Biggest Challenges Faced by a Co-Founder and CEO at Ascender Systems
Jorge, as CEO, identifies the biggest challenge as managing the inevitable "unknown and unplanned things that occur," despite efforts to mitigate risks with money, technology, and contingency planning; it requires vigilance, due diligence, and having backup plans extending as far as "plan Fs" ready for implementation. This speaks to the unpredictable nature of Ascender Systems' work and the critical need for extensive preparation in the face of unexpected failures.
Risk Management, Contingency Planning, Leadership, Problem-Solving, Industry Realities
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
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Job Functions
Traits
Jorge Muniz
Co-Founder & CEO
Ascender Systems
United States Naval Academy United States Naval Academy
University of San Diego - Knauss School of Business University of San Diego - Knauss School of Business Master of Business Administration - MBAMaster of Business Administration - MBA
Engineering, IT, Math & Data
Technology
Strategic Management and Executive
Veteran
Video Highlights
1. Identifying and mitigating risks versus dealing with unforeseen, unplanned events is a major challenge.
2. Trusting in human capital can be difficult, as people, like machines, can fail, requiring vigilance and due diligence.
3. The need to have backup plans (Plan B, C, D, and even F) in place to address unexpected issues that inevitably arise.
Transcript
What is your biggest challenge in your role?
There are things you can control, and then there are definitely things you cannot control. We like to fancy ourselves as being able to identify risks and opportunities. We aim to attribute either money to mitigate those risks or technology to circumvent them.
Maybe I might move an asset or sequence something to avoid those risks from being realized. That sounds great. But the reality is, it's going to be those unknown and unplanned things that occur.
I mentioned human capital before. I like to trust that people will back me up and do the right things. Unfortunately, engines, transponders, and radar altimeters do not. They fail.
So, we just have to be very vigilant. We need to have our due diligence and our plan B, C, D, and so on. I've gotten as far as plan F. It's in place and ready for us to implement when and if those unknowns do occur. And they do occur for sure.