Team
Small onpurpose.
The person who decides what gets built is the same person who builds it — and who answers for it afterwards.
Founder & operator
Ethan Ptacek
Ethan founded Ptacek Ventures to build and run software companies rather than advise them. He works on both companies directly — product, design, code, and the customer calls.
The fuller personal biography lives on EthanPtacek.com, kept separately from the firm.
contact@ptacekventures.comOperating values
Calm, candid, close.
The habits both companies are run on — and the ones a customer should be able to notice.
Tell the truth early
Clear feedback is a form of respect — most of all when the answer is no, or when something has gone wrong.
Stay close to the work
Founders who stop touching the product stop understanding it. The support inbox is not beneath the job.
Play the long game
Durable businesses are built out of accumulated judgment and repeated execution, not a single good quarter.
The companies
Two businesses, one desk.
QuikQuote and Rose are both built and operated in-house, by the same person who answers the email.
See the companiescontact@ptacekventures.com