Starting a New Chapter
Socrata, the company I founded in 2007 and led since inception, was acquired in April 2018 by Tyler Technologies, becoming Tyler’s Data & Insights division, with me as its president. In January of this year, I started the process of winding down, working with Tyler’s CEO on a succession plan. In April of this year, I stepped into an evangelist role and promoted Socrata’s VP of Engineering, Franklin Williams, to lead the division.
Yesterday the succession process was successfully completed. After 12.5 years, it was my last day at Socrata / Tyler. Today is the first day of a new chapter for me.
I loved every minute of the past 12+ years. While I’m proud of the part I played in helping transform government, what made the last 12 years so enjoyable was working with the smartest, most passionate and creative people I’ve ever known. The combination of venture-backed startup with a strong culture and an important mission trying to improve society by helping government become data-driven helped us attract some of the most amazing people. I’ll miss working with them, but am equally excited to see the impact they’ll have going forward.
Intentionally I don’t have any concrete plans for the next phase of life and my career. There are numerous areas I’m interested in studying and learning more about - some professional and some personal. I’m looking forward to taking a few months to relax, recharge, rekindle relationships and reignite some passions. In the interim, I’ll continue to be an active angel investor in the Seattle tech community, board member and/or advisor to the few phenomenal startups I’m already working with:
TechSmart. To be ready for the future, students need to learn the fundamentals of computer science and the ability to write software (code). TechSmart is a leader and innovator in this space, offering a multi-course curriculum to retrain existing elementary, middle and high school teachers to be successful teaching coding to students in the classroom.
First Due. Powered by open data and other government data sources, First Due ensures that first responders (fire department, ambulance, police, etc.) are as safe as possible by knowing everything about a building when they arrive on the scene of an emergency.
Sigma IQ. Spun out of Pioneer Square Labs, Sigma IQ uses machine learning to help businesses improve the monthly process of closing the (financial) books, by accelerating and reducing errors involved in the tedious monthly account reconciliation process.
Hazel Analytics. Powered by restaurant inspection data, Hazel uses predictive analytics to help restaurants and food service companies (like Starbucks and Cheesecake Factory) improve their food safety practices.
Trainiac. The best way for individuals to stay in shape and for personal trainers to keep their client roster full. Trainiac is a great mobile app that connects you with a human personal trainer, who proactively helps you stay on track each week.
Of course, if you’re an entrepreneur with an interesting business idea and/or know of any other promising, early stage startups, please let me know. I’m particularly interested in Seattle-based and/or data-centric and/or government-focused B2B companies.
Most of my career has followed a plan. For the first time in a long time, I have no set plan. It’s exciting not to have one. I have no doubt that over the next few months, what I want to do with the next phase of my career will start to take shape.
In the meantime, my schedule is pretty open if you want to go for a long bike ride, troll for salmon, simply catch up and/or bounce any ideas off me. Let me know.
