Aaron Patzer
Aaron Patzer | |
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![]() Aaron Patzer in 2006 | |
Born | (1980-11-20) November 20, 1980 (age 43)[1][2][3] Madison, Wisconsin, United States, North America |
Education | MSEE from Princeton University; BS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Electrical Engineering from Duke University[4] |
Organization(s) | Vital Software, Inc. Auckland, New Zealand, Oceania |
Known for | Founder of Mint.com |
Aaron Patzer (born November 20, 1980) is an Internet entrepreneur and the founder of Mint.com, a financial management tool which was acquired by Intuit and had over 10 million users as of mid-2012.[5]
Biography
Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Patzer graduated from Central High School in Evansville, Indiana. He completed his undergraduate studies in 2002 with a BSEE from Duke University. In 2004, he completed an MSEE from Princeton University.[6]
Patzer began his career in the Internet boom years of 1998–2000, working for Getawebsite.com and Miadora.com (an online jewelry store).[citation needed]
Mint.com
After a number of engineering positions and Internet startups, Patzer founded Mint.com in March 2006.[4] According to Patzer, the inspiration for Mint.com came to him in late 2005 after being frustrated with how difficult it was to use the Intuit Quicken product.[7][8]
Patzer developed the full alpha version of Mint.com (in Java J2EE and MySQL) in 2006 before he met Josh Kopelman (founder of half.com) and Rob Hayes at a STIRR dinner in the fall of 2006.[9] The meeting led to funding, and Patzer launched Mint.com at the TechCrunch40 conference a year later, in September 2007, winning the $50K first prize.[10]
In September 2008, Patzer was listed in Inc. magazine's Top 30 Under 30.[11]
On September 14, 2009, Intuit announced that it would buy Mint.com for US$170M.[12] Patzer was criticized for selling the company for too little.[13] At the time of the announced sale, Mint.com had an estimated 1.5 million users.[14] Patzer joined Intuit as VP Product Innovation, and he is also working on a new personal transportation system.[15]
Post-Mint
In 2011, TechCrunch reported that Patzer's next project would be called "Swift" and was exploring the "feasibility of building a personal maglev vehicle transit system."[15] According to Patzer, he was splitting his time between the new venture and his position at Intuit. He left Intuit in December 2012 in order to be able to focus on his new ventures.[16]
Patzer founded Leonardo Software Inc. in September 2013.[17]
Fountain.com
In 2013, Patzer launched Fountain.com along with Jean Sini, CTO. The main benefit to using Fountain is that you can connect with any expert, on mostly any topic, for free from your smartphone.[18] Fountain.com was sold to Porch.com in October 2015. Patzer stepped down as CEO and did not join Porch. Instead, he relocated overseas for personal reasons. Sini became the leader of Porch's San Francisco office.[19]
Vital Software
In 2017, Patzer relocated to Auckland, New Zealand, to start Vital Software Ltd.[20] Vital is said to "bring that consumer-focused mindset to emergency rooms and hospitals to help them organize patient flow."[21]
References
- ^ Langlois, Christophe (November 20, 2009). Happy Birthday to Aaron Patzer, Founder & CEO at Mint.com! Visible Banking, 20 November 2009. Retrieved from http://www.visiblebanking.com/happy-birthday-to-aaron-patzer-founder-ceo-at-mint-com/.
- ^ Shontell, Alyson (September 20, 2011). 10 Founders Under 30 Who Grew Their Startups To $100 Million+ Exits. SFGate, 20 September 2011. "Aaron Patzer was 28 when he sold Mint.com for $170 million ... In September 2009, two years after its launch, Mint was acquired by Intuit for $170 million." Retrieved from https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/10-Founders-Under-30-Who-Grew-Their-Startups-To-2298688.php.
- ^ Lagorio-Chafkin, Christine (November 28, 2010). Aaron Patzer Ditches His Desk. Inc., 28 November 2010. "Aaron Patzer celebrated his 30th birthday this weekend in the British Virgin Islands." Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/articles/2010/11/aaron-patzer-ditches-his-desk-at-intuit.html.
- ^ a b "Aaron Patzer: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on September 23, 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
Mr. Aaron Patzer serves as an Advisor of HealthTap, Inc. Mr. Patzer serves as the Vice President and General Manager of Personal Finance group at Intuit. He founded Mint Software, Inc. (Mint.com), in 2006 and served as its Chief Executive Officer. He served as President of Mint Software, Inc.
- ^ "LinkedIn.com - Aaron Patzer". Mint.com. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
As of summer 2012, Mint.com had 10m users.
- ^ "Aaron Patzer". First Round Capital. Archived from the original on 2012-06-01. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
Aaron holds an MSEE from Princeton University and a BS in computer science, computer engineering, and electrical engineering from Duke University. He has 10 patents filed or pending.
- ^ Patzer, Aaron (March 13, 2007). "The Personal Finance Tool problems began…". MintLife Blog. Intuit, Inc. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
Problem was I got busy; I hadn't kept up with Quicken in many, many months. And that meant trouble. Really all I wanted to see was how much I spent on gas and groceries, and maybe learn if I was buying too many DVDs on Amazon. But to figure all of that out, it was going to take a whole Sunday's worth of work.
- ^ Patzer, Aaron (October 12, 2010). "Three Reasons Why I Started Mint.com". The Blog. Huffington Post. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
- ^ blog posting
- ^ TechCrunch.com, "Mint Wins TechCrunch40 Top Company Award; Takes $50,000 Prize" link
- ^ "The Number Cruncher"
- ^ "Intuit to Acquire Mint.com". Intuit, Inc. September 14, 2009. Archived from the original on 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Mint.com, a leading provider of online personal finance services in a cash transaction valued at approximately $170 million. Privately held Mint.com, based in Mountain View, Calif., has successfully used its advanced technology to provide consumers with an easy and intelligent way to manage their money. "With this transaction, Intuit will gain another fast-growing consumer brand and a highly successful Software as a Service (SaaS) offering that helps people save and make money," said Brad Smith, Intuit CEO. "This move will enhance Intuit's position as a leading provider of consumer SaaS offerings that connect customers across desktop, online and mobile.
- ^ Paley, Eric; Flaherty, Joseph (17 May 2017). "There's no shame in a $100M startup | TechCrunch". Retrieved 2017-05-25.
- ^ Wortham, Jenna (September 14, 2009). "Intuit Buys Mint, a Web-Based Finance Competitor". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
Mint, which unveiled its free online services in September 2007, quickly became popular as more people turned to the Web to create budgets and manage their finances. The company says it has 1.5 million users tracking nearly $50 billion in assets and $200 billion in transactions.
- ^ a b Schonfeld, Erick (December 4, 2011). "Mint Founder's New Project, Swift, Studies Personal Maglev Vehicles". TechCrunch. AOL Inc. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
Aaron Patzer, the founder of Mint, has a new project that he is spending half his time on (he continues to spend the other half as VP of Product Innovation at Intuit, which acquired Mint two years ago for $170 million). His new project is called Swift, and it is his vehicle (if you will) to explore the feasibility of building a personal maglev vehicle transit system. "The goal is to see if I can develop a new transportation system to displace cars in most urban and suburban settings," he told me recently, "with the goal being 5x the speed, and bringing the cost of maglev from today's costs of $50m / mile down to $4-5m / mile, which would be the same as adding one lane of asphalt/concrete road. Not sure if it will pan out, as I'm deep in the science and simulation phase."
- ^ "LinkedIn.com - Aaron Patzer". Mint.com. Retrieved 2014-05-20.
- ^ "LinkedIn.com - Aaron Patzer". Mint.com. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
- ^ "Startup Spotlight: Fountain - Instant Answers by Mint's Aaron Patzer - Zanthro". Retrieved 2015-09-28.
- ^ Lardinois, Frederic (29 October 2015). "Porch Acquires Mobile Advice Marketplace Fountain". techcrunch.com. TechCrunch. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
- ^ "New Zealand Business Listing". NZL Business.
- ^ Schieber, Jonathan. "Mint founder Aaron Patzer launches Vital, an ER management tool that integrates with electronic health records". TechCrunch.