Robert Bentley, CEO of Jed Mahonis Group: Building Digital Tools for Businesses
I had the pleasure of interviewing Robert Bentley. The CEO of the Jed Mahonis Group, a digital product agency that specializes in building digital tools: mobile apps, APIs, Custom websites, and more. Rob graduated from North Central University in 2011 with a degree in Business Administration. When he’s not busy developing software, Robert enjoys spending time with his family, taking walks, mixing EDM, painting, and playing video games He hosts a small cooking show on Instagram, with a focus on grilled cheese. In addition, during his free time, he develops iOS applications for personal use.
What motivated you to launch your startup?
I was talking with my other co-founder when I was about to graduate from school, and was wondering what I was going to do with my life. I was fascinated by mobile apps since the iPhone had just come out, and I was almost done with securing my business administration degree. I had a feeling that mobile apps weren’t going away any time soon, so I asked my co-founder if he wanted to start a business doing it. He agreed, and we were in business not much longer afterwards.
What is it that excites you about what you’re building?
I get to build something different all the time. The cool thing about it is that people and businesses come to us with ideas and problems to solve, and we are able to make an impact in their lives. It’s cool to see stuff you have built being used by lots of people, and literally seeing people’s dreams come true.
What has been your biggest challenge when growing your startup?
The biggest challenge has been filling up our pipeline with enough work to do. This is the first business I have built, and started it right out of college. Marketing has been a challenge, but we are getting better at it every week!
What are your future plans for your startup?
I want to grow it and be known as a high-quality, high-performance, high-output business. I have a passion for creating exceptional software, and I want to build a lot more of it!
If you had to share, “words of wisdom,” with a Founder who’s about to start their own startup, what would they be?
Don’t give up! There will be times in your business journey where it would be fair if you called it quits, but if you stick through the hard months, usually good months will follow. If it is your passion and dream, fight for it. Your business is only done when you decide you don’t want to do it anymore.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
I’m pretty active on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-bentley-47804b29/ and I have a small cooking show on Instagram: @scottmahonis_cooks.
This was very insightful. Thank you so much for joining us!
