30-Year Journey:
From Wall Street to Nanotech Founder to Building AI-Native GTM Tools

Experienced broken GTM systems since implementing Salesforce in 1999 (Year 1, no APIs). Founded nanotech startup, raised $1.5M, successful exit. Now building the AI-native solution I needed 26 years ago.

30 YEARS: WALL STREET → FOUNDER → AI BUILDER
🚀 Founded nanoTox • Raised $1.5M • Successful Exit • Now Building in Public
↓

1999: Where It Started

At Bates Churchill (investor relations), I implemented Salesforce in its first year (founded February 1999). Used Bloomberg Terminal, BigDough, and Salesforce—three separate platforms with no APIs, no integration, separate logins.

8-hour days became 12 during crunch times (SEC filings, CEO/CFO road shows) because I was manually aggregating data from Bloomberg → entering into Salesforce → cross-referencing with BigDough → repeat for hundreds of institutional contacts.

This was 1999. We're still manually integrating GTM systems in 2025.

Now I'm building the AI-native solution I needed 26 years ago.
1995
Merrill Lynch - First professional job. Supported enterprise 401(k) clients (KPMG, Pitney Bowes, Southern Company, Kroger). Got hooked on financial markets.
1996
EBI Securities - Earned Series 7 & 63 licenses. Boiler room environment (pre-regulation era). Learned phone sales—weapon used for 30 years.
1998-2000
Bates Churchill - Implemented Salesforce Year 1 (1999). Bloomberg Terminal + BigDough + Salesforce = manual data hell. First experienced GTM tool pain.
Early 2000s
Wired Capital → The Olmsted Group - PE forums (US + Russia). Biotech merchant banking. Self-taught IP law, licensing models, angel fundraising.
Mid 2000s
Founded nanoTox (nanotech) - Raised $1.5M, built first-of-its-kind international scientific advisory board, grew to 15 employees. Successful exit—funded move to California.
2006-2015
Wine Industry GTM - Scaled call center 6→30 callers ($4M revenue). Closed 3 top-10 wine companies <6 months. Managed $1.5M technical transformation (Microsoft Dynamics → Odoo).
2018-2023
HVAC/Solar Systems Buyer - Implemented Five9 (3x), Service Titan (3x), countless CRMs. Experienced systems as buyer → implementer → field user. 50-75 calls/day at Solar Professionals.
2021
Berkeley Fintech Python Bootcamp - Decided to build what I'd been buying for 22 years.
2023-Present
Coperniq (First GTM Hire) + Building AI Tools - Crushing quota while shipping 5 production systems nights/weekends. Sales Agent, Dealer Scraper, AI Cost Optimizer, ThetaRoom, SwaggyStacks.
$1.5M
Nanotech Startup Exit
(nanoTox - Founded, Raised, Exited)
9x
Enterprise System Implementations
(Salesforce '99, Five9 3x, Service Titan 3x, ERP 2x)
30
Years on All Sides
(Wall Street → Founder → GTM Operator → Builder)
5
Production Systems Shipping
(GTM Tools + Trading Systems)

Building AI-Native Solutions to 26-Year-Old Problems

Not tutorials. Not toy projects. Shipping production tools informed by 30 years experiencing GTM pain as analyst, founder, operator, buyer, and field user.

Tech Stack: From Bloomberg Terminal (1998) to AI Agents (2025)

Backend & Infrastructure

✓ Python • FastAPI
✓ PostgreSQL • Redis • Neon
✓ Docker & Docker Compose
✓ Git & GitHub

AI/ML & Agents

✓ LangChain • LangGraph
✓ Claude • Cerebras • DeepSeek
✓ GraphRAG • FlashAttention-3
✓ MCP (Model Context Protocol)

Frontend & Monitoring

✓ React • Next.js 14/15
✓ Tailwind CSS • shadcn/ui
✓ Grafana • Prometheus
📚 WebSockets • Real-time UIs
30-Year Pattern: Bloomberg Terminal (1998) → Salesforce Year 1 (1999) → Five9/Service Titan (2010s) → Python/FastAPI (2021) → AI Agents (2025). Same skill: learning complex platforms and using them strategically.

Why This Background Matters

Most Engineers Have

✓ Deep technical skills
✓ Strong CS foundation
✓ Can build anything
✗ Don't understand GTM workflows
✗ Haven't experienced broken systems as user

Most Founders Have

✓ Business model understanding
✓ Fundraising experience
✓ Built teams
✗ Can't read the codebase
✗ Don't understand GTM tech stack

30-Year Journey

✓ Founded nanotech ($1.5M exit)
✓ 26 years GTM pain (Salesforce '99)
✓ 9x enterprise implementations
✓ Now building AI-native solutions
✓ All three perspectives: buyer, user, builder
The Insight: "I've been on all sides. Wall Street analyst using Bloomberg Terminal. Biotech founder raising angel capital. GTM operator implementing systems. Field user calling 50-75 leads/day. Now: builder solving problems I've experienced for 30 years."

Books That Shaped My Thinking

Business Model Generation Crossing the Chasm Blue Ocean Strategy Challenger Sale Never Split the Difference Jobs to be Done

Career Pattern: Never Afraid to Start from Bottom

1995-2000
Wall Street Foundation
Merrill Lynch → EBI Securities (boiler room) → Bates Churchill (IR)
Learned: Bloomberg Terminal, phone sales, investor relations
2000s
Founder Journey
PE forums → Biotech merchant banking → Founded nanoTox
Learned: Self-teaching (IP law), raising capital ($1.5M), exits
2006-2015
GTM Operator
Scaled call centers, closed enterprise deals, managed technical transformations
Learned: What actually works in GTM operations
2018-2023
Reset to IC (Systems Buyer + Field User)
HVAC/Solar sales, implemented Five9/Service Titan, 50-75 calls/day
Learned: Humility. Where GTM tools break in real workflows.
2021-2025
Learning to Build
Bootcamp → Self-study → Production systems (same pattern as self-teaching IP law)
Learned: Gap between theory and shipping. Now building AI-native solutions.
"I've never been afraid to start from the bottom to learn something new. Analyst. Founder. C-Level. IC. Now: Builder. Each stage taught me something essential about the problem I'm solving today."

Current: Coperniq + Building Nights/Weekends

🎯 Sr. BDR @ Coperniq

Role: First GTM hire at YC-backed startup

Status: Crushing quota

Apply 30 Years: Enterprise sales, startup velocity, multi-thread prospecting

🔧 AI-Native GTM Tools

Building: Sales Agent (6 LangGraph agents)

Solving: Lead processing in ~12s vs. 2-4 hours

Why: "The automation I needed at Solar Professionals"

📊 Autonomous Trading

Projects: ThetaRoom + SwaggyStacks

Tech: 6 specialized agents, GraphRAG, FlashAttention-3

Full Circle: 1995 Merrill Lynch passion → 2025 autonomous AI trading

Following: Anthropic, LangChain, Cohere, Cartesia, Cerebras, Exa
Why: "They're building the AI-native GTM infrastructure I envisioned in 1999 but couldn't build with the technology available then."

The Next Generation of GTM Tools Will Be AI-Native

Not chatbots bolted onto CRMs. Not automation that breaks. But genuinely intelligent systems that understand context, learn from interactions, and actually help salespeople sell better.

I've spent 30 years on all sides of this problem:

• 1995-2000: Wall Street analyst (Bloomberg Terminal, Salesforce Year 1)
• 2000s: Nanotech founder (raised $1.5M, successful exit)
• 2006-2023: GTM operator & systems buyer (9x implementations)
• 2021-2025: Learning to build the solution

This journey is about understanding all sides deeply enough to build something that doesn't suck.

What Success Looks Like

✓
Ship tools people actually use
(not just demos)
✓
Contribute to AI-native GTM space
(informed by 30 years experience)
✓
Keep building in public
(documenting the journey)
✓
Bridge gap between GTM leaders & engineers
(understanding both sides)