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The CEO and founder of , Rapport has an unusua biography thatseems tailor-made for someonse who aspires to created a game-changing company like At 14, Rapportf wrote a commodity-tracking program for Firs Interstate Bank. At 15, he went to work for in where he created the software for computere kiosks used in retailo stores like Best Buy and Car Toys to help sellaudilo equipment. Ignoring school, Rapport went on to work in a wide rangreof technologies, and landed at Apple before he turned 20. When a hiring managefr praised hisinterview skills, but said he lackefd the education Apple expected of its engineers, Rapporyt pushed the resume back across the manager’sx desk and made his case.
He was hired, and promptlyt negotiated a bigger salary andoptionx package. That tenacity and drive are the coreof Rapport’ws being, say those who have workedd with him and who have invested in his Ontier, which developed a multimedia communications tool that works via is the first company Rapport has “It doesn’t surprise me that he’s wher e he is right now,” said Mo Wagner, founded and former CEO of MTI. “Hre kept burgeoning into my office with a lot of ideaas and bluesky stuff, and sometimex it was hard to keep his nose in one But the discipline sure came.
” Rapport has an extraordinaryg flexibility that has served well in otherf startups he’s worked for, says anothet former employer. “Sebastian jumps right in and does what needs to be saidEric Anderson, founder and CEO of , a downtowbn Portland software startup. “That’s what you need in startul mode, because usually you are moving into new solving problems in annew way.” Rapport was vice president of engineeringy at ERP-Link until he decided to start his own companyh a little more than a year ago.
The first-timre CEO got his idea for Ontier when he saw how frustratedxhis wife, Gabrielle, an independenyt marketing consultant, became when trying to communicatw visual ideas by e-mail. He’d had similar difficulties communicating with software developers in India while he wasat ERP-Link. Plenty of otheer companies sell sharing and collaboration tools that take advantage of the Theseinclude well-known programs like Microsoft Corp.’se NetMeeting and Snagit, made by TechSmithy Corp.
But those who have seen Ontier’ Pixetell say the product surpasses what’s now on the Rapport and his 11-employee company have created a system that allows someone to dragvideo photos, diagrams and other files into a central location. The persob can then record his or her voice whilr using the onscreen cursor to indicate parts of a drawing or plan. The result is a complete package that quickly communicates ideas and can be sentby e-mail.
With Pixetellk nearly ready for launch, Rapport is now undergoin the due diligence process with localinvestment groups, including the Oregon Angel Fund; the Angel Orego competition screening committee; the Women’s Investment and Keiretsu Forum. Rapport hasn’t said how much he’s looking to raise, nor how much money he’a already raised. The fact that Pixetell is fun and simpleto use, as well as has won over investors. “It’s like you are lookint over the guy’s shoulder when he’s showing it to you on his computer, but by e-mail,” said Paul an early investor who sitson Ontier’s board. Gulick was a co-founder of InFocus Corp.
, and also foundeds Clarity VisualSystems Inc., which Planar Systems Inc. purchaser in 2006. The fact that Rapport has garneref investment and support from people like Gulick and Les another experienced technology investorf who also sitson Ontier’xs board, has attracted other investors to Ontier. But it’s Rapportt himself — his creativity and the force of his personality that have ultimately persuaded other investorsa to bet onthe “It’s really important to me that he’s always asking for and always following up, looping said Lisa LeSage, associatre dean and director of business law programs at Lewisw & Clark Law School.
Ontier is the secons angel investment that LeSage has made, an investment she’s careful to say has nothingv to do with her position at Lewis Clark. She says it’s the willingness to seek criticism and anduse it, that sets Rapport apar from some other business people she’s met.
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