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Meet the President: David Shear – SheerID

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1) What do you do, and why do you do it?

We provide instant eligibility verification to power retailers’ specific offers to specific groups like students and military. SheerID’s eligibility verification solutions take what used to be a 24-48 hr process and transform it into a quick inquiry that takes a fraction of a second. We set out to improve the user experience for consumers who truly qualify for special offers so that they don’t have to jump through extra hoops anymore.

2) Where did the idea for SheerID come from?
We initially recognized the problem observing the customer experience of students who were trying to purchase student-priced software online. They literally had to stop the buying process, find a fax machine, fax over credentials, and wait 48 hours for the fax to be reviewed. We realized this wasn’t a problem isolated to students or the software industry, so we decided to start SheerID,

3) What has been your biggest professional challenge to overcome?
Identifying and hiring great people has been a challenge. A tech company is only as good as its employees.

4) What has been your proudest moment in your career so far?
I’m especially proud that SheerID has been able to grow year-over-year while retaining our clients. It makes me very proud that SheerID has virtually zero churn. To me, that says that we’re solving a very real pain point in an elegant way, and we’re providing the level of customer service our clients expect and deserve.

5) If you were starting another company tomorrow, what would be its top three values?

  1. Our employees are passionate about our business
  2. The company strives to help our customers be successful
  3. We deliver cutting edge solutions

6) What is your favorite interview question?
Tell me about a time when you were overly competitive.

7) Who inspires you and why?
My dad. He lives his life with a level of integrity and honesty that makes other people orbit around him.

8) What is your favorite piece of technology or app right now?
It sounds trite, but I probably use Uber more than any other app. The convenience of always having a car available while I travel has been a game changer for me and the rest of our team.

9) Favorite guilty pleasure?
I watch way too much news at night. I don’t really pull for either side politically, so I like to sit back and watch when things get really dramatic.

10 ) Favorite way to spend free time is…
With my sons or outdoors with my girlfriend.

11) Cause closest to your heart?
I’ve spent a lot of time coaching for youth programs. Little things like helping a kid understand how to make a free throw or land a tackle can make a big difference for young people who don’t get a lot of support from the adults in their lives. Just spending time with them can be a big deal.

12) In closing, what advice would you give to budding technology entrepreneurs?
Plan for double the time, triple the cost, and way more stress than you think you’re prepared for, but also expect the journey to be very rewarding. Growing a company is a fantastic experience.

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