Stoddard Takes Lessons Learned While A Marine And Incorporates Them Into Business

PRLog (Press Release) - May 05, 2009 -
DENVER, CO. – From the desert of Al Anbar, Iraq, to the City of Denver, Jonathan Stoddard provides reliable technology services.  
In January 2009, after leaving the Marine Corps as a Captain, Jonathan Stoddard moved to Denver and started a technology services company called Kahuna Technology Group Inc (http://www.ktgdenver.com).  During his time in the Marine Corps Jonathan was the communications officer for an Infantry Battalion.  Stoddard compares his role in the marines to being the Chief Information Officer of a medium sized company.  He managed up to 75 Marines and was responsible for all phone, radio and data communications within the 1,000 man unit.   Many of the lessons he learned in the Marine Corps have benefited him while starting a business.  Stoddard thinks one of the biggest lessons he learned was the importance of reliable communications.  “I remember before my first deployment to Iraq I was very nervous, because my battalion was spread across an area that was roughly 600 square miles.  The only way for the units to talk to each other was using the communications links I maintained.  I always worried that one of the links would go down when someone was trying to communicate information needed to get an injured marine to medical care.”  
   Stoddard now uses the lessons he learned from the marines and incorporates them into his business (http://www.ktgdenver.com/about-ktg).  “One of my focuses when working small businesses is reliability,” Stoddard says.   “Unfortunately many small businesses have not created plans to ensure all electronic documents are safely stored at an off-site location.”  Stoddard enjoys working with small business because he believes they can benefit the most from technology.  “Now days, especially when you look at open source software [which is free], technology can really level the playing field between small businesses and their larger competitors.”  Stoddard brings up the example of craigslist, “they only have something like 25 employees, and yet have one of the most frequently viewed websites in the world.”  (http://www.ktgdenver.com/content/craislist-uses-technolo ...)
   So, did it get easier for Stoddard as he prepared for his second deployment to Iraq?  “I was much more confident my second time in Iraq.”  Much of Stoddard’s confidence came from something his old boss told him after his first Iraq deployment.  “A few weeks after we were back in the US he told me that ‘he had no doubt people’s lives were saved because of the reliable communications network I established.’  Those are words that will always stick with me.”  

Key lessons Stoddard learned:

-   Stoddard created a vehicle registration database for an Iraqi town using open source software.  He came to rely on open source software to meet his battalion’s needs because it was free and customizable.  
-   Stoddard always looks at the weakest link in any network architecture.  If something can fail, then it will fail, and you need to have a backup plan in place before it does.  
-   Phone and email communication is important, but nothing beats meeting with someone in person, Stoddard often relied on visiting his outlying sites to talk with the marines to ensure communications were working at the lowest levels.  

About Veteran Entrepreneurs (from:http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs239tot.pdf):

-   22% of veterans in the U.S household population were either purchasing or starting a new business or considering purchasing or starting a new business.  

-   Although 62 percent of new veteran entrepreneurs planned to initially locate their business entirely in their residence, more than 67 percent of these prospective home-based business owners planned to expand beyond their residence in the “foreseeable future.”

-   37% of Veteran Business Owners say they learned business skills of direct use while on active duty.