Jessica Stone returned to the College a decade after graduation to mentor grad students
Jessica Stone often jokes that she doesn’t know anything about technology, but just happens to work in the industry.
While that’s a simplification of her skills, where the Daniels College of Business alumna shines is in building relationships and creating networks. That’s what led to the founding of her first company in 2016, its acquisition in 2019 and her inclusion this week on the Denver Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list.
“I was thrilled when I heard,” Stone said. “Starting a company is an emotional roller coaster and I feel fortunate to have been successful in that. Being recognized for my accomplishments, hard work and the network that I’ve built is why it felt so great.”
Jessica Stone
If starting a company is akin to riding a roller coaster, Stone was merely at the ticket counter when she arrived at the University of Denver in 2005. Despite growing up in Massachusetts, Stone was hooked by DU—it was the only place she applied. And, coming from an entrepreneurial family, she knew she wanted to go to business school and wanted to eventually run her own enterprise.
She’d graduate from Daniels in 2009 with a degree in management, completing her MBA at the College a year later. She began building her network, then her company, Konnexe. Stone described it as a community of technology executives, where members could collaborate in person at content-focused roundtables and on a social networking platform.
“My job was to meet as many technology executives as possible and build wonderful relationships by helping them,” Stone said.
Konnexe’s acquisition in 2019 led Stone to her current role as a partner at Vation Ventures and sparked her return to Daniels in a mentoring capacity.
While she didn’t have a traditional mentor during her college experience, Stone was looking to guide the next generation of business leaders at Daniels. She brings unique perspective, having worked mostly at smaller companies and startups throughout her career, with a keen focus on community building. So, she joined the College’s Executive Mentorship Program in 2020, serving as an industry mentor for graduate-level students.
The Executive Mentorship Program matches senior-level business executives with Daniels graduate students. This program offers mentors the opportunity to work with students to enhance their professional and personal skills.
A decade after she graduated, Stone often shares with her student mentees how a non-technical founder ended up leading a technology business.
“There are so many roles within tech where you don’t have to be super technical,” she said. “I wanted to share that and share my experience with students to show them that there are some other opportunities.”
She also stresses the importance of constant relationship building, not just when you’re job searching.
“Always be networking, because you never know what’s going to happen,” she said. “It will be so much easier to move jobs or start a new career if you have relationships.”
As evidence of that lesson, Stone hired one of her mentees, Anne Conway, from Daniels to Vation, where she plays a key role on the company’s marketing team. Conway is thankful for the lessons she learned in building relationships, as well as the career possibilities she was exposed to.
“The Executive Mentorship program played such an important role in connecting my academic life at Daniels to the business world,” Conway said. “Through mentorship, I found role models who helped me build my confidence and align my personal and professional goals, as well as an advocate who introduced me to new networks that opened new opportunities I never expected.”
Stone said she’s picked up what makes a good mentee from her own student connections. She advises preparation and curiosity, encouraging mentees to come with questions or themes they want to discuss. Stone also appreciates candor.
“Being up front and clear about what they want out of the relationship is really important,” she said.
Just as in her career, relationships are central to Stone’s mentorship philosophy.
“I truly believe that we live in a world of who you know and the relationships that you have,” she said.