Sponsored by the Sawyer Business School at Suffolk University, this post is part of an ongoing series that offers an inside look at how Boston’s entrepreneurs and startups are achieving success. Explore your opportunities during the Graduate Information Session on Feb. 11.
What do Smarterer, Intelligent.ly, RunKeeper and Carbonite all have in common?
Sarah Hodges.
Hodges, who is a co-founder of Intelligent.ly, the VP of marketing and client services at Smarterer and an advisor at Flybridge Capital, plays a crucial role in developing startups in Boston and investing in the future of the startup community.
Intelligent.ly and Smarterer can attribute much of their success to Hodges and other team members, who recognized a demand in the market and capitalized on Boston’s available resources. While Intelligent.ly provides workshops to outfit people with the skills necessary to be successful in the workplace, Smarterer quantifies employees’ existing attributes so that they can be best applied.
Hodges took some time out of her busy career to speak with BostInno about her experience working with startups, the keys to keeping talent and high-growth companies in Boston, and how we can allow female entrepreneurs to flourish.
Ethan Bukowiec: With Smarterer’s acquisition by Pluralsight in November 2014 and Intelligent.ly’s skill workshops in high demand, what’s your average day like as an integral part of both teams?
Sarah Hodges: I’ve been investing my energy in growing the right team. Last year, Abbie Waite joined as Intelligent.ly’s executive director and has done a fantastic job taking over our day-to-day operations. I act as a sounding board as we consider new leadership development programming. At Smarterer, we’re pursuing a huge vision – helping people take control of their own professional destiny by quantifying their skills. Being part of Pluralsight has allowed us to accelerate our growth by rapidly testing new product ideas. As a member of the executive team, I spend my time talking to customers, defining our strategy and supporting my team.
EB: While Smarterer’s assessment engine quantifies an employee’s skills so that they can be best applied, Inteligent.ly provides novices and experts the tools necessary to succeed in the workplace. How was the need for these platforms recognized and brought to life?
SH: All the credit for Smarterer goes to Dave Balter and Mike Kowalchik, who founded the company. We’re all acquiring new skills at rapid pace, and Dave recognized a burning need for people to be able to quantify their own skills. We sometimes refer to Mike as our “mad scientist” — he devoured everything there was to know about the traditional testing industry and completely turned it on its head by layering on crowdsourcing. We’re able to stay on top of the latest developments in new skills by tapping into the power of the crowd.
Then in 2012, Dave and I looked around at the Boston startup ecosystem and saw a tremendous opportunity — new startups were hungry to learn how to grow their companies, and we had a wealth of accomplished entrepreneurs and experts who were eager to share their knowledge. We launched Intelligent.ly in four days with the help of the entire community. Friends volunteered to teach skill classes, others donated furniture and even built our website. Boston is truly an exceptional place to grow a company.
EB: In what ways have Intelligent.ly and Smarterer morphed based on changes in demand?
SH: Last year, Intelligent.ly shifted its focus to leadership development. We talked to thousands of startup team members and hundreds of companies that passed through our skill classes and saw a common theme. Companies were growing at rapid pace, often promoting from within without giving new managers access to the support, resources and training they need to be successful. Intelligent.ly Exchange, our leadership development program, emerged to solve this problem.
"We have so much talent, but it’s essential that we provide people with the support and resources they need to continue to grow." - Sarah Hodges, @hodges
At Smarterer, we’re seeing an increasing trend toward employees taking control of their own professional development. The model is shifting away from the enterprise imposing required training and testing. Employees want the same level of freedom of choice that they experience in their lives as consumers. They’re seeking out the specific training they need, often bringing it into the enterprise. We’re embracing this new approach, developing tools that make it easier for people to own their skill data.
EB: What advantages from your early experience working with startups like Carbonite proved beneficial to the growth of Smarterer and Intelligent.ly?
SH: When I joined Carbonite, the company was growing faster than we could keep up with. It was incredible to see the marketing engine at work. I learned from so many people who were the best at what they did. I also learned from our mistakes — we invested heavily in an expensive paid user-acquisition model, while companies we hadn’t even regarded as competitors made huge progress growing their user bases through referrals. With every role I’ve had, I’ve always learned more from my mistakes.
EB: Looking ahead, what are the possibilities of implementing Intelligent.ly’s peer-to-peer learning model in other entrepreneurial hubs?
SH: Right now, we’re focused on serving the Boston startup community. There’s still so much potential here to reach new companies and team members. Intelligent.ly Exchange has an incredible opportunity to create a dense network of connections among Boston’s emerging leaders, and we have plenty of ground to cover here.
EB: How has having an MBA led to success in your professional career?
SH: I failed finance and accounting. Well, I got a B-, which is the MBA equivalent of failing! I didn’t have the right context in my job role and really struggled to grasp the concepts. Now, as a founder, I take great geeky pride in my financial modeling skills. It’s incredible how everything changes when you’re able to directly apply what you’ve learned in practice.
EB: What is the value of having an MBA in today’s job market?
SH: If I had to do it again, with the resources that are available now, I’d really have to consider whether it would be the right move to get an MBA. So much of what I’ve learned has been through on-the-job experience, from soaking up knowledge from the people around me. When hiring, I’m much more interested to see what someone has achieved and how they’re continuing to invest in developing new skills. I look for highly agile and resourceful team members with passion and ambition.
"The model is shifting away from the enterprise imposing required training and testing. Employees want the same level of freedom of choice that they experience in their lives as consumers." - Sarah Hodges, @hodges
EB: What is key to retaining talent and high-growth companies here in Boston?
SH: Boston is a city where almost anyone will have coffee with you and accomplished startup veterans are ready and willing to share advice. We need to continue to invest in the professional development of our emerging leaders — precisely what keeps us motivated every day at Intelligent.ly. We have so much talent, but it’s essential that we provide people with the support and resources they need to continue to grow, everything from accessible, affordable training to mentorship and coaching.
EB: Considering your success, not just overall, but as a female entrepreneur – what’s needed to develop more women-led startups?
SH: I don’t have the silver bullet solution, but we should definitely be focusing more energy on investing in the growth of women who are currently working inside startups. There are so many women already powering successful startups from behind the scenes. As a community, we — men and women — need to collectively embrace these emerging female leaders. Seek out women on your team or from your network, and think about how you can connect them with resources, coaching and mentoring opportunities. We’re spending a lot of energy at Intelligent.ly right now thinking about what we can do – stay tuned for some exciting developments that are coming on this front!
Image via Michael Piazza
