Robert – or Bobby – is an entrepreneur with a background in drafting and engineering-related service businesses, and started Tangent in 2015 to support the Sprint small cell program. “At first it was photosims, 24-7. We’d get orders for a few dozen sites in San Francisco or Seattle, or Hawaii—and we promised 5-day turn-around, so 2 or 3 of us would fly out to a market and divide and conquer photography by day, while we worked on the 3D Modeling piece at night. It was a lot of work, but fun. Walking around with a DSLR and taking pics of mostly utility poles and streetlights is actually a weirdly fun way to see a city!”
Now CFO, Bobby oversees the financial, HR and administrative operations at Tangent. When asked about what he’s most proud of accomplishing for Tangent, he answered “when cities and jurisdictions closed during the 2020 lockdown, some of our projects – which relied on the approval from jurisdictions to move forward – ground to a halt and revenue was hit pretty hard as a result; It was tough – but I’m proud and grateful that we managed not only to not lay anyone off, but actually grow.” Bobby describes Tangent’s culture as “Collaborative, creative, smart, a little punk, a little Disney. The kind of place where the CAD manager will design and 3D print a dice tower for the unofficial company D&D campaign.”
His favorite part of Tangent’s Ethos is Innovation. “I definitely have a soft spot for innovation. I’ve been obsessed with designing and improving things since I was a kid. It got me into trouble when I started working, which I thought was crazy – I mean, you see something, you fix it, right? I’m sure those kinds of attitudes were a big part of why I set out on my own as relatively early as I did. Now, one of the most important things we do as an organization is empowering everyone to propose improvements to how things are done. It’s a huge and important part of our DNA.”
When he’s not wearing his Tangent hat, Bobby enjoys spending time with his family, exercising, reading, going to concerts, traveling, and exploring the outdoors. He’s also the co-founder of ThirtyThree, Tangent’s sister software company, an instrument-rated pilot, and the lead guitarist for Tangent’s after-hours work band, Tan-Jam! Rock on, Bobby!
Thank you Bobby, for continuing to lend your leadership and vision for Tangent as we grow. Cheers to our CFO!
