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1. What were you doing before you launched your startup?

I was running a brick and mortar direct to consumer wellness company that was piloted in Seattle with quick traction. We grew the firm into 17 partner facilities within 12 months, when the technology platform Thrv came to fruition after hearing the same pain points across all 17 of our facilities. While it wasn’t the crux of our legacy business, it was a solid platform to leverage data and deploy a go to market strategy and product validation for the SaaS solution.

2. When did you realize you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

I wanted to move toward a more data driven approach to business but never had the ability or knowledge set to immediately transition. There was a distinct moment driving to work when I realized…”I don’t ever want to HAVE to drive to work to actually work”. Having autonomy was one of the biggest factors in realizing I wanted to transition out of my legacy company so as to not be beholden to anyone else on their time frame.

3. What initial hesitations did you have about starting your first company?

Initially I knew what I wanted to do and knew how to get to that point…while ALSO knowing I did not have the tools to get there- yet. Not having a base in technology, adding a data play to work was daunting. I had all the typical negative self talk conversations with myself- until I met Sean and Venture Out.

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4. Can you remember the day you put in your notice? What was it like, what was going through your mind, how did your manager take it?

I put in the notice…to myself. So it was the hardest decision as I felt I wasn’t seeing things to the end. Luckily I had the right people in place to make the transition as smooth as possible and still participate where needed.

5. What are you doing now?

This free time allowed me to focus on scaling the next iteration of Thrv Health, which is to scale the MVP and user validation outside of the immediate city of Seattle. I think it was important for me to “stumble” through the process of moving into a foreign industry (tech), so as to not take validation from my legacy company that was in the same market space- wellness. Just because we had a successful brick and mortar wellness company, doesn’t mean that translates to a tech platform in the least.

6. Looking back on your experience of founding a company, what do you know that you wish you knew before? Are you happy with your decision?

I wish I started being uncomfortable earlier in the process. Before going through Venture Out, I sat in a lot of meetings and workshops as a fly on the wall. Worried about the optics of my questions. Worried about the judgement of peers. Worried about looking…lost. But- after going through Venture Out and realizing we all start somewhere and uncomfortable is the name of the game in start ups….I wish I had asked the silly questions earlier. I couldn’t be more happy with this new chapter.

7. Any other advice you can share for others contemplating a similar path?

Find a good cohort and get uncomfortable. Get vulnerable. We all felt it at some point even if we don’t show it.

Venture Out helps tech employees launch or join a startup.

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1. What were you doing before you launched your startup?

I was a software engineer for 5 years at Microsoft working on the Microsoft Authenticator app, Windows 10, account security, and the sign-in experience across all platforms.

2. When did you realize you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

Back in college, I took an entrepreneurship course where I started a company (a social app, obviously!) with a small team of fellow classmates. We ended up winning a few competitions and even got to pitch the idea to Shark Tank’s Robert Herjavec (he was only mildly impressed, unfortunately). Although the company fizzled shortly after graduation, I knew then that the startup world was where I wanted to be.

Post graduation, I decided to spend some time honing my technical skills at Microsoft. Over the next 5 years, I moonlighted as an aspiring entrepreneur, spending countless evenings and weekends exploring new ventures and jumping from one potential idea to another. But nothing quite had that “this is it” feeling.

This went on until, one day, I was introduced to my eventual co-founder, who was working at Alaska Airlines at the time. He had identified very real problems in the aircraft maintenance space that could use a better solution. Intrigued but knowing nothing of the aviation industry, I helped him build a proof of concept. Within a short time, we had a demo set up to show potential customers the idea – and I remember being completely floored by how excited people were to see our vision, which was really only a concept at the time. It showed me that there was a real gap and a real need for change in this space, and how much of an impact I could have. It was on that day that I knew it was time to take the leap. 

3. What initial hesitations did you have about starting your first company?

Did I ever have hesitations! Everything from losing my financial stability to entering an industry that I knew nothing about–I had a daily rotation of concerns that kept me up at night.

But there were two things that ultimately helped me get over the hump:

1. I saw with my own eyes how excited our future customers were about the proof of concept that we had built and how much they wanted us to continue building out the product. There was something uniquely satisfying and rewarding about having that experience, and I didn’t want to let them or the vision down.
2. After 5 years at Microsoft, I knew that I had gained enough skills to find another software job later, if all else failed. I also knew that I was going to learn as much as I possibly could with my startup and no matter what the outcome was, I was not going to leave the experience empty-handed. 

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4. Can you remember the day you put in your notice? What was it like, what was going through your mind, how did your manager take it?

To be honest, I was afraid to tell my manager that I was leaving to start a company–not because he would not be supportive–but because I did not want to look foolish if, after making such a grand departure, my startup crashed and burned. In hindsight, I was obviously in my head, but the feeling was very real at the time. Even though I didn’t tell my manager the reason I was leaving, he was extremely understanding and told me the door was open if I ever wanted to return. This gesture meant a lot to me and I am forever grateful to him and all my past managers for always being so supportive of my career and my decisions.

5. What are you doing now?

I am happy to say I just crossed the 5 year mark with Aerostrat and we are still going strong. As you can imagine, the pandemic has been trying for many of our customers, and we are incredibly grateful that they have continued to work with us through the tough times and continued to recommend us to others. 

For those curious, at Aerostrat, we built a web-based application that helps airlines and MROs (maintenance and repair organizations) very easily and quickly build a complete picture of their maintenance operations for many years into the future. It allows them to build budgets, forecast what-if scenarios, understand capacity requirements, and most importantly, automatically create a highly optimized and centralized production schedule of all their maintenance needs across their entire fleet.

6. Looking back on your experience of founding a company, what do you know that you wish you knew before? Are you happy with your decision?

I wish I had done a better job of keeping in touch with all my friends and all the amazing colleagues I met throughout my time at Microsoft. When starting a company, there is this drive to put your head down and build nonstop until you make it. But in a small company, you end up talking a lot to just a few people instead of the tens or hundreds you used to interact with. It can be isolating, and it was tough for me to regain those friendships. If I had the chance to do it over, I would work just as hard, but carve out time to stay in touch with others, and also find a good support network of other founders to bounce ideas off. You have to become an expert in so many areas when you’re part of such a small team that any help can really make a big impact. 

While the journey has not always been easy, I have no regrets. There is something very special about building a company from scratch and seeing how happy your customers are every single day. I know I am making a difference and that has made it all worth it.

7. Any other advice you can share for others contemplating a similar path?

I would recommend two things:

1. Talk to others (especially other founders) and just make sure you understand what kind of journey you’re about to embark on. It isn’t for everyone and it can be an emotional and stressful rollercoaster.
2. Once you understand what you’re about to do and think you have a great idea, dive headfirst and don’t look back. Startups require everything you’ve got, and looking back will only slow you down. Just know you will come out stronger, especially with failure, and you will be better for it.

There is no better time to be a startup founder than now. There is more capital available, there are more VCs to give you their money, access to software is cheaper, and there are more accelerators, and incubators to support you than ever before. If that is not enough, startup valuations are at all-time highs and employees from big tech are leaving their day jobs to pursue startups at a faster rate than ever before.  

So, if you are an employee holding a tech day job the question becomes, are you better off to VIP (Vest in Peace) while earning your RSUs or build the next company as a startup Founder?  

While there is no better time to be a startup founder and there are more resources available than ever before, most employees at big tech companies do not know where to turn to for funding or know-how to validate their startup idea, let alone know where to find a vetted network of mentors to support them.  

It’s understandable.  Like many of us, we landed in Seattle without an established startup network. We had a craving to be around smart, ambitious people who wanted to make a positive impact, but we didn’t have the startup network locally.  We were too busy in our tech day jobs to build our network but after months and months, we earned the trust and support of so many amazingly talented individuals.  Now we are here to support you, the next wave of talent entering the startup ecosystem.  So, whether you are crushing it at your day job or dreaming about building the next great startup, we’ve got your back and are ready to connect you with an amazing group of people to catapult your startup network and expedite your path forward so when you do cut the cord, you can hit the ground running.

We took our experiences, tested it on tons of participants, iterated on it, and then got buy-in from some of the best VCs in the Seattle area to invest in it.  Now we offer you the ‘Go Big to Small’ Lab.  It’s 10 weeks long (part-time while you keep your day job).  You’ll gain the frameworks to launch a startup, build a 100-day plan to execute your startup’s vision, and meet over 100 startup founders, mentors, technologists, venture capitalists, and more stemming from the Pacific Northwest to deliver you a top-tier startup network.  This lab is dedicated to those seeking to engage with other smart, ambitious technologists seeking to launch a startup or work for one in the next six months. We can’t wait to meet you.

Venture Out helps tech employees launch or join a startup.
Learn more about us here

1. What were you doing before you launched your startup?

I was a senior director of product management at Microsoft Azure. My organization’s last mission was to revamp how Azure builds its data centers and cloud regions to make them more resilient to failures. This was one of the top enterprise requests from customers looking to build mission critical applications on Azure. I was lucky to partner with very talented people on this journey as we changed Azure from soil to its core services.

Prior to Microsoft, I was an early product management hire for AWS where I defined and built the businesses around many of the AWS developer services. One example of this was S3, which I helped grow into an exabyte-scale service used by some of the largest enterprises in the world.

2. When did you realize you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

In 2015, I started investing in real estate and learning about how to effectively buy and manage rental properties. I experimented with DYI management vs. property management, short term vs. long term rentals, and flips. The more I dug in, the more I realized that investing in real estate is hard and requires lots of manual tasks, especially for people who work outside of real estate. My itch to solve these problems with software kept growing every day and other real estate investors confirmed a similar set of problems and stories. In 2019, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that my true calling was to use my product development and management experience to make an impact on real estate investing space. This was the genesis of Padvest.

3. What initial hesitations did you have about starting your first company?

When leaving a steady job, I felt all the usual discomforts: worries about the loss of financial stability and health benefits, the anticipation of more stress on myself and others around me, and the fear of failure. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by supportive friends and family who encouraged me to think about these as “solvable problems” rather than “hesitations”.

I wrote down every nagging discomfort and worked out a potential solution for each of them. For example, to support myself financially I created a tiered approach for how I save and spend money.  I reduced some of my largest expenses, and even started a business to help bring in additional income. There are many ways to go about solving each of these problems and I am always happy to pay it forward and help others brainstorm.

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4. Can you remember the day you put in your notice? What was it like, what was going through your mind, how did your manager take it?

My last day was very bittersweet and emotional. On one hand, I knew I was going to miss working with my team and partners. On the other hand, I was excited for my new journey. My mantra for these moments is best represented by the French expression “au revoir”. It translates to “until the next time” and it leaves the door open for a reunion at a future time.

I’ll share a few mind tricks that helped me get through the day:

• Morning workout routine
• Meditation with a focus on gratitude for past times and a hope of reuniting with my teammates in a new setting
• Farewell hallway conversations
• Lunch with a few people
• Spotify playlist on repeat on the drive back home with a mix of dance music and rock music to get those good vibes
• Bright spot: I wasn’t going to miss 520 rush hour traffic
• Nice dinner out with loved ones

5. What are you doing now?

I am now building Padvest, a real estate investing platform that helps investor research and manage their residential investments. We launched our first product in 2020 which helps people evaluate investment properties in seconds using a powerful data platform that aggregates data across many sources. Our mission is to empower every person to generate wealth through real estate investing. I am very excited to wake up every day and continue building out the team and expanding our portfolio of products that contribute towards this mission.

If you are interested in working at a startup, if you share a similar passion for our mission, or if you are a real estate investor, please reach out to me. I am always looking to connect, as we continue to build our team and products in support of our mission.

6. Looking back on your experience of founding a company, what do you know that you wish you knew before? Are you happy with your decision?

Building a startup is a continuous growth and learning journey and if nothing else, that is enough to make me happy. Of course, getting love notes from customers and seeing your user base grow, feeling proud of what the team has built, and knowing that we are making real estate investing more accessible all add to that feeling of satisfaction. I would make the same decision again in a heartbeat.

When transitioning from the corporate world to entrepreneurship, I did not realize how many support and back-office systems I took for granted in a corporate environment. For example, most corporations already have marketing and content platforms, a sales process to engage with customers, and HR systems to support employees and managers. When building a startup, it’s easy to think that you either need to build these things or pay a fortune to outsource them.

What has surprised me is the amount of tech platforms and automation that can help you bring these functions to your startup quickly, in an on-demand, follow-your-growth fashion. I highly recommend that each entrepreneur asks others for recommendations when it comes to building these systems. As an example, we used an automated legal platform to set up the company and manage much of the initial paperwork, with the help of a lawyer as a reviewer. We were able to move fast and keep our legal costs down.

7. Any other advice you can share for others contemplating a similar path?

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. In my one and half year of entrepreneurship, I have been incredibly surprised by and grateful for all the mentors and community who have helped me and Padvest along the way. Reach out to people, ask for connections, and be genuinely curious. There is something to learn along the way and always offer your experience back. In fact, I would love to pay it forward and help new founders as much as possible too. If any of my journey or Padvest’s mission resonate with you, don’t hesitate to reach out!