RW

Rick Winfield

Business Owner at Stealth Project

Greater Reno Area

Overview 

Rick Winfield is an accomplished entrepreneur and investor with a diverse background in founding and leading successful startups, including ComputerTrainingSchools.com and Caution Media, Inc. Currently, he serves as a business owner of a stealth project and an angel investor, contributing his expertise to companies like LandTrust and Madorra. His extensive experience in entrepreneurship and strategic investments showcases his ability to drive business growth and innovation.

Work Experience 

  • Business Owner

    2023 - Current

    I'm Working on my next project, not quite ready to announce yet.

  • Angel Investor

    2003 - 2023

    ***I am not currently making new Investments. Please don't send me investment inquiries via LinkedIn*** I invest in and advise startups and am an LP in several funds and syndicates. My favorite areas to invest in include: Online Marketplaces, Artificial Intelligence, Consumer Goods, HRTech, RestaurantTech, PropTech, and the occasional B2B SaaS company. I like companies that create efficiencies around major life decisions like education, real estate, employment, and food. My most successful investment to date was a chocolate bar company.

  • Investment Committee Member

    2019 - 2021

  • Professor of Entrepreneurship

    2014 - 2020

    I was a member of the faculty at Sierra Nevada College, a private liberal arts college on the north shore of Lake Tahoe. I designed and taught classes about Entrepreneurship, Digital Marketing, Entrepreneurial Finance, Corporate Finance, and Leadership. I was the faculty advisor for team LIMIT, a student business plan competition team that won over $70k in prize money (see more under projects).

  • Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship

    2014 - 2015

    I taught Special Topics in Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurial Marketing at UNR and Small Business Marketing at Truckee Meadows Community College.

  • Founder & Director of Technology

    2003 - 2013

    Veskritec was a lead generation directory website incubator that assisted in the creation of four lead generation businesses: www.BeautySchoolsDirectory.com (sold 2007) www.ElderLivingSource.com (sold 2008) www.AllPropertyManagement.com (sold 2010) www.ManufacturedHomeSource.com We identified and recruited business founders, provided a website technology platform and business development consulting, and assisted with the sale of three of the four websites. We invested in each website using a unique revenue-based finance model and realized a >6X return on our investment over 7 years.

  • Founder

    2001 - 2011

    Caution Media, Inc. was the business entity under which I explored entrepreneurial ventures for 10 years. Our biggest success was ComputerTrainingSchools.com (see below).

  • Founder

    2001 - 2006

    Founded ComputerTrainingSchools.com, a pioneer in online .edu lead generation. Built the website technology, hired a sales team, developed SEO/SEM/affiliate marketing campaigns, and oversaw day to day operations of the business. Grew the business to annual revenue of $3M before successful sale to Quinstreet, Inc (NASDAQ: QNST) in December 2005.

  • CTO

    1999 - 2000

    Recruited by company founder to lead the technical team in building a content-focused online business. workz.com was a leading provider of online information for small businesses, rated as a top 10 small business site by Fortune, Forbes, and Inc. Magazines. I hired a team of seven and acted as the liaison between the technology team and the editorial and business development teams. We built in-house, highly scalable content management and email list management systems to host the content, control editorial workflow, support content syndication, and facilitate ad revenue schemas.

  • Web/Ecommerce Developer

    1996 - 1999

    Original employee hired to develop and maintain the website for a children's computer game company. I built interactive and social features as well as an online store that quickly made the web team "profitable." Developed online presence for Cavedog Entertainment, a new game studio started by Humongous. Recruited by Humongous' parent company to build a company-wide e-commerce system. Assisted in the recruiting and hiring of ten additional employees for the web and e-commerce teams.

Articles About Rick

Relevant Websites