Featured Mentors

Why Do I Mentor? A couple of weeks ago I was asked to write an article for this newsletter about why I mentor. Things are pretty busy at Appistry these days and I really hadn’t had a lot of time to think about what I would say until last weekend while I was running my first half-marathon. Over the course of the 13.1 miles I had a lot of time to think about it - 2 hours 25 minutes and 24 seconds to be exact. Here is what I came up with –being involved in a start up and mentoring is a lot like training and running marathons: The miracle is not that I finished; it is that I ever got to the starting line Before I started running I had always been a swimmer. But I hated to run. To motivate myself to keep swimming I started doing triathlons. The only problem is that third leg is always a run. To get over my dread of running I took a running class and was fortunate to find a group to run with. The training class was a great foundation but the running group has made all the difference. For an entrepreneur, sometimes the hardest part of pursing the idea for a new business is leaving the comfort zone of the corporate world and striking out on their own. As a mentor I think one of the most important roles we play is to help someone discern if they are ready to start that journey. They have to ask themselves these questions: Are you ready to commit yourself full time to this effort? Are you willing to invest your own assets, paycheck… your every waking hour? If you are on the edge of deciding, hopefully knowing there is a group of mentors waiting to support you can help you take that big first step. If it was easy anyone would do it Along the route of the marathon well wishers and supporters hold up their signs of encouragement and praise for the runners. My favorite one was “If it was easy, I would do it.” In my experience, runners are a special breed. My friends who run are smart, motivated, and genuinely good people. I think this is true of entrepreneurs as well. There is no doubt that it takes a unique person to take the risk of starting a business. I love mentoring because I get to meet very smart, motivated and unique individuals. I love hearing their stories, how they came up with their idea and why they want to start their company now, despite the fact that they are in St. Louis, the economy sucks, 100 other people have tried and failed, you’re too early, you’re too late, etc. etc. You can learn a lot from others mistakes At mile 10 on the course I see my first “down runner” being assisted by the medical personnel along the route. I could definitely empathize but was also thinking: I am glad that isn’t me. I wondered what went wrong…..did they go out too fast, get injured , didn’t train enough? The unfortunate reality of starting your own business is that not everyone makes it across the finish line. I have been involved in innovative technology companies for the last decade. During this time I have learned a lot, had many successes and many struggles. As a mentor I hope to be able to help founders avoid some of the pitfalls I and other business owners I have worked with have fallen into along the way. It is more fun with a group and after a while it becomes addicting If it wasn’t for my running group I wouldn’t get up and run at 7:00 on Sunday morning, in the cold, in the rain, when I had too much fun the night before. Knowing the group is waiting for me I get up, get going and have a great sense of accomplishment when I am done. When you are striking out on your own as a founder it is amazing to share your struggles with other people in the same situation. It is comforting to know that you are not the only one who has had 3 meetings at Starbucks that morning, or the only one who wonders what the right pre-money should be, or who wonders if the next guy will be the one who “gets it” and writes the check. There is something about being involved in a start-up that is very addicting and I think connecting with other founders and sharing the same struggles is a big part of the addiction. For me mentoring feeds my addiction. Sharing in others successes is as rewarding as your own I crossed the finish line just ahead of the men’s winner. Ok, so he had run a full marathon and I had only run a half, but the thing is I finished and everyone cheered for me. However, the biggest reward of the day was to meet back up with my friends and celebrate our successes. Sam finished in under two hours! Ember had her personal best time! Monica caught me at the end! As a mentor I get to share in the success of the companies I help. We got the funding done! We have a revenue model! I bought a pair of Yurbuds at the Marathon Expo and so did my friend and so did this woman I met during the race – these things are hot! The greatest reward of being a mentor is to see an idea become reality and see the reality become a success. Let’s do this again! Before we had even washed the sweat off, we were all talking about signing up for the race again next year. I love seeing founders get started on their next deal. Once you have taken the leap and founded your own company chances are once you have finished one you can’t wait to get started on the next one. Appistry is my fourth start up experience. Appistry has already spawned two new companies – Clearent and FlexiSphere. Something tells me there will be more. I love start-ups; I love mentoring! Jean Roberson is the Chief Financial Officer of Appistry. Appistry has developed CloudIQ Platform. Cloud computing promises a new level of enterprise competitiveness, and Appistry CloudIQ Platform makes that vision a reality. Appistry CloudIQ Platform enables a new generation of highly scalable,