising Technology (AdTech) space. First, I worked at a startup which was bought by Roku, then Yahoo, and now Spotify where I’ve grown to become a Principal Product Manager. I love the role I get to play working in product, because it involves intrapreneurship, working with smart and talented people, and pushing the boundaries of technology and thoughtful design.
In addition to my career growth, while working I got my MBA from NYU Stern specialized in Strategy and Tech Product Management. I also created my own LLC where I perform IT services for clients implementing SaaS products like Salesforce.com. One new endeavor I’ve recently started on is investing in real estate and early to mid-stage startup companies looking to grow significantly over the next 1-2 years. It’s been a very busy last few years, but I’ve been enjoying every second of it!
Q: Tell us about your winning pitch idea?
A: I remember the idea I pitched at the time. It was to democratize point-of-sale (POS) systems for restaurants. Order taking would occur on a mobile device which would send the request to the kitchen to start working on the order. Servers wouldn’t need to keep constantly going back to the POS terminal to enter every item, which allowed them to serve diners more efficiently and improve customer satisfaction. Now over a decade later, we have companies like Toast, Square, Clover and others who have built precisely what my concept was. So I was really on to something at the time!
Q: How did winning LIYEC impact you?
A: I was so grateful to win the New York Young Entrepreneur Challenge back in 2012. It gave me valuable insight into the world of business, how to design and build a product, and how to make a compelling pitch to potential investors. It also showed me how much grit it truly takes to build and launch a business. I will always look back so fondly on my experience with the New York Young Entrepreneur Challenge and how it launched me into the career I have now. I cannot thank Joe and his team enough for the opportunity. Meeting Daymond John and getting to hold a “big check” is something I will cherish forever.
Learn more about our other 2012 Long Island Young Entrepreneur winner, Alexander Tsunis.