Meet Alexander Guizzetti, Serial Entrepreneur

Alexander Guizzetti is a serial entrepreneur and the president of 9d Ventures, a privately-held venture capital company. Guizzetti is currently working on bringing a new venture to life. Called DirectMessage.me, it will be a social media platform that connects fans with celebrities and influencers. He hopes to launch the new company later this year.

Born in Michigan and raised in a suburb of Milwaukee, Guizzetti earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a dual major in business management and real estate & economics. He was already planning his first business while he was in school. He developed the concept behind his first start-up in his final year in college. Guizzetti also completed the entrepreneur certificate program with the University of Wisconsin’s School of Business.

It was a brief stint with The Vanguard Group that brought him to Arizona. His time with the financial powerhouse also led him to study for and pass the FINRA Series 7 and Series 63 exams. 

In addition to his companies, Guizzetti dabbles in real estate and has an active real estate license in Arizona.

Guizzetti is a big proponent of making lists. He says it helps him stay on track and organized with his multiple ventures. He says, “There is something rewarding when you’re able to cross off things off on a piece of paper, as opposed to something on a digital checklist”. He always makes creating the next day’s list the last task of the day. That way he can start the next day focused on what needs to be done. For projects, he makes a separate list that includes everything that needs to be done on the project and keeps that list nearby until the project is finished.

Guizzetti also keeps his phone handy at all times and makes notes in it when a good idea occurs to him. He doesn’t want to lose ideas just because he didn’t write it down. According to Guizzetti, “I keep building on these ideas by revisiting the note with iterative ideas and challenges. I want to make sure I consider all issues or risks I’d face if we were to go forward with the idea”.

A typical day for Guizzetti doesn’t start too early but often has him working way beyond midnight. He is usually at his desk by 9:00 a.m., takes a dinner break around 6:00 p.m., and then works until he’s done with everything on his to-do list, which is known to be after 2:00 a.m.

Guizzetti makes his home in Scottsdale with his dog, Scooter. When he’s not working with a startup or managing his companies, Guizzetti enjoys riding his motorcycle, playing golf, working out and going for walks in the park with his dog.

What’s next for Guizzetti? He’s quick to say that he is always on the lookout for early-stage startups with solid pitch decks that need seed round funding or Series A raises.