Tech Futures Group

Scoot Science

“I couldn’t be happier with the support we’ve gotten from Tech Futures Group. It’s clear that without this help, we wouldn’t have realized the successes that we have today.”
— Jonathan LaRiviere

All Client Stories

Scoot Science knows how having a trusted SBDC advisor can make all the difference in minimizing the bumps in the road… a difference in the likes of $2 Million in capital and adding 10X team power and creating a wealth ripple effect for customers.


Challenge

When Jonathan LaRiviere of Scoot Science in Santa Cruz first came to SBDC’s Tech Futures Group, he was a team of one without enough capital to fund another employee. He also didn’t have any paying customers. Needless to say, investors were wary. 

Gameplan

Jonathan’s SBDC advisor came in and helped him to address every issue and then some. She helped with fundraising strategy and execution, including editing the pitch and evaluating good candidates for investment. He learned about the important points of negotiation when closing complex deals. He credits the creativity his advisor brought to the customer approach as key in helping to facilitate his engagement with early paying customers. While navigating his team’s growth, Jonathan often turned to his advisor with specific questions as he faced challenging or important individual conversations. 

Results

Jonathan’s three initial stumbling blocks turned out to be his three points of pride: from having gone from a team of one to 11, from having no customers to having customers who are among the top ten of salmon producers in the world and has raised over $2 million while seeing huge progress in product development, operations, and his sales pipeline.