# Benjamin Pleat

> Benjamin (Ben) Pleat is the CEO and co-founder of Cobu, a Boston-based resident-engagement platform that turns apartment buildings into actual communities. After watching his extroverted mother feel isolated in a well-appointed Manhattan building - and learning that apartment owners bleed money to roughly 50% annual tenant churn - he built a company on a simple bet: a single friend in your building makes you 30%+ more likely to renew your lease. A Harvard economics grad who passed through WeWork's growth team and Goldman Sachs' real estate private equity group, Pleat now leads a company that has powered community in tens of thousands of apartment homes by getting neighbors into the same room for poker nights, potlucks, and chef dinners.

- **Role:** CEO & Co-Founder at Cobu
- **Organizations:** Cobu, Doorbell Communities, TAVtech (TAV Academy), Harvard Ventures / VentureWorks, Urban Land Institute, Forbes Real Estate Council
- **From:** Long Island, New York, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A., Economics, Harvard University
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Cobu, a resident-engagement platform powering community across tens of thousands of apartment homes, Surpassed 30,000 apartment homes on the platform (announced Feb 2021), Techstars-backed founder

## Career timeline

- **Pre-Cobu** — Worked on the growth team at WeWork
- **Pre-Cobu** — Joined the real estate private equity group at Goldman Sachs, working on acquisitions of apartment and office buildings
- **College** — Led VentureWorks, Harvard Ventures' incubator, and co-founded TAVtech, a global coding academy sending students to Tel Aviv
- **2017** — Co-founded Doorbell Communities (later Cobu) roughly 2.5 years before a December 2019 interview
- **2018** — Cobu founded with co-founder Steve McLaughlin; backed by Techstars
- **2020** — Cobu raised seed funding
- **2021** — Surpassed 30,000 apartment homes on the Cobu platform

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Cobu, a resident-engagement platform powering community across tens of thousands of apartment homes
- Surpassed 30,000 apartment homes on the platform (announced Feb 2021)
- Techstars-backed founder
- Real Estate Tech Council member at the Urban Land Institute
- Member of the Forbes Real Estate Council
- Co-founded TAVtech, a global coding academy

## Latest updates

- **2021-02** — Cobu surpassed 30,000 apartment homes on the platform; featured in Nasdaq on lessening the isolation of apartment living
- **2020-01** — Cobu (formerly Doorbell) raised seed funding

## Links

- Website: https://livecobu.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pleat/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/joindoorbell
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doorbell.me/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/benjamin-pleat
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-25