Cogitations Backtick

About

Irv Shapiro

I've spent more than forty years founding and scaling technology companies — from Metamor Technologies (500+ employees, successful exit) to DialogTech ($60M+ in VC funding) — and I'm still building. Backtick is the Founders Startup Toolkit I wish I'd had: battle-tested playbooks from those journeys, plus an AI-powered platform for your team to build their own.

Creating as a way of life

I've always been drawn to the point where ideas meet execution — the moment when a sketch on a whiteboard becomes a system serving real people. Over the decades that's meant writing code, designing products, raising capital, leading teams, and making more than a few mistakes along the way.

Those experiences taught me that the craft of building technology companies is learnable. There are patterns that repeat — in hiring, in leadership, in go‑to‑market — and if you can see those patterns clearly, you can move faster with more confidence. In today's AI-centric world, those patterns are evolving faster than ever, which is exactly why having a living, queryable playbook matters more than a static textbook.

A timeline of companies & creation

  • Early career: data communications, networking, and custom software when "the cloud" still meant racks in a closet.
  • Metamor Technologies: founding and leading a technology services organization that grew to more than 500 employees serving enterprise customers and achieved a successful exit.
  • DialogTech and beyond: founding and scaling a marketing analytics platform that helped marketers understand which calls, campaigns, and conversations were actually driving business, culminating in a $100M exit.
  • MakeWithTech: an experiment in teaching and community that grew into a way for thousands of makers to discover 3D printing, electronics, and hands‑on projects.
  • Backtick: a Founders Startup Toolkit — AI-powered playbooks built from four decades of executive experience, plus a platform for your team to write, extend, and query their own private playbooks in today's AI-centric world.

For founders at every stage

Some of the best moments in my career have been sitting with a founder untangling a hard decision — the first bad hire, the wrong investor, the product pivot that should have happened six months earlier. Backtick is my way of scaling those conversations.

Whether you're a sole proprietor figuring out how to build a company in today's AI-centric world, or a founder already managing a team and trying to keep everyone aligned, Backtick meets you where you are. Solo founders get the playbooks. Growing teams get the AI-powered platform to build their own.

Let's make something together

If a Backtick playbook helps you make a better hire, navigate a fundraising conversation, or give your team a shared language for how your company works — that's success in my book.

I don't believe in "one true way" to build companies. I do believe in sharing what's worked, what hasn't, and giving you enough structure that your team can execute — and keep executing as the world changes around you. Especially now, when AI is reshaping what's possible for founders who move fast.

Coaching, boards, and due diligence

In addition to teaching through Backtick, I'm available for a limited number of engagements in three areas:

  • Executive coaching for technical and product leaders
  • Independent board roles for growth‑stage technology companies
  • Venture technology due diligence for investors and acquisition teams

To explore whether I'm a fit for your company or fund, you can:

Or simply contact me at ishapiro at cogitations dot com.