Brett A. Hurt's Location
Austin, Texas, United States, United States
About Brett A. Hurt
Brett Hurt is the CEO and co-founder of data.world, an Austin-based Certified B Corporation and public benefit corporation. data.world makes it easy for everyone—not just the "data people"—to get clear, accurate, fast answers to any business question. data.world's cloud-native data catalog maps its customers siloed, distributed data to familiar and consistent business concepts, creating a unified body of knowledge anyone can find, understand, and use. data.world is also home to the world’s largest collaborative open data community, including public COVID-19 datasets. In 2017, 2018, and 2019, data.world was honored on the “Best for the World” list by B Lab that recognizes the top 10% of all B Corps globally. And in 2020, data.world was named by the Austin Business Journal as one of the top-three companies to work for. Brett is also the co-owner of Hurt Family Investments (HFI), alongside his wife, Debra. HFI are involved in 115 startups, 31 VC funds, and multiple philanthropic endeavors. Brett co-founded and led Bazaarvoice as CEO, through its IPO, follow-on offering, and two acquisitions. Bazaarvoice became the largest public SaaS (Software as a Service) business in social commerce and was named by the WSJ as one of the top IPOs of 2012. Brett also founded and led Coremetrics, which was rated the #1 Web analytics solution by Forrester Research and, like Bazaarvoice, expanded into a global company and leader. Coremetrics was acquired by IBM in 2010 for around $300m. In 2017, Brett was given the Best CEO Legacy Award by the Austin Business Journal. He is a Henry Crown Fellow and Braddock Scholar at the Aspen Institute. Brett began programming at age seven and doing so on the Internet at age eighteen. He finished his book, “The Entrepreneur’s Essentials”, in August 2019 (available at databrett.medium.com for free).Two beautiful children and married to Debra, my much better half, since 1996.
Brett A. Hurt's Current Company Details
Brett A. Hurt Work Experience Details
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Chief Executive OfficerLove Conquers FearAustin, Tx, Us
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Ceo And Co-FounderData.World Sep 2015 - PresentAustin, Texas, Usdata.world is the data catalog platform built for your AI future. Its cloud-native SaaS platform combines a consumer-grade user experience with a powerful knowledge graph to deliver enhanced data discovery, agile data governance, and actionable insights. Get fast, trusted access to your company’s knowledge when you create AI-powered data experiences with the AI Context Engine™. data.world is a Certified B Corporation and public benefit corporation and home to the world’s largest collaborative open data community with more than two million members, including ninety percent of the Fortune 500. Our company has 76 patents and has been named one of Austin’s Best Places to Work eight years in a row. -
Co-OwnerHurt Family Investments Dec 2012 - PresentHurt Family Investments (HFI) holds multiple asset classes, including early-stage venture investments. Currently on the early-stage side, we are involved in 135 startups, mostly based in Austin, and 42 VC funds. All investments are made with the support of my wife, Debra, who helped me start Coremetrics and is extraordinarily savvy in tech (not to mention I've pitched all six of my own businesses to her as an entrepreneur myself and got her blessing first). Our primary goal at HFI is to help early-stage entrepreneurs establish and then scale their company to create a lot of jobs and economic and karmic ripples. You can see our current portfolio at http://lucky7.io/portfolio.I get inspired regularly when I am coaching entrepreneurs and blog occasionally at Lucky7.io to share my learnings. That writing eventually turned into my book, "The Entrepreneur's Essentials", which is available for free online at https://www.theentrepreneursessentials.com/. John Mackey, a long-time mentor, investor in data.world, and CEO and Co-founder of Whole Foods, wrote the Foreword.HFI are donors to various entrepreneurial causes at U.T. Austin, including the Genesis Program, and The Wharton School's Entrepreneur Fund, which supports Wharton student entrepreneurs. HFI were one of the top donors to the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas, which supports communities through entrepreneurship, and the founding donors to establish the Bazaarvoice Foundation, which catalyzes the next generation of highly-educated, entrepreneurial youth. HFI also funded the Hurt Family Tennis Center at Shalom Austin, which opened in 2022 for all ages in Austin to enjoy.
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Braddock ScholarThe Aspen Institute Mar 2020 - PresentWashington, District Of Columbia, UsI was selected by Rick Braddock and the Aspen Institute for the 2020 (V) class of the Braddock Scholars program at the Aspen Institute.Made possible thanks to the generosity of Aspen Institute trustee, Rick Braddock, the Braddock Scholars program supports Fellows of the Aspen Global Leadership Network who aim to have transformational impact on society by bringing their venture to significant scale. The program supports selected Scholars through a combination of mentorship, peerlearning activities, a grant to fund a key scale active of the scholars choosing, and enhanced connectivity across the Aspen Institute. -
Henry Crown FellowThe Aspen Institute Feb 2015 - PresentWashington, District Of Columbia, UsThe Henry Crown Fellowship Program was established in 1997 to honor the life and career of Chicago industrialist Henry Crown (1896-1990) and was initially funded by the Henry and Gladys Crown Charitable Trust Fund. The Fellowship is the flagship program within the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN).The Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN) is a growing, worldwide community of entrepreneurial leaders from business, government and the nonprofit sector — currently, more than 2,000 Fellows from 48 countries — who share a commitment to enlightened leadership and to using their extraordinary creativity, energy and resources to tackle the foremost societal challenges of our times. All share the common experience of participating in the Henry Crown Fellowship or one of the dozen Aspen Institute leadership initiatives it has inspired in the United States, Africa, Central America, India, the Middle East and China.The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners.I'm in the 2015 (XIX) class, which we named "Dare, Greatly" in honor of Roosevelt's famous speech.
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PartnerCapital Factory May 2013 - PresentAustin, Tx, UsJosh Baer has been a force for much good in Austin since his launch of Capital Factory in 2009. I have helped Josh with Capital Factory off and on since then but have had a minor role until recently. In May of 2013, I decided to join formally as a Partner and then later became a Mentor and then back to a Partner when they changed their model (now we are also investors in the Capital Factory Fund IV). I have been impressed with several of the portfolio companies - we backed several of them at Hurt Family Investments - and have enjoyed teaching and mentoring there. The energy at Capital Factory is really amazing and radiates out throughout Austin. When President Obama decided to visit Austin on his Jobs Tour, he picked Capital Factory as the venue (I wrote about the experience at Lucky7.io - http://lucky7.io/post/the-president-and-the-cto-of-the-united-states-visit-austin-and-capital-factory). Capital Factory is one of the reasons I believe the next 10 years in Austin are going to be our best yet. -
MentorTechstars May 2013 - PresentNew York City, New York, UsI wrote about the well-respected incubator, TechStars, launching in Austin back in May 2013 on Lucky7.io: http://lucky7.io/post/techstars-launches-in-austin-and-applications-are-open-now. I was impressed with their first class and was glad to teach, meet with all of the portfolio companies, and mentor Accountable (http://www.accountablehq.com). Jason Seats deserves a lot of credit for the successful launch of TechStars in Austin and his leadership. -
Board Of Advisors MemberClearblade Oct 2013 - PresentAustin, Tx, UsCEO Eric Simone was one of my first investors in Bazaarvoice and was very helpful along the way; proud to return the favor and get involved in his impressive business, ClearBlade. What I've been most impressed with in my time on the Advisory Board is how well Eric and his team have pivoted the company from a hard-to-scale services business into a very promising mobile infrastructure platform to power enterprise applications and IoT (Internet of Things). -
Member Board Of DirectorsCopilot Jul 2018 - Sep 2023Chicago, Illinois, UsA real honor to serve on Pat Ryan's Board of CoPilot, the ultimate car shopping app, since almost the beginning. I learned a lot about B2C businesses by seeing it directly from the inside, led by a very experienced serial entrepreneur, fellow Henry Crown Fellow, and good friend.Bonus: CoPilot really helped my wife, Debra, and I find and buy the car for our daughter! It has more data on inventory, features of the cars, etc. than any other car shopping app. -
Member Board Of DirectorsData Transparency Coalition Oct 2016 - Dec 2019I joined the Data Coalition's Board of Directors with my service as CEO and Co-founder of data.world. I also joined the Board of Directors of The Data Foundation at the same time. Both are non-profits led by the awesome Hudson Hollister, their founder and CEO. It was an honor to serve and a perfect alignment for us at data.world as well as many of our community members.Starting January of 2019, I am only on the Board of the non-profit Data Foundation. The Data Coalition has achieved its mission and then some, and it was a pleasure to serve there. My service wrapped up on the Board of the Data Foundation, and Patrick McGarry (our head of enterprise partnerships, data literacy, and community at data.world) took over my position.Brief descriptions of both:The Data Coalition advocates on behalf of the private sector and the public interest for the publication of government information as standardized, machine-readable data (more: http://www.datacoalition.org/about/).The Data Foundation is the nation's first industry-focused open data research organization (more: http://www.datafoundation.org/mission/).
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Author"The Entrepreneur'S Essentials" Sep 2018 - Aug 2019Leveraging the best of Lucky7.io, I refreshed some of my best posts on entrepreneurship over the years and published "The Entrepreneur's Essentials". It is available for free on Medium at https://bit.ly/2kqSZfZ. It is over 50,000 words and takes 207 minutes to read. I worked on it for almost a year and hope that it helps many.
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Chairman Of The Board And Then Advisory Board MemberShelfbucks Jun 2013 - Jun 2019Austin, Tx, UsShelfbucks recently won the DEMO God Award and you can see their winning presentation here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX-wZJ38BVcI served as Chairman from June 2013 to March 2014 and then transitioned to an Advisory Board member as I helped Erik, our founder and CEO, secure Bill Martin, founder of ShopperTrak, as our new Chairman.Unfortunately, Shelfbucks went out of business after a long run. There are many reasons but the primary one is that traditional retail was just too slow to adopt, which I find very unsettling for the sake of the industry in the Amazon era of domination. -
Board Of Advisors MemberNewcomlink, Inc. (Now Vyze) Jul 2008 - Apr 2019Austin, Tx, UsFinancial services company founded by Suneet Paul and Jim White, formerly leaders at Dell (Transaction Group of Dell Financial Services). I've served on the Advisory Board, mentoring Suneet, since before their Series A at Austin Ventures. Suneet is a very good friend and it has been an honor to work with him.I have continued to serve on the Advisory Board under new CEO, Keith Nealon, and the company recently changed its name to Vyze and has a very exciting revised mission (not a pivot but an expanded vision).Vyze was acquired by MasterCard on April 2019. -
Chairman Of The BoardEdgecase May 2013 - May 2017Austin, Tx, UsI've been involved with Edgecase (formerly named Compare Metrics) ever since Hurt Family Investments invested in their seed round in December of 2012, along with me joining the Advisory Board. I helped them raise their Series A from Austin Ventures and joined as Chairman of the Board at that time. I've been very active in the company ever since.This TechCrunch article contains a good explanation of the Edgecase solution, which has been a long time in the making (I know from experience that retailers and brands have wanted a solution like this in the market since 1999): http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/26/edgecase-relaunch/Final update: Edgecase was acquired by GroupBy in May of 2017 and now establishes the US office for GroupBy (headquartered in Toronto) in Austin. -
Board Of Directors MemberEntrepreneurs Foundation Apr 2013 - Mar 2017In 2013, Bill Bock and Eugene Sepulveda asked me to join the Board of the Entrepreneurs Foundation and I was thrilled to accept. The Entrepreneurs Foundation was an inspirational force for Bazaarvoice since our inception in 2005 and helped us in the formation of the Bazaarvoice Foundation (http://www.bazaarvoicefoundation.org). The Entrepreneurs Foundation is at the forefront of the Conscious Capitalism movement in Austin. It helps entrepreneurs and their companies get involved in all types of important community and philanthropy oriented activities and causes.I served on the Board of Directors for four years, during a very important time of growth for the organization. Most notably during this time, Eugene Sepulveda, our CEO (and now Chairman), decided to promote Leigh to be our new CEO (she's awesome). This big move was not only great for Leigh but it gave Eugene the time he needed to personally work on Culturati, which has became an incredibly influential conference on fostering great company culture. I was proud to be an early Board supporter for Culturati.
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Board Of Directors MemberConscious Capitalism, Inc. Mar 2015 - Feb 2017Global, UsConscious Capitalism exists to elevate humanity.Conscious Capitalism is a nonprofit organization dedicated to elevating humanity through the practice of business. The organization cultivates the theory and practice of Conscious Capitalism through events, presentations, publications, and social media. We also support an emerging network of Conscious Capitalism Chapters, which serve as communities of inquiry for business leaders, entrepreneurs, coaches and consultants, and others. Conscious Capitalism builds on the foundations of Capitalism - voluntary exchange, entrepreneurship, competition, freedom to trade, and the rule of law. These are essential to a healthy functioning economy, as are trust, compassion, collaboration, and value creation.I was proud to serve on the Board of Directors during an extraordinary time, where we selected our new co-CEO, Alexander McCobin, and experienced a lot of growth (much more to come). You can learn more about this amazing organization and movement at http://www.consciouscapitalism.org. I cannot recommend their events enough - their CEO Summit is my favorite leadership conference each year. -
Co-Founder, Ceo Through Ipo And Then Vice Chairman Of The BoardBazaarvoice Nov 2012 - Oct 2014Austin, Texas, UsI was very active as the Vice Chairman of the Board at Bazaarvoice from 2012-2014 after leading the company as CEO from 2005-2012, through our IPO, follow-on offering, and two acquisitions (PowerReviews and Longboard Media).Today Bazaarvoice is the world's largest network of active shoppers, connecting more than one-half billion consumers to thousands of retailers and brands that represent tens of millions of products and services. Online, in-store, and on mobile devices, Bazaarvoice's technology platform engages consumers, increases sales, and protects loyalty through authentic ratings and reviews, Q&A, and brand-relevant photos, videos, and social posts. Interactions across the Bazaarvoice network yield insights on past, present, and future shopping behavior, enabling marketers to identify competitive advantage. -
Founder, President, And CeoBazaarvoice May 2005 - Nov 2012Austin, Texas, UsI co-founded Bazaarvoice with Brant Barton in May 2005 and was our CEO until November 2012. I led our company through its IPO, follow-on offering, and two acquisitions (PowerReviews and Longboard Media). The three things I am most proud of in my 7.5 years in the CEO role at Bazaarvoice:1. We created 800 full-time jobs around the world, plus 100s more primarily in Austin as stay-at-home, part-time jobs.2. We transformed global commerce to be more authentic and empowered consumers to share word of mouth at scale in a networked economy. The genesis of our name (the voice of the marketplace) came from Chapter 4 of "The Cluetrain Manifesto", "Markets Are Conversations", which you can read online for free at http://budurl.com/bvclue (a must read for any marketer or anyone interested in marketing).3. We learned a lot about hiring amazing people and building a great company culture as a result. We were rated the #1 company to work for in Austin over the years in the small, medium, and large company category as we grew.Today Bazaarvoice is the world's largest network of active shoppers, connecting more than one-half billion consumers to thousands of retailers and brands that represent tens of millions of products and services. Online, in-store, and on mobile devices, Bazaarvoice's technology platform engages consumers, increases sales, and protects loyalty through authentic ratings and reviews, Q&A, and brand-relevant photos, videos, and social posts. Interactions across the Bazaarvoice network yield insights on past, present, and future shopping behavior, enabling marketers to identify competitive advantage.
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Entrepreneur-In-ResidenceMccombs School Of Business Sep 2013 - May 2014Austin, Tx, UsMentored student entrepreneurs, hosted a speaker series (Cotter Cunningham of RetailMeNot, John Arrow of Mutual Mobile, Chris Pacitti of Austin Ventures, Josh Baer of Capital Factory, Michael Dell, Rod Canion of Compaq, Matt Chasen of uShip, and Dan Graham of BuildASign.com), judged startup competitions, and worked with a team of four very entrepreneurial students (Verick Cornett, Taylor Barnett, Dan Driscoll, and Jonathan Van) in the "Office of the EIR" to foster student entrepreneurship across all of the University of Texas at Austin, not just the McCombs School of Business. You can read my thoughts on this role and watch the interviews I conducted in this Lucky7.io post: http://lucky7.io/post/learnings-from-four-entrepreneurs-i-interviewed-this-past-semester-michael-dell-rod-canion-matt-chasen-and-dan-graham -
General PartnerHurt+Harbach Aug 2013 - Oct 2013Hurt+Harbach was a short journey and what I realized from it was that my real passion was helping entrepreneurs, not raising money from LPs and following the traditional VC model and 10-year fund lifecycle. I wrote about this in my Lucky7 post "listening to your soul": http://lucky7.io/post/listening-to-your-soul. This experienced formalized my passion for Hurt Family Investments.
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Venture PartnerAustin Ventures Nov 2012 - Aug 2013Austin, Tx, UsI left Austin Ventures to start Hurt+Harbach, and I was investing via Hurt Family Investments (HFI) the entire time I was there. Austin Ventures helped me on my path for HFI a great deal - it was very eye-opening to see how the largest VC in Austin worked behind the scenes. It was the first time I saw "behind the curtain" as a long-time entrepreneur and beneficiary of venture capital. -
Board Of Directors MemberV Foundation Wine Celebration Dec 2009 - Apr 2013UsA terrific cause in honor of Jimmy Valvano (winecelebration.org) - finding a way to cure cancer through supporting promising research. -
Board Of Directors MemberShop.Org Aug 2007 - Aug 2011UsElected by the Shop.org membership to serve a second and then third term. Shop.org has over 600 members and organizes the largest conferences in the eCommerce industry. Shop.org is a division of the National Retail Federation (NRF), the largest trade organization for retailers. -
Board Of Directors MemberOnespot, Inc. Dec 2007 - Jan 2010OneSpot is a publishing as a service platform (Saas/ASP) founded by my good friend, Matt Cohen. I served on the Advisory Board from Dec. 2007 - Dec. 2008 and joined the Board of Directors in Jan. 2009. I then later invested in the company via Hurt Family Investments after Steve Sachs became the new CEO, alongside Matt retaining an important executive role.
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Board Of Advisors MemberClick Forensics Nov 2006 - Nov 2008Austin, Tx, UsClick Forensics is helping its clients get the most out of paid search campaigns by combatting fradulent clicks. The company changed it's name to Adometry and was acquired by Google in 2014 in a great exit. -
Board Of Advisors MemberPowered, Inc. Jul 2005 - Dec 2007Advisory Board member for Powered, which is pioneering educational marketing online for large brands. Each Powered course engages the user, giving them value and leading to reciprocity in 25% of the "campaigns".
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Board Of Advisors MemberWeb Analytics Association Aug 2004 - May 2007Asked to serve as on the Board of Advisors by the Chairman of the newly formed Web Analytics Association, which Coremetrics and all major Web analytics players are members of.
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Board Of Directors MemberShop.Org Mar 2004 - Aug 2006UsShop.org is the network for retailers online. It’s where the best retail minds come together to gain the insight, knowledge, and intelligence to make smarter, more informed decisions in the evolving world of the Internet and multichannel retailing. Founded in 1996, Shop.org became a division of the National Retail Federation in January 2001. The association’s membership includes interactive executives from store-based retailers, catalog-based retailers, Web-based retailers, and retail solution providers. For more information, visit www.shop.org.
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Board Of Advisors MemberAd:Tech Sep 2005 - Apr 2006Advisory Board member for ad:tech, which attracts 20,000 professionals at five global events annually. I was focused on the ad:tech 1MPACT launch with Susan Bratton, Jim Sterne, and Bryan Eisenberg. 1MPACT was a regional event in 10 cities, focused on the analytics and tools that make online marketing work.
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Founder And Board Of Directors MemberCoremetrics, Inc. Apr 2005 - Feb 2006Served as on an ongoing supporter of Coremetrics on the Board of Directors. Coremetrics was then left in good hands with John Squire being the most important leader for the business over the next several years. It was later acquired by IBM for around $300 million. You can read the inside story about how we persevered in this Austin American-Statesman article: http://www.statesman.com/news/technology/bazaarvoice-founder-learned-from-near-failure-at-1/nRxkb/?__federated=1
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Founder, Vp Of Client Services, And Board Of Directors MemberCoremetrics, Inc. Jun 2003 - Apr 2005Evangelist; Management of Client Services team; Responsible for all ongoing revenue (renewals and up-selling to existing client base); Responsible for client satisfaction and adoption
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Founder, Chief Architect, And Chairman Of The BoardCoremetrics, Inc. May 2001 - Jun 2003
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Founder, Ceo, And Chairman Of The BoardCoremetrics, Inc. Feb 1999 - May 2001Funded by angel investors like Ralph Mack and Julie Allegro while I was still earning my MBA at Wharton, we had a terrific start with Accel Partners and Highland Capital Partners coming on as backers shortly after I graduated. My wife, Debra, helped me start the business and we worked like slaves in that first couple of years. Unfortunately, the dot-com bust occurred and then 9/11, but we persevered and you can read the inside story in this Austin American-Statesman article: http://www.statesman.com/news/technology/bazaarvoice-founder-learned-from-near-failure-at-1/nRxkb/?__federated=1
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Board Of Directors MemberNubella, Llc Oct 2002 - Aug 2005Coupon booklet for the diet generation; tied to dietary goals; selling ad space to large CPGs; mentored CEO from start of company to exit (sold to a larger company, Marketing Technology Solutions - mtscorp.com)
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Board Of Directors MemberTopaz Software Feb 2003 - Oct 2004Realtor-focused ASP similar to a niche Salesforce.com -
CeoHurt Technology Consulting 1997 - 1999My very first business as an entrepreneur was my own consulting firm, Hurt Technology Consulting (an LLC). At HTC, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do the same work as I did at Deloitte but get paid the same billing rate I did with the much larger, storied firm. I made an average of $250-350 per hour while running HTC. It was liberating and I proved to myself at a young age that I was not only good at delivering the work (with a growing team) but also selling the work!So why stop? I was only 26 and wanted to swing for a much bigger outcome for the world than a consulting firm. That is when I started Coremetrics, which was an outgrowth of BodyMatrix, an eCommerce engine and site I launched in the summer of 1998 that was a side project of HTC. Coremetrics was the much bigger idea, but I would have never thought of it had I not launched HTC - HTC gave me the financial freedom to do so and not take a summer internship like my Wharton classmate peers. And BodyMatrix directly led to Coremetrics because I built analytics I needed on top of my eCommerce engine. So, one thing led to another.To focus completely on Coremetrics, I gave ownership of HTC to my employees. And I sold BodyMatrix. Focus is incredibly important - and once you find the truly big idea, focus is everything.To read more about my initial entrepreneurial forays during this time, please see: http://lucky7.io/post/2015/9/14/my-return-to-the-wharton-school-as-an-entrepreneur-in-residence
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Systems AnalystDeloitte 1994 - 1997Worldwide, OoThe beginning of my career post undergrad. I learned how to deliver consulting work, and that helped me establish my own consulting company later on, Hurt Technology Consulting. The Partner at Deloitte who hired and oversaw me thought it was crazy when I left to pursue my MBA at Wharton and then decided not to return (he and his Partners would have paid for my MBA) and found Coremetrics instead.
Brett A. Hurt Education Details
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The Wharton SchoolMba In High-Tech Entrepreneurship -
The University Of Texas At AustinManagement Information Systems
Frequently Asked Questions about Brett A. Hurt
What company does Brett A. Hurt work for?
Brett A. Hurt works for Love Conquers Fear
What is Brett A. Hurt's role at the current company?
Brett A. Hurt's current role is Chief Executive Officer.
What schools did Brett A. Hurt attend?
Brett A. Hurt attended The Wharton School, The University Of Texas At Austin.
Who are Brett A. Hurt's colleagues?
Brett A. Hurt's colleagues are Andreas Pumberger, Dean Allemang, Lisa Harding, Robert Myers, Shad Reynolds, Mahi Khan, Davis Miller.
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