Tipping Points

We can't believe "cool accountant" is an oxymoron. Prove us right!

2011-07-20T09:51:30-04:00

Tipping Point Partners has a high-growth opportunity for a great Accountant and Human Resources Administrator. We are seeking a full-time superstar to help manage our financial and personnel activities, keep our ‘trains running on time,’ and work closely with our portfolio companies in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment. This position will play a critical role in allowing us to build our business; we promise hard work, awesome obstacles, thrilling victories, and great satisfaction, alongside a supportive, fun-loving and smart team.

YOU:

• Minimum of 2 years of experience in accounting/bookkeeping
• Self-starter with fierce organizational capabilities

• Obsessively detail-oriented, unafraid of numbers, with exceptional analytical skills

• Common sense, limitless curiosity, sense of humor and an appreciation for the absurd
• Roll-up-the-sleeves problem solver also not afraid to ask for help
• Familiarity with Quickbooks accounting software
• Passionate about technology, and excited by the prospect of working with tech startups

THE POSITION:
• Perform bookkeeping, including invoicing and bill-paying

• Perform monthly close activities, including bank and account reconciliations
• Maintain financial books and records

• Administer personnel benefits and process payroll

• Assist with budgeting and financial modeling

US:

Tipping Point Partners is a New York-based technology incubator focused on the application of social technologies to make large organizations more efficient and effective. Our portfolio falls into four categories: Twenty-first Century Enterprise, Tastemaking, Public Service, and Democracy. Since 2005, Tipping Point Partners’ unique approach to startups has included co-founding, interim management, deal-making, financing, investing and strategy, generally all at the same time.

INTERESTED?
In one page or less, tell us how you embody the qualities listed above, and describe a situation in which you brought these qualities to the table to solve a problem or make a difference. Please include this with your cover letter, resume and anything that you think will help us get to know you and what you can do, in an email to amanda@tippingpointpartners.com, cc’ing stan@tippingpointpartners.com.

Apps of my iPad: My Favorite iPad Apps of 2010

2010-12-28T16:08:12-05:00

I admit it. I'm in love.

It got off to a somewhat rocky start. I got her shortly after she became available. The first month was spent caressing her sleek curves and admiring her stunning visage. But the relationship troubled me. I wondered if she were just a blown-up iPod. Was there anyone really at home? Was I seduced by gorgeous, expensive and fragile arm candy? A tragically doomed, short-lived relationship to be quickly supplanted by the next best thing?

Today, there are no more questions. It's for real. Like all worthwhile relationships, it's taken work, which has repaid me in spades. I have become a devoted and committed partner to my iPad. My growing love has spurred aspirants everywhere to ask for my secrets. So here they are:

My favorite outerwear

When I wear Arc'teryx, I feel sleek and stylish, as at-home on Volcán Arenal as I do in Manhattan. The booq iPad cover that my colleague Marci Weisler recently gave me provokes a similar feeling. It's so much better than my bulky leather InCase folio that so uncomfortably reminded me of a 1980s-vintage Coach bag. The booq has a rugged ballistic nylon cover that's a slick silver on the inside, matte black internal plastic rim that holds the iPad securely, with a flange that promises to protect my baby from accidental falls that can crack the screen. And it has pockets.

My can't-live-without accessories

Let's face it, the finger can be a blunt instrument. The pinch-unpinch-shrinko-expando-thingy is just plain-o inconvenient when you want to touch something small. My Pogo stylus lets me make precise selections, gives writing more of a pen-to-paper feel, and adds dimensions to my drawing by improving control over pressure: the harder I push, the thicker and darker the line. (Warning: the plastic clip is prone to breaking but I got one with a metal clip in my Christmas stocking. Definitely worth tracking one down.)

In the front pocket of my booq live a Pogo stylus and a portable WiFi. I have a Verizon Wireless MiFi, but if I weren't locked into a contract, I'd have the Virgin America version. It's the best deal in town for portable, everywhere Wi-Fi that you can tether to 5 devices.

Apps of my iPad

With the right tools and accessories, her inner capacity really shines through. We connect on so many levels, and she never ceases to entertain me and find new ways to improve my life:

Wow

Star Walk. Imagine standing in the middle of space with a spherical view of the universe surrounding you with a roadmap that moves everywhere you look, with the ability to zoom in on stars, galaxies and planets. It's a gyroscopic and real-time data retrieval/simulation tour de force that makes the universe simultaneously more accessible and therefore humbling in its vastness. Magical. Even with the corny New Age music turned on.

Radarscope. The combination of weather and real-time data are taken for granted. But what if you could see the actual weather radar feeds in real-time, anywhere in the US, with enough controls to make any weather geek happy for hours?

Google Earth. Do I actually need to say anything about this except that nearly all the amazing features of the desktop app seem to (miraculously) work on the iPad?

Living

Weatherbug. GPS-enabled map + radar + 6-day forecast in the easiest-to-read weather format I've seen.

Skype. Obviously, with no camera, it's video-less. But my calls to my partners in Hong Kong are crystal-clear.

Kindle. Allison uses a Kindle device tied to my Amazon account. So we buy one book and download it to both her Kindle and my iPad.

ZagatToGo. I'm a demanding eater, which means I want to eat what I want when I want wherever I am. This last criterion trumps all others, making this GPS-enabled app restorative of much of the faded luster of the Zagat brand. And if you have the OpenTable app (below), seamless reservations are at your fingertips.

OpenTable. It's good, but it's goodness is so dependent on the far richer ZagatToGo app (above) that alone I don't know that I'd use it. But in combo, they're great.

Weber On the Grill. My dear friend Will Schwalbe launched Cookstr.com two years ago and since then we have been dreaming of the ultimate cooking app. No app, I repeat none, have come close to our vision of what the Cookstr iPad app could be. But the rich, integrated features of the Weber app made me sweat. Then it made me drool. Then it made me cook. 'nough said.

Working

Dropbox. I'm not used to taking tech advice from a CPA, but as I have learned repeatedly, it pays to listen to my CFO, Stan Lau, who was the first Dropbox devotee I knew. But it was Aliza who forced me to use it, resulting in a great "Aha! Duh!" moment. Why Steve Jobs didn't invent this Apple-like user-friendly universal virtual disk drive that is accessible from all your web-connected devices baffles me. Now, this is THE critical app for doing work on your hard-drive-challenged iPad. Just read the next two app reviews.

Noterize. I sketch. I doodle. I think in fragments. And then string it together. Noterize allows me to do all this in a notebook format. Then pdf and email the assemblage right from the app. But that's only part of the coolness. When you open pdfs from your Dropbox drive, you can then attach virtual Post-it Notes, highlight phrases, and type comments. At this point, you think you're pretty cool. But then when you re-pdf and email the mark-up, the recipient will think that you walk on water. The audio recording feature is just icing. Noterize is sooo cool that you will probably forgive the primitive sketching functionality that will make every artist appear to lack fine motor skills. Oh, and save your work to Dropbox.

Quickoffice. Microsoft is sadly a necessary evil. And Quickoffice is the closest approximation. But when you don't have to lug that now-obese-seeming Macbook Pro cross-country, Quickoffice seems downright genius-like. NOTE TO DEAL JUNKIES: I HAVEN'T FOUND AN APP THAT PRESERVES TRACK CHANGES. Quickoffice doesn't allow me to view track changes, meaning that I sometimes have to carry my iPad and my Macbook Pro. So I get annoyed, until I fire up Quickoffice, open a file that Aliza or Liberty has saved in our Dropbox drive, then save my changes to that Dropbox drive, reminding me how technology improves our work lives, track changes or not. Since Dropbox automatically preserves the most recent saved versions, at least I have a way to preserve versions for later comparison.

Noteshelf. This handwriting app seems designed for the Pogo stylus. No, it doesn't do character recognition - does anything? But it fakes weight with squishiness of the stylus tip, allowing everyone to write like a calligrapher or draw like Degas. When I take notes by hand or just sketch, this is the only app I use.

Google. I use gmail, host Tipping Point's email on Google, use Google Calendar, Google Docs, and Google Talk. This handy app rolls up all these URLs and more into a handy, clickable list.

2Do. I hate to-do lists even more than Office, but sometimes there's no other place to put an important to-do item. 2Do is the best, most intuitive app I've seen.

Digits. When I started working in the 198os, I found myself using adding machines with paper tape far more than my HP. Why? Because the paper tape gave me a running account of my work. Digits replicates the big, fat keys and the paper tape of my favorite adding machines. I just wish it had a little HP built-in as well.

GoToMeeting and WebEx. When you have to listen in, why not be portable with a fully-functioned app? If you don't give/participate in group presentations remotely, these are unnecessary.

Socializing

Friendly. This app has become my favorite way of accessing Facebook. It gives me the activity feed. And photos. And messages. Reducing the download time for accessing FB via Safari.

Flipboard. I don't often have time for magazines, or even for this amalgam of my social feeds into a beautiful, real-time magazine, but if I did, this would be one of my favorites.

Self-entertaining

Netflix. Curled up in bed with my iPad and a good Netflix movie makes for an amazingly personal movie-going experience.

KCRW Radio. This is not yet an iPad app at this writing, only iPhone, but I so love KCRW that this easily navigated on-demand radio player has become a staple.

Osmos. Although I'm fascinated by games and have worked with many game companies, Osmos is the only game that has translated its mechanics into a visual dance of physics, math and biology.

Wait...

Dragon Dictation. The dream of having one's voice translated into text still doesn't satisfy, but if Dragon's PC software is any clue, this one day could be magical.

Notes Plus. Yes, I want my primitive sketches to look better. I want my type to look sophisticated. And I want to group objects and move them together. The promise of Notes Plus can't live up to its execution, but it's a beautiful vision. Maybe a couple more versions?

BlogPress. Yes, sometimes I want to blog across all my platforms. But if Wordpress functionality doesn't work, BlogPress doesn't work for me. But it works for all other platforms. So close but so far.

iPad Keyboard. When I travel with my iPad alone, I usually bring this. It's a visual disgrace to Apple's design aesthetic. Lumpy. Heavier than it looks. Doesn't pack easily. I long for the folding butterfly keyboard that was made for the early Palm Pilot. Or at least a base that folds up easily. But I prefer this to Apple's bluetooth keyboard for its stable, built-in charging stand.

Friends, Facebook and Death

2010-12-13T22:53:43-05:00

T killed himself on Facebook. He was depressed. He drank constantly. He distanced himself from friends. His liver was failing. He was injured in a fall and hospitalized in August. And never came out. He weighed 85 lbs when he died two weeks before Thanksgiving. T's demise took months and happened in plain view on Facebook. I didn't notice.

More than a decade ago, maybe two, T and I became well acquainted through one of my closest friends. T, a talented cook, made me the occasional dinner party guest. A few years later, T, a talented fashion designer, made Allison's elegant pale grey chiffon wedding dress and scarf trimmed with bugle beads and my matching striped silk charmeuse and doupioni vest. T had a wicked sense of humor, but sufficiently biting to discourage close friendship. But when Facebook opened to non-students, we quickly became "friends". In 2009, T began posting what amounted to an exhaustive autobiographical photo essay about his life. It piqued enough curiosity that I spent many minutes clicking through countless photos of unknown people and places in T's past, but no time actually reaching out. When T died, I found out the old-fashioned way, in a face-to-face conversation with the friend who introduced us. On returning to my desk I did what over 250 million people do daily, I checked Facebook and found that T and I were no longer friends.

Or were we? Friendship - and betrayal - have always eluded any definition other than that of the beholder. Now, the social web allows us to easily count our connections. I have over 1,000 "friends" on Facebook and LinkedIn and over 600 "followers" on Twitter. Replacing the tired query "who are your friends" with the contemporary query "who are your connections" is akin to replacing live music with an mp3 and calling them equal.

The problem is in the cultural asymmetries that can lead to misconceptions. I fear that T, a denizen of the old world, mistook "connections" for "friends" and built false expectations of his connections into his online Bataan Death March. But I know that many inhabitants of the brave new social world make the same mistake.

Some would assert that friends in the online world are those included in Dunbar's number, the number of "people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. These are relationships in which an individual knows who each person is, and how each person relates to every other person^", according to Wickipedia.

Dunbar's number is irrelevant! proclaims Jacob Morgan in Social Media Today. Dunbar's number may cover so-called "strong ties", not "weak ties". But he is interested in the weak ties, for

"they form bridges to worlds we do not walk within. Strong ties, on the other hand, tend to be worlds we already know; a good friends often knows many of the same people and things we know. They are not the best when it comes to searching for new jobs, ideas, experts, and knowledge. Weak ties are also good because they take less time. It's less time consuming to talk to someone once a month (weak tie) than twice a week (a strong tie). People can keep up quite a few weak ties without them being a burden."

Social networks do enable people to increase the number of weak ties, but strong ties remain relatively few. But both increase proportionately with the size of the overall network.

In the discussion of Dunbar, strong ties and the weak, I wasn't finding a nice, neat way to distinguish between a "friend" and a "connection" until I saw my friend David Larkin, who remarked at how it made his day how happy I looked whenever I ran into him in the street or the subway.

A friend, according to Merriam-Webster, is "one attached to another via affection or esteem".

A friend, according to me, cannot be quantified by what I know about the past, the common connections we have, whether we have a "strong" or "weak" ties, or how long I've known them or how often I've seen them. The difference is in the emotional fidelity. A friend is one who lights up when they see me, and who lights up in return when I see them. In person. No matter what. And whether a year or two decades has passed, we are in each other's business as if time were irrelevant.

To my eye, as a beholder, T was a friend and I mourn his passing.

Joy and awesomeness are responsibilities of leadership

2010-09-30T11:50:58-04:00

I was writing some thoughts about companies having a crisis of confidence and realized that what I wrote has general applicability. Look forward to any reaction to this.

* when "joy" is missing from the work, particularly when smothered by fear and toil, leadership fails

* when "awesomeness" is missing from the product vision, designers aren't necessary to get at what could make "awesome"; leadership fails when it has not created ways for the team's wisdom to emerge

Work can be joyful, set clearly on the path to awesomeness, punctuated by regular bursts of productive, collective energy that remind us why we're doing this, renewing each others' faith and steadfastness that we, together, in our common purpose and belief in each other can realize the impossible.

I worry that we too often stray from this vision of what work should be. I, too, find myself dragged down by fear and toil from time to time.

Apple's Garden Has No Walls - Finally!

2010-07-28T09:40:34-04:00

The Library of Congress, which has the power to define exceptions to an important copyright law, said on Monday that it was legal to bypass a phone’s controls on what software it will run to get “lawfully obtained” programs to work.

via www.nytimes.com

App developers, rejoice! The Library of Congress has brought down the walls around Apple's walled garden. Developers can a) circumvent Apple's copyright restrictions to deliver non-Apple-approved apps to the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch; and b) leverage the wireless connectivity provided by those devices.

Who knew the Library of Congress had such awesome power! It's news to me. Follow this link to read the ruling - for the impatient, go immediately to bullets (2) and (3).

Why do we need more apps, with over 225,000 apps on the app store and 5 billion downloads by June 2010? Judge for yourself: rejected apps range from the silly to the baffling.

Apple seemed bent on making itself the Mayberry of content. Let porn, gambling and pureplay ads reside on the Internet. Keep apps on the Apple platform squeaky clean and support Apple's premium positioning. Let Android be the place for everyone else's apps.

Who will benefit? Clear beneficiaries include:

developers impatient with Apple's review process
advertisers seeking a more direct appeal to audiences
content creators who want unfettered creativity
entrepreneurs pushing the boundaries of what a the combination of high-speed wireless connection, GPS, gyroscope, touch screen and rich media can provide, and
of course, porn, gambling and all the other naughty and nasty vices that are publicly condemned and privately enjoyed.

Any guess on how long it will take to get Adobe Flash on the platform?

Tipping Point Partners is seeking a recent college grad with great social and communication skills for admin/receptionist.

2010-06-07T07:12:14-04:00

Are you a liberal arts major from a top school? Do you wonder how you’re going love what you do, since you chose to study what you love?

Does everyone rely on you? Are you trusted for your honesty and attention to important details everyone else overlooked?

Do you make people smile? Do you make shy people comfortable? Strangers feel welcome? Acquaintances brought closer? Do you get wallflowers to dance?

Is your instinct to take care of people and their needs? Do you see how small things can have vital importance to someone’s success?

Are you a multi-tasker with a nearly photographic memory, fierce organizational capabilities and an uncanny ability to anticipate what is needed?

Are you interested in working your way up in a high-growth setting? Tipping Point Partners is seeking an entry-level administrative assistant and receptionist for our 20,000 square foot space, which houses many young technology companies. The role is critically important in allowing us to build our business and set the tone for our company’s social life and internal culture. You would work closely with a supportive, fun-loving and smart team.

You:

· Self-starter, proficient with communications tools for social media and business

· Exceptional writing, organizational and caring skills

· Common sense, limitless curiosity, sense of humor and an appreciation for the absurd

· You have to love technology and people

The Position:

· Administrative assistant/receptionist

· Manage public spaces, set the social tone and make sure the train runs on time

· Assist with events that connect the firm’s network and enhance the social atmosphere in Tipping Point’s 20,000 SF multi-company space

· 4 weeks paid vacation; health benefits

Tipping Point builds and renovates Internet-based startups using innovative approaches to solving business model challenges. We create new businesses that have significant social and/or cultural importance in markets that are ripe for disruption, both for-profit and not. Since 2005, Tipping Point Partners’ unique approach to startups has included co-founding, interim management, strategic deal making, financing, investing and strategy, generally all at the same time.

INTERESTED?

Send resume, biography, and anything that you think would help us get to know you and what you can do to art@tippingpointpartners.com, with a copy to christine@tippingpointpartners.com.

Tipping Point Partners is seeking an extraordinary social planner.

2010-06-07T07:10:49-04:00

Are you the consummate insider? Do your friends look to you as the go-to person for the right introductions, restaurants, events, or styles?

Does everyone rely on you? Are you obsessed with dates and advance planning? Are you trusted for your honesty and attention to important details everyone else overlooked?

Do social puzzles energize you? Do you love threading the needle of competing schedules, complex agendas, and interesting personalities?

Is organizing the perfect event a great accomplishment? Are you the life of your social circle?

Are you a creator of intimacy and safety? Do you make shy people comfortable? Strangers feel welcome? Acquaintances brought closer? Do you get wallflowers to dance?

Are you wondering how to do it for a living? Tipping Point Partners is seeking a savvy all-star to cultivate our important connections, plan our meetings and events and help expand our growing business. You would report directly to the CEO and work in a fun and smart team.

You:

· Liberal arts major from a top school seeking to grow a career doing what you love

· Self-starter, proficient with communications tools for social media and business

· Exceptional analytical, visual, writing, and caring skills

· Common sense, limitless curiosity, sense of humor and an appreciation for the absurd

· Multi-tasking fiend with a nearly photographic memory, fierce organizational capabilities, self-correcting, and uncanny anticipation of what’s needed

· You have to love technology and people

The Position:

· Social Planner, reporting directly to the CEO

· Manage the CEO’s schedule, task list and priorities, and relationships

· Plan events to connect the firm’s network and enhance the social atmosphere in Tipping Point’s 20,000 SF multi-company space

· Salary commensurate with experience; 4 weeks paid vacation; health benefits

· Start date: June 14, 2010

INTERESTED?

By June 11, send resume, biography, and anything else that you think will help us understand you to art@tippingpointpartners.com, with a copy to christine@tippingpointpartners.com.

Reader letter: "I want to be a millionaire before 30"

2010-04-27T08:10:54-04:00

A.W.:
I saw your show on TV. I want you to consider a few of my ideas. I can guess your a pretty busy guy so I won't bother you but I'm a rags to riches story waiting to happen.

I'm an entreprenour and I want to open up a Polish restaurant which serves basically just kielbasa and pierogis. Plain and simple. Out of a small space so the rent isn't expensive and I think its a great idea because there is so much French this, Indian that Chinese, Japanese and all types of dishes but so little Polish. And if they are they've got bad reviews and arn't fast food based.

I want it to be like a take out Chinese food joint. Also I do real estate. Maybe you have Dean Graziosi's number because I've been trying to reach him. Hah. Seriously I want to be a milionaire before 30 and I'm motivaited to do it. Please get back to me sorry for the long mail. Stay prosperous

Me:

Thanks for reaching out. We only focus on companies where IP is at the core and it achieve growth via technology. But, that said, I have some experience in restaurants. Have you been following the trend in high-end food trucks? If not, go to www.nytimes.com and search for "food truck". Polish is disrespected because it's been done cheaply. I'm sure there is room for a gourmet approach to Polish food. Food trucks are a less-expensive way to go than a physical restaurant.

If you want to be rich before you're 30, you need to think "scalable". What small thing can you do that will lead to massive distribution? I'm not sure kielbasas are the way to go. If you figure it out, let me know! Good luck!

We Have Met the Enemy and He is PowerPoint

2010-04-27T08:02:05-04:00

Enemy Lurks in Briefings on Afghan War - PowerPoint.

Excerpts:

“PowerPoint makes us stupid,” Gen. James N. Mattis of the Marine Corps, the Joint Forces commander.

“It’s dangerous because it can create the illusion of understanding and the illusion of control,” General McMaster said in a telephone interview afterward. “Some problems in the world are not bullet-izable.”

Commanders say that behind all the PowerPoint jokes are serious concerns that the program stifles discussion, critical thinking and thoughtful decision-making. Not least, it ties up junior officers — referred to as PowerPoint Rangers — in the daily preparation of slides, be it for a Joint Staff meeting in Washington or for a platoon leader’s pre-mission combat briefing in a remote pocket of Afghanistan.

Seeking VPE to transform human services technology

2010-04-27T07:32:21-04:00

Each year, 3.5 million child abuse investigations are reported and 800,000 children are found to be victims of maltreatment. Technologies that support the country's 80,000 caseworkers in investigations, foster care, and adoption are based on archaic standards. Caseworkers spend 40% or more of their time doing data entry and suffer job dissatisfaction that results in nearly 20% annual turnover rates. This is inefficient and ineffective.

Case Commons’ mission is to transform public sector human services through technology. Case Commons enables workers serving the most vulnerable families and children to be more effective and efficient via new software tools. Casebook™, Case Commons’ marquee technology, is a collaborative, family-centered case management system that leverages the capabilities inherent in social networking technology for the public sector child welfare segment. A growing number of policymakers believe that Casebook™ can be a citizen portal for government services, including health, education and human services. Case Commons is funded by the $2.5 billion Annie E. Casey Foundation, which has spent 20 years pursuing human services system reform; since 2007, AECF has been building Casebook™ in partnership with Tipping Point Partners.

DESCRIPTION

· You will lead the engineering team building Casebook™, reporting to the Chief Operating Officer

· You will assume a leadership position, revolutionizing technology for people serving less advantaged children and families, with high visibility among government, foundation, venture capital, and business leaders

· You will work with a unique team that consists of proven domain leaders, successful entrepreneurs who have helped transform other technology market segments, and software developers from Pivotal Labs, the top Ruby on Rails software development consultancy in the world

· Salaried position in a non-profit organization located in New York City

· Significant travel – up to 50% of time

REQUIREMENTS

You have the passion and skills to succeed in a startup: tenacious, self-directed, flexible, strategic but can turn on a dime, able to inspire others and to be inspired
You go the extra mile
You spent 10 years in information technology, preferably in application development, application management, and operations within a Fortune 500 company or government organization
Optional but especially valuable would be experience with government software for human services, such as for AFCARS, IV-E eligibility, and SACWIS
You have rolled out software to several thousand users within a large organization
You have 3-5 years of managing small engineering teams (< 25)
You have delivered software on time and within budget
You are a student of organizations, familiar with the team structures and processes necessary to handle the full lifecycle of enterprise software (conceptualization, estimation, design, development, piloting, training, deployment, maintenance, customer support, release management, reporting and tracking, sunsetting and migration)
You have managed vendors for software development, web hosting, and security
You are familiar with best practices for securing web applications including but not limited to OWASP, security scanning, secure network design
Your prior work involved sensitive customer data, such as financial information, transactions, HIPAA data, credit cards, or personal health information
You use and appreciate consumer Internet software, including Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube and other “Web 2.0” applications
You have personal or professional Web application projects in Ruby on Rails, LAMP or similar technology stacks
You are expert in agile development processes, and want to transform software development processes within governments and large organizations
You like people and enjoy sharing your knowledge: able to translate engineering needs and challenges into plain English verbally and in writing
You care about people and their success: strong inter-personal and team skills, with active listening abilities and instincts
You have made mistakes part of your process and know how to create a culture that identifies and surfaces problems early
You have common sense, limitless curiosity, terrific taste, and an appreciation for the absurd
You are passionate about our mission

Case Commons and Tipping Point Partners. Tipping Point Partners has worked on Casebook™ since 2007, leading product development and business functions. Tipping Point is responsible for building the Case Commons team.

Tipping Point builds and renovates Internet-based startups using innovative approaches to solving business model challenges. We look for opportunities to create new businesses that have significant social and/or cultural importance in markets that are ripe for disruption, both for-profit and not. Since 2005, Tipping Point Partners’ unique approach to startups has included co-founding, interim management, strategic deal making, financing, investing and strategy, generally all at the same time. Our portfolio has included IGA Worldwide, FashionGPS, Mobile Commons, Cookstr, Rapid Ratings and many others. We achieve the highest and best use for our companies with an agnostic approach to capital sources and huge doses of sweat equity to accelerate development, extend runway and amplify opportunities.

INTERESTED?

Send resume, biography, and link(s) to project(s) to art@tippingpointpartners.com, with a copy to christine@tippingpointpartners.com