Tom Erickson

Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is a global nonprofit organization that delivers an objectives-based program for massively scalable, seed-stage, science- and technology-based companies. UW-Madison operates three streams for early stage ventures in risk, health and wellness, and advance therapeutics. Our mentors are world class entrepreneurs who have founded and built successful businesses, and investors who have stewarded companies from formation to exit.

Colorstack is a national tech nonprofit for Black and Latinx computer science students and graduates which cultivates community to provide academic support and career development opportunities.

Wisconsin lags behind other states in supporting Startup founders when they need help most. The Wisconsin Startup Coalition proactively advocates to policy makers on behalf of entrepreneurs to improve the early-stage startup ecosystem, accelerating the process that takes innovative ideas and empowers them to become Wisconsin businesses.

Co-Founded Pillar VC, a seed-stage firm co-founded by 22 top Boston CEOs and leaders. Founding Pillars serve as advisors, board members, mentors and customers to the firm’s portfolio companies.

Knime offers the leading open solution for data-driven innovation, designed for discovering the potential hidden in data, mining for fresh insights, or predicting new futures. Organizations can take their collaboration, productivity and performance to the next level with a robust range of commercial extensions to our open source platform.

As the founding director of CDIS, I’ve had the honor of leading a talented team in building a dynamic hub for computing and data science education at UW-Madison. Our mission has been to advance world-class research, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and expand access to innovative educational programs. Key Accomplishments: - Led the creation of two new undergraduate majors and four graduate programs in computing and data science. - Spearheaded a $260M fundraising campaign for Morgridge Hall, the largest privately funded project in UW-Madison’s history. - Grew student enrollment from 3,200 to 6,200, reflecting the increasing demand for education in computing and data science. - Expanded access to essential courses, with entry-level computing and data science classes now serving over 9,000 students annually. - Fostered interdisciplinary learning, with 40% of computer science and 80% of data science students pursuing dual majors. - Launched entrepreneurial initiatives, including the Creative Destruction Lab-Wisconsin and the Technology Entrepreneurship Office, supporting student and faculty innovation. - Expanded experiential learning programs, including introducing an undergraduate capstone course with corporate partners, and the creation of a co-op program - Secured $4.8M in critical workforce development funding directly from the state to enhance digital skills training and meet the evolving needs of Wisconsin's labor market. At CDIS, we are committed to preparing the next generation of leaders to excel in an increasingly digital world while ensuring that computing and data science education is accessible to all.

I served on the board of my former Systinet colleague Roman Stanek's next venture. Gooddata is a data application platform, providing in depth analytical features.

Acquia offers the leading cloud based platform for digital experience management. Leveraging the Drupal open source platform created by Dries Buytaert, Acquia serves 2000 enterprise and midmarket customers globally across all market segments. Acquia was acquired by Vista Equity Partners in October, 2019 for more than a billion dollars.

Led Acquia from $0 to $175M in revenue, establishing the first business to offer open source as a service. Recognized as the fastest growing private software company in the USA by Deloitte in 2013.

The Mass Technology Leadership Council (MassTLC) is New England's leading technology association. MassTLC’s purpose is to accelerate innovation by connecting people from across the technology landscape, providing access to industry-leading content and ideas and offering a platform for visibility for member companies and their interests.

The group was charged with advising university leadership, the Computer Sciences Department, its Board of Visitors, and other stakeholders on ways to advance computing at UW–Madison and around Wisconsin.