Lisa Jesse – A Highly Successful Woman Entrepreneur
June 29, 2008 | 
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Lisa Jesse is a co-founder and Vice President of Advanced Technology in the tremendously successful Colorado Springs company, Intelligent Software Solutions. ISS currently employs about 275 people. Founded and headquartered in Colorado Springs, it has offices in Hampton (VA), Rome (NY) and Washington, DC. The company services customers throughout the United States as well many other places around the world. In 2007, according to Deloitte, the company had grown almost 1600% during the past five years and was the fifth fastest growing technology company in Colorado. ISS was also ranked the 110th fastest growing technology company in the nation in 2007, placing it in the elite Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list.
Here is the transcript of an interview that CSR+ conducted with Lisa Jesse recently.
CSR+: How did the idea of start a company come to you? What were some initial hurdles you had to overcome?
LJ: My partners and I worked for several large government contractors over the course of our careers. We became frustrated with the lack of vision, innovation and flexibility needed to provide quality solutions to our customers. We wanted to “shake up” the community and feel that our efforts could make a difference.
ISS opened for business in February, 1998.
Overall, the initial start-up went very smoothly. Because we initially partnered with another company, we had contracts in place on day one. Some initial hurdles included ensuring adequate cash flow and putting contracts in place so that our customers could fund us directly.
CSR+: In a nutshell, what does your company do?
LJ: ISS researches and develops sophisticated analytical tools providing multi-source data access, visualization, fusion, pattern learning, and mission planning for the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Intelligence organizations, and many others. In addition, we provide on-site support to many of the customers using our software.
CSR+: What are you doing differently from other companies in town or even nationally that has allowed you to grow so quickly? What makes your company stand out? What makes it so successful? What makes your company so innovative?
LJ: ISS provides great value for the dollar. We deliver solutions that exceed customer expectations, on-time and on-budget. We are unique for a small business in that our contracts support the gamut of the technology spectrum – from advanced research to operator support during war. This allows us to have the flexibility of a small business with the experience of a large contractor.
CSR+: How easy or hard is it to attract talented individuals to your company and keep them in Colorado Springs? As your company grows extremely rapidly, how are you finding the right people to fill your highly specialized needs?
LJ: ISS has been fairly successful in attracting and retaining top talent. We have a very low attrition rate. ISS offers a challenging work environment and a competitive compensation package that attracts highly qualified engineers who have the entrepreneurial spirit. Colorado Springs actually has quite a bit of depth in this type of talent.
Our recent hiring challenges have not been in finding personnel for the Colorado Springs area, but rather filling positions on the East Coast and overseas. Strategies we use include employee references, recruiting service personnel exiting the military and participating in job fairs.
CSR+: If you could do things all over again about your company, would you do anything differently? If so, what would it be?
LJ: Wow, that’s a tough question. Of course, all companies wish that they could revise some tactical decisions that given more recent information, they would have handled differently. But from a strategic perspective, I can’t think of anything. We have not experienced most of the difficulties that plague other small technology firms. I really credit my husband, Jay, the ISS president, for providing the business infrastructure needed to succeed.
CSR+: What is your advice to anyone who wants to start a tech company in town at this time?
LJ: Know your customers and your competition! Make sure you are providing a product or service that has a viable market and your company has significant discriminators that separate you from the competition. Have a good understanding of accounting practices and your company’s cash flow requirements.
CSR+: Tell us about your educational background. How do you think your educational background helped you achieve the success you have realized in your life so far?
LJ: I have BS and MS in Computer Science from UCCS.
My education provided much of the intellectual foundation I needed to succeed. This foundation is much more than technical skills such as mastering a specific programming language, algorithm or technology. It also includes problem solving, working within a team, and the instilling an intellectual curiosity to never stop learning.
CSR+: What’s your opinion of the state of the higher education environment in Colorado Springs or in Southern Colorado? Do you think the higher educational environment in the city or the area has any impact on your company?
LJ: Well, I’m probably biased, but I think that Colorado and in particular UCCS have a very good engineering college.
Absolutely. The local schools provide graduates with the required academic and life skills required by our company. However, for several reasons, the number of engineering students is decreasing both locally and at a national level. This decrease is of great concern.
CSR+: Does your company have any involvement with K-12 or the higher educational institutions in town or the region? How are you involved with the community? One lament frequently heard is that Colorado Springs does not have any large company headquartered here in town. As you grow bigger and become more successful as a company, what can you do to change this perception?
LJ: Many of our employees participate in mentoring activities such as science and math fairs. Though we promote the involvement in these types of events, we have not as yet established a formal corporate community plan with respect to K-12. It is a good idea. We tend to focus more on university settings but with fewer and fewer students electing to move into engineering, especially young women, more energy needs to be put into the pre-college mentoring.
CSR+: How do you see your company five years or ten years from now?
LJ: Within five or ten years, we plan to be much more diversified and substantially increase our presence in the Colorado Springs area. Currently, the vast majority of our business is with the US Government. We are working on several strategic initiatives for foreign sales as well as partnerships with commercial technology companies.
CSR+: Thank you, Lisa! Any final thoughts?
LJ: Thank you for the opportunity.
CSR+: It was really great talking to you.
- J
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