According to leadership guru Peter Drucker: “Most Americans do not know what their strengths are. When you ask them, they look at you with a blank stare, or they respond in terms of subject knowledge, which is the wrong answer.”
Jim Brasunas, director of the St. Louis IT Entrepreneur Network (ITEN), an IT startup mentorship and training program, is not like most Americans. He knows exactly what his strengths are and what role he can play in shaping the futures of St. Louis’ IT startups.
“My entire career has been starting companies and ventures. My strength is getting things up and off the ground,” says Brasunas. “When it gets to the point of more maintenance, others are better at that.”
This appetite for the startup process is evident in Brasunas’ work history with St. Louis-based technology firms. For years Brasunas was the director of the Technology Entrepreneur Center, an incubator for IT companies, and now, with ITEN, he is taking the incubator process to a new level.
“Any company that wants to join ITEN, their first meeting is with me. It does not take me long to zero in on the two or three things I see in the way,” says Brasunas. “Usually this is their first startup, and they are having a hard time. I can see problems clearly, and they don’t understand why it is not working.”
After this initial meeting, Brasunas plays matchmaker between the new venture and one of the 50 expert mentors in his entrepreneurial arsenal. As the startup progresses and appears ready for funding, Brasunas has it present its idea to some of the “mongels” (mock-angels), a group of about 20 of the ITEN mentors who have experience as investors.
“The mongels create an intense mentoring session,” says Brasunas. “They ask questions and give critiques. Then the ITEN company comes back again until they are ready to be sent out to real investors.”
In addition, ITEN’s beta program matches the ITEN startup company’s new technology with a larger corporation’s business problem. This gives the startup a big client in its profile and the larger company access to cutting-edge technology.
During what most consider bleak economic times, Brasunas and ITEN are offering the kind of fresh thinking that will help business owners survive and grow.
“It is a time for companies to rethink their business plan, refocus and reposition. The ones who make it through are going to get attention when things get good again,” Brasunas says.