Phil Beauregard (right) is a big fan of the Roots, the versatile hip-hop group that serves as Jimmy Fallon’s house band on The Tonight Show. He’s also a borderline obsessive user of Twitter.

So it was probably only a matter of time before Beauregard, a two-time startup founder in Boston, crossed paths online with another power tweeter: Black Thought, the Roots’ lead vocalist.

About a month ago, the two started joking on Twitter about the rapper’s software-coding skills, and the failure of any of Roots fans in Boston to offer Black Thought a job at some hot tech startup. But Beauregard wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass.

So he sent the rapper — whose real name is Tariq Trotter — a private message, offering a speaking gig at Harvard’s startup-fostering Innovation Lab.

Beauregard, an iLab mentor, figured it was a lark. “Two days later, he wrote back and said, ‘Yeah, that’s awesome. Let’s do it. I’d love to,’’’ Beauregard says.

That kicked off a flurry of logistics that Beauregard says amounted to him “essentially becoming an event planner.’’ Not that he’s complaining.

“I’m just working my ass off to make it happen because I’d like to go hang out with Tariq for a while,’’ Beauregard said. Trotter is scheduled to speak at the school on April 21.

All jokes aside, Beauregard says Trotter was initially skeptical that a rapper had something to teach an elite college crowd — even though he’s a Grammy winner and considered one of the finest MCs of his generation.

Beauregard had an easy answer for Trotter, who has rapped that he was “born in South Philly on a cement floor.’’

“For the love of God, entrepreneurship is all about perseverance,’’ Beauregard recalls saying. “And I think your story is probably more apt . . . to them than CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.’’ — CURT WOODWARD

Converse exec takes his kicks to MullenLowe

When Geoff Cottrill left his job as chief marketing officer at Converse in February, he figured he might take six months off. He would get some fishing in, and learn to sleep in again. There was also that pesky shoulder surgery that he could finally find time for.

So much for that plan. Cottrill says he went to Florida for a fishing trip soon after leaving the Boston-based sneaker company. And when he returned after a week or so away, he says, his phone was ringing with potential opportunities.

One came along that particularly interested him: running ad agency MullenLowe Group’s Boston office, overseeing its roughly 500-person team. The position opened up when former Boston president Kristen Cavallo decided last year that, for family reasons, she couldn’t permanently make the move from Virginia where she lives to Boston. (She remains with the agency, handling client relations.)

Here’s what makes Cottrill’s hiring unusual: He comes from the “client side,’’ as they say, not the “agency side.’’ But Cottrill, who will report to MullenLowe US chief Lee Newman, says having that background will be an asset in MullenLowe’s leadership meetings. “I think I’ll be able to provide perspective and maybe a level of empathy to clients, having sat in their chair and experienced the day-to-day pressures they’re under,’’ he says.

He might need to scratch the next fishing trip though because he’ll start at MullenLowe in May. The exact date hasn’t yet been determined. After all, he still has that shoulder surgery to plan. — JON CHESTO

United Nonprofits and government

One of Jim Klocke’s goals as new CEO of the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network is to strengthen relationships between government officials and the state’s thousands of nonprofits.

After all, many nonprofit groups have contracts with the state to provide social services, and all of them – as tax-exempt entities – are regulated by government in some way.

So he’s launched a series of events called Policymaker Roundtables, which bring together government bigwigs and network members for “candid conversations’’ about issues affecting the sector.

“It’s good for every nonprofit to ­engage with leaders in government, and we want to provide a new vehicle for people to do that,’’ says Klocke, who arrived last fall after 20 years at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

The first roundtable, held in January with state Senator Karen Spilka, attracted a full house, and Klocke hopes the second one, on Friday, with Assistant Attorney General Mary Beckman, will as well.

Beckman, who’s chief of the AG’s Health Care and Fair Competition ­Bureau and used to work in the general counsel’s office at Boston Children’s Hospital, will be fielding questions about the oversight of public charities and health care.

The events are free but open only to Massachusetts Nonprofit Network members. — SACHA PFEIFFER

Marathon fund-raiser pays it forward

After completing her first Boston Marathon in 2015, Deborah Ellinger didn’t have the time to train for the race this year. But that didn’t stop the self-described “serial CEO’’ — she has led Princeton Review and Restoration Hardware — from hitting up her long list of business contacts for the race.

This time she is raising money to help Abenet “Abzy’’ Ghebremichael, a 28-year-old who grew up in ­Dorchester and will run for Bottom Line, the charity that helps ­low-income kids get through college.

They connected because she raised money for the same group last year.

Though Ghebremichael wasn’t a beneficiary of Bottom Line’s work, he struggled to get through college and supports the cause. Now headed to medical school, he wants to give back.

Fortunately for him, Ellinger knows plenty of business leaders who want to give back as well. The repeat sponsors include: former State Street CEO Marsh Carter, former Akamai Technologies CEO Paul Sagan and CVS ­Pharmacy president Helena Foulkes.

Ghebermichael was worried about his goal of raising $5,000 when he started asking for money two months ago. But with Ellinger’s help, he quickly reached $10,000 in his CrowdRise account. — JON CHESTO

Can’t keep a secret? Tell us. E-mail Bold Types at boldtypes@globe.com.