No Vision All Drive

Memoirs of an entrepreneur

Ever wonder how a startup comes togetherthe people, places, skills, failures, and hustle that make it a real business? This is the story of David and David, two entrepreneurs with lots of energy and less of a roadmap than you might think. In 1993, David Cohen and David Brown founded their first company, Pinpoint Technologies, which grew from a basement startup to a successful multinational company with $50 million in annual sales and over 250 employees.

Chronicling the story of that company from its beginnings up to 1999, when it was sold to ZOLL, and beyond,No Vision All Driveis the story of that company and the people who transformed a flat-broke, shot-in-the-dark concept into a market-leading small business.

• This book is not about business; its about people
• David and David recount their experiences together
• Insight on how to build a successful startup
• Turn a seed idea into reality

Startup founders and startup employees, venture capitalists, serial entrepreneurs, and anyone with an interest in stories of determination and hard work will loveNo Vision All Drive.

DAVID BROWN has had a 30-year career starting and building sustainable companies, including Pinpoint Technologies and Techstars (with David Cohen, Brad Feld, and Jared Polis). A regular contributor toInc. magazine, David writes on all aspects of entrepreneurship and scaling up businesses for sustainable profitability from the vantage point of a founder, an investor, and the CEO of Techstars. He has a B.Sc. degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. A ski instructor in the past, David still enjoys hitting the slopes on a good powder day. He lives in Boulder, Colorado, with his wife and family.

Foreword, Third Edition vii

Foreword, First and Second Editions ix

Introduction 1

Prelude 3

Chapter 1 Learning to Be an Entrepreneur 7

Chapter 2 The Idea for Pinpoint Technologies 41

Chapter 3 The Early Years 53

Chapter 4 Becoming a Real Company 67

Chapter 5 Growing Up 95

Chapter 6 A Personal Milestone 109

Chapter 7 Growing the Company 111

Chapter 8 The Sale to ZOLL 121

Chapter 9 The ZOLL Years 137

Chapter 10 Why End It? 145

Chapter 11 After Pinpoint 151

Conclusion 159

Epilogue 165

About the Author 167

Index 169