Contact     |     About     |     CV

Entrepreneurship

I have founded two small moderately successful tech companies, one of which developed unique and innovative technology and the other of which raised almost $10M in funding and revenues and employed up to 35 people.

Experience

  1. Hypercosm Inc. (http://www.hypercosm.com)
    Years in operation:1998-2012
    Employees:6 - 35
    Role:Founder, CEO, CTO
    Acheivements:
    • Employed up to 35 people
    • Raised $4.5M in venture funding
    • Earned $4.5M in revenues from government and commercial projects
    • Presented at Demo99, a premier conference for tech start-ups
    • Opened offices in Madison, Wisconsin and in San Jose and Walnut Creek, California
    • Brought in about $5M in government and commerical revenues
    • Met with premier silicon valley VC firms such as Benchmark
    • Worked for commercial customers such as Cisco, McGraw-Hill, and the New York Times
    • Worked for government customers such as The U.S. Navy, the U.S. Army, and NASA
    • Worked with partner companies such as Adobe, Autodesk, and Google (SketchUp)
    • Provided training simulations to NASA including a trainer for the COLBERT treadmill, which was uploaded to the ISS
    • Created simulations for the U.S. department of defense for applications such as maintenance training, educational gaming, and helicopter weather simulation

  2. Cosmic Software Corp.
    Years in operation:1993-1997
    Employees:2
    Role:Founder, president
    Acheivements:
    • Sold several hundred copies of a simulation and rendering software package called "Microcosm"
    • Developed a unique software system including photorealistic rendering and a new scripting language called SMPL
    • Distributed software to the University of Mississippi for a simulation based science curriculum

Skills

  • Problem solving - breaking down large tasks into manageable parts
  • Product development - understanding the difference between a technology and a product
  • Business communication - delivering an "elevator pitch" to customers, partners, or investors
  • Technical communication - communicating technical information to a non-technical audience
  • Business development - figuring out how to find common ground and to collaborate with others
  • Business model development - figuring out how to create value and what customers are willing to pay for
  • Cooperation - attracting a group of talented partners and allowing everyone on the team a chance to shine