# Nicole Alvino

> Nicole Alvino co-founded SocialChorus in 2008 and served as Firstup CEO from January 2022 until June 2025, when she became chairwoman of the board. Her work focuses on employee communication, frontline workers and leadership shaped by her early experience at Enron.

- **Role:** Co-founder and Chairwoman of the Board at Firstup
- **Organizations:** Firstup, SocialChorus, Dermalounge, Enron, Creative Destruction Lab
- **Education:** B.A. in Economics and Japanese, Vanderbilt University, MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Co-founded SocialChorus and helped develop its employee communications business., Led Firstup as CEO during launches of CommunicationsAI and Journey Orchestration., Firstup reported reaching $100 million in annual recurring revenue under her leadership by June 2025.

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Worked in structured finance and corporate development at Enron.
- **2004** — Completed her MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
- **2005** — Founded Dermalounge.
- **2008** — Co-founded SocialChorus with Greg Shove.
- **2021** — SocialChorus and Dynamic Signal merged to form Firstup; Alvino was chief strategy officer.
- **2022** — Appointed Firstup CEO on January 27, succeeding Gary Nakamura.
- **2024** — Became host of season three of Cruising Altitude.
- **2025** — Became Firstup chairwoman as Bill Schuh took over as CEO on June 17.

## Achievements

- Co-founded SocialChorus and helped develop its employee communications business.
- Led Firstup as CEO during launches of CommunicationsAI and Journey Orchestration.
- Firstup reported reaching $100 million in annual recurring revenue under her leadership by June 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2025-06** — Transitioned from Firstup CEO to chairwoman of the board, with Bill Schuh becoming CEO effective June 17.
- **2024-03** — Introduced as the new host of Cruising Altitude’s third season.

## Links

- Website: https://firstup.io/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolealvino/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/nalvino

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/nicole-alvino
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-20