Valley Talks Real Life Stories Of Silicon Valley Startups

Tim Schwab, founder of several startups and Chief Sales Officer at KnKt’d, is not the stereotypical Silicon Valley entrepreneur. However, though he doesn’t fit in the typical startup founder image, his story of drug addiction, mental illness and being fired from own company is not that uncommon. It’s just much less often told and it’s easy to guess why. Here is the outline: After years of drug addiction and living an aimless life in Wisconsin with some criminal record, Tim created a travel insurance startup. He was acquired and found himself in the ritzy, celeb town of Tiburon, California. Despite being the poorest guy around Tiburon, he went through the 500 Startup Program, raised over $1M, and connected to a vast network of the who’s who in Silicon Valley. Eventually, because of extreme stress and lack of sleep, he developed a mental illness. Oh, and he got fired from his own company. How did Tim’s startup in Wisconsin get acquired by a Silicon Valley company? How did Tim find himself in Tiburon, Califo