Zachary Bookman

OpenGov has officially kicked off its project with @sfgov to modernize permitting and licensing systems through PermitSF. Learn more about this project: prnewswire.com/news-releases…

“governments are adopting AI almost as fast as my friends running startups.” - Zac Bookman

Excited to announce Juicebox has raised $36M in funding, including our Series A led by Sequoia Capital (@sequoia) - to help the world’s leading teams win the talent war. More below 🧵

At OpenGov, public service is personal. Our mission is to power more effective and accountable government. Government that operates efficiently, adapts to change, and strengthens public trust. Some people say this is boring. We think it’s the core of our democracy.

Morning. On today’s show: – Powell hints at rate cuts – @thestalwart (Odd Lots) – Jeffrey Katzenberg (WndrCo) – @kimbal (Nova Sky Stories) – @jesslivingston (Y Combinator) – @zacbookman (OpenGov) See you all on the stream.

I’m feeling blessed to share: Owner raised $120M Series C and is now at a $1B valuation 🦄 Mom-and-pop restaurant owners are being crushed by huge corporations. We’re using this cash to arm them to fight back. • This round was co-led by 2 perfect partners for us: Alex Kurland from Meritech, who led DoorDash’s Series B, and Shalini Rao from Headline, who led Toast’s Series C. They were also joined by an inspiring group of new investors: Fidji Simo (CEO Instacart), Jonathan Neman (CEO Sweetgreen), Garrett Langley (CEO Flock Safety). & still more inspiring new investors... Dharmesh Shah (CTO HubSpot), Josh Reeves (CEO Gusto), Shaan Puri (MFM), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO Eight Sleep), Anthony Pompliano, Sahil Bloom, Christina Cacioppo (CEO Vanta), Brett Schulman (CEO Cava), Matt Maloney (Founder & CEO GrubHub). … just to name a few. :) • Today, technology is being weaponized against small business owners. Corporations like Domino’s dominate. Why? Because they spend billions on tech, engineers, and marketers. • Small business owners are forced to compete with corporations that have massive war chests. But with Owner, they can do more than compete. They can win. We’re building the platform that gives them the power. We serve the people who serve our communities. • I started Owner 7 years ago, after dropping out of high school halfway through 10th grade. The first version of Owner wasn’t built for venture capital. It was built for my mom. She’s a small business owner who just needed a shot at success in the digital world. • I remember watching her worry that we’d lose her business and our house. In a moment of desperation, she asked her weird :) nerdy 17-year-old son to help her. I built a solution for her. That was Owner V1. When it started to work, I saw my mom transform. She went from being constantly stressed about money to feeling hopeful and excited about her future. The Owner team has now seen that same transformation happen for thousands of small business owners like her. That’s what drives us. • You can think of Owner as Shopify for restaurants—and, eventually, all local business owners. It gives them everything they need to succeed in the online future, in one place. Owner is their website, online ordering, mobile app, CRM. It all works together as one system. • Owner is also continuously optimized with what we learn from the thousands of restaurants and the more than 57 million consumers who have used our platform. It’s the only system designed for one outcome: growing sales profitably. It gives independent owners enough firepower to take on the big corporations, and win. • Shoutout to the great team at @Owner — You deserve the credit for getting us here. I thank God every morning that I get to build Owner with each of you. We wouldn’t be here without you. We have a special team. Each of you represents greatness. • And shoutout to the best cofounder and CTO I could ever ask for, @DeanBloembergen. His work ethic and genius are as impressive as his character. I view partnering with Dean as one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. • I’m proud of Owner today. But I also feel scared that people will see our unicorn valuation and think “we’ve made it.” So let me be brutally clear. We HAVE NOT made it. And if we start to believe we have, we never will. When investors value us at $1B, it’s because they see potential. Our investors see the POTENTIAL for us to build a company worth tens of billions. We have to prove them right. And we must also prove right the thousands of restaurant owners who’ve bet their futures on us. • We’re still underdogs. We still have a long way to go. We didn’t come this far just to come this far. It’s time to move faster, build better, and fight harder! We have millions of small business owners counting on us.

Zac Bookman spent more than a decade building @OpenGovInc into a leader in cloud software for local governments—then landed a $1.8 billion acquisition by Cox Enterprises. He founded the company with Joe Lonsdale backed by investor and board member John Chambers, and built a team driven by a passion for public service. On the Grit podcast this week, Zac shares why building software for governments isn’t the typical Silicon Valley dream, how they navigated tough challenges, and why being mission-driven made all the difference. Full episode on YouTube and all your favorite podcast platforms below ⬇️

When it comes to “effective and accountable government,” see who is NOT a fan. Despite what he says, we’re proud to be all up in the business of government. #govtech #govlove #localgovbudgeting #publicfinance #janicethebudgetbook opengov.com/meet-janice

OpenGov is excited to announce its acquisition of Cartegraph! Together, we will continue to expand our efforts to power more effective and accountable government. Read more about the OpenGov + Cartegraph acquisition below. opengov.com/newsroom/press-r…

Check out this blog post from JC2-backed @OpenGovInc co-founder and CEO @ZacBookman, where he shares his perspective on why enterprise SaaS CEOs should invest in building Professional Services after product launch. opengov.com/enterprise-saas-…

: 🎧 Ep 14 #ChambersTalks #podcast on #CultivatingCulture w/ a handful of my @JC2Ventures #startup CEOs. Listen, rate & review: #ApplePodcasts: apple.co/3j9aGfd Web: bit.ly/3DS5tQM Also on: #Spotify #Pandora #iHeartRadio #AmazonMusic #GooglePodcasts #Stitcher