Tag Archives: Jason Shrensky

Aug 22 2013
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Community of Entrepreneurs Share Their Experiences at Dingman Jumpstart

It’s been an exciting week so far at Dingman Jumpstart. We’re seeing some of the areas brightest entrepreneurs with some game-changing ideas. The participants have attended several workshops and panels but there are two that stand out: one with seasoned entrepreneurs and one with entrepreneurs fresh in the game. Take a look at who we lined up to inspire our group of Jumpstart participants.

Learning From the Mistakes of Successful Entrepreneurs
On Wednesday, we featured two of our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, Jason Shrensky and Ed Barrientos. The entrepreneurs shared their experiences starting successful businesses as well as the mistakes they made along the way.

Untitled-2Jason Shrensky (@shrensky), Co-Founder, Uber Offices
Jason Shrensky is a local entrepreneur and angel investor who joined the Dingman Center team as an Angel in Residence in 2011. In addition to actively investing in early-stage companies, he splits his time between two startups that he recently co-founded: ÜberOffices and ComplexInterests. ÜberOffices provides co-working office space in the DC Metro area predominantly for early-stage technology and media companies. At ComplexInterests, Jason is working on developing a unique enterprise software package targeted at accounting, law, and financial services firms.

Elena Fine's Entrepreneur Roundtable with Ed and Jason, photographed for the Robert H. Smith School of Business at Van Munching Hall in College Park MD, 26 April 2013.

Ed Barrientos (@SnowCrash65), CEO, Brazen Careerist
Ed Barrientos is CEO and Chairman of the Board of Brazen Careerist, a career focused social networking site targeting Gen Y. He is also Managing Partner of Zeitgeist Holdings, L.L.C., an angel investment firm focused on investing in early stage technology companies. From 1996 to 2005, he was President and CEO of Arc Second Inc., a high growth market leader in the field of laser based, high-precision GPS. Barrientos led Arc Second to a successful exit (acquired by Metris NV of Belgium) at the end of 2005. He sat on the Board of Directors of Metris NV, and worked as an active Board member through the Company’s IPO (2006) and its acquisition by Nikon (Japan) in 2009.

Learning From Young Entrepreneurs
To close out the week on Friday, we will be joined by a group of young entrepreneurs still fresh in the game. Their startups have experienced success, but they are still knee-deep in the daily operations of running their companies. 

Justin Baer, Founder, Check In Easy (@checkineasy)
Justin Baer, New York University graduate and entrepreneur, has launched the guest list and event check in app Check In Easy. The idea was born from social business venture, CharityHappenings.org and CharityHappenings Ticketing clients who were fed up with the inefficiency of paper check-in. Prior to founding Check In Easy, Justin launched CharityHappenings.org LLC, a social business venture providing the non-profit sector with a web-based master calendar, ticketing service and supplier directory.

Aaron Epstein (@aaron_epstein), Co-Founder and CPO, Creative Market
Aaron Epstein co-founded Creative Market, a platform for hand crafted, mousemade  and easily accessible design content from independent creatives around the world. A designer, developer, jack of all trades and Robert H. Smith School of Business alumnus, Aaron claims to be fueled by avocados and cheerios. 

Rami Essaid (@ramiessaid), Co-Founder, Distil Networks
Rami began his career as the founder and CEO of Chit Chat Communications. After a successful exit, he consulted in mobile development. With over 11 years in communications, network security, and infrastructure management, Rami advised enterprise companies to help improve scalability and reliability while maintaining a high level of security. Rami attended North Carolina State University where he majored in computer engineering.

Kevin Lenane (@kevinlenane), Founder & CEO, Veenome
Kevin Lenane is an experienced project manager with a keen sense of how location, platform, and portability play in to the mobile experience for businesses and consumers. Kevin has worked with clients at PointAbout including OnStar, the Huffington Post, FEMA, and the ESRB. Prior to PointAbout, Kevin was part of the product management team behind the location management platform NAVTEQ.

Elise Whang (@elisewhang), Founder, SNOBSWAP
SNOBSWAP was first inspired by Elise’s hunt for a pre-loved Chanel handbag, when she found herself dreaming about a website where members could swap or sell their designer clothes and accessories. Elise, hailing from a highly successful law background, decided to join forces with her sister Emily, an MBA with a deep luxury retail background and passion for all things designer. Uniting complementary strengths, expertise, and vision made for a perfectly tailored business venture. 

 

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Jul 19 2012
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The Scrupulous Entrepreneur: When do I leave my job to pursue my startup?

Written by Jason Shrensky, Dingman Center Angel in Residence

Often the question is posed: When do I leave my job to pursue my startup?  If you read the technology press, the answer seems to be “right away!” “Follow your dream!” is the advice of some successful entrepreneurs. To paraphrase others: “I couldn’t sleep at night just thinking about the opportunity. I quit my job the next day. You should do the same.” Of course, this flippant advice is offered in hindsight, often in the afterglow of a financial windfall. The scrupulous entrepreneur will answer this question for him or herself only after taking into account two big considerations.

The first consideration in deciding whether to leave your job to pursue your startup is family impact. How would you characterize the entrepreneurs quoted above if you knew that when they quit their day jobs to pursue their startups they had no plan to make sure that their kids had health insurance? Stupid? Reckless? Irresponsible? Would you want to invest in an entrepreneur that made such a choice?

One of the great unheralded traits of good entrepreneurs is the ability to get a business up and running without bankrupting themselves and hurting their families. To state the obvious, creating a self-sustaining business is hard. An absolute given is that the cost in terms of the entrepreneur’s time commitment is high and taxing not only to the entrepreneur but to the entrepreneur’s family.

Assuming that the entrepreneur and his or her family agree to assume the ramifications of the great time commitment involved, a second conversation that has to occur concerns the financial commitment. Leaving one’s job to pursue a startup will require financial belt-tightening by the entrepreneur and his or her family. Nonetheless, if there is buy-in from the entrepreneur’s family, a drop in discretionary spending and luxuries is easy to endure with the long-term goal of a successful venture in focus.

Thus, the lesson of the scrupulous entrepreneur who is considering family impact before pursuing a startup full time is that a) discomfort is okay, b) recklessness is not okay, and c) buy-in is required. (If you are 22 years old, single, and living with your parents, you’re good to go.)

But even after overcoming the first consideration, scrupulous entrepreneurs won’t rush to resign. The great first act of scrupulous entrepreneurs is staying employed as long as they can in order to “fund their hobby.” If they can manage getting their startups off the ground while fulfilling the duties of their day jobs, they will do it. (If working on their startups while employed would somehow be considered more unethical than conducting a search for a new job while employed, they will resign.)

It may seem like your day job is weighing you down and preventing you from moving as fast as you want on your startup. But, often the alternative is to quit your job and raise angel money. You are likely to find that raising angel money is just as time consuming yet less rewarding than your day job. If you have the right perspective, you should see your current employer as your first angel investor with the bonus that you don’t give up equity in your startup. Your paycheck is a sure thing; angel money is not.

Obviously, a separate email address and mobile phone are key tools for maintaining your double life. But don’t discount your vacation days. Use them judiciously. No trips to the beach. Vacation days are important for attending meetings and industry conferences relevant to your startup or cashing out when you eventually leave your employer.

In conclusion, leading a double life is hard, but many times it’s either necessary or simply the prudent choice. Scrupulous entrepreneurs value their families and fight on all fronts for advantages for their startups. They also don’t get any sleep. If you are a scrupulous entrepreneur, you won’t either.

Jason Shrensky is a local entrepreneur and angel investor who joined the Dingman Center team as an Angel in Residence in 2011. In addition to actively investing in early-stage companies, he splits his time between two startups that he recently co-founded: ÜberOffices and ComplexInterests. ÜberOffices provides co-working office space in the DC Metro area predominantly for early-stage technology and media companies. At ComplexInterests, Jason is working on developing a unique enterprise software package targeted at accounting, law, and financial services firms.

Connect with Jason on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+

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