Startup | Advisory: Finding a Path to Success

Whether you are a first-time or serial entrepreneur, it usually takes a holistic set of capabilities to support the core innovative concept of a project and create a sustainable and successful company. In Technology, the leading entrepreneur has the expertise and instincts to create a product that solves problems in the real world. That leading entrepreneur needs to navigate from engineering, to product management, to marketing, to operations, to organizational leadership, to financial management.

How I can help: I can help validate (or invalidate) your current ideas and plans, asking the tough questions so you can find the right path to execution. I can help with product development, pursue and test product-market fit, fundraise, scale, marketing, hire, manage culture. Historically, I have been good at complementing the expertise of the core founding team, including the perspective of someone who has done it multiple times.

Why me? I have done it (failed, succeeded) multiple times before and for no other reason than I make myself available and want to use my experience and expertise to help a new generation of entrepreneurs.

Audience: Some of my experience is field-agnostic, but I am primarily a technologist, mostly with B2B experience. Check areas of previous notable expertise include hardware, embedded, community/social, networking, customer engagement, telecom and telephony, data center and IT infrastructure, CRM.


Engagement Model

As long as you are respectful of my time, I am willing to listen, ask tough questions, connect, provide advice.

  • Startup Chat
    • Pre-meeting: Tell me concisely what help you are looking for, what is your immediate goal, why you think I can help and provide enough context for me to prepare. Add your artifacts.
    • 30 min pitch/discussion chat.
    • Follow-up, email post session
  • Longer-term engagement
    • Depending on affinity I can get further involved under different engagement models.
      • Consulting/Soundboard
      • Advisor/Board Member
      • Investor/Fundraising
      • Co-founder

Marcio Saito
Why me? Because I want to help. Diverse background in multiple dimensions. Typically not the starter, but a co-entrepreneur who is “cautious most of the time, bold when necessary”. Has been involved in many startup projects in multiple geographies, markets, domains. Most successful exits were acquisitions in B2B by public companies in the HW/SW system Networking/Data Center space (Cyclades, Opengear). Has also been involved with startups in AI, social media, consumer electronics, enterprise software, embedded systems, operating systems. Involved as founder, investor, consultant, advisor, thought leader/evangelist, board member. Has also led large multi-disciplinary teams (200+ FTE) as a senior leader in publicly-traded companies (Avocent, Google).


Startup Projects Briefs:

  • July/2024
    • Wellness Application
  • May/2024
    • Strimo.ai – SaaS Management and Intelligence – ITSM/B2B
  • Mar/2024
    • Personal Finance Assistant – Finance/B2C