Handling project management, IT support, and clients at the same time is a challenge for any project manager. Genium founder Alex Iceman joins Startup Savants to talk about Genium, the tech startup he founded to address pain points in global tech hiring.
- Startup Savants is a business podcast that tells the stories behind up-and-coming startups.
- Alex Iceman joins Startup Savants to discuss launching his tech startup.
- Genium addresses pain points in global tech hiring, offering an all-in-one platform for management, client, and IT support.
Iceman Softworks to Genium
Before founding Genium in San Mateo, California, in 2017, Alex started another IT consulting company called Iceman Softworks in San Francisco. Iceman Softworks worked with world-class engineers from Silicon Valley to deliver high-profile mobile projects.
The business took off, and soon Alex realized that he would need to provide IT support for his clients over the long term – and do it affordably. He started by working with software developers in China, India, Mexico, and other countries. At one point, he started working with engineers in Argentina, and everything clicked.
“I sent out two projects to Argentina, and they came out a total success, a total match for the values I have, which is effective communication, responsibility, accountability, forgiveness,” he said during his interview with Startup Savants. “I started hiring more and more engineers and administrative staff in Argentina, and then we grew into a greater Latin America since then. In the sense I’ve listened to my clients and I’ve listened to what they wanted and adapted to their needs. That’s how Genium came about.”
Today, Genium connects companies with world-class engineers, security experts, and developers. It provides managed software team extensions in the areas of logistics, human resources, payroll, information technology (IT), and legal services, while also offering custom IT projects.
Learning to Delegate
One of the key lessons Alex has learned as a founder is the importance of delegating and learning to trust his team. However, it wasn’t easy at the beginning to reverse course from doing everything himself. “I had to work with coaches to get that mindset,” he said during his interview. “I couldn’t get to that mindset myself, and I had to ask for help.”
At the same time, it’s important to carefully vet the people you delegate to, especially those who will be in leadership. “I found later that the most important thing to do in your business is to get your first three to five first hires,” he said. “Those are the people you’re going to be delegated to manage everything. You should spend an enormous amount of time vetting those people, getting them on board, and training them. That’s what’s going to define the future of your company.”
It’s also vital to establish key processes from the beginning. “I fly airplanes, and checklists are vital for saving lives,” Alex said. “I started applying that mentality to business and creating simple checklists that would go through the key points of a process to get to a high quality or safety or whatever it is, and that’s how I started scaling up and delegating more.”
Startup Savants Podcast
The Startup Savants podcast is a business podcast created by The Really Useful Information Company (TRUiC). Listeners can hear the stories behind startups, as told by their founders, who are in the midst of growing their companies.
Ethan, an entrepreneur, and Annaka, a branding expert, host the Startup Savants podcast. They bring disparate skills and life experiences to their interviews, providing listeners with important business insights and a holistic perspective on the startup ecosystem.
Hear from a variety of real startup founders from around the globe and with varying backgrounds about making their startup ideas a reality. Learn from experts sharing their industry knowledge on venture capital, securing funding, and more on the Startup Savants podcast.
Final Thoughts
Alex Iceman joins Startup Savants to discuss Genium, a startup that provides solutions for affordable, quality tech hiring on a global scale.
You can find the Startup Savants podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
