Teen tech expert finds a lot to like in Southwest Michigan

A lot of communities want Daniel Brusilovsky to give them advice on how they can foster tech entrepreneurship. He only visits the ones where he senses the request is serious and sincere, based largely on the persistence of those who ask him to visit.

When a group from Kalamazoo and Portage stayed in contact with the teenage tech advisor over the course of a year he says he knew this was the kind of community he wanted to work with.

A group led by Chuck Perricone visited with Brusilovsky when they went to Silicon Valley on a pair of fact finding trips in 2011. Brusilovsky, 19, is a sought-after speaker and advisor, having started a successful tech business when he was 13 that he ultimately sold profitably. He went on to found his current company in 2008, Teens in Tech Labs, which provides tools and resources to young entrepreneurs world-wide to promote entrepreneurship for young people.

Starting in June of this year, he went to work in the Summer Associate program of the venture capital firm Highland Capital Partners -- all growing from the experiences of Brusilovsky’s early years when he and his father took apart computers on weekends and put them back together, leading to a love of technology that has landed him at Qik, Apture and other startups.

Brusilovsky says in recent weeks he has been in daily telephone contact with Kalamazoo Mayor Bobby Hopewell, who paid for Brusilovsky’s transportation to the area and has promoted tech businesses locally. This week Brusilovsky visits Southwest Michigan to talk about his ideas for fostering tech entrepreneurship.

As the week progresses, Brusilovsky will travel to Lansing to meet the Lieutenant Governor and top staff at the Michigan Economic Development Corp., meet with a dozen local CEOs, and discuss tech startups with economic development leaders and others who might not yet be convinced of the value of promoting the area as a home for tech startups.

"This is not some kid stuff," Brusilovsky says.

While he is in Kalamazoo, Brusilovsky will be sharing his story -- the ups and downs -- of being a teenage entrepreneur and offer advice he may have as the week goes on.

In an interview Tuesday, early in his weeklong visit to the state, Brusilovsky says he was still formulating his thoughts on what needs to be done next in the area, but what he has seen so far is good. He praised efforts of Ryan Goins and others behind the organization of Startup Zoo in bringing together tech entrepreneurs.

Brusilovsky also repeatedly praised the co-work space The Bureau for providing space at a reasonable cost in a community where rents otherwise are considered expensive for entrepreneurs just getting started. "If you gave up Starbucks for a month you could afford to work there and they have free coffee so you don’t even have to go without," Brusilovsky says. The Bureau also is a place where collaboration can easily take place, he notes.

Brusilovsky says where he lives in California it is easy to be entrepreneurial-minded because each day on his way to work he passes 15 to 20 publicly traded tech companies. "My friends joke that I came out of the womb with a keyboard in my hand," Brusilovsky says.

But Kalamazoo has the potential to create the same kind of environment for tech startups if the community gets behind it, Brusilovsky says. In its favor, Kalamazoo has two universities --  collaboration among university friends were what started Google, he notes -- and a good central location between Chicago and Detroit.

Programs like the Teenage Developers Boot Camp being offered this week at The Bureau for middle school and high school age youngsters also are critical. Brusilovsky says a middle school teacher he worked with during the summers when it became obvious they could not do the work necessary during the school year. "He taught me one of the lessons I have used the most as a CEO: 'Problem. Solve Problem.' Your business is going to have problems, to run into the unexpected. How a CEO tackles them is what makes him a good CEO. You have to have Plan B, sometimes all the way through Plan Z. You always have to have a contingency plan."

That philosophy came into play this year when the annual conference of Teens in Tech lost its venue after announcement of the event had gone out. It was forced to turn to a backup venue that had been lined up -- because Brusilovsky knew about the need for contingency plans.

Though there were many meetings ahead, Brusilovsky already has agreed Kalamazoo will be a pilot for a program coming out of Teens in Tech. "We’re building a platform. We describe it as TED Talks meets Startup Weekend. It will be for teens and be seen by video in other communities. For the first time we will have a global community for tech."

Brusilovsky's visit is not a one time event either. "I'll be back in six to 12 months to check in," he says

Kathy Jennings is the managing editor of Southwest Michigan’s Second Wave. She is a freelance writer and editor.

Photos by Kathy Jennings.