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CURRENT COHORT FULL · STARTED OCT 25, 2026

Alicia and Leslie

Two founders, in the room with you.

No ego. No competition for credit. Just the collective push to get each project further than it could go alone.

Why we built it

We met in a bootcamp and kept building.

Alicia Dahling and Leslie Ali Walker met in Dr. Marily Nika's AI product management bootcamp. Both founders take part in every meeting.

Alicia

[PLACEHOLDER: Alicia's own words, two or three sentences on why she built The Pit]

Leslie

[PLACEHOLDER: Leslie's own words, two or three sentences on why she built The Pit]

See Leslie's work at leslieali.com

Alicia Dahling

Co-founder · Finance and business operations

Alicia works through the decisions behind a business: what to charge, what it costs to deliver and how the work will run. Her experience includes roles at HP, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, DXC Technology, Perspecta and Nortel Networks.

Through Dahling Consulting, she works on revenue recognition, reporting, controls and finance automation. Through Dahling Digital, she builds websites and business workflows. She holds a Master of Accounting and an MBA.

In The Pit, she helps you examine the numbers and the practical steps behind your idea, so you can make decisions about what to build next.

LinkedInDahling Consulting

Leslie Ali Walker

Co-founder · Creative direction and product

Leslie works across brand, product and systems thinking. Her portfolio includes creative work at Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai for Nike, copywriting at Google Creative Lab New York, and executive creative direction at JWT New York for Kleenex.

She also builds her own tools, including Clarion, a voice direction tool. She brings that experience to the work on the table: finding the useful question, making an idea easier to explain and deciding what to test next.

In The Pit, she helps you get specific about what you are making and put the work in front of people who can help you learn from it.

LinkedInPortfolio: leslieali.com

Employers and clients named here are part of each founder's work history. They are not partners of The Pit and do not endorse it.

How we run the room
  • No unsolicited advice.
  • Speak when invited.
  • Technical questions are always welcome.
  • No selling to the room.
  • No competing for credit.
Next step

Tell us what you are working on.

Start with a conversation about your project, the help you need and the time you can give the crew.

How to join