Jeremy Hitchcock is helping to organize a couple of leadership programs, including one that ends with participants getting a chance to try indoor skydiving.
You’ll have to head to Virginia Beach for that one.
Here in the Granite State, the tech entrepreneur is promoting the launch of Ascending Leaders in Tech, a six-session course offered by the New Hampshire Tech Alliance to help young leaders develop management skills and connect with veteran executives.
“It’s really to give them a chance to get out of their day-to-day jobs and also be able to network with other like-minded colleagues and get them thinking about how they can become more impactful leaders in their respective organizations,” Hitchcock said last week.
The Manchester resident, who serves on the nonprofit alliance’s board, first rose to prominence as co-founder and CEO of Dyn, an internet performance company acquired by Oracle in 2016. His other businesses include Wi-Fi security company Minim, and his latest project, New North Ventures, an early stage investment company that focuses on artificial intelligence, cyber and critical infrastructure.
He hopes Ascending Leaders in Tech, which will run from September through May, will attract entrepreneurs from not only New Hampshire companies but emerging leaders who work for companies outside the state but live here.
“I know a number of CTOs who happen to be based here in New Hampshire working for global Fortune 500s. They choose it as a way of life,” he said. “We’re hoping to reach out to that next generation of people who are choosing New Hampshire.”
In 2021, the tech sector contributed $10.8 billion to the New Hampshire economy, notes the Tech Alliance, citing a study by cyberstates.org.
Organizers hope the leadership program will help expand the tech sector’s reach in New Hampshire. The course ($2,000 for members, $2,800 for others) will focus on relationship management, finance, resilience and wellness, the executive mindset and leadership impact.
People like Hitchcock will share their experiences building a company from scratch, and what happens after founders launch a company.
“No one really gives you permission to do an act, whether it was being a CEO and having to make up your own decisions on who you’re going to hire, who you’re not going to hire, products you were going to go develop, and really the responsibility of having a bunch of families and employees who depend on you to make good decisions,” Hitchcock said.
Dyn was well known for its company culture, which featured social events at its Dow Street headquarters designed to build camaraderie.
“People are motivated by money, but it’s not the only thing that they think about. And the type of people that you work with and the types of things that a company celebrates really make a difference,” Hitchcock said.
“It was certainly an advantage at Dyn to be able to pull people from other companies that wouldn’t otherwise work for a scrappy, little startup.”
Indoor skydiving
Hitchcock spends most of his energy these days with New North Ventures, the investment group he co-founded in 2020. The company’s High Consequence Leadership Summit, March 9-10 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, promises to bring “top performers from business innovators, special operations, and world-class athletes into one room.”
Hitchcock compared the summit to the work of the New Hampshire Tech Alliance, with a focus on the convergence of technology and national security.
“People are being asked to lead and make important, consequential decisions with less information and faster than they have before,” He said. “Our goal is to take some of the best of the entrepreneurial community and some of the people in the military intelligence community and bring them together and talk about what they have in common.”
The conference sessions are at a Hilton hotel, but for an extra $150, participants can try indoor skydiving at a nearby iFlY.
“Someone we know happens to own one of the iFLY facilities,” Hitchcock said.
“Indoor skydiving” sounds like a good title for a tech leader training session.
