Aaron Patzer (born 1980) is an Internet entrepreneur.[5] He is the founder of Mint.com, a financial management tool which was acquired by Intuit in 2009.[6] He was later founder and CEO of Fountain.com, which was sold to Porch.com in 2015.[7] He later founded Vital, a health app, becoming CEO.[8]
Patzer began his career in the Internet boom years of 1998–2000, working for Getawebsite.com and Miadora.com (an online jewelry store).[citation needed] Before founding Mint, he was a technical lead and architect for the San Jose division of Nascentric. Previous to that, he worked for IBM and founded PWeb and International, both two web development companies.[10][4] Patzer helped build the cell microprocessor in the PlayStation 3.[11]
Mint.com
After a number of engineering positions and Internet startups, Patzer founded Mint.com in March 2006,[4] becoming CEO.[4] According to Patzer, the inspiration for Mint.com came to him in late 2005 after being frustrated with how difficult it was to use Intuit's Quicken product.[12][13]
Patzer developed the full alpha version of Mint.com (in Java J2EE and MySQL) in 2006 before he met Josh Kopelman (founder of half.com) and Rob Hayes at a STIRR dinner in the fall of 2006.[14] The meeting led to funding, and Patzer launched Mint.com at the TechCrunch40 conference a year later, in September 2007, winning the $50,000 first prize.[15] In September 2008, Patzer was listed in Inc. magazine's Top 30 Under 30.[16][failed verification]
On September 14, 2009, Intuit announced that it would buy Mint.com for US$170 million.[17] According to TechCrunch, Patzer was criticized in the startup industry for selling the company for too little.[18] At the time of the announced sale, Mint.com had an estimated 1.5 million users.[6] Mint had over 10 million users as of mid-2012.[19]
Intuit
After the sale of Mint, Patzer joined Intuit as VP Product Innovation[20] and was "tasked with improving Quicken."[21] In 2011 he was working on a new personal transportation system,[20] splitting his time between the new venture and his position at Intuit.[22] In 2011, TechCrunch reported that Patzer's next project would be called "Swift" and was exploring the "feasibility of building a personal maglev vehicle transit system."[20] He left Intuit in December 2012 in order to be able to focus on his new ventures.[22]
Leonardo and Fountain.com
Patzer founded Leonardo Software Inc. in September 2013.[23]
In 2013, Patzer launched Fountain.com along with Jean Sini, CTO. The software aims to connect users to any expert on mostly any topic for free via smartphones.[24] In early 2015, the software focused solely on home and garden issues.[25] Fountain.com was sold to Porch.com in October 2015. While Sini became the leader of Porch's San Francisco office, Patzer stepped down as CEO and became a Porch product adviser, relocating oversees for personal reasons.[7]
Vital Software
In January 2017,[10] Patzer relocated to Auckland, New Zealand, to start Vital Software Ltd.[26] Vital is said to "bring that consumer-focused mindset to emergency rooms and hospitals to help them organize patient flow."[27] In 2019, Vital raised $5.2 million in funding, launching on April 24, with Patzer as CEO.[8]
Personal life
In 2015 Patzer had a residence in San Francisco.[25] He had a house in New Zealand as of 2018,[5] where he had also purchased a farm.[5]
1 2 3 4 "Aaron Patzer: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on September 23, 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2012. Mr. Aaron Patzer serves as an Advisor of HealthTap, Inc. Mr. Patzer serves as the Vice President and General Manager of Personal Finance group at Intuit. He founded Mint Software, Inc. (Mint.com), in 2006 and served as its Chief Executive Officer. He served as President of Mint Software, Inc.
1 2 Wortham, Jenna (September 14, 2009). "Intuit Buys Mint, a Web-Based Finance Competitor". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-06-24. Mint, which unveiled its free online services in September 2007, quickly became popular as more people turned to the Web to create budgets and manage their finances. The company says it has 1.5 million users tracking nearly $50 billion in assets and $200 billion in transactions.
1 2 "Aaron Patzer". First Round Capital. Archived from the original on 2012-06-01. Retrieved 2012-06-24. Aaron holds an MSEE from Princeton University and a BS in computer science, computer engineering, and electrical engineering from Duke University. He has 10 patents filed or pending.
↑ Patzer, Aaron (March 13, 2007). "The Personal Finance Tool problems began…". MintLife Blog. Intuit, Inc. Retrieved 2012-06-24. Problem was I got busy; I hadn't kept up with Quicken in many, many months. And that meant trouble. Really all I wanted to see was how much I spent on gas and groceries, and maybe learn if I was buying too many DVDs on Amazon. But to figure all of that out, it was going to take a whole Sunday's worth of work.
↑ "Intuit to Acquire Mint.com". Intuit, Inc. September 14, 2009. Archived from the original on 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2012-06-24. Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Mint.com, a leading provider of online personal finance services in a cash transaction valued at approximately $170 million. Privately held Mint.com, based in Mountain View, Calif., has successfully used its advanced technology to provide consumers with an easy and intelligent way to manage their money. "With this transaction, Intuit will gain another fast-growing consumer brand and a highly successful Software as a Service (SaaS) offering that helps people save and make money," said Brad Smith, Intuit CEO. "This move will enhance Intuit's position as a leading provider of consumer SaaS offerings that connect customers across desktop, online and mobile.
1 2 3 Schonfeld, Erick (December 4, 2011). "Mint Founder's New Project, Swift, Studies Personal Maglev Vehicles". TechCrunch. AOL Inc. Retrieved 2012-06-24. Aaron Patzer, the founder of Mint, has a new project that he is spending half his time on (he continues to spend the other half as VP of Product Innovation at Intuit, which acquired Mint two years ago for $170 million). His new project is called Swift, and it is his vehicle (if you will) to explore the feasibility of building a personal maglev vehicle transit system. "The goal is to see if I can develop a new transportation system to displace cars in most urban and suburban settings," he told me recently, "with the goal being 5x the speed, and bringing the cost of maglev from today's costs of $50m / mile down to $4-5m / mile, which would be the same as adding one lane of asphalt/concrete road. Not sure if it will pan out, as I'm deep in the science and simulation phase."
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