About CD (Chris Dolezalek)

My passion lies with enabling people and teams or organizations to grow and become successful. My journey has spanned decades of observing, modifying, creating and carrying forward rituals. I’ve been fortunate to work with amazing teams in 11 companies that have disrupted various industries and survived. 3 filed for IPO and 3 were acquired. 7 achieved valuations of over $1B. In most of those companies, we have survived existential threats to the point of paying the very last pay-check before turning the ship around.

I’ve also coached players and sports teams to winning nationals and competing in world championships. I’ve also been a K-8 teacher and have been trained as an executive coach in the Co-Active method.This page is about CD (Chris Dolezalek) – VP, Engineering, Coach, Advisor, Talent Whisperer who helped three startups file for IPO and three more get acquired (including unicorn exits) on a journey of leadership and evolution.

Successful Companies I Helped Beat the Odds

I believe success comes after a combination of luck, resilience and adaptability. There is good luck and back luck. Everyone of them faced at least one existential crisis. Many got to the point of paying out the last payroll possible before turning around. There’s also good luck. For example, at the time BroadVision was paying out its last payroll as an IPTV company, dot com happened. That was luck. That luck would not have made a difference if our systems, teams and processes were not adaptable to this new paradigm. We shifted to being a platform of personalized, targeted content, products, good and services. This resulted becoming the second fastest growing company on Nasdaq behind Qualcom and a $26B valuation.

There are those that say you grow through failures. Others suggest what matters is successes. In my experience, the most learning and growth comes from facing challenges, including near-fatal challenges, but finding a way out and a path to success. I’ve experienced and participated in that again again across various sectors. Ultimately, it’s the people that matter most. If you don’t have a team and culture that is resilient (motivated in the face of challenges) and adaptable (willing to let go of old beliefs), then trying to build disruptive tech may remain elusive as it has for so many that tried.

The Companies

Softlab, GmbH – joined as an early-stage startup. I was architect for the World’s 1st Integrated Software Development Environment which began my journey of learning what makes software teams succeed. Initial acquisition by BMW was at $300M valuation or $8.2B in today’s dollars.
Cooperative Solutions – joined as an early-stage startup. Most funded tech startup in Silicon Valley at that time. Acquired by Bachman Information Systems for undisclosed amount.
Informix, Inc – joined as a mature company. It was acquired by IBM for $1B or $1.7B in today’s dollars.
BroadVision, Inc. – joined as an early-stage startup. Reached profitability before filing for IPO as the second fastest growing company on Nasdaq during dot com. It achieved a $26B valuation (or $47B in 2024 dollars) before I left on Sabbatical to teach K-8.
Intuit, Inc. – joined as a mature company. I started as an individual contributor. Led internal startup to build QuickBooks Online. Current Valuation $175B.
Yahoo – joined as a mature company. Lead world’s largest casual gaming platform. Yahoo’s peak valuation was over $125B.
IMVU (now Together Labs) – joined as a mid-stage startup. Aka “The Lean Startup” Still going and being coached/advised by myself. It has raised a total of $77.6 million in funding. The Lean Startup is a methodology for creating and managing startups by using continuous innovation to build products.
Twitch – joined as an early-stage startup. Acquired by Amazon. Current Valuation $45B.
Pure Storage – joined as a mid-stage startup Pre-IPO. Filed IPO. Current Valuation $16B.
Prosper Marketplace – joined as a late-stage startup Pre-IPO. Filed for IPO, still pending.
Changed Rituals that saved the company, As of 2024, Prosper Marketplace has originated over $25 billion in loans.
Hum Capital – joined as an early-stage startup. Now profitable and still growing. It has deployed $165M in capital to date.

I’m happy to chat: Calendly.com/C_D/Intro

Background – Deeper Dive About CD (Chris Dolezalek)

Helping engineering teams be more effective started when I was an architect for the world’s first integrated software development environment Maestro is where this journey began. A journey that has taken me through vary many transformations. I currently leverage my industry experience and training as a teacher, sports coach, and Co-Active coach. I also apply a Humble Consulting approach in helping mentor, advise and coach people within and outside my current company. Certainly not having all the answers, I’m continuously transforming. I share what I’ve learned from so many talented and insightful people I’ve encountered on my journey. I’m learning more each day and discovering new and better ways of seeing and doing things.

There is no one right way.
The path to enlightenment lies not in the footsteps of another.

I’ve coached national level teams and teaching K-8. I’ve benefited from working alongside some of the brilliant, inspired, competitive, collaborative and productive people. I’ve done this in small and large companies in two cultures. I’ve lead and experienced rapid growth before and after acquisitions and IPOs. Coaching and competing in national and world championships has also shown what’s possible. I enjoy leading teams of engineers, managers, players on the field or classrooms of students. Mentoring, teaching and coaching have always been an aspect of those responsibilities I have thoroughly enjoyed.

About CD (Chris Dolezalek) – a love for learning and teaching

I learned of Google’s Project Oxygen where they concluded after much research that the most important behavior exhibited by their best managers was being a good coach. I decided to look into enrolling in the best coaching certification program I could find. I’ve since completed the 5 courses needed towards a certification as a Co-Active coach with CTI and as recognized by the ICF to add to my toolkit and experience in helping others grow their leadership skills.

Strength Finders Results for CD

As a horse whisperer, I learned to quietly and without a word can connect with a horse I’ve never seen before and ask it to move around an arena, change speed and direction, walk backwards, follow me, nuzzle its head on my shoulder, … It’s also important to recognize that it’s a dance that both beings contribute to. You make less progress with a horse if you only see yourself as leading them – appreciating their hesitations and desires to move in another direction are useful cues to pick up on and work with. So too can we as Talent Whisperers quietly and deeply move and motivate others to grow, develop and broaden their impact.

About CD’s Patents

While working at Intuit, I realized what a wealth of information we help on the financial state of startups across the US and world-wide. The value of this data and its potential for analysis seemed like a great opportunity to understand how companies are doing in agregate in the economy. Intuit holds insights to financial states, employee growth/reductions, inventory status, etc. So, I got help from some others to put together two patents.

CD’s Work Life

My occupational path that has spanned a wide variety of engagement has provided access to a wide variety of of brilliant and passionate people and experiences:

Kleen-Rite, Corp – First paycheck was as a janitor cleaning floors in federal buildings First “promotion” when my boss discovered I knew how to fix cleaning machines. Also did some minor construction work.
Kasemir Construction – Built a house from the ground up doing carpentry, masonry, flooring, roofing, plumbing, electrical work, etc.
Darden Business School (U.Va.) Executive Program – waiter and bartender to pay for school. Got to meet lots of interesting execs.
Atmosphere Sciences Research Center– Acid Rain Data Analyst – Results published in Scientific American and presented to the U.S. Senate.
Ultimate Frisbee – Player / Captain / Coach of National Champion Teams. Tournaments in the U.S., Austria, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden
Softlab, GmbH – Lead engineer, architect and consultant for the World’s first integrated software development environment – Maestro I and Germany’s 2nd fastest growing independent software house at the time – acquired by BMW

After moving to California

Cooperative Solutions, Inc. – At its time, the most heavily funded ($29M) start-up company ever – Promoted to site director for product BU when acquired by Bachman, Inc
Informix, Inc. – One of the big database players in its day – acquired by IBM
BroadVision, Inc. – VP Engineering responsible for 7 product lines at the fastest growing software company on Nasdaq in the dot com days – from pre-IPO through $26B valuation
San Mateo/Santa Clara Public/Private Schools– Taught all subjects in K-8, learned about growth mindsets, knowledge acquisition, etc
Intuit, Inc.– Director, Engineering – Spear-headed disruptive internal SaaS startup that created the foundation for QuickBooks Online and learned about small businesses
Yahoo, Inc.– Ran Yahoo!Games Engineering as the biggest social gaming site of the time
IMVU, Inc.– Director, Engineering – Improved agile and continuous deployment at the company behind the book “The Lean Startup” and the world’s largest virtual goods catalog.
Twitch, Interactive, Inc. Exec V.P. Engineering at Rapid growth/paradigm shift in video streaming – “unicorn” acquisition by Amazon for ~$1B
Pure Storage, Inc. Director Engineer at the fastest growing infrastructure company to date – joined pre “unicorn” IPOing
Prosper Marketplace, V.P. Engineering at one of the pioneer Fintech companies using ML and AI to determine personal loan, HELOC and Credit Card credit worthiness to match with investors..
Hum Capital, Exec V.P. R&D Funding platform pairing growth companies with investors through the use of AI and ML to evaluate whether companies live and trending financials match investor criteria to democratize access to capital. Acted as interim CPO.

Completed Classroom and Practical Portion of ICF Certification

Family and Personal History

My ancestral journey of episodic curiosity got a boost between 1914 and 1920 when my grandfather Friedrich Dolezalek worked with Albert Einstein in Berlin and my dad was inspired by this fascinating man whenever he came to visit their house. As a fifth-generation physicist on my father’s side, my fascination on how things work and my belief that our understanding of the world is just a series of ever refining theories that are tangentially approaching the truth has remained alive and become stronger with time.

My fascination of acquiring and sharing knowledge also comes from my mother’s side where I became a fifth-generation teacher. Her vigor and fascination with learning new things continues to this day at age 98. Here she is just two weeks after having gone through a stroke and internal bleeding and having the doctor tell me I should just let her go…

Encounter with the Dalai Lama

About CD (Chris Dolezalek) - Meeting the Dalai Lama during a visit to Grounds in 1979. (Image courtesy Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library)

My soul and empathic curiosity had a rebirth in 1979 when I rounded a corner at U.Va. on the way to class found myself face to face with a man I’d never seen before. We both stopped, smiled and looked deeply into each other’s eyes and souls; it felt like I recognized a kindred spirit that I had known for several lifetimes. To this day I clearly remember the sensation that he looked into my soul and knew me better than I knew myself. We then both smiled, nodded, bowed towards each other and went on our ways. It wasn’t until the next day upon seeing his picture in the paper that I first learned of this person known as the Dalai Lama.

My heart sprung to life when I first heard Kristy’s laugh. Destiny had our paths cross several times over many years and I’m now blessed to have her as my life partner, muse and greatest inspiration.

Chris and Kristy - meet the parents dinner

Atomic Rituals