Biography
Lio Slama is an entrepreneur and artist from France and serves as the CEO and co-founder of AskNeo.io, the CEO of AskNeo Media, and the Creator of Studio ARY and the Neo Club.
Lio is considered a pioneer on non-linear design, mental mapping, and work culture. He recognizes the importance of design and storytelling to help others build their narrative and succeed. Whether it’s emerging founders, veteran entrepreneurs, artists or athletes, Lio understands the power of personal brands to empower everyone at a company. He is an active mentor and advisor in more than 100 companies, and a prolific artist with more than 300 artworks.
Lio is an entrepreneur at heart, trying to build bridges and bring people together. Today, he helps early and growth-stage startups translate their vision into reality through his full-service content agency, AskNeo Content, serving North America, Europe and Israel. AskNeo Content is part of the AskNeo Media holding company, including AskNeo.io, AskNeo Branding, AskNeo Sports, and the Neo Club.
Lio is also the founder of Studio ARY, focusing on art, design and architecture. He is part of the rebirth of the abstract expressionist painting movement in New York, and one of the pioneers of the marbling painting technique. He is an adept of data mining and mental mapping to tell a story through design.
Lio holds two Masters Degrees from Columbia University (GSAPP) and the Lyon School of Architecture (ENSAL), and is an alum of the Techstars NYC accelerator. He serves as a mentor at the Columbia Startup Lab (CSL), Almaworks, and as a judge for the Columbia Venture Competition (CVC). He serves on the board of the French American Chamber of Commerce Los Angeles (FACCLA), and is an active member of the American Israeli Political Affair Committee (Aipac).
In addition to running multiple businesses, Lio enjoys documenting his life as a CEO and artist through his social media channels, such as his podcast “The Lio Slama Audio Experience“, or his youtube channel “BS Tuesday“.
Before starting his entrepreneur journey, Lio became one of the youngest project managers in the world at 25 as the new Head Architect for the International Labor Organization in Switzerland, a $300M renovation project.
Lio started doing solo exhibitions in 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland. Fast forward to 2021, Lio was invited to showcase his work in a solo show at the French Consulate in New York City. In 2022, he participated in the Art Apple NYC group shows. In 2023, Lio is set to return with his latest solo exhibition titled “Abstract Express” in NoHo, New York.
Lio is an avid traveler, having visited over 50 countries and met hundreds of local communities. He practices urbex (urban exploration) everywhere he goes to explore and understand traumatized places such as Detroit, Hashima, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, or the North Korea DMZ.
With the Neo Club, Lio and his friends are looking to bridge the gap between the tech and art worlds, bringing together highly creative entrepreneurs and artists. The Neo Club gathers two or three times a month around private rooftops, penthouses and art galleries.
Lio is based in New York but spends several months each year in Spain, France, and Israel.
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