guidance on vetting and
launching
new ventures
About Us
Venture Drive Consulting is a Seattle-based consulting firm that helps established companies identify and develop new internal start-ups into contributing parts of their businesses.
Our approach builds on the experience of our founder, Mark Kotzer, who recognized the need for practiced guidance on vetting and launching new ventures in middle market companies. Venture Drive was created to help companies overcome a tendency to become complacent with their own success by providing them with intrapreneurial skills and venture development know-how.
Mark Kotzer – Principal
Mark Kotzer, founder and principal of Venture Drive Consulting, has broad experience helping both scrappy start-ups and major corporations refine and develop new business models, achieve market traction, and prepare to raise capital. He has worked with start-ups in a wide variety of sectors including financial services, software, recreation, travel, and wireless, as well as large corporations and government agencies such as Expedia, Weyerhaeuser, and the Department of Commerce.
In addition to his experience growing businesses, Mark has been a leader in the Northwest entrepreneurial and venture community. in 2000 he co-founded the Early Stage Investment Forum (ESIF), the premier event in the Pacific Northwest for companies seeking early stage financing, and managed four of the five investment forums. Mark has also supported entrepreneurship and innovation through his involvement in the Northwest Entrepreneur Network (board member 1998-2006), University of Washington's Business Plan Competition (business plan coach and judge), and Social Venture Partners, a philanthropic organization that uses the venture capital model to help non-profits build organizational capacity.
Mark presently serves on the board of directors for the Seattle Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth and the advisory board for the University of Washington's certificate program in business development. He is also a judge for the Annual Innovation Challenge, an event that applies an open source approach to solving the business challenges of global corporations such as Harley Davidson, Hilton Hotels, Lexmark, Shell, and Whirlpool.
Mark earned his undergraduate degree from the College of William & Mary and an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. He also attended the School for International Training in Switzerland.
