 Kertzman grew up in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, dropped out of Brandeis University in 1968, learned computer programming, and in 1974 founded the company that later became Powersoft.After Sybase purchased Powersoft in 1995, Kertzmann became CEO and president of Sybase, but left after three years to become the president and CEO of Network Computer Incorporated, a company spun out of Oracle Corporation.During Kertzman's tenure, Network Computer Incorporated refocused its business from network computer hardware to interactive television, and changed its name to Liberate Technologies.