"I have the pleasure of working with the principals of AKF for many years. As I became the CEO of LiveOps, I welcomed them in as advisors and guides to our technology team. We have made significant progress and they were instrumental in that success. If you have issues with scale, organizational maturity, architecture or cost I would highly recommend them."
- Maynard Webb, CEO, Liveops
"Marty Abbott and Tom Keeven are our preferred partners for technical due diligence on potential portfolio companies. They always go above and beyond their tasks and have been invaluable in recruiting key technical talent post transaction. They are my first call when it comes to technology in growth companies."
- Rich Pan, Partner, Stripes Group
"The professionals at AKF combine business expertise and acumen with world class understanding of and experience in designing, implementing, scaling, and operating online services infrastructure and applications. The AKF team was instrumental in building the technology stack and surrounding operating practices of one of the largest, most successful Internet companies in the world, something very few other firms can claim."
- Isaac Kato, General Catalyst Partners
"Mike was able to draw comparisons with approaches he'd seen in the past and give us a sense of where and when tradeoffs were acceptable for a business in transition from a startup to a medium-size enterprise were appropriate. His insight, delicacy, and technical insight were appreciated at all turns. The entire management team has profited from the review of best practices, tools, and tips appropriate to the areas of our process, software architecture, quality assurance initiatives, strategic product planning, and network infrastructure."
- Rich Davis, VP Technology, Lulu.com
"I was so impressed with our engagement with Marty Abbott and Tom Keeven that I knew I had to make them advisors to Rearden Commerce. They helped us find the right people, beef up our processes and define our future architecture".
- Patrick Grady, CEO Rearden Commerce
"There is no other firm on the planet that knows more about building and running highly scalable and reliable SaaS platforms and services. AKF is my secret weapon."
- Warren Weiss, General Manager, Foundation Capital
"Tom Keeven and Marty Abbott have been fantastic to work with. During a critical decision point for a long term strategy, Tom and Marty came in and worked with us to ensure we were thinking about all of the right things and help us determine the correct path for our business. It was their clear understanding of current and future technologies, ability to break the overall strategy down into its simplest form, and construct an achievable roadmap that made us successful. It is Tom and Marty's many years as technologist and operations experts that make them the partner of choice. "
- Mark Stockford, VP of Operations, IAC
"We rely on Marty Abbott and AKF to help make our critical technical hiring decisions and help validate our technical strategy and approach in scaling our mission critical systems. I absolutely would not use anyone else when it comes to making critical IT decisions."
- Dennis Huang, CEO, Folica Inc
"We're big believers that a fresh pair of eyes can put things in perspective. AKF did just that - they came in and took a long hard look at several key areas of our business. Their findings, based on impressive industry knowledge and experience with scalability issues, were perceptive and their suggestions were constructive. Marty Abbott provided very good value through validating and fine-tuning existing concepts but also through creative thinking and offering new perspectives on how to solve problems in a different and easier way."
- Hannes Blum, CEO, Abebooks.com
"Marty's ideas come from the real world, not from academia, and not from the old world of custom or shrink-wrapped software products. It's invaluable for a web-based software company like us to learn insights from the leading online companies that only a person with Marty’s first-hand experience can provide."
- Gilberto Mautner, VP Technology, Locaweb, Sao Paulo, Brazil
"Shutterfly is growing rapidly, and so we engaged AKF to help us with a plan to scale our technology operations with our business growth. AKF quickly understood our business objectives, technology and architecture, and provided useful insights in many areas, including: technology, process, and organization. In addition, AKF's breadth and depth of client projects provided a window into some of the best practices in the industry -- ones from which we can benefit, here at Shutterfly."
- Stanford Au, SVP, Technology, Shutterfly
"AKF has made a tremendous difference in Achieve's business. I would unreservedly recommend their services to any entrepreneur or start-up management team. What is unique about AKF is their ability to deliver value and expertise in all critical areas of our business: IT, financing, and business development. They share the entrepreneur's focus on the nitty-gritty details, dealing in concrete rather than vapor. It's a good feeling know that they are in our corner."
- Andrew Smith, CEO, Achieve CCA
"Working with Kevin Fortuna has helped us tremendously on our business development efforts. The combination of his network, pristine reputation and ability to create true win-win deals is a rare find. Kevin's contribution to the company goes far beyond deal making - he's helped us crystallize our pitch and refine our strategy in ways that are impossible to do for the entrepreneurs that are in the trenches. I would highly recommend AKF as a partner to any entrepreneur looking to seriously scale their business."
- Yaron Galai, CEO & Founder, Outbrain
"To support our rapid international growth and need for scalable and reliable systems, we wanted guidance from a leading technology expert with real world experience. Marty very quickly understood and assessed the specific requirements of our business and systems..then provided extremely valuable advice tailored to our situation. I can highly recommend Marty."
- Mathias Daus, Technical Director, GameDuell