Karen Wertman

Entrepreneur

I'm passionately interested in building products and organizations that make money while making a positive difference.

You are in control of your time, your ability to be authentic, and your opportunities. You are at the mercy of market timing, investor whim, and an unpredictable economy.

Waiting too long to launch (instead of being lean and failing fast). Failing to understand the importance of brand and marketing, even at the early stages.

Surround yourself with the right people: inspired visionaries and ultra-executors.
Be realistic about the product or service you are creating. Do people love it? Do people need it?
Iterate! Don't be wedded to your ideas - whether it's your product, funding or business model.

Karen’s career spans more than twenty-five years in marketing and business management. She’s helped build brands in publishing, higher education, consumer electronics and diverse non-profit organizations. She's led or partnered with several startups, An avid and collaborative educator, Karen has facilitated workshops as well as designed and delivered training sessions on social media and varied marketing topics. Karen and her team won the contract to launch  the City of Oakland’s first social media strategy. She's also served on Mayor Jean Quan’s  Positively Oakland advisory group and currently co-chairs 2.Oakland, a volunteer organization working to help support the tech & innovation ecosystem. In addition to developing RallyCall, Karen is  Executive Producer for Vator Splash Events.