20. From Drunk Rats to Pet Robots: Appropriate Management Style Matters, with Jacob Hanchar

Robotics and education fanatic, Jacob Hanchar, joins Jim Barnish on this episode of The Dirt. Jacob shares how his view of “micromanagement” has changed to a positive one in the last few years. His experience says: there is a time and a place for more micromanagement in business. Oftentimes in the early stages of a business, you must have a more hands-on approach because delegation may get you in trouble if folks are not properly trained.

Jacob learned this lesson first-hand and after a rigorous amount of cleanup Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and overtraining are now the norm.

Jacob started as a Ph.D. in neuroscience, more specifically neuropharmacology, where he developed and patented a drug that got rid of hangovers (Read more about Kudzu here if interested..). In starting a lab, he realized it was a lot like a business, which motivated him to go back and get his MBA. Join us to hear Jacob’s journey which is not your run-of-the-mill entrepreneur.

3 Key Takeaways

• There is a time and a place for appropriate micromanagement.
• Training, training, training! The less training you do now, the more mess you will have to clean up later. Just do it now.
• Find a cofounder who’s like-minded, but different enough to cover the blind spots. Make sure they are in similar life positions.

Resources

Think and Grow Rich

Cosmo & Friends Youtube Channel

Digital Dream Labs website

Ask for Jacob

About Jacob Hanchar

Jacob serves as advisor and investor to many start-up companies in Western PA. Jacob received his doctorate in 2007 from the University of California Los Angeles where he focused on research in biological sciences. He performed post-doctoral work in otolaryngologic disorders particularly tinnitus at Rosalind Franklin University in Chicago and the University of Pittsburgh Center for Neuroscience. While completing his MBA, he met 2 engineers that pushed him into the EdTech space. After developing and taking these EdTech products to market, Jacob ended up purchasing a failing robotics company which he is the CEO of today.