Steve S. Saroff

Something like a resume

I help start-ups rapidly become successful. I also can quickly fix broken parts of companies.

A small bit of advise
Success is built on work done well and promptly. Meetings and agendas don't write, or create code, or sell product. Before you expect others to help you, roll up your own sleeves and get involved with whatever work needs doing. Do this even if that means learning new skills. And only hire people if you understand how to do at least some of what you are hiring them to do. At successful companies, people enjoy learning from, and working, with each other. And more than anything else, be honest and ethical. If you can work with each other, honestly and ethically, everything else becomes easy.

A few interconnected life points

• I have severe dyslexia and have never been able to speeel consistently, and I often stutter. This has been a gift. It has helped keep me from getting involved with pointless enterprises. Here is more about that: my dyslexia.
• When I was 12 years old, I learned Morse code, got a ham radio license, and stayed awake many nights listening for distant call signs.
• I first left home when I was 14.
• Long obsessed with studying, reading, and mountain tops, at 14, I walked alone 500 miles in the Appalachians, then another 500 miles alone when I was 15, and still another 1000 miles alone when I was 16. I hitchhiked West when I was 17.
• When I was 19 years old, I spent 45 days walking alone in the Bob Marshall. That set the pace for everything that followed: I've never been intimidated by wilderness, solitude, or ambitious plans. I also appreciate the rewards that come from listening and shared stories, appreciating people in ways that someone who has been long alone can.
• I like writing fiction and published many short stories a long time ago. Some in what were once high-paying magazines (Redbook and others). My first nationaly published story was sent "over the transom" and was selected out of a "slush pile" of 50,000 stories. I like emotional words and what they can do. I also wrote a successful novel based loosely on the WorldCom and Enron frauds and the criminals that were swirling about me during that time (some who have died in prison, and others who should be in prison).
• Even though I left high school early, I received a college degree and then worked for two years as a faculty research engineer for the Oceanography department at Oregon State University. I spent a few months on a ship in the south pacific. Other than those two jobs, all my technical jobs where I have worked for other people have sucked. Thus I started building my own companies.

I started programming computers as a kid when it was less financially rewarding than fixing lawnmowers. I started coding because I loved it. I have used over 30 different computer languages to make money. I also have been paid for designing and building digital electronics, working in chemistry labs, writing fiction, performing music, photography for books and magazines, and teaching.

Before I began starting my own companies, I had many jobs, both unskilled and highly skilled. Laborer. Carpenter. Ranch Hand. Oil-field worker. Elementary school Science Teacher at Sussex School in Missoula. Working for laser companies helping design new liquid-dye laser technologies. Engineer in the Oceanography dept of Oregon State University, where I wrote software and invented and built electronic devices. Systems Analyst and Software Engineer at St. Pat's Hospital in Missoula, where I wrote much of the software used by several large hospitals for more than a decade. I also worked as a consultant for about 20 start-ups. (As its very 1st investor and as a friend and adviser to the founder, I helped launch Submittable. Submittable is the online submission system now used by many publishers and grant organizations.)

Two of my own companies, both of which I co-founded, I successfully pitched and sold to public corporations. RemoteScan had over 20,000 corporate customers worldwide when it was acquired. RemoteScan was co-founded and owned 50/50 by my business partner and me, and ran at 85% profit for years until the company was acquired by Quest/Dell Inc. This is what is supposed to happen with start-ups. Before that, I founded and was a 50/50 partner of FreeMail, Inc, the first commercially successful web-based email system. FreeMail was used as Kinkos/FedEx’s worldwide Kinkonet system before being acquired just before the criminal fraud and collapse of WorldCom and Enron, by WAM!NET/WorldCom. I wrote a successful novel about the criminals that were swirling about me during that time: Paper Targets

After selling my last company, I spent several years coding and deploying a successful algorithmic, real-time, HFT system, which I wrote from scratch (for the love of the real-world math and the fantastic challenge) developed using TradeStation's OOEL Language.

I have been a member on several boards: for a community non-profit ceramic center; a school; and, several very much for-profit start-ups. I'm not looking for a job, but I will consider being part of interesting projects.

Contact

• Instagram @SteveSaroff
• Facebook steve.saroff
• LinkedIn SteveSaroff
• Threads: @stevesaroff
• Website: Saroff.com
• GoodReads: Steve S. Saroff
• Podcast: Montana Voice Podcast

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(c) 2023 Steve S. Saroff & Saroff Corporation www.saroff.com
Author. Start-up consultant. Adviser to artists, writers, and a few good actors.

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