You've spent years inside an industry — trades, insurance, senior care, energy — and you know exactly which broken workflow deserves software. You don't need to code.
What has Dan been up to?
The Dan Golden Field Guide.
I built and co-ran a digital marketing agency for 15 years. Now I build things and use those skills to grow them — software, content sites, and a few real businesses, mostly under Pandotic. Some I founded, some I invested in, some I advise, and some are finished chapters. This is the honest inventory: a resume in the loosest sense, sorted by how I'm actually involved rather than by category. Also had a few jobs along the way Consumer GuidePerformicsGoogle — more about those days on LinkedIn.
40Ventures
19Live
16On the workbench
3Exited
The Pandotic mark
Runs on Pandotic — my software company's platform. One backend, one admin, one set of rails.
LiveBuilding
Live vs. Building
Live means you can use it today. Building is real work in progress — several pre-announcement.
The families
Grouped by what they have in common, not stage — company, home & trades, family, capital, agency years.
Dotted lines mean "sits underneath"
CoverScore and TradeAtlas are umbrellas with brands beneath them — parent and child, not a partnership.
Founder · Investor · Exited
How I'm involved matters more
The lenses sort by my actual relationship — what I run, what I fund, what's closed.
Collaborators welcome
See something interesting?
Partner on one of these, invest alongside me, or bring your own idea into the portfolio. Pandotic runs a founder program for entrepreneurs who want to build on our rails instead of from scratch.
EverythingThe whole pile40OperatingWhere my hours actually go15PandoticMy software company24InvestmentsMoney in — some back out8ExitedDone, sold, or handed off5
Pandotic. Everything built on Pandotic rails — the Decision Engine, the client work, and the apps riding on the platform.
Pandotic
6My software company. AI-native tools for problems that deserve better software — and the platform the whole fleet runs on.
PPandotic AI
SoftwareLive
Pandotic AI
SoftwareThe home for Pandotic's AI tools — practical apps that do real work, not just chat.
Co-founderpandotic.ai
PPandotic Hub
SoftwareLive
Pandotic Hub
SoftwareThe control plane the whole fleet runs on — takes a vibe-coded app and makes it real: production backend, admin, CMS, fleet management. Every new brand launches on the same rails.
Co-founderthe platform under everything
DDecision Engine
SoftwareLive
Decision Engine
SoftwareThe core AI engine for hard calls — weigh the options, see the tradeoffs, land on a decision you can defend. Several verticals are built on top of it.
Co-founderpandotic.ai
PPandotic SPEED
SoftwareBuilding
Pandotic SPEED
SoftwareThe Decision Engine pointed at special education — automating the IEP compliance paperwork schools drown in, so staff spend time with kids instead of forms. The big one.
Partner & Part-Ownercoming soon
BBDC Colorado
SoftwareClient project
BDC Colorado
SoftwareAn AI contractor hub for a Colorado clean-energy program — compliance, incentives, and workflow in one place.
Pandotic Client Workpandotic.ai
UUSGBC-CA
SoftwareClient project
USGBC-CA
SoftwareA Smart Building Assistant trained on USGBC-CA's codes and building data, for the Green Building Council's California chapter.
Pandotic Client Workpandotic.ai
Energy & PropertyTech
7The home as an asset: protection, energy, HVAC, the paperwork of owning a house — and the trades who do the work.
LLEEDsmart
SoftwareLive
LEEDsmart
SoftwareThe engine pointed at green building — makes LEED certification a whole lot less painful.
Partner & Part-Ownerleedsmart.us
BBidSmart
SoftwareLive
BidSmart
SoftwareTells a fair HVAC bid from a rip-off — putting the homeowner on even footing with the contractor.
Partner & Part-Ownerbidsmart.pandotic.ai
EESGsource
SoftwareLive
ESGsource
SoftwareOne platform for sustainability and ESG certification across multiple frameworks — the grown-up version of the LEED tool.
Founder & Operatoresgsource.com
TLive
TradeAtlas
SoftwareThe business side of the skilled trades, made navigable — software research, ownership and succession, labor data, and a verified contractor network.
Founder & Operatortradeatlas.us
TradeStackSoftware research for trades — a tool directory, an ecosystem map, and an evaluator that gives a fit read rather than a vendor ranking.
Software research for trades — a tool directory, an ecosystem map, and an evaluator that gives a fit read rather than a vendor ranking.Ownership ValuationWhat's the business worth? A defensible valuation range built from 300+ closed U.S. trade-business transactions.
What's the business worth? A defensible valuation range built from 300+ closed U.S. trade-business transactions.Certification TrackerThe certification and licensing tracker, commercialized as one tool — every credential a trade pro or firm has to hold, renew and prove, tracked in one place.
The certification and licensing tracker, commercialized as one tool — every credential a trade pro or firm has to hold, renew and prove, tracked in one place.Personal & Family
2Tools I built because my own family needed them. CoverScore is the umbrella — one risk score across your life, with the people and products brands beneath it — plus caregiving, memory-keeping, and a couple of money-finding bets I backed.
DDefensible Homes
Home ServicesLive
Defensible Homes
Home ServicesProtecting homes from real-world risk — starting with wildfire defense in the Bay Area, expanding into flood and storm hardening.
Co-founderdefensible.homes
FFamily Archive
SoftwareBuilding
Family Archive
SoftwareA private vault for your family's history — photos, records, and the stories you don't want to lose.
Solo Buildin design
Build with Pandotic
Who we're looking for, and how this works.
Pandotic is the software company underneath a lot of what's above — shared rails, one admin, real distribution. We'd rather hand those rails to a great operator than build every idea ourselves.
The co-founders & collaborators we want
You can ship. You'd rather start on a working platform with auth, admin, and content already solved than spend six months rebuilding plumbing.
You can make a category rank and hold attention. Several of these started as content and grew into products.
You want exposure to a portfolio rather than a single bet, or you've got distribution that would make one of these go faster.
Ways to engage
- 01License the platform
Run your own product on Pandotic's rails. You keep your brand and your equity; we provide the infrastructure.
- 02Revenue share
We build and operate, you bring the audience or the domain expertise. Upside is split, no cash up front.
- 03Founder program
Bring an idea, get the platform, the playbooks, and a co-founder. You run it; we capitalize and support it.
- 04Joint venture
Two companies, one new thing. Shared ownership on something neither of us would build alone.
- 05Advisory & consulting
Sometimes you just need the 22 years of digital marketing scar tissue. That's available too.