Steve S. Saroff

I enjoy writing and photography, and at various times in my life have made a living from publishing fiction. I published short stories in Redbook magazine when they used to publish serious fiction, sold movie rights to two of my stories, and published many other short stories in lesser known magazines.

However, for a long time I have kept  my writing to myself as I focused on the companies which I have started and grown.

I have been a founder, adviser, and investor in quite a few start-ups, as well as being a behind the scene advisor to artists, writers, and actors.

Two of my own companies which I co-founded were purchased by public companies. RemoteScan Corporation had over 20,000 corporate customers worldwide when it was purchased in 2011 (RemoteScan is now part of Dell), and FreeMail, Inc (one of the first commercially successful email systems which was used as the world-wide Kinkonet system), was purchased by WAM!NET/MCIWorldCom in 1999.

I am also the 1st investor (and a current stock holder) in Submittable, the online submission system now used by most publishers.

However, I mostly associate my ego with who I was for many years: a drifting runaway.

Resume:

• Long obsessed with studying, reading, and mountain tops, at 14 I walked alone 500 miles in the Appalachians, then another 500 miles alone when I was 15, and still another 1000 miles alone when I was 16.
• Hitchhiked West when I was 17.
• At 19 years old, spent 45 days walking alone in the Bob Marshall. That set the pace for everything that followed: never been intimidated by wilderness, solitude or ambitious plans. I also appreciate the rewards that come from listening and shared stories; I appreciate people in ways that only someone who has been long alone can.
• Like writing short stories and published a lot of them a long time ago. Some in what were once high paying magazines. I like simple words and what they can do.
• Left  high school early, but I have a college degree. When I was 22 years I was hired by Bente Winston to be the science teacher at Sussex School, a private elementary school in Missoula (a wonderful job). Starting when  I was 25, I worked for two years as a faculty research assistant for the Oceanography department at Oregon State University, and spent a few months on a ship in the south pacific.  Other than these jobs all my other technical jobs where I have worked for other people have  sucked-shit. Thus I started building my own companies.
• I have always enjoyed creating things that work well.
• Before the Internet (back when programmers could only make a living if they agreed to wear ties and work in cubes), I was a dishwasher, cook, waiter, truck-driver, general laborer, farm hand, nail-pounding carpenter, writer, cattle ranch-hand,musician, carpet installer (the second worst job I ever had), oil-field worker in Sydney, Montana, copy writer for ad agency (the worst), hay bucker, technician in a computer store (also very bad), and a firewood cutter (the best)– and all the time dreaming of where to go next….
• People who help others have my greatest respect.  We are best remembered for the good we do for others. This the only real goal of mine that is life long.
• Started programming computers as a kid when it was about as financially rewarding as knowing how to fix lawnmowers.
• Started coding because I loved it. I think I have used about 30 different computer language to make money.
• Know a lot about digital electronics, geochemistry, ceramics, entomology, literature, playing music, photography, chess, Go, and teaching and raising kids.
• Learned Morse code at 12, got a ham radio license then and stayed awake many nights listening for distant call signs.
• As a teenager, built a laser (liquid dye, pulsing) after reading an article in Scientific American. This led to several intense jobs, and, after I began founding companies, helped teach me how to look for people to hire: look for those who learn on their own.
• I Spend a lot of time in my own ceramic studio making ceramics , as well as being part of a local wood-fire community.
• I will consider working on projects for equity and/or board involvement.

Contact:

the best way is through facebook ("steve saroff"), which helps me cut through the spam/scams.
2nd best is by email: ssaroff AT gmail DOT com, however most email does not get read or replied to unless you have some contact or reference that I recognize.