Zach Bookman
Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus, OpenGov. On 2 shows, 1 appearance. The Shows tab opens the full record on each.
founderexecutiveoperator@zachbookman ↗LinkedIn ↗opengov.com ↗Wikipedia ↗
In 2012, Bookman co-founded OpenGov to provide cloud software to state and local governments, scaling it until its acquisition by Cox Enterprises in 2024. Before launching the company, he clerked on the Ninth Circuit and advised General H.R. McMaster's Anti-Corruption Task Force in Kabul, Afghanistan.
2shows
1appearances
18statements
6resolved
2supported
1contradicted
33%fully supported
Everything Zach Bookman said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.
Bookman: Andreessen Horowitz Acted Like SoftBank a Decade Ago
“They were the soft bank, you know, like, 10, 10, 12 years ago.”
Bookman: 1% of Oracle public sector clients sue and over half dissatisfied
“Some of the stats, Oracle, apparently, one percent of its public sector customers end up in lawsuits. And more than half end up, quote, fully dissatisfied.”
Bookman: US aid sent shipping containers of laptops to illiterate Afghan councils
“Turns out we bought them a shipping container full of laptops. And he's like, the issue is we don't read and write. This is the type of stuff that was going on all over the place. It's actually good intentions, just preposterous executions.”
Bookman: Software companies must build systems of record before leveraging network data
“You come for the tool, you stay for the network.
We've got to build the systems of record before we get the data to do the amazing things that we always wanted to do.”
Bookman: Aggressive government reform will fail without institutional empathy
“I do think this is an undertaking of extraordinary magnitude, and look, it's going to be extremely contentious, including to, you know, go full Twitter style on various government agencies, but there needs to be a level of, there needs to be a level of empathy…”
Bookman: Overcapitalizing Startups Without PMF Breeds Waste and Cultural Issues
“And it's small. It's not ready. It didn't actually have product market fit. You dump a ton of money on it and great things happen. Not usually, actually. All sorts of waste and pockets of waste and weird cultural problems.”
Bookman: Nonprofits cannot build enterprise software at scale
“And it was through that work that actually you and we realized you can't really build technology and software at real scale and get it to the enterprise in a nonprofit context.
You've got to combine the for profit motive to get the very best people with the m…”
Bookman: Govtech Competitors Acquired for Financials Rather Than Product Quality
“Our competitors would buy companies Based on revenue, based on profit, customer footprint, based on basically anything other than product quality.”
Bookman: Many governments are using AI ahead of certain private companies
“We see many governments, believe it or not, that are actually using AI in some cases ahead of certain companies.”
Bookman: Corruption at Dawood Military Hospital Caused Afghan Soldiers to Starve
“There was this really brutal scandal in the Dawood Military Hospital, where The corruption ran all the way through the hospital to the point where the nurses at bedside were demanding payments from af, wounded Afghan soldiers in order to receive food and water…”
Bookman: Smart people working in committees prevents things from happening
“The other thing I saw was when you have loads of smart people working in committees, things don't really happen.”
Bookman: Selling benchmarking data to governments is not a viable software business
“They say they want it, and then they'll offer you 5000 bucks for it.
Well, you know what?
It costs a lot more than 5000 bucks to build, and a lot more than 5000 bucks to even sell it to you.
It's not a business.”
Bookman: Half of OpenGov's team quit following pivot to systems of record
“Half the freaking team quit in the next two or three months.”
Bookman: Multi-fund accounting is the core difference between governments and companies
“The core difference between a company and a government is often the multi-fund accounting. So everyone says, you're taxing my gas, you idiots, you can't even, you know, deliver My water correctly. Well, I can't spend the gas tax on your water because it goes i…”
Bookman: OpenGov originally mistakenly assumed government needs were uniform
“And this is something we started off with that I think we weren't very clear on. We thought there is a little more one size fits all. The tech can be useful, but the way they want to use the tech is very, very different.”
Bookman: Half of Taxpayer Dollars Go to State and Local Governments
“Half of our money, half of the taxpayer dollars go to state and local governments, and we never talk about it.”
Bookman: Immersive creative flow relieves executive stress better than passive relaxation
“It was Winston Churchill who, he took a painting, and he said, you know, the ultimate, ah, relief from statecraft is not actual relaxation and, you know, sunshine, or hanging out in the chaise lounge, it's like, it's painting, and using the other side of your …”
One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Zach's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.
| Show | Role there | Eps | Statements | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 20VCLEDGER | Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus, OpenGov | 0 | 0 | 0% 0/3 | full record on 20VC → |
 AMERICAN OPTIMISTLEDGER | Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus, OpenGov | 1 | 18 | 67% 2/3 | full record on American Optimist → |