Scott Ford

Co-Founder & CEO

2023 - Current

Lecturer & Venture Coach

2023

Faculty position coaching students in the Entrepreneurship & Innovation capstone course (BUSM4010)

Co-Founder & Partner

2022 - 2023

Co-Founder & Partner

2022 - 2023

Chief Operating Officer

2019 - 2022

Executive leader overseeing all operational aspects of the service delivery teams, product line P&Ls, business continuity planning, monthly budget reviews and managing Techstars’ Code of Conduct across the entire 10,000+ network of entrepreneurs, mentors, investors and employees. Management of ~140 employees, representing nearly 50% of the entire Techstars staff, including 50 Managing Directors, who were responsible for selecting companies to participate in their 13-week accelerator programs, deploying $60M in annual capital investments. Direct Entrepreneur Development team that annually operates ~1,000 Startup Weekend and ~50 Startup Week events across ~120 countries with a team of 11, leveraging a network of hundreds of volunteers and community leaders to deliver Techstars’ programming and content across the globe. Launched the world’s largest volunteer entrepreneur event with over 17,000 participants. Led Techstars COVID-19 response efforts and cross-functional teams, including the creation of Colorado’s first technology work-from-home guidebook for State of Colorado employees during the COVID-19 pandemic at the request of Governor Polis. Created the first business continuity playbook, including Techstars executive succession plan, safety and security protocols, contact tracing and media plan. Lead Techstars DE&I commitment (2019-2025) to invest in 1,000 diverse CEOs applying and accepted into an accelerator program—first year results showed a 45% increase in diverse applicants and a 56% increase in diverse CEOs.

Executive Vice President, Operations

2018 - 2019

Newly created role with increased responsibilities that included the entire customer lifecycle for all customer and partner-facing services, including Techstars’ 50+ mentorship-driven Accelerator programs, 1,000+ Startup Weekend/Startup Week events, Global Network, Real Estate, Global Sourcing, Education & Training and all back-office operating support teams. Created the first accelerator management team, allowing programs to scale from 20 to 50+ programs within two years, deploying ~$36M in additional investment capital. Launched the first global sourcing program, increasing engagement from 20K applicants to a pool of 80K prospective founders while also increasing the number of founders accepted by 50% in each of the first two years since implementation. Relationship management with corporate accelerator partners who participate in 35 accelerator programs, including Barclays Bank, SAP, Comcast, Amazon Alexa Fund, and Target. Interim leader of Technology team during six-month leadership transition, including launching Techstars first intranet site and reducing expenses by nearly $100,000 through consolidation and cost reductions.

General Manager

2017 - 2018

Responsible for creating an organization built for scale, including defining and leading the restructure and reorganization of the Accelerator business unit, including the day-to-day operations and management of nearly 50 staff with a focus on international programs (15 countries) and 20+ corporate partners. Leadership of all back-office operations that supported the running of all Accelerator programs globally.

Board Member

2018 - 2021

StormSensor develops sensors, software and analytics to monitor water in sewer systems and prevent urban flooding. It provides a cloud-based stormwater monitoring platform designed to offer real-time data and insights to track how stormwater is flowing through systems including municipal sewers, private sewers, and commercial sites. StormSensor works with major cities to identify where sewers overflow to prevent urban flooding.

Acting CEO

2017 - 2018

Over the course of 10 days, a group of 10 CEOs, successful entrepreneurs from across the United States, came together to face a monumental challenge. Their task? Confront 10 Wicked Problems in Health. Their goal? Exploration, discovery, understanding. Their hope? To create a new venture based on a new product or service that can change the world. Developed and prototyped aggregated platform using artificial intelligence and patient-generated data to report and share information across the patient's care team. Created transparency, reducing medical errors and improving overall health literacy through wellness plans developed for the treatment and management of today's most urgent health needs, including diabetes, weight management, cardiac rehabilitation and mental health.

President & Chief Operating Officer

2015 - 2016

Recruited by CEO of Rapt Media to take over President/COO role to create accountability and establish the necessary controls and processes to position the organization for high growth. Completed Series B funding through Boulder Ventures and Golden Seeds. Rapt Media was a graduate of Techstars Boulder 2011 and acquired by Kaltura in 2017. Raised $2M in venture funding within the first 6 months. Increased annual recurring revenue 155% over prior year through upsell opportunities and additional service offerings. Led turnaround of struggling customer pilot projects: ABC News for $97,000 subscription plus service fees, and Warner Bros. for successful U.S. and international launches in seven languages. Defined product roadmap, corporate and SaaS disaster recovery plans and metrics across Product and R&D organizations to measure success of Agile and Kanban development processes.

Vice President, Global Operations & Int'l Sales

2015 - 2015

Expanded previous VP role to take on leadership for sales outside North America and the associated international operations. Led a staff of 75+ across eight business units, including seven revenue-generating teams and Corporate IT/SaaS. Annual revenue responsibilities accounted for 60 percent of FY15 revenue. Sold $1.1 million in the first 6 months, including the largest international sale in company history. Consistently rated as a top manager in annual manager survey, including an overall manager rating of 4.0 on a 4.0 scale Negotiated $28 million 132-month lease on new facility with $8.9 million buildout.

Vice President, Operations & IT

2010 - 2015

Responsibilities expanded across entire ZOLL organization to facilitate growth, including the implementation of LEAN process improvement programs, developing ZOLL’s first SaaS infrastructure solution (ZOLL Online) and a temporary relocation to Frankfurt, Germany to oversee international expansion within Europe, Nordics and select parts of Latin America. Built international infrastructure and accountable for the launch of software and hardware products, including third-party installation partners and software services capabilities in European and Nordic countries Governance duties included HIPAA privacy officer, software compliance officer and law enforcement liaison. Developed cloud-based infrastructure to support multiple applications and generate $1.8 million in annual revenue. Outsourced email across 3,600 employees, reducing expenses by $229,000 over 3-year term Generated over $48,000 in grants for process improvement training

Vice President, Operations

2007 - 2010

Promoted to newly created VP role to better integrate all post-sales revenue teams and activities, including technical support, client relations, professional services, project management and all aspects of IT – consulting and corporate – responsibilities. Formalized Voice of Customer (VOC) program and implemented Net Promoter System (NPS), including transactional surveys with each customer interaction and biannual relationship surveys.

Director, Software Support & Services

2006 - 2007

Responsible for stabilizing and then growing the technical support and client success organizations to achieve a high level of customer satisfaction, through consistent hiring, training and replicable processes. Achieved overall customer satisfaction of 93% with 97.4% customer retention Established metrics to ensure accountability across organization

CEO & Co-Founder

2003 - 2006

Built a profitable e-commerce software platform and retail store concept, including the development of a unique hub-and-spoke business model with multiple drop-off locations throughout Boulder and Denver. OTB was ranked as the #1 eBay Trading Post in Colorado (2005, 2006), before the successful sale of the business.