A.C. Ross
About me, Indigo, and Perfect Pitch

Immersed in Silicon Valley

I've lived and worked in Silicon Valley as a consultant, startup executive, Fortune 500 intrapreneur, and venture capitalist for almost 30 years. Despite the prices and the continuing state budget fiascos, I love it here.

Indigo. Since co-founding Indigo Partners, a marketing strategy consulting firm, in 1998, I've homed in on two things: (1) helping companies use technology to identify, acquire, and retain their most profitable customers, and (2) coaching entrepreneurs and executives on practical ways to build new businesses and pitch them to venture capitalists.

My clients include the usual SV suspects -- Actuate, Borland, Palm, Sun, Symantec --, nonprofits -- National Telecommuting Institute, the University of San Francisco School of Business --, and many startups. I've developed business models, plans, and pitches that raised funding from top-tier venture capital firms: Kleiner Perkins, Accel Partners, and New Enterprise Associates.

Perfect Pitch. I got involved with the University of San Francisco's Entrepreneurship Program about six years ago. I've been a coach, and most recently a judge, for USF's International Business Plan Competition. That's where I got the idea to write Perfect Pitch.

How I got here. I've been a VP-Marketing and/or BizDev at VC-funded startups, with occasional gigs as interim VP for my clients, and I've sat on two startup boards. In the dim past, I was a Business Unit Manager and Director of Marketing at Sun, a VC associate at U.S. Venture Partners, and a management consultant at Bain & Company.

I'm a nerd. (I have a hat that says so!) MS from MIT's Sloan School, and an MS in Chemical Engineering and a BS in Chemistry from MIT. Couldn't say good-bye, except to FORTRAN. And I served proudly as an Armor officer for four years in the U.S. Army.