Chester County Leadership – Jonathon Beschen

By

Jonathon Beschen, the 32 year-old Founder of the Liberty Valley Initiative and SparkNET Technologies, a technology solutions provider based in Wayne and a member of the Chester County Workforce Investment Board, spoke with VISTA Today last week about growing up in Annapolis, hanging out at the docks and the Full Moon Cafe in high school, what working 40 hours weeks at Wawa in high school taught him about leadership, why he choose Drexel over over every other top school in the country and how starting SparkNET with his friend Jonathan De Jong is the fulfillment of one of his middle-school dreams.

Where did you grow up Jonathon?

I was born in Manassas, Virginia. Manassas is horse country, and we had to drive to go anywhere. Just going to the 7/11 was a 25-minute trip. When I was 13, we moved to Annapolis because my parents thought Annapolis was a nice area and had better schools. At the time, I would have preferred to stay in Manassas because I had friends there. Looking back however, Annapolis was a better area for me and my development. Contrary to Manassas, Annapolis is a very walkable area, everyone knew everyone, and it was very small town oriented.

What is your most cherished memory of growing up in Annapolis?

Hanging out by the docks and, as I got older, hanging out at a place called the Full Moon Café where I would participate in their poetry slams and talk about philosophy with all sorts of people.

Jon, forgive me, but participating in poetry slams is not your typical high school activity!

For sure, but I wasn’t your typical high schooler! My older sister, who is four years older than me, introduced me to the Full Moon crowd. After that I just kind of fell into the community. It was a creative world, and I’m a creative person, both left and right brained. I love technology, math and sciences, but I also love applying those things to real world problems and finding creative solutions to complex challenges.

What made you feel so comfortable in such an adult setting?

When I was in middle school in Manassas, the school had a great gifted program that taught me how to teach myself. A lot of my life I have taught myself. For instance, I taught myself how to program. Instead of doing my math homework, I taught myself how to program games on my calculator. The other important influences were the arts. My two sisters were both artistic, and my dad was involved in community theater. I didn’t act, but I did technical stuff at the theater and was one of those people who moved scenery around. I grew up backstage!

What kind of music were you listening to?

All kinds of stuff. It was just after Nirvana so I listened to alternative Rock. I spent a lot of time in front of a computer, so music wasn’t really my thing.

What was it about the computer that you fell in love with Jon?

The equitability of it.

Explain what you mean by “equitability.”

In the early days of online computing where you dialed up and connected to people using 300 bps modems, the experience was anonymous, invisible, and people were judged purely on how they expressed themselves and what was in their head. It wasn’t girl or guy, black or white, rich or poor. Instead, a person was judged on what they were saying and their ideas. I was eight or nine at the time, and no one online knew how old I was. I had conversations about Philosophy, economics and systems with people from around the world.

Did you have any jobs in high school?

I worked in the local Wawa when I was in high school. I had a friend who worked there who helped me get the job. I was equally insane and ambitious in high school as I am now. I also worked for an electrical contractor doing odd jobs wiring high-security parking garages in Washington, DC.

What did you learn from those jobs that stay with you today?

The biggest lesson I learned is I could improve the morale of the people around me by doing the work and leading. Whenever I saw something that needed to be done, I wouldn’t wait for someone to tell me to do it, I would just do it. I also tried to learn the systems. There’s a process for everything at Wawa. I would always ask about and try to learn everything about the process. My excitement and focus on the process set the bar and made the other kids working in the store work harder.

Did seeing others follow your example boost your ego?

I think it did. It certainly gave me the confidence required to start my own company. On the other hand, humility is an important part of my life. I understand there is value in every perspective. Even when someone expresses an opinion completely opposite of mine, I always listen and attempt to understand where the person is coming from.

I assume you had your pick of colleges. Why did you select Drexel?

At the time, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. Owning a company was always a dream of mine. My parents gave me Bill Gates’ biography, and I wanted to start a company just like Gates had. My grades were decent, I had high SAT scores, so I received a bunch of brochures from different colleges. Drexel’s Co-op program impressed me. I saw the ability to work and go to school at the same time as an invaluable asset toward my goal of starting a company. I knew I wasn’t going to get the experience I needed sitting in a classroom alone. Classroom learning provided me a foundation, but Drexel’s Co-op program gave me the opportunity to learn, explore and do it myself.

Was Drexel a good choice?

Absolutely. The co-op program was key to starting a company as quickly as I did. I enjoyed the classroom work as well and found the pace challenging.

After Drexel, who gave you a break to get you to where you are today?

There were several. At every step of the way, there was a lot of good luck and a lot of good people around me. The first and foremost would be my business partner, Jonathan De Jong. He grew up in Wayne and had family contacts who were our first clients allowing SparkNet to be revenue-positive immediately.

The other person who comes to mind is David Noteware, our first business advisor. He is super capable and intelligent and was very helpful as we launched the company. He helped us land some of our early software contracts and helped us understand complex legal contracts and negotiations

The latest influence on our business is believing in myself enough to push growth. We had held steady for five years, and I was bored. I said to Jonathan, we need to grow or do something else. So in the last couple of years we revamped our business from a lifestyle business to a growth company. In the process of revamping the company, I took over responsibility for sales. Speaking and being in front of a crowd is not my natural way, its something I’ve had to learn to do. We’ve doubled in size, and the company is fun again.

What challenges do you see going forward?

Scaling the company is the most pressing challenge. We’ve been around long enough to establish a good reputation, and we have our sales process and funnel down. But we’re getting projects we can’t take on because we don’t have the people. Finding technically capable people that are willing to do this kind of work is a big challenge.

Opportunity wise, we’re starting to see a change in the macroeconomic structure of the local and national economy. The economy is turning around. As a result, we are doing contracts all over the country.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received, Jon?

The one that comes to mind is something David, the advisor I mentioned a minute ago, said about hiring people. He coached us to hire slow but fire fast. A problem employee can cause a massive disruption in the company. Having good people is paramount. Once we have good people whom we trust, we can spend our time and focus on building the business not just shuffling problems around. I’m committed to someone when they’re hired. But, if that new hire isn’t going to work out, its better for the person and the company to move on.

Connect With Your Community

Subscribe to stay informed!

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Advertisement
Creative Capital logo