Christine Comaford

Christine Comaford
Nationality American
Occupation Entrepreneur, Author, Consultant, CEO of SmartTribes Institute
Website www.smarttribesinstitute.com

Christine Comaford is a businesswoman, author and serial entrepreneur. She has founded and sold five businesses including Artemis Ventures and First Professional Bank, which was acquired by Union Bank. Comaford has been a board member for more than 36 start-ups and has invested in over 200 companies.[1][2]

Early life

Comaford dropped out of high school[1][2] and became a model in New York City at age 16.[3] When she was 17, she took vows to become a Buddhist monk and continued the practice for seven years.[1][3]

Career

In the 1980s, Comaford began working for Microsoft[3] where she wrote testing applications for OS/2 and was a software engineer for Windows 3.0.[4] She also did software engineering for Lotus Software and Adobe Systems, was DBA at Apple Inc., and worked as a strategy adviser for Oracle corporation and Symantec.[4] Comaford founded First Professional Bank in 1982, which was later sold to Union Bank. She founded Kuvera Associates, a consulting company, which merged into Corporate Computing, another company founded by Comaford in 1991.[1][4][5] Corporate Computing was sold to LBMS in 1995 and merged with Computer Associates.[6] In 1997, she founded Planet U which delivered internet based promotions across the internet[7] and sold her shares to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.[8] She also founded Artemis Ventures in 1999, which later merged with Novus Ventures.[1][4][5] In 2002, Comaford invested in Google, prior to the company’s initial public offering.[7] She has served on the board of advisers or directors for over 36 start-up companies.[2] Additionally, she has been angel investor or venture capitalist for over 200 start-ups.[2][4] Comaford was recognized as one of the "50 Human Behavior Experts to Follow" by iMotions.[9]

Writing

Comaford wrote the book Rules for Renegades in 2007,[2][3][10] which was a best seller on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Amazon, and USA Today bestseller lists.[11] She authored SmartTribes: How Teams Become Brilliant Together, a book about making teams more productive via neuroscience, in 2013.[10][12] The book was a best seller on the New York Times, Amazon, and other lists.[13] Comaford wrote a software development column for PC Week for five years.[7]

Additionally, she has written for Fast Company, Forbes, Inc., Convention Forum, and HVACR Business.

Other activities

Comaford worked on developing and implementing the U.S. intranet strategy under the Bill Clinton administration which allowed citizens to access government services through the internet. She also passed a $4 billion bill through Congress to benefit the Small Business Administration’s SBIC program.[14]

She has spoken at numerous events including Premiere Speakers Bureau,[15] TEDxSanDiego,[16] The Art Of,[17] and Customer Experience Exchange, as well as YPO Education Program chapters. She has also been on SAP Radio,[18] and has delivered lectures on entrepreneurship for Harvard University, Stanford University, UCLA, and UC Berkeley.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Buddhist Monk Who Invested In Google". Mixergy. July 7, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Christine Comaford". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on August 31, 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Christine Comaford-Lynch". Ladies Who Launch. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Christine Comaford-Lynch". Bloomberg. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  5. 1 2 Sarah Lacy (August 11, 2002). "VC merger side-steps fund-raising, strengthens portfolios". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  6. ↑ "LBMS acquires Corporate Computing, Inc.: Acquisition to strengthen LBMS' process management product line". Business Wire. August 23, 1995.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Women Who Inspire Us". Girl Geeks. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Turbo-Charge Your Product Launch To Optimize Buzz". Fast Company. November 15, 2008. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Our Top 50 Human Behavior Experts to Follow in 2017". iMotions. 13 September 2016.
  10. 1 2 Vala Afshar (July 17, 2013). "Stuck In A Revenue Rut? 5 Ways To Influence Employees Into Their "Smart State"". The Huffington Post. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Why Do Renegades Need Rules? 3 Best-Sellers for Free!". Ponn Sabra. October 9, 2007. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  12. ↑ Brooke Gard (September 13, 2013). "Tricks to Motivate Your Employees". Fox Business. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  13. ↑ "The New York Times Best Sellers". The New York Times. July 7, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  14. ↑ Michael J. Pallerino (August 1, 2013). "Leadership 20.13". Canvas. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Christine Comaford". Premiere Speakers Bureau. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  16. ↑ "TEDxSanDiego - Christine Comaford - Find your Question". TEDx. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Biography". The Art Of. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  18. ↑ "SAP Radio Guest Speaker Overview". SAP Radio. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
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