Rob Petrozzo

Rob is the Co-Founder of Rally, a platform for buying and selling equity shares in collectible assets. The company has raised over $10 million in funding led by Upfront Ventures, with participation from the founders of Betterment and Acorns.

On his morning routine.

More often than not, I wake up around 7.30. 

The first twenty minutes consist of pressing the snooze button, but once I’m up, I move as quick as I can. I’m the most creative within the 30m after waking up. 

I jot down ideas and think about them in the shower and on my way to work.  

In the past month, I started going back to the office. I’m wary of riding Ubers or the train, so I walk a lot. This has been an extremely welcomed change. 

I enjoy taking different routes to the office because the change of scenery inspires me. It helps me develop new ideas.

Then I’m at the office and 9 and am heads down for the day.

On mental and physical fitness.

My walk to work has become my workout, which is great since all the gyms are currently closed. Between the walk to work and taking calls on the go, I try to hit at least 5 or 6 miles every day.

Walking has been super refreshing.

Not only does it help me stay calm and healthy, it improves my conversational tone and ability to connect with people.

I used to separate the mental and physical when it came to fitness, but I stopped doing that during quarantine. During my morning walk, I’ve switched from listening to soothing background music to calling my family.

Non-work conversations are wildly helpful in improving my mood.

On forming deep friendships.

During quarantine I’ve realized just how important it is to maintain those deep connections and bonds with family and friends. It’s so refreshing and deeply invigorating to chat with those that are close to me and mean the world.

Over the past years in particular, I’ve made loads of friendships that came from doing business with someone. Even in the last few months, I noticed that three of my close friends are people I initially did business with.

Their friendships are incredibly meaningful to me.

Events like these make you reevaluate life and your future. More importantly, it pushes you to reconsider those that you want involved in your future.

On the source of his ambition.

I’m the happiest when I see an idea come to life and watch others enjoy it. 

When we started working on Rally, our idea was to tap into the power of unique, rare objects and make them accessible to people who appreciate their value. 

Whether it was baseball cards or watches, we wanted to put out things that drove a sense of nostalgia. Things that made people happy when they were younger. 

That’s what drives me: never letting anything created go to waste.

On taking a break.

I try to get outside as much as possible when I’m stressed.

If the weather’s good, I’ll hop out for lunch. I love trying out new neighborhood spots and striking up conversation with the people that work there. 

Those conversations are some of the highlights of my day.

Soho especially has a great sense of community, so it feels natural to have conversations where we chat about life. 

Put simply, these breaks rejuvenate me. They help my mind prep for the meetings and Zoom calls that lie ahead. If I didn’t have the chance to take a break and connect with people on a daily basis, I’d lose my mind.

On his evening routine.

I try to leave the office by 5:30.

Leaving early also allows me to take a longer walk and make phone calls. After work, I block out a couple hours to decompress and chill.

Then from 8 to 11, I’ll keep taking calls and replying to emails. I hate being out of the loop on anything. That 3-hour block ensures I’m up to date on everything.

Most nights I’m in bed by 11. I’ll check the usual lineup of email, Slack, Instagram, and Twitter. Then I’ll knock out around 1 or 1.30.