Cohab in the Shreveport Red River District hosted the first of the Entrepreneurship Unplugged series which featured Jim Malsch, CEO of ESC and Synapse. Justin Martin of Digital Lion interviewed Jim in front of a crowd of about 40 local educators, entrepreneurs, and media-minded citizens. Jim Malsch studied electronics at Caddo Career and Technology Center in the early 1980s, and Justin Martin attended Paul Miramon’s networking class at CCTC just a few years ago. Justin began the interview with a story about how he met Jim. Apparently, when Justin was about 15 years old, he hacked Synapses’ system, and he sent them an email to warn them about the ease with which one could hack their system. Justin was then offerered a position working with Synapse.
Jim discussed his early days with ESC, and he spoke at length about the importance of having a compentent team in place. He also discussed the differences between ESC and Synapse, which requires the two to have totally different workplace climate / cultures. Jim spent quite a bit of time focusing on the culture/climate of the workplace and how to achieve a culture in the workplace where people will enjoy working. It was inspiring to hear Jim’s story. His rise from being the bassist of the Reggae band Killer Bees to becoming CEO of multiple tech-companies was impressive. Justin Martin did an excellent job of interviewing Jim. Both Jim and Justin mentioned CCTC and the profound impact it had upon them. Currently Justin and Jim both serve as Advisory Council members for CCTC. 