Frank Taylor

Senior Investment Associate

2024 - Current

Source, evaluate, diligence, and close direct equity investments ranging from $200K to $1M in high growth early stage technology companies. Investments include: Claros, NearStar Fusion, Scout Space, Electra.Aero, Novi Space, Lynk Global, DroneUp, Sedaro, SRT Labs, gNext, Thumbprint.

Investment Associate

2023 - 2024

Syndicate Lead

2024

Phastos Fund is a Deep Tech angel syndicate focused on early stage investments in Robotics & Autonomy, Aerospace, Energy, and Defense. We invest $100K - $200K in pre Seed to Series A companies.

Angel Investor

2024

Astro Mechanica, Fort Robotics, Volition, Shield.AI, Solideon, Phantom Neuro, Spaceium, Varda Space Industries, Zeno Power, Grid Aero, Bedrock Ocean Exploration, Agility Robotics, Turing, 8Fleet.

Entrepreneur in Residence

2023

Partner with CMU graduate students and alumni commercializing unique IP to provide strategic founder support and teach principles of customer development.

Co-Founder & CEO

2017 - 2022

Created AmenityOS - shared space management software for multi-tenant commercial office buildings. Operated 40,000 square feet of corporate meeting and event space across 7 Class-A office buildings. Used software automation and on-demand labor to increase asset utilization by 1,100%. Raised $1MM of debt and equity investment. Achieved 3 years of rapid growth at a 106% CAGR. Hired and led a fully distributed team of 10 employees with full P&L responsibility. Used Lean Startup and Agile Development principles to iterate quickly, launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), and secure a six-figure contract in first 3 months of operation. Released a private beta and onboarded hundreds of users from Apple, AMEX, Bayer, Deloitte, Ford, Lyft, P&G and more in the first 6 months of operation. Expanded to 7 buildings and scaled revenue to $60k MRR in the first 2 years of operation.

Co-Founder

2012 - 2018

Helped create an online / offline community of 12,000+ entrepreneurs and investors focused on growing the regional innovation economy in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Frequently partnered with local, state, and federal government agencies, large corporations, and leading universities to support entrepreneurship, startup formation, and economic development initiatives.

Executive Director, DC Regional Startup Census

2015 - 2017

In 2016, Fosterly launched a Startup Census to help stakeholders in the Washington D.C. Region better understand the local innovation economy. Between 2016 and 2017, we collected and analyzed over 70,000 data points from 494 early stage companies. I designed and authored the final Startup Census report for both years, with commentary from subject matter experts from Cushman & Wakefield, PwC, Humble Ventures, & Verizon.

Executive Director, Collaborate Conference

2014 - 2015

Named one of "5 Must-Attend Events to Make the Washington Tech Scene" by the Washingtonian in 2015. In less than 9 months from concept to execution, I produced a three-day innovation conference attracting over 1,000 attendees and 135 high profile speakers. Women and people of color represented over 50% of the speakers at Collaborate. Keynote speakers included Megan Smith - Chief Technology Officer of the United States, Tom Chi - Co-Founder of Google[x] and creator of Google Glass, David Barrett - Founder & CEO of Expensify, Erie Meyer - Founder of the United States Digital Service (fixed HealthCare.Gov), Katie Harbath - Director of Public Policy at Facebook, Victoria Taylor - Director of Communications at Reddit. The conference objective was to bridge the gap between government and private sector innovators to facilitate collaboration. A diverse group of organizations participated including the Obama White House, NASA, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. Department of State, U.S. General Service Administration, USAID, Ashoka, Verizon, Tesla, Facebook, Makerbot, Reddit, Esquire, TechCrunch, AngelList, Marriott, Code for America, Alibaba, Lending Club, Github, and Twitter.

Advisory Board Member

2014 - 2017

Participated in advisory board meetings representing the DC tech and startup community. Helped plan and execute a large multi-year activation, the WeDC House, at the South by Southwest (SXSW) innovation festival in Austin, TX.

Program Lead - WeDC Ambassadors @ SXSW

2015 - 2017

Created the WeDC Ambassador program to recruit exceptional people to represent the DC creative economy on a global stage at SXSW. - Recruited and interviewed hundreds of qualified applicants - Selected 9 Ambassadors in 2016 and grew to 27 Ambassadors in 2017 - Secured partnership support from Southwest Airlines

Event Host & Organizer

2015 - 2017

2017 WeDC CXO Party Hosted sold out invite-only event for 200+ C-suite executives at SXSW. - Executed start to finish on 3-days notice - Co-Hosted with Deputy Mayor Brian Kenner - Attendees from Google, Deloitte, Dell, Uber, MIT, as well as multiple startup founders & investors 2015 SXSW Innovation Dinner Hosted executive dinner featuring a presentation on the Internet of Things (IoT) landscape and moderated discussion exploring related opportunities for cross-sector collaboration. - Attended by 30+ executive level guests, 98% of RSVP list (difficult at SXSW) - Recruited subject matter expert co-hosts: Shawn DuBravac, Chief Economist at the Consumer Technology Association and Michael Farber, EVP of Strategic Innovation at Booz Allen Hamilton - Guests included Washington D.C. Mayor Bowser, the CIO of the U.S. Department of Labor, Deputy Director of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the CIO of Austin Texas, the Digital Director of New York City, and startup founders ranging from early stage to Unicorn status ($1B valuation).

Founder & CEO (Acquired)

2010 - 2017

Restin is the leading provider of premium robotic massage chairs for corporate wellness and experiential marketing applications. We have supported multiple United Healthcare activations at CES, built multi-year partnerships with the College Football National Championship, NBA All Star Week, Salesforce's "Dreamforce" Conference, NFL Combine and many other large scale national events. Progressive employers like AstraZeneca, Booking.com, Hulu, and WeWork also purchase Restin massage chairs to provide a workplace amenity. In 2016 Restin was named to the Entrepreneur 360 List by Entrepreneur Magazine, recognizing top performers in impact, innovation, growth and leadership.

R&D Project Lead

2013 - 2015

Human Touch® is the leading US-based provider of advanced robotic massage chairs and other wellness technology products. I was contracted to assemble and lead a team of software developers, UX/UI designers and engineers to create a next-generation, software-driven control system and digital user interface for the flagship product line. I reported directly to the Chief Executive Officer and Head of Research & Development. At the conclusion of my contract, a working prototype was delivered on time and on budget. The prototype was delivered 4X faster and at 1/3 the cost of a previous unsuccessful project with the same objective but different leadership.

Guest Services

2007 - 2010

Managed guest services for a mid-sized hotel in the popular historic district while attending the College of William & Mary. Responsible for booking reservations, supervising facilities, and managing accounts. Hampton was ranked #1 Franchise on Entrepreneur Magazine's 2011 Franchise 500®