It may seem like an odd time to draw attention to my experience with startups since they are out of vogue at the moment. But, I like startups. Startups are hopes and dreams in a way that even the most passionate group at a Fortune 500 can’t grasp. You are willing to experiment and take chances without the distraction of large systems and large number’s of users to support. I love the lightning fast pace and the sense that you can really impact the way people live and conduct business. Also, they offer a unique opportunity for successful people to quickly reach levels of responsibility that larger organizations do not.

I like the boundless energy and optimism of startup founders and CEOs. Perhaps best of all I like the role that technology plays in startups. Even out side of dot-coms, startup entrepreneurs know that they need to be aggressive adopters of technology to have a chance against entrenched interests. This allows startups to challenge the old way of doing things and leads to the innovation we have come to expect from startups.

I am the CTO of Ecometry Corporation, an established and dominant force in multi-channel marketing systems used by some of the biggest names in retail, catalog and e-commerce sales. I still get the opportunity to advise former co-workers and bosses on their startups.

As VP of Technology at Visual Fire in the late 1990s, I started and built up a successful startup consulting practice that helped get over a dozen companies off the ground. At the same time, I had to balance management and production responsibilities back in the office.

As CTO at LawCommerce in San Francisco, I had all these benefits and more. I know from my services days that even the largest law firms rarely have the resources they need or access to the best purchasing or technology solutions. You can really feel its impact on the industry and the way so many really big players in the legal industry, large law firms and Fortune 500 vendors, have been drawn to the leadership and innovation LawCommerce provides. Seeing LawCommerce successfully developed and sold to Lexis Nexis is one of proudest accomplishments.