Anelen Co., LLC

𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬!
Anelen Co., LLC is a data innovation consulting company. Anelen's clients include multi-billion dollar public companies, Silicon Valley startups, and hedge funds.

Consult today. Helping Business Leaders with Data Challenges

handoff.cloud by ANELEN

Link👇️ It's a new option for building and monitoring custom data pipelines.

Stop hiring Data Engineers: Build Custom Data Pipelines 10X fast with 1/5 cost

OmniCreator

Link 👇 I co-founded it and single-handedly designed and coded this popular service.

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Draper Nexus Venture Partners

As a venture adviser, I am helping the venture capital to look for innovative companies in the retail tech area.

Venture Advisor

FiveStars

- Design and execute product experiments involving thousands of retail stores and millions of consumers.
- Built a complex customer churn models involve customer attributes and the use of multiple products. The company executives used the insight to make key product decisions that set the next course of the company's growth strategy.

FiveStars is the rewards program for small businesses that’s proven to bring customers back more often. Through unique rewards and personalized service, FiveStars helps everybody be a VIP. Founded in 2011 and based in San Francisco, our mission is to help businesses and communities thrive by turning every transaction into a relationship. In 2015, FiveStars drove 35 million in-store visits across over 10,000 local businesses in the U.S. and Canada. Over 20 million consumers use FiveStars to have exceptional experiences with local businesses. To-date FiveStars has raised $105 million from top-tier investors including HarbourVest, Menlo Ventures, Lightspeed, DCM, and Y-Combinator.

Data Scientist

- Envisioned and built a scalable product experiment platform

Data Engineer

- Joined at the Seed stage for the zero-to-one effort. Introduced agile software practices.
- Helped to build the products used by over 10,000 paying merchants with over 20 million consumers.
- On-boarded and mentored dozens of engineers and data scientists. Interviewed hundreds of candidates.
- Prototyped a tablet product that is now deployed to over 7000 merchants.

Senior Software Engineer

Schlumberger

Schlumberger Limited is the world's largest oilfield services company. 

Software Engineer:
1. Developed an algorithm of automatically remove non-manifold geometric entities from the 3 dimensional geological model for reflective seismology applications.
2. Improved the algorithm to reconstruct "water-tight" compartment of geological structures from intersecting surfaces.
3. Improved the Continuous Integration process for Windows and Linux builds.

Team coordinator:
1. Coordinated the software development activities of the cross-functional, feature-based team using Certified Scrum Master skills.
2. Lead the implementation of the Scrum practices in distributed agile software projects across USA, France and Norway.

Software Engineer / Scrum Master

Carnegie Mellon University

Ph.D. Thesis: Computational Method for Cryoprobe-Layout Optimization via Finite Sphere Packing. Carnegie Mellon University, 2007
Advisors: Professors Kenji Shimada and Yoed Rabin

Selected publication list:
Daigo Tanaka, Michael R Rossi, Kenji Shimada, and Yoed Rabin. Computerized Planning of Prostate Cryosurgery with Pullback Operation. Computer Assisted Surgery, 2007; 13(1):1-13.
Daigo Tanaka, Kenji Shimada, Mike R Rossi, and Yoed Rabin. Cryosurgery Planning Using Bubble Packing in 3D. Computer Methods in Biomechanical and Biomedical Engineering, 2007; 11(2), 113-21.
Daigo Tanaka, Michael R Rossi, Kenji Shimada, and Yoed Rabin. Towards Intra-Operative Computerized Planning of Cryosurgery, the International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery, 2007; 3(1), 10-9.
Michael R Rossi, Daigo Tanaka, Kenji Shimada, and Yoed Rabin. An Efficient Numerical Technique for Bioheat Simulations and its Application to Computerized Cryosurgery Planning. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine 2007; 85 (1): 41-50.
Daigo Tanaka, Kenji Shimada, and Yoed Rabin. Two-phase Computerized Planning of Cryosurgery Using Bubble-packing and Force-field Analogy. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering 2006; 128 (1): 49-58.
M Kobayashi, T Nakajima, H Chiyokura, D Tanaka, T Fujino: Network Surgical Simulation System, Journal of IEICE, vol. 84 (5), p.299-302, 2001
D Tanaka, M Kobayashi and H Chiyokura: The method of assiting in viewing CT image using 3 dimensional displaying function, Journal of Japan Society of Computer Assisted Surgery, vol.6 (4), p.71-74, 1998

Ph.D. Student & Research Assistant

Georgetown University Medical Center

At Imaging Science and Information Systems Center, I developed a prototype of the realtime navigation system for a minimally-invasive surgery, working with interventional radiologists.

Visiting Research Scholar

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

At National Capital Area Medical Simulaiton Center, I developed a method to synthesize 3D texture-mapping image from multi-angle 2D images.

👇️ Building Data Systems for Startups & Innovative Businesses | Entrepreneurial Engineer | Product | Data | Consulting

𝐀 $𝟑𝟏𝟕𝐌 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭. That's the result of working hard at a 𝗬 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 startup from Seed to Post-Series C as a Software Engineer & Data Scientist. Then I took another unusual path👇️

𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.

I didn't have any clients when I quit my day job. Over 6 years later, I earned more than when I was employed, and I became a self-made millionaire.

I cannot believe it because I only had $3,000 in the bank and student debt when I immigrated to the USA more than 20 years ago.

How did I make my money? It's not from the stock option.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝟔 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬:

1. I started as a consultant because there is no overhead. Just my brain.
2. I found common problems among my clients and prescribed a solution for future clients.
3. I coded software to automate the service so I deliver value at my sleep. I called it "technology-leveraged service (TLS)."
4. I diversified the income through advisory, contract, and TLS.

𝐒𝐢𝐱 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞:

✔️ I manage machines (code), not people. My little kids think Dad is always available for them because the robots (software) are working to get things done.
✔️ Naval Ravikant said, "Code and media are permissionless leverage. They're the leverage behind the newly rich. You can create software and media that works for you while you sleep."
✔️ Marshall McLuhan said that media is "The Extensions of Man." Leverage it.

𝐍𝐨𝐰, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡.

My journey continues.
And I'd like to make it OUR journey.
So, I created an online community called OmniCreator.

𝗢𝗺𝗻𝗶𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 https://omnicreator.club helps you to
- Become a Trusted Professional on LinkedIn
with the best content manager and creator community

LinkedIn has been a powerful source of network and business for me. So, I coded OmniCreator using my product design and coding knowledge from the startup experience.

Me and my entrepreneurial friends came to OmniCreator for its powerful content management tool, and they stayed because of the community of kindness.

OmniCreator is a representation of how we work and live. I hope you join us.

I'll promise to keep on sharing helpful insights as an 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫.

𝐒𝐨, 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝.

Thanks for reading!

𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐰𝐧?
Some founders start with a dream exit in mind. Others, like Jason Fried at 37signals, never plan to sell their company.

Different goals lead to different companies:
- Growth first usually optimizes for higher exit multiples.
- Profit first optimizes for durability and control.

I’m in the profit camp. Both handoff.cloud by ANELEN   and OmniCreator are financially self-sustaining. I enjoy the work, the ownership, and the cash flow.

But in the future, I might want an exit. It will be because I’ll be too old to work, or I’ll get another “calling.” To me, a $10M exit is never a criterion, just like in the post by Melissa below.

I don’t intend to sell them in the foreseeable future. However, I always put some effort into keeping the code and business operations clean so that they’ll be easy to take over if needed.

#bootstrapping #smallbusiness #saas

Daigo Tanaka, PhD 🔗

𝘼 $𝟯𝟭𝟳𝙈 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙩. That's the result of working hard at a Y Combinator startup from seed to post-Series C as a Data Scientist and Data Engineer. And in 2015, a life-changing event happened to me. 👇


My wife and I had our first child.

Before she was born, my wife predicted that I'd gain a new perspective.

She was right.

We all talk about work-life balance.

- Before becoming a parent, life meant self-care.
- Now, life is a responsibility.

I negotiated to get 11 weeks of paternity leave, which seemed impossible at a startup.

I switched from a software engineer with an endless backlog to a data scientist using my Ph.D. background.

The central question remained:

❓ "How can I be a productive member of this society while I take full responsibility at home?"

I started a consulting firm ANELEN to be the data-strategy leverage to many startups.

I took the advisor roles at startups, international enterprises, Venture Capital, and Blockchain funds.

💡I found a common DATA CHALLENGE through client works. So, I designed a platform called "handoff.cloud".

handoff.cloud service creates a fully-customizable data flow.

It can extract data from cloud applications, compute essential metrics, and publish the data to frontline applications and dashboards.

💪handoff.clous is proven for:
- Product Analytics
- Marketing Automation
- Customer Success Operations

handoff.cloud is a full-service solution so you can sit back and relax. Just see the result and focus on your business.

I like the human touch.

So I'm not providing a self-serve product.

My clients loved it, saying things like,

❤️ "We have been extremely pleased with the work done by ANELEN to set up a platform to enable us to gain deeper levels of insight into many aspects of our business. ANELEN has both the expertise and, just as importantly, the desire to help its clients get the most value they can out of their data."
- Tim Thatcher, COO, tiny.cloud

⭐ "Your guidance and expertise have been critical in building a performant data platform for Car IQ Inc.. 🙏" - Arun Yadav, CTO Car IQ Inc.

I call it a "technology-leveraged service" model.

That is an answer to my first question:

"How can I be a productive member of this society while I take full responsibility at home?"

I hope my kids and wife appreciate what I started as much as my customers.

👉 If you like my human approach to work or are interested in handoff.cloud, please comment on one of my posts. Then I'm always one DM away for those who need my help.

3x bootstrapper | eWebinar automates onboarding & training sessions to save you from webinar hell 🔥 I share stories from my human journey building startups in pursuit of freedom. Subscribe to my newsletter.

“I’m just looking to exit for $10m.” Says every founder. 🙄

Every founder dreams of exiting for a minimum of $10m. Yes, it's you who I'm looking at. 🔍

It’s a big number that gets thrown around pretty casually in the tech industry. Compared to the billion dollar exits we read about, it’s no wonder 1% of that sounds achievable.

Do you know how hard it is to net $10,000,000? Let’s do the math.👇

A quick Google search will tell you that “4% of SaaS companies reach $1m in revenue, and only 0.04% make it to $10m”.

10x gross revenue (for SaaS) is what most people think they can sell for. Realistically, depending on your revenue and growth rate, it’ll most likely be 3-5x if you’re pretty good and 6-8x if you’re great. The 10-20x multiple that we read about are the exceptions, not the rule, for strategic acquisitions.

If you have a cofounder and no investors, you’d likely own half the company. If you have some friends and family investors, you’d likely own ~40%. If you have VCs, you’d likely end up with 10-20% depending how much you raise.

To net $10m, you’ll need to sell for ~$25m at least, assuming you own 50%. That number goes up as your equity holding goes down.

You first have to be the 4% that gets to $1m ARR. Then be the shrinking percentage that gets to $5m ARR minimum. Then, you have to sell for a reasonable multiple of your revenue and pay tax for those gains. Side note: majority of acquisitions are not all-cash deals. Your deal will likely be a mix of cash, earn out, and stock into the new company. If the acquirer is not a public company, you’ll have to wait for their liquidity event, then pay tax on that.

The market has to be good enough for companies to be buying, your product/company/team has to be compelling enough to add significantly more value than what you’ll be acquired for, and you’ll need to find a company that can see that value so much that they’ll cut a check. Once a company has intention to buy you, you’ll then have to pass all the due diligence requirements. Many deals fall through in that process.

I, too, was a victim of “the $10m trap”. A lot of people in my startup community had a blue sky number that made mine seem doable.

I became so fixated on doing anything to cross the finish line that I forgot to stop and smell the flowers. I wanted to be successful so badly in the future that I lost sight of what’s most important: Feeling successful now.

👉 Here's the thing: You can't control the destination, so the journey is ALL THERE IS.

Instead of telling yourself what more you need to feel successful...ask yourself, "What would make me feel successful today?”

___

🔔 I'm Melissa Kwan, 3x bootstrapper with 1 exit.
Cofounder of eWebinar, ProfitLed Podcast, 'your founder next door' newsletter

I'm a startup founder on a human journey, sharing stories about life that happens in the pursuit of freedom.

Full-Stack Entrepreneur - Profitable Data Systems & SaaS Builder | handoff.cloud | OmniCreator.club | Data Consulting

Aren’t we too goal oriented?


I get it.

We want that job.
We want that promotion.
We want to earn more salary.

It’s not a greed. We just feel anxious not getting there.

I have that, too.

But I just read this passage in Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M Pirsig:

“Second roads are preferred. Paved county roads are the best, state highways are the next. Freeways are the worst. We want to make good time, but for us now this is measured with emphasis on “good” rather than “time” and when you make that shift in emphasis the whole approach changes.”

It reminded me of what Shugoro Yamamoto wrote in his novel that I mentioned in my last Rich Dad Engineer newsletter:

"a person’s life is a long one. Whether you leap in a single bound to the top of the mountain, or climb it step by steady step, in the end, it’s the same. 

If you climb one step at a time, you can see the grass, the trees, the springs, and all the scenery along the way. More than that, the confidence you gain from having confirmed each and every step yourself— that becomes a far greater strength.”

Glorious results, quick tips, and shortcuts are buzzed up on social media, and we get anxious not getting there fast enough, or at all.

That’s gaslighting.

We all need to make our ends meet.
Beyond that, let’s step back and ask if we are making each step count rather than rushing to our goals.

Emphasis a bit more on “good” than “time.” - Arriving to the goal without a good journey would leave you with an empty feeling.

In other words, let’s be journey-oriented.

Happy Monday 🤙

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