Today's Entrepreneur is Marcus Nelson founder and CEO of Addvocate. According to his VEQ, Marcus is a thought leader and is good at technology design and team motivation.

(Addvocate is one of the startups competing in Vator Splash SF. If you want to see Marcus on stage, or another startup in the competition, vote for them here.) 

Vator’s community is the home to entrepreneurs who embrace their passion and follow their dreams. Our profiles allow members to express themselves by sharing their interests, lessons learned, as well as bits and pieces of their roller-coaster journey.

These profiles give entrepreneurs an opportunity to showcase themselves and tell their story. So if you are an entrepreneur, a serial entrepreneur, or even an aspiring entrepreneur, we'd like to hear from you.

I am a(n):
Entrepreneur

Companies I've founded or co-founded:
Addvocate, UserVoice, TaskPick, Superstarch, CitizenWausau, CitizenDesk, RockWater

Startups I worked for:
Salesforce

If you are an entrepreneur, why?
I want to change the world.

My favorite startups:
vid.io, mightytext, mighthive

What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?
The disconnect between the people with the pain and the people with the money to solve that pain, but have never felt it to know that it's real.

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs make?
Following other people's advice.

What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur?
Never trust that investors will get back to you.
Stick with your gut, it's what got you to this point in the first place.
Never take criticism personally.

(Want to be profiled? Just fill out your Vator profile and we'll find you! Or you can email [email protected])