Guy Pistone is chief executive and co-founder of Valere, an AI development, implementation and consulting firm in Boston, Massachusetts, with offices in Indore, India, and Lima, Peru. He started it in 2019 with Anmol Upadhyay. A former semi-professional basketball player, he holds bachelor’s and MBA degrees from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Basketball Apps at Clark University
While studying information systems as an MBA student, years before ChatGPT, he began testing ways to use AI and machine learning in basketball. He launched two mobile apps, Elete and Fitivity, which grew into businesses and were sold, and his apps have been recognized by Apple, Upwork and The New York Times (Clark University).
A LinkedIn Message to Indore
He met Upadhyay through LinkedIn, sending him a message that said only “I have an opportunity.” They ran Valere part time at first, bidding for work on Upwork under Pistone’s account while Upadhyay recruited developers in India, and spoke almost daily for three years before meeting in person in India in 2022. “When we got our first big check… when we got that, it was real for us,” Pistone said of the payment that came about six months in (Valere).