Brett Martin
Founder of Kumospace
Brett Martin
Founder of Kumospace
New York, New York
Overview
Work Experience
Co-Founder / Investor
2015 - Current
PREMIUM PRE/SEED VENTURE CAPITAL BASED OUT OF BROOKLYN, NY. *We write $250-750k checks into <$2MM rounds. *We skew technical, focusing on AI/ML, Data Science, Open Source, Dev Tools, and APIs across industries, especially Healthcare, Finance, and Logistics. *That said, we're happy to speak with any amazing founder that's just too early for other funds.
Co-Founder / Investor / Host
2020
Kumospace is the world’s most immersive video chat platform. Our virtual spaces combine the fun and creativity of video games with the simplicity and security of video conferencing, transforming conversations into experiences and contacts into relationships. We're on a mission to make the internet fun again.
Adjunct Professor
2017
*Design and teach the MBA course: "Data Analytics in Action" *Design and teach the MBA course: "Digital Literacy for Decision Makers"
Entrepreneur in Residence
2014 - 2015
Primary Venture Partners is a seed stage VC firm based in NY, focused on ecommerce and enterprise SaaS. Ben Sun and Brad Svrluga let me hang out with them while I figured out my next move. They're great guys and any entrepreneur would be well served by partnering up with them. *Participated in weekly deal review meetings. *Developed theses on mobile messaging and “chat bots” that yielded two investments for Charge Ventures (see above).
Co-Founder
2013 - 2014
Less than two weeks after I closed the book on @Sonar, I jumped back into the mix with my former engineering intern Yang Mou and advisor Yarden Tadmor. *Recruited co-founders and built core team of eight to launch a mobile application used by millions of job seekers to connect with hundreds of top tier companies such as Facebook, MSFT, and EBay. *Managed product, engineering, analytics, and design teams through concept, ideation, launch, and early traction. *Built investment deck, product roadmap, and financial models used by co-founder to raise $1.4M in seed round (>$6M from VCs to date). *Currently a proud equity holder and supporter of Yarden and the incredible team he has built.
Co-Founder & CEO
2010 - 2013
*Launched the first ambient social networking company, used by >2M people in 100+ countries to connect with strangers nearby. *Recruited and managed a team of 12 designers and engineers to build a system that processed billions of real-time user locations. *Featured in over 300 publications including the New York Times, CNN, CNBC, TechCrunch, and TIME. *Raised nearly $2M from prominent angels and VCs including ENAIC and Blumberg ventures. *Winner: Ad:Age Best Mobile Startup (2011), Runner–up: Techcrunch Disrupt (2011). *Wrote a postmortem about the company that has been translated into multiple languages and read by over >1MM people.
Investor
2010 - 2010
AppFund was an NYC-based, seed stage venture capital firm that invested in mobile technology startups. AppFund morphed into K2 Media, a mobile-focused incubator. I learned a lot from Kevin Wendle and Daniel Klaus and thank them for introducing me to the tech world that I now call home. -Sourced, analyzed, and recommended investments in promising mobile startups. -Incubated four companies including Kanvas (acq by AOL), FingerPrint (raised >$20MM), and Sonar Media (above).
Fulbright Scholar
2007 - 2010
The Fulbright Scholarship is a research grant funded by the US Government. -Examined how entrepreneurs prioritize their time and measure their effectiveness at different stages of operation. -Published “Are You the Bottleneck in your Organization?” for HBR.org. -Authored working paper “Staying Aware of What Matters: Balancing the Four Pillars of Entrepreneurial Success.” -Synthesized data from interviews with >100 top-tier entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
Internet Marketing Associate
2007 - 2007
-One of a team of three that drove vbs.tv monthly page views from less than 80,000 to over 2,000,000 in only six months. -Developed and implemented various organic, acquisition, search engine optimization, and social media optimization techniques. -Researched, analyzed, and monitored market and competitive trends via Google Analytics, Alexa, Quantcast, and Comscore. -Constructed quantitative models to track and forecast ad capacity and revenue. Created affiliate website database. -Designed and wrote marketing manual which was disseminated throughout 16 countries. -Created Campus Rep Program to coordinate traditional and internet marketing by college representatives at 25 schools across USA.
Captain/First Mate/Navigator/Chef/Crew
2006 - 2007
• Sailed over 6,000 miles from Wiscasset, ME to Portsmouth, Dominica to Ft. Lauderdale, FL with no prior sailing experience. • Trimmed sails, solo navigated day and night, planned passages, repaired mechanical and electrical systems, avoided storms and collisions, polished steel, and otherwise stayed alive at sea.