When a desk job just isn’t an option 🙅
Life is filled with endless opportunities to learn and grow. And for many founders, the lessons they’ve learned through years of training, career shifts, and hands-on experience are exactly what drives them to break away and start their own business.
But do all successful founders really need years of experience to start?
For Bryce Menichella, co-founder and CEO of Scyntek, the answer was clear from the very beginning.
With a background and training in engineering, a desire to help others, a group of motivated peers, and the determination to not be “trapped” by someone else’s rules…
Entrepreneurship truly was the perfect path.
A kick start during the college years
“In our entrepreneurship classes, the professor was always preaching, ‘The time to do it is either when you're young and you have nothing to really lose, or you're older, you've made all your money, and now you have time to try stuff out.” And even when I had heard him say that for the first time, we had already been working on this for close to a year.”
Bryce, along with his co-founders, were not the typical group of undergrads. While taking classes full time, they were also putting in full-time hours working on what started off as a passion project.
All before graduation, they had participated in various competitions, experienced notable successes, and received validation that their idea had real potential.
The main competition–held by the university’s engineering program–was designed to give participants an opportunity to put their skills to real-world use, talk to people in the field, and explain their ideas to potential stakeholders.
And when it came time to plan his engineering class capstone project, he and his co-founders designed the whole thing around building the first prototype for their company.
With graduation on the horizon, no solid job offers, and–because of an internship–a solid understanding of what it was like to work for a medical device startup, Bryce was determined to make this more than just a passion project.
While his co-founders were all in different places–one accepting a job, one waiting to hear back, and one going on to grad school–they decided they’d push forward and introduce Synteck to the world.
“No matter how long I had worked for the medical device startup, it kept me energized and excited the whole time. I think that was a pretty good sign to at least try something out and see what happens.”
Pushing doubts and challenges aside with proof that it’s working
“Having started in college, and having gone through those competitions, we had enough of a foundation to really start us off. We made a lot of connections and had put in a lot of work already, so we felt pretty confident that we could jump into it 100% after graduation and it would basically be a full-time job.”
As founding their business became more of a reality, it was only natural that doubts started to surface.
For Bryce, the worry came with the realization that he could potentially be wasting time. What if he put forward all this time and effort and it didn’t go anywhere?
“You're foregoing a full-time job that's very stable and secure and instead, you're just trying something. You're ultimately spending time, and with that, money and other resources.”
On top of that, other challenges started to arise.
With the drive to get their company off the ground, burnout could become a very real issue at times.
Luckily, Bryce and his core leadership team had established great communication with each other and trust that things will get done.
They’ve learned that when burnout starts to come up, they can take a break, recharge how they need to, and lean on their co-founders.
Another unexpected challenge has simply been their age.
When pitching at competitions or having conversations with potential angel investors or early-stage venture capital firms, the lack of experience can be a hindrance.
But because he and his co-founders had a validated idea and the confidence they could make it work, these doubts and challenges have been opportunities to learn and push forward.
“I think it helped that we set flags for the future at different stages. For example, we went to a conference last year and set a goal that in one year's time, we're going to be presenting on that stage. Another was that we would file a patent by a certain date, and we did. We're able to set little flags that we can think about and reach… But it also helps us to check in and actually measure our progress to some extent.”
Fueled by constant opportunity for growth
“There’s a lot of complexity that makes the work really intellectually stimulating, which, for me, makes it really interesting… It's something I can do all day, every day, and still enjoy it, which has led to a lot of passion around it.”
The constant motion of entrepreneurship has been a stark contrast to the more stagnant 9 to 5 corporate setting that Bryce experienced as an intern.
But the non-stop nature of it is the very thing that also made it most appealing.
Being an engineer by training and having an interest in the medical field, the work became fulfilling as he got to plan, build, and understand how everything works.
He learned the complex process of what it actually takes to commercialize a medical device and how to balance the ever-shifting components.
“The puzzle pieces are changing every time you're trying to put it together, so you're always having to find a new spot and plug it in. But then, maybe that changes too, so you have to fix it and put it back. It's always interesting and there’s always something to do.”
Being flexible as a business owner has allowed him to learn from each experience as it comes, which has become one of the most rewarding parts of the journey.
Comparing the alternative of being at a more conventional job, Bryce has had the opportunity to talk to 100s of people in related fields, getting first-hand knowledge from some people with decades of experience.
“You get advice and you benefit from their decades and decades of experience, whether it's from people at the FDA, from working at the biggest medical device companies in the world, or from having gone through startups of their own medical technology. You get to benefit from all that.”
Along with these conversations, he’s had to get comfortable with public speaking–something he definitely didn’t love at first but by embracing the challenge, he only continues to get better and better.
By speaking to all these people however, he realized something unexpected.
Many of them have experience with the very problem his company’s device is trying to solve, either first-hand or through a personal relationship.
And through the touching stories of how the condition has affected them, and the excitement for how Scyntek can help, Bryce now sees how big of an impact he’s making–and has the potential to make in the future.
Key takeaways from the journey
Though it’s only been a couple years since Bryce and his co-founders first began their passion project, it’s been a time filled with growth and possibility.
And through it all, he’s reflected on a couple things that have helped them experience so much success.
🌱 Make lots of friends and connections
The amount of advice and help you need as you get started is more than you’ll ever realize but there’s also people out there willing to share and help you succeed. Have conversations and then when you’re able, pay it forward by sharing what you’ve learned too.
🌱 Make sure you actually enjoy what you’re doing
There’s no point in pursuing a startup or trying to achieve a certain title if you’re going to be miserable along the way. Do it because you truly want to help solve the problem you’re addressing.
You get plenty of advice. What you rarely get is a pause. Each month, we’ll share a simple prompt to help you step out of execution mode and consider what “founding well” looks like in your world right now.
Founders are often encouraged to keep pushing–to respond faster, fix sooner, carry more. But part of building something sustainable is learning what not to carry. This reflection invites you to acknowledge the decisions you’ve made to step back, step away, or simply not engage.
Feel free to pull out old fashioned pen and paper, or create a new doc just for journaling, and spend a few focused moments thinking about the following:
- What did I not force, rush, or resolve—and what happened instead?
- Where did I honor my limits, even if no one else noticed?
- What am I no longer willing to carry, even if I used to?
- Where did I choose my energy over someone else’s urgency?
- What am I no longer proving—to others or to myself?
There’s no right or wrong answer. If nothing comes up, that’s okay too! Use this as space to notice what is real for you today. A few messy lines are enough.
If you're comfortable sharing your insights with us, let us know at foundingwell@vallelegal.com.
