On this week’s Exit Stories podcast episode, intrepid host Kevin Mosley talks to Doug Kaufman about his journey through multiple startups before eventually exiting from TransLoc as its CEO.
After leaving Spring Metrics in 2012, Kaufman entered the TransLoc team as the General Manager of Product and Services, and worked his way up to CIO and finally to CEO.
TransLoc, which made the first bus-tracking mobile app, was bought by Ford in 2018.
Kaufman, who has a PhD in Social Psychology, has now created yet another startup called Vertroos Health, which aims to help teens struggling with mental health issues.
Thanks as always to our Exit Stories season sponsor, Dualboot Partners!
Three highlights
— One of Kaufman’s first startups was the “original-gangster” version of the Geek Squad. He hired really smart high school students to do in-home computer repair in local neighborhoods. Kaufman ended up quitting that because it wasn’t what he truly cared about, though he joked he could be a billionaire right now if he had kept it up.
— Kaufman’s friend told him about the job at TransLoc. When the friend told him what TransLoc did, he initially responded “Dhruv, I swear, if you gave me an hour, I couldn’t come up with something that sounds more boring than that.”
— After originally telling Ford multiple times that TransLoc was not for sale, TransLoc eventually agreed to be purchased by Ford for $60 million.
Listen (and then subscribe!) to the podcast here:
Or if you’re more of a visual learner, here’s the video:
