David has been an entrepreneur for over a decade. In late 2000, David founded Hannon Hill, which was recognized as the 247th fastest growing company in the U.S. by Inc. magazine as part of the Inc. 500 awards. In late 2006, David co-founded Pardot, which was recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as the fastest growing technology company in 2010 and the third fastest-growing company in all of Atlanta that same year. Pardot was named to the 2012 Inc. 500 fastest growing companies coming in at number 172. ExactTarget acquired Pardot in 2012. David also co-founded Clickscape real estate technology (clickscape.com), Rigor web performance management (rigor.com), and SalesLoft sales intelligence (salesloft.com).
David is a member of YPO, the Atlanta chapter of the Entrepreneur’s Organization, and on the board of the Buckhead Coalition. A native of Tallahassee, Florida, David earned a bachelor of science degree in economics from Duke University and studied at the London School of Economics. David blogs at DavidCummings.org, tweets at (@davidcummings), and is co-author of the book Think Outside the Inbox as well as a second book, Startup Upstart, published in 2012.
David,
I’m impressed with the content of your blogs and success of putting together Shotput Ventures.
Your name first came up on the StartupLounge podcast discussing Shotput. (I am a sponsor of StartupLounge and good friends with Burkett and Blake.) I noticed in your interview that you went to Duke, as did I (’91).
Your comments about the Medici Center are most interesting. I have been in conversation with John Perlman (who has the building under contract) regarding another potential tenant. Medici is a great idea and I hope it works out.
Have you heard of DukeGen? I had to miss the recent meeting, but would be curious to get your thoughts.
Take care and Go Duke!
Jason Jones
Hello,
Just reading about your company from the link in MarketingProf.
Wandering about company name Pardot – in Latvian language it means “to sell”. Was it intentionally or there is some other background?
Just curious,
U.C.
Jason – thanks for the kind words. Yes, I think DukeGEN is a great iniative and I’m looking forward to being a part of it in the future.
Uldis – yes, you’re exactly right. We were looking for sales and marketing words in other languages and that’s how we came up with the name Pardot.
David, in a post some time back you mentioned a “slimmed down” version of RH OPSP. Did you ever complete that and are you willing to share ?
I’d enjoy a copy if you are.
Kind Regards,
Jim
Thanks for the spreadsheet! Very useful as we plan our 2012 marketing activities.
Hey Ed. Small world, eh?
David -
First, congratulations on your recent exit. Really happy to see that, but not surprised given your track record. (I have been a regular reader of your blog posts for a while now)
Second, we have a venture fund that itself is kind of a startup – we invest exclusively in university spin-outs, more details at osageuniversitypartners.com – and partner closely with both Georgia Tech and Emory. In fact, we just invested in a Georgia Tech spin-out in the software space.
Given our own interest in Atlanta-based startups, I would love to connect with you over phone some time. No specific agenda, but it will be great to chat briefly. Let me know if you would be interested and available.
Best,
Sudip
sudip@osagepartners.com
Hi there,
I just read an article on productivity that you posted a while back on your blog: http://davidcummings.org/2012/10/20/culture-fit-trumps-productivity/
I thought you might be interested in a workplace productivity infographic we just published, it’s titled ‘Hardly Working: a look into laziness in the workplace’, check it out: http://complianceandsafety.com/blog/workplace-productivity-infographic-hardly-working/
If you like it, feel free to publish it on your site.
Thanks a lot,
Matthew Pelletier
Director of Public Relations
C&S Safety Training Videos
Hi David,
Love your thoughts on being the best place to work and offering housecleaning as a work life benefit! I’m the founder of Dhyana Cleaning and we see tremendous opportunity in working with Employers of Choice and start-ups, as our service improves retention and productivity rates for these employers. I have a question regarding how such a benefit is taxed and wondering if I could send you a personal message via email? You can also reach me at info@dhyanacleaning.com.
Keep up the great work!
Katie Shulist
info@dhyanacleaning.com
dhyanacleaning.com
David: Congrats on the Pardot Sale. I have not found a better way to reach you. I am with the Corporate Development at Versata (www.versata.com). We are a large privately owned software firm, with over 30 companies in the portfolio. The head of Corporate Development, Austin Scee, lives in Atlanta, and his office is just a mile from Pardot’s. If you could call me at (617) 528-0907 or email me at chris.harlepp@versata.com, we’d like to have a conversation with you, if you’re open to the opportunity.
Great blog by the way!!
Thanks,
Chris
David,
Just a wonderful and insightful blog. Interested to pick your brain and receive some feedback on a new startup I recently launched. Any insights, strategies, marketing angles and a review would be very helpful at such an early stage. Email me at hello@startuprocketlauncher.com. The website is http://www.startuprocketlauncher.com
Thanks,
Jason
Pingback: On Doers | Clyde Anderson Online
David,
Over the last 6 months I have enjoyed learning about your story and reading your blog. I’m 26 and originally from North Carolina but now consider NYC home. I work in business development for a boutique investment manager, which was founded not long after Hannon Hill in 2002. I focus a lot of my time meeting with entrepreneurs and tech start ups.
I know the last thing you need is me taking up your time but was hoping speak with you whenever it may be convenient.
Hope you had a wonderful New Year. Looking forward to a very interesting ACC regular season.
Nat
I need some guidance from you. I am 25 years old. I have started a real estate marketing company last year with 2 employees working for me. However, due to poor sales I could not generate enough profit. Now I have joined another company which is paying me well to meet the expenses of my company. Now since I cannot give my all time to my company, my employees are also not paying much attention and are just working for the sake of their salary. Please suggest me as to how should I manage both my high paying job and my company. I want to leave my job but before that I want my company to start making some real money. Please guide.