David Saad

David Saad


Website: www.luristic.com
Irvine, California, United States
Member since August 30, 2007
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Serial entrepreneur and angel investor in the software, Internet, and music industries. I am also interested in the VC market. I like innovating new products covering specialties such as Rich User Experience (RUE), social media, social networking, enterprise applications, database management systems, and operating systems. My experience includes product management, engineering, outsourcing, offshoring, marketing, sales, business development, corporate strategy, and fund raising. I am a public speaker with excellent communication and presentation skills. I earned a PhD with high honors in Computer Science, I speak four languages, used to be an Olympian, and currently a tennis player competing in the senior USTA circuit. Quote_down
  • About
Education
1982 Paris University Doctorate in Computer Science
1979 McGill University , MS , Masters in Computer Science
1977 Concordia University , BS , B.Sc. in Computer Science & Mathematics
1976 Paris University , BS , D.E.U.G. in Mathematics & Economics
I am a(n):

Entrepreneur, Mentor, and Angel Investor

Companies I've founded or co-founded:
Clupedia Corporation, Luristic, Braintec, In-D-Pocket, Calibra
Companies I work or worked for:
Braintec, In-D-Pocket, Calibra, Clupedia Corporation, Luristic
If you're an entrepreneur or corporate innovator, why?

Don't like to have a job to live, but like to live for my job. Enjoy the process of inventing/innovating and beating all odds.

My favorite startups:

Other than mine, I like Flipboard, SecondMarket, and Qwiki

What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?

Solving the chicken-n-egg problem - frustrating when you can't solve it and very rewarding when you do.

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs/innovators make?

Believing in their reality and being in denial instead of being brutally honest about the real reality and take the necessary steps to correct things.

What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur?

1. Execution is everything - you're as good/bad as your team.

2. Always listen but often ignore by following your intuition.

3. Size and control matter - what's even better than owning a small percentage of a big pie, is owning a big percentage of a big pie.

Full bio

Dr. David Saad is the founder, Chairman & CEO of Luristic.  He is responsible for the overall direction and management of the company.  He is a seasoned veteran in the software industry with over 27 years of experience in sales, marketing, engineering, and funding making him uniquely positioned to lead Luristic.  Dr. Saad started his career as a system programmer, became a data base consultant, a public speaker, an entrepreneur, and an angel investor. 

Prior to Luristic, Dr. Saad was the founder, Chairman & CEO of Clupedia - a social media company that offered clues from crowds.  Clupedia was the Wikipedia of opinions.  The company won several industry awards for its innovation including the AlwaysOn Media 100 award.  During his tenure with Clupedia, Dr. Saad won the Most Promising Investment Award during the 2006 Fast Pitch competition sponsored by Tech Coast Angels (TCA) from whom he raised a Series A round of funding.

Prior to Clupedia, Dr. Saad was the founder, Chairman & CEO of Calibra - a software company that offered a viral marketing tool that used Social Network Analysis (SNA) in order to identify influencers within a social network for the purpose of launching, managing, and measuring viral campaigns.  Calibra was nominated for the Innovative Product of the Year Award by the American Electronics Association (AeA). 

Prior to Calibra, Dr. Saad was the founder, Chairman & CEO of Braintec - a software company specialized in Unix kernel development, compilers, computational linguistics, and artificial intelligence.  Braintec became the largest Unix engineering firm in Southern California with customers such as AT&T, IBM, Sun, NCR, and Teradata.  Braintec was sold to Technisource – an IT firm listed on NASDAQ which was taken private by IntelliMark Holdings.   

During his tenure with Braintec, Dr. Saad was also the founder, Chairman & CEO of In-D-Pocket - a label company specialized in R&B, Hip Hop, and rap music.  One of the company’s acts was a female group called Foxx Empire whose debut album included couple of hits such as “Do You Want Me”, “Can’t Let Go”, and a remix of “Walkin’ in Rhythm”.

Prior to Braintec, Dr. Saad worked for Mathematica Products Group (MPG) – a software division of Martin Marietta where he was instrumental in establishing the Canadian division.  During his stint at MPG, Dr. Saad won several awards for his software sales achievements including the ICP award.  

Prior to Mathematica, Dr. Saad worked as a programmer and data base consultant for IST - a consulting and service bureau based in Montreal, Canada. 

Dr. Saad earned a PhD in Computer Science with high honors from University of Paris, an M.Sc.A. Cum Laude in Computer Science from McGill University, a B.Sc. in Computer Science from Concordia University, and a D.E.U.G. in Mathematics & Economics from University of Paris.   He speaks four languages.  He had a very successful athletic career in Judo during which he participated in the European Championships, World Championships, Pan American Games, and the Olympic games.  Dr. Saad is a USTA member and regularly participates in league and national tennis championships.