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Larry Markowitz
Financial Communications Advisor; Business Lawyer & Investor
Professional Background
Larry Markowitz is a distinguished Senior Advisor in Financial Communications and Investor Relations at NATIONAL Public Relations, the largest independent public relations firm in Canada. In his role, Larry offers strategic counsel to clients across various sectors, assisting them in crafting and delivering messages that resonate with their targeted audiences. This role highlights his expertise in financial communications, investor relations, and public relations, making him a key figure in helping organizations align their messaging with business objectives.
Leveraging his extensive experience as a business lawyer, Larry excels at identifying the nuances of communication required in complex business environments. His impressive background features 15 years of practice as a lawyer specializing in securities law, competition law, and foreign investment law. With this wealth of legal knowledge, he has the ability to navigate challenging regulatory landscapes while advising clients on best practices in communication.
Apart from his legal career, Larry has embraced entrepreneurship, playing a pivotal role in launching innovative businesses such as CoPower. CoPower is an acclaimed social enterprise focused on financing clean energy projects, reflecting Larry's commitment to sustainability and social impact. His dual experience as a lawyer and entrepreneur allows him to bring a unique perspective to every project he undertakes, making him an essential advisor for clients looking to make an impact in their respective fields.
In addition to his advisory role, Larry is a sought-after speaker, regularly addressing both domestic and international audiences on diverse topics, including law, clean energy, and personal branding. He shares his insights and expertise at various industry conferences, contributing to thought leadership in these important domains. He has also enhanced the academic landscape by teaching business law at the university level, further solidifying his standing as an expert in his field.
Larry’s leadership in the legal community is further evidenced by his recent appointment as a Governor of the Fondation du Barreau du Québec. This role underscores his commitment to the legal profession and its social responsibility.
Education and Achievements
Larry Markowitz's educational background is rooted in prestigious institutions, which has greatly contributed to his professional development. He earned both a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) and a Bachelor of Common Law (LLB) from McGill University's Faculty of Law, one of the top law schools in Canada. This comprehensive legal education provides him with a solid foundation in various areas of law, crucial for his successful career as a lawyer and advisor.
Moreover, Larry's academic journey includes a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) with a focus on Real Estate & Urban Analysis and Entrepreneurship from the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University. This interdisciplinary education equips Larry with business acumen and insight, further enhancing his ability to advise clients in the realms of financial communications and investor relations. He also completed a Diplôme d'études collégiales (DEC) in Commerce at Marianopolis College, a stepping stone that enriched his understanding of commercial principles and practices.
Throughout his esteemed career, Larry has garnered numerous accolades and achievements. He is a past winner of the Lexpert Zenith Award for Corporate and Law Firm Social Responsibility, recognizing his dedication to ethical business practices and community engagement. Additionally, he received the Promies Award for Young Professional of the Year, celebrating his contributions to the field and showcasing his promise as a leader.
Larry’s commitment to the legal profession is reflected in his accolades as a two-time winner of the Past Presidents' Award of AIJA, the International Young Lawyers’ Association, which emphasizes his role in both the legal community and as a mentor to aspiring young lawyers.
Community Involvement
A strong advocate for community service, Larry actively participates in various organizations, making a notable difference in his community. He serves on the Board of YES Montreal, an organization dedicated to providing English-language support services that help Quebec residents find employment and launch businesses. Through this role, Larry empowers budding entrepreneurs and job seekers, contributing to the economic development of the region.
As a mentor to start-ups at La Fondation Montréal inc., Larry shares his wealth of knowledge and experience with young entrepreneurs, nurturing the next generation of business leaders. His involvement in these organizations illustrates his commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and supporting his community in meaningful ways.
Larry's leadership extends to the Lord Reading Law Society, where he previously held the position of president. Under his tenure, the Society was known for organizing gala dinners featuring prominent guest speakers and advocating for human rights, emphasizing the importance of legal ethics and social justice. He continues to serve as the co-editor of the Society’s newsletter, a position he has maintained since 2009, where he communicates vital information to members and engages the broader legal community.
Achievements
Larry’s accomplishments are noteworthy, having received several prestigious awards that highlight his contributions to legal practice and social responsibility. Some of his key achievements include:
- Lexpert Zenith Award for Corporate and Law Firm Social Responsibility
- Promies Award for Young Professional of the Year
- Two-time winner of the Past Presidents' Award of AIJA, the International Young Lawyers’ Association
- Governance role at the Fondation du Barreau du Québec
- Recognition as a frequent guest speaker at various conferences
- Co-editorship of the Lord Reading Law Society’s newsletter since 2009, showcasing his commitment to legal education and community communication.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Clay's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Clay makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Clay's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Clay isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Clay instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Clay is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Clay can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.