Alex Bass
👼

Alex Bass

Founder & Product in Austin, TX

What about angel investing would you like to know more about?

A year ago

Over a decade ago, Alex founded Efficient App with the goal of helping teams find and integrate their perfect software stack.

From seeing first-hand the time savings these tools resulted in, he knew he wanted to get involved on a deeper level.

What started as a healthy obsession in product feedback, evolved into a budding career in angel investing.

In July 2021, his first investment was put into Motion. Over the 12 months that followed, an additional 18 startups were added to his portfolio, all with a primary focus in efficiency B2B SaaS.

You can read more about his angel investing journey as he continues to document it over at Efficient VC.

🚀 Founder & Product @ efficient.app
👼 Angel Investor @ efficientvc.com
🤖 Automation & Integration
🔥 Product Obsessed

Work Experience

2021 — Now
2010 — Now
Austin, TX

We help ease the pain that comes with growing your business. (formerly CyberBytes Inc.)

Speaking

2023
Austin, TX

My special guest in today’s episode of If Not Now Wen is Alex Bass. Alex is a founder and investor who is obsessed with product, automation, and integration. Over a decade ago, Alex Bass founded Efficient App with the goal of helping teams find and integrate their perfect software stack.

Writing

2023

What's frustrating about the Angel & VC space is that people only talk about their wins.

Yet only the full picture tells you what being an angel investor is actually like.

Here's a list of all my investments (which I'll be regularly updating w/ results).

Subscribe for new posts:
digest.efficientvc.com

2022

People often ask how I decide what companies to invest in, and where I get the conviction to actually put money in.

In thinking about it, most of my investments have come from decades of thoughts about a specific problem that a company is solving.

This is the story of how and why I believe The Browser Company (Arc) is the operating system for the future of the internet.

Subscribe for new posts:
digest.efficientvc.com

2022

Shortly after learning more about the venture capital space and (making my first angel investment), I thought for sure that I’d want to start my own fund. I was practicing patience though. I just started my journey, so I’d have to be out of my mind to think I’ve earned the right to manage other people’s money. Patience is something that I am good at though: I am a long-term-focused person in everything I do. So all I have to do right now is focus on deriving happiness from my own angel investments.

Subscribe for new posts:
digest.efficientvc.com

2022
  1. How do you decide to invest in early-stage startups, and how do you access opportunities in that space?
  2. What are the investment minimums for early-stage angel investing?
  3. Should I invest in a fund?
  4. How do you know you’re signing an agreement that is “safe”? Do you have a lawyer review?
  5. How do you transfer money to complete the investment?

Subscribe for new posts:
digest.efficientvc.com

2022

This is the story about how I got started in the angel investing space, and how I made my first ever angel investment into a company called Motion (usemotion.com).

And no, it's not as straightforward as you might think 😅

Subscribe for new posts:
digest.efficientvc.com

2022

I've been running a solo business for over a decade (since 2010). Here's how revenue grew from year-to-year, and how I spent my time, and the many pivots that happened.

2021

A little something I wrote reflecting on an important but forgotten part of my journey. 🤔

For me, growth has come from constantly learning, pivoting, and morphing the person that I see myself as, and want others to see me as. 🌱

Throughout the constant pivots though, there are little stories, moments of proudness and growth, that often go unforgotten. Moments that I never want to forget, but find myself doing just that. 💭

This pivot and journey is about Alex the App Developer. An identity that I held onto deeply for 3-4 years. I wrote this in a way to remember, and yet some of you may still see me as Alex the app developer. 📱

This is my story of how I built one of BlackBerry's most popular BB10 apps, at a time that BlackBerry was trying to reinvent themselves and take on the likes of Apple (iPhone) and Google (Android). ✨

Projects

Ongoing

And how I accidentally learned Dvorak, Colemak, and Colemak-DH along the way before finally settling on Canary.

youtube.com/watch?v=hY59lH…

2022

Started my "at-home" Barista Journey on April 21st. Here's where I'm at in just under 3 short months of making two single-shot 8oz latte's per day (comes out to about 150 attempts). ☕

Features

2023

My special guest in today’s episode of If Not Now Wen is Alex Bass. Alex is a founder and investor who is obsessed with product, automation, and integration. Over a decade ago, Alex Bass founded Efficient App with the goal of helping teams find and integrate their perfect software stack.

2021

Talking about the journey and many pivots in business, how Efficient App was started (what got me into automation & integration), the failed partnerships along the way, and how to avoid burnout with boundaries when wearing all the hats in your business.

blog.mailmanhq.com/alex-bass/

2020

We talked about Automation (Zapier, Asana, automation, delegation, data leak...)

2019

We discuss the pivots it took to get into the space that we're in now, and what it’s like being a business owner in this rapidly evolving, semi-enigmatic niche of workflow design.

Contact

Twitter
Substack
LinkedIn
Telegram
Website
TikTok
Dockhunt

Teams

Current
Efficient App
Efficient VC

Side Projects

2018

Business process design, one of the most important aspects of scaling a business yet so often overlooked in the SMB space. On this podcast, we talk about all things process, specifically around CRM, automation, and efficiency. We will be speaking with industry experts and automation experts in various fields, discussing the cutting-edge software and best practices that you can leverage to grow your business. This is Analysis Paralysis where we analyze so you don't have to be paralyzed.

2014

Over 250,000 downloads (Across 142 episodes) + $400/mo via Patreon Support

I was one of the main hosts in a weekly BlackBerry-focused technology podcasts (Upstream)

efficient.link/upstream (Watch Episode Archive)
youtube.com/watch?v=Ql1buYr25u8 (Behind The Stream)

2013

Fully built and launched WDCS myself, a Built for BlackBerry Certified BB10 App.

The Journey Behind Creating The App: alexbass.xyz/JcT60Ge7NqGh9M…

Video Overview: youtube.com/watch?v=FrXDrC…

30k+ downloads with 730+ 5-Star reviews (efficient.link/wdcs)

One of just a few apps that completed the BlackBerry 10k Commitment and won top 10 CrackBerry BB10 App of the year award.

Awards

2020

Knowing our customer needs is key to being a successful partner. Efficient App's solutions have emerged out of recurring customer requests. Our Community MVP Alex Bass knows Copper inside-out and effortlessly anticipates customer needs.

Certifications

2020

Credential ID: b9xq9sq3kun3

Education

2010 — 2014
Buffalo, NY

GPA: 3.6/4
Triple Major in Business (Management, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship)

Activities and societies: CEAG (Canisius Entrepreneurship Alumni Group), Speaking Engagements with Business Majors, VP of Design for CCAMA (Canisius College American Marketing Association), VP of New Venture for CEO (Canisius Entrepreneurship Organization)