| Birthplace | Tampa, FL |
| Birthdate | 7/28/84 |
He founded CoolTronics in Tampa as a 15-year-old in 2000. “I started off basically teaching grannies how to surf the Web,” he says. Dikman describes CoolTronics as a “concierge for technology,” meant to be a one-stop shop for small businesses and home office users. Now a 15-person company, Dikman says it brought in $3.25 million in 2007.
Here’s how it works: Clients call CoolTronics and describe their technology needs—such things as getting rid of viruses, setting up a network, training workers on new software, or upgrading equipment. Then the team works on-site with customers to resolve the problem, charging an hourly rate for services. “We don’t want our customers to ever have to think about having to call another company,” he says.
CoolTronics has over 700 clients in the Tampa Bay area, and a smaller client base in San Francisco, where Dikman now lives. He doesn’t advertise—Dikman says most clients come through word-of-mouth referrals.
Today, Tyler is VP Business Operations & Strategy at Venture-backed Redux. The idea was for Redux, a nine-person software application and social networking company, to be the pioneer in the emerging People Discovery category. Darian Shirazi & Tyler Dikman dropped out of Berkeley and started the venture along with co-founders Max Crane and David McIntosh in December, 2006, and raised $1.65 million in venture capital in March, 2007 and $3.65 million back in April, 2008.
The company taps into the basic human need to connect, combining a unique software algorithm with a compelling media experience. “I am not a web engineer, and didn’t have a wealth of experience starting a dotcom, but I did have experience running companies, creating partnerships, dealing with legal concerns, and finding the right people to which I could solicit advice,” said Dikman.” Despite the impressive business track record behind me, I was still a bit uncertain (and admittedly, nervous) about what was in store for me in this new undertaking.”
