Frank Taylor
Entrepreneur in Residence at Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science
Frank Taylor
Entrepreneur in Residence at Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science
Washington, District of Columbia
Overview
Work Experience
Investment Associate
2023 - Current
Virginia Venture Partners (VVP) places direct equity investments in Virginia’s leading technology, energy, life science and scale-able non-tech startups through a family of seed and early stage investment funds capitalized by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the U.S. Treasury Department’s SSBCI Program.
Entrepreneur in Residence
2023
Serve as an EIR at the Carnegie Mellon University school of Computer Science where I advise CS graduate students and alumni startup founders commercializing unique IP.
Scout
2021 - 2023
Early stage venture capital fund focused on consumer technology, marketplaces, and new ways for everyday people to make money over the internet. 35+ startups in portfolio including: Substack, Cameo, Clubhouse, AngelList, Offsyte, Intro, and Ergatta. The decentralization of startup world is increasing. With communities moving online and away from the Bay Area, tomorrow's unicorns will be built in cities like LA, Austin, Miami, DC, Dallas and Chicago. We frequently invest alongside some of the best in the industry including: a16z, SoftBank Vision Fund, Battery Ventures, 776, Greycroft Venture Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Guest Lecturer
2020 - 2021
Invited to present to undergraduate classes on strategies for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Co-Founder & CEO
2017 - 2020
Created AmenityOS - shared space management software for multi-tenant commercial office buildings. Operated 40,000 square feet of corporate meeting and event space across 7 Class-A office buildings. Used software automation and on-demand labor to increase asset utilization by 1,100%. Raised $1MM of debt and equity investment. Achieved 3 years of rapid growth at a 106% CAGR. Hired and led a fully distributed team of 10 employees with full P&L responsibility. Used Lean Startup and Agile Development principles to iterate quickly, launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), and secure a six-figure contract in first 3 months of operation. Released a private beta and onboarded hundreds of users from Apple, AMEX, Bayer, Deloitte, Ford, Lyft, P&G and more in the first 6 months of operation. Expanded to 7 buildings and scaled revenue to $60k MRR in the first 2 years of operation.
Co-Founder
2012 - 2018
Helped create an online / offline community of 12,000+ entrepreneurs and investors focused on growing the regional innovation economy in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Frequently partnered with local, state, and federal government agencies, large corporations, and leading universities to support entrepreneurship, startup formation, and economic development initiatives.
Executive Director, DC Regional Startup Census
2015 - 2017
In 2016, Fosterly launched a Startup Census to help stakeholders in the Washington D.C. Region better understand the local innovation economy. Between 2016 and 2017, we collected and analyzed over 70,000 data points from 494 early stage companies. I designed and authored the final Startup Census report for both years, with commentary from subject matter experts from Cushman & Wakefield, PwC, Humble Ventures, & Verizon.
Executive Director, Collaborate Conference
2014 - 2015
Named one of "5 Must-Attend Events to Make the Washington Tech Scene" by the Washingtonian in 2015. In less than 9 months from concept to execution, I produced a three-day innovation conference attracting over 1,000 attendees and 135 high profile speakers. Women and people of color represented over 50% of the speakers at Collaborate. Keynote speakers included Megan Smith - Chief Technology Officer of the United States, Tom Chi - Co-Founder of Google[x] and creator of Google Glass, David Barrett - Founder & CEO of Expensify, Erie Meyer - Founder of the United States Digital Service (fixed HealthCare.Gov), Katie Harbath - Director of Public Policy at Facebook, Victoria Taylor - Director of Communications at Reddit. The conference objective was to bridge the gap between government and private sector innovators to facilitate collaboration. A diverse group of organizations participated including the Obama White House, NASA, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. Department of State, U.S. General Service Administration, USAID, Ashoka, Verizon, Tesla, Facebook, Makerbot, Reddit, Esquire, TechCrunch, AngelList, Marriott, Code for America, Alibaba, Lending Club, Github, and Twitter.
Advisory Board Member
2014 - 2017
Participated in advisory board meetings representing the DC tech and startup community. Helped plan and execute a large multi-year activation, the WeDC House, at the South by Southwest (SXSW) innovation festival in Austin, TX.
Program Lead - WeDC Ambassadors @ SXSW
2015 - 2017
Created the WeDC Ambassador program to recruit exceptional people to represent the DC creative economy on a global stage at SXSW. - Recruited and interviewed hundreds of qualified applicants - Selected 9 Ambassadors in 2016 and grew to 27 Ambassadors in 2017 - Secured partnership support from Southwest Airlines
Event Host & Organizer
2015 - 2017
2017 WeDC CXO Party Hosted sold out invite-only event for 200+ C-suite executives at SXSW. - Executed start to finish on 3-days notice - Co-Hosted with Deputy Mayor Brian Kenner - Attendees from Google, Deloitte, Dell, Uber, MIT, as well as multiple startup founders & investors 2015 SXSW Innovation Dinner Hosted executive dinner featuring a presentation on the Internet of Things (IoT) landscape and moderated discussion exploring related opportunities for cross-sector collaboration. - Attended by 30+ executive level guests, 98% of RSVP list (difficult at SXSW) - Recruited subject matter expert co-hosts: Shawn DuBravac, Chief Economist at the Consumer Technology Association and Michael Farber, EVP of Strategic Innovation at Booz Allen Hamilton - Guests included Washington D.C. Mayor Bowser, the CIO of the U.S. Department of Labor, Deputy Director of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the CIO of Austin Texas, the Digital Director of New York City, and startup founders ranging from early stage to Unicorn status ($1B valuation).
Founder & CEO (Acquired)
2010 - 2017
Restin is the leading provider of premium robotic massage chairs for corporate wellness and experiential marketing applications. We have supported multiple United Healthcare activations at CES, built multi-year partnerships with the College Football National Championship, NBA All Star Week, Salesforce's "Dreamforce" Conference, NFL Combine and many other large scale national events. Progressive employers like AstraZeneca, Booking.com, Hulu, and WeWork also purchase Restin massage chairs to provide a workplace amenity. In 2016 Restin was named to the Entrepreneur 360 List by Entrepreneur Magazine, recognizing top performers in impact, innovation, growth and leadership.
R&D Project Lead
2013 - 2015
Human Touch® is the leading US-based provider of advanced robotic massage chairs and other wellness technology products. I was contracted to assemble and lead a team of software developers, UX/UI designers and engineers to create a next-generation, software-driven control system and digital user interface for the flagship product line. I reported directly to the Chief Executive Officer and Head of Research & Development. At the conclusion of my contract, a working prototype was delivered on time and on budget. The prototype was delivered 4X faster and at 1/3 the cost of a previous unsuccessful project with the same objective but different leadership.
Guest Services
2007 - 2010
Managed guest services for a mid-sized hotel in the popular historic district while attending the College of William & Mary. Responsible for booking reservations, supervising facilities, and managing accounts. Hampton was ranked #1 Franchise on Entrepreneur Magazine's 2011 Franchise 500®
Education
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
2006 - 2010