Patrick Acker

"Limits like fears are often just an illusion."

Whether it’s crossing the Mojave Desert on a bike or executing a plan to dig a startup out of the trenches, I am prepared for any challenge – primed to learn and poised to make the impossible a reality.

At nineteen years of age and inspired by my grandmother’s cancer diagnosis, I aligned co-founders, managed multiple support teams, and successfully executed a highly technical cross country cycling route – a 3,342-mile, solo journey to raise funds for cancer imaging and biopsy procedures. The organization ultimately raised over $35,000 supporting a number of patients through resulting strategic partnerships – my life’s proudest accomplishment.

After concluding Cycling4aCure’s work, I was eager to find the next big challenge and couple my engineering skillset with my Cycling4aCure business knowledge. I quickly aligned a second team and began managing product planning and development for a resource allocation sensor network. Yard Mapper was born, and we began working closely with Frito Lay and Volvo Trucks shaping MVP design and deployment.

Determined to better understand our customer, we secured a $50k National Science Foundation I-Corps grant funding national customer discovery and Lean Startup business development. In a matter of six weeks, I coached our travel team and obtained over 120 in-person, voice of customer interviews with supply chain experts nationwide. Outperforming 24 other cohort teams, I was awarded Top Entrepreneurial Lead for my persistence, ability to pivot, and effective project management

P. Acker

Click here for my photography portfolio!	Click here for my 3,342-mile bike ride!