By Michael “Budsy” Davis, Founder of Bigado Networks and LeadTap™
I’ve been building technology and businesses long before “start-up” became a buzzword.
In 1998—before Google launched—I was leading a team of six engineers developing a search engine with a brand-new search algorithm. Over the Thanksgiving weekend we had a signed letter of intent with Austin Ventures to sell 10% of the company for $10 million. That deal imploded when I was suddenly taken out of my own life. I served 47 months in prison after a controversial prosecution. Four years gone, reputation gone, and the opportunity of a lifetime lost.
But I’m still here.
I’ve been a dental surgeon, an entrepreneur, a founder, a survivor, and a creator. I’ve built companies, healed patients, raised capital, launched products, written books, and refused to stay down. I know what it’s like to lose everything. I also know how to start again from zero and build something worth believing in.
Bigado Networks and our flagship app, LeadTap, are the expression of that resilience. We built LeadTap first to solve our own problem: capturing and nurturing leads in a world of endless distractions. Today it’s a smart digital business card that turns introductions into booked meetings automatically. It’s also the wedge into a larger mission—helping professionals and organizations adopt AI and automation in a way that increases revenue, reduces friction, and gives them back their time.
I don’t pretend to be perfect. I’ve made mistakes, I’ve been punished, and I’ve been underestimated. But I am a resilient son-of-a-gun. At 75, I’m still inventing, still shipping, still mentoring, and still building. The difference between me and a lot of people with yachts is that I’m not done.
When I was talking with a friend at the gym recently, he was describing complications from sinus surgery and planning to sue his doctor. I joked, “That’s the problem with humans—you can’t just reboot them if they fail or swap out some hardware.” Then I thought about the AI talking back to me as I build it. Of course machines talk back. The difference is that they don’t hold grudges, and they can be taught.
That’s the spirit behind Bigado and LeadTap: building systems that work, that don’t forget, that don’t leak opportunities, and that give people like you an advantage in an age of overwhelming information.
If you’ve ever been knocked down, underestimated, or written off, you’ll understand why I’m building this. And if you’re looking for an AI partner who has learned hard lessons about resilience, execution, and integrity, you’ve found him.
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Michael Davis
Founder & CEO, Bigado Networks
Creator of LeadTap™