Frank Denbow — Artist, Computer Scientist, & Entrepreneur from New Jersey
Frank Denbow is currently a Product Marketing Consultant at Sage Labs, based in New Jersey. Before that, he was at Microsoft for Startups as a Startup Advocate, helping lead Microsoft's engagement with the startup community in the United States and serving on Microsoft's COVID19 task force.
Born in Harlem, and raised by Jamaican & Guyanese parents in New Jersey, he caught the bug for entrepreneurship at an early age, selling pheromone cologne (really) on eBay, and began programming in middle school. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon’s Computer Science program, Frank interned as a software developer at Apple before building his own companies.
He is the founder of INK’A, a platform for producing top quality custom apparel for companies and influencers (video pitch here). Frank self-funded INK’A into millions in revenue, working with companies like Mixpanel, Postmates, and Google on their merchandise strategy.
Art has always been a part of his life, as a dancer (reel) and paper artist (Joy With Paper). Coupling his artistic interests with his background as a technologist, he helped craft hip-hop inspired events like Tech & Culture SXSW and Masterclash. Now his artistic interests are mainly expressed through latin dance (salsa and bachata), paper pulp sculpture, and generative AI tools.
Frank has held leadership positions in community organizations such as First Presbyterian Church as the first youth deacon and at Habitat for Humanity in Bergen County as the first youth board member. He also has volunteered for the past decade on the Music Startup Meetup, Startup Weekend, Startup Digest, & Coalition for Queens, helping connect entrepreneurs with the resources they need. Out of this desire, he co-created INFLECTION, a conference for profitable companies, which was featured in the New York Times. Frank also taught the Introduction to NYC Startup Community course at General Assembly. Having given feedback to 100s of entrepreneurs, Frank has been an angel investor in companies such as Secureframe, Roboflow, Rosebud.ai, EdLyft, and Upstream, and advisor to One Second Everyday.
An (extremely) amateur model & actor, Frank has done campaigns for Under Armour, and Land Rover.
With passions for spreading computer science education and in affecting change in prison reform, Frank serves on the advisory board for Academy For Software Engineering (a Computer Science focused high school) & volunteers with organizations like Hustle 2.0, Defy Ventures, iMentor, Uncommon Law, and Experience Camps (grief camp for kids).
Life does not always go up and to the right and Frank has gone through ups and downs in more ways than you can imagine. If you are struggling and need someone to talk to without judgement, even if you're not a close friend, he is here to listen.
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