Nick Roseth is building on his "evangelist and advocate" role in producing a documentary film on Minnesota's technology community while leading operations at St. Louis Park-based SWAT Solutions.
Roseth's film "DocuMNtary, The Story of Tech in Minnesota," explores the hardware-based history and software-shaped present of the state's tech industry, all with a goal of helping the state attract and retain the talent needed to be a five-tech community nationally.
Since the film's premiere a year ago, Roseth has been posting "MINNes," short clips of bonus material of some of the dozens of people interviewed for the film. He's done a TED Talk on bringing tech jobs to rural areas, written articles and blog posts on the tech landscape and serves on the tech advisory board of Make it. MSP. He also will lead the tech track next month at Twin Cities Startup Week.
Roseth spent five years in creative work before moving into technology as a partner for 14 years at a development shop in St. Paul.
He joined SWAT Solutions 3½ years ago as chief operations officer, leading that company's evolution from more traditional quality assurance testing to a technology solutions provider. SWAT works with Fortune 500 companies such as Nike and growing companies like RedBrick Health and GiveMN.
Q: What is your role at SWAT Solutions?
A: We've been traditionally a software testing/staff augmentation company and now we're moving toward a technology solutions company. I wear lots of hats largely around operations: delivery, people and marketing and all of the consultants report to me. Part of the value we provide is helping [clients] build a strategy with the right tool set.
Q: How do you describe your role in the larger tech community?
A: I would consider myself to have grown into an evangelist and advocate for entrepreneurs in Minnesota and for the technology community, how great it is here to try to get people to build something and grow something here and to see the opportunity. Along the way I'm doing some of the strategic and tactical aspects to facilitate the components that create a successful startup ecosystem.
Q: What does the tech community here need to continue advancing?
A: The talent and principles around entrepreneurship and exploration are going to be two of the most important pieces. We need more people starting more companies with more ideas … because technology will continue to disrupt even more aggressively over the next 20 years all of the industries that we have. We need to continue to double down on education so that we have not only the 100,000 technologists that we need now but the 300,000 we need in the next 20 years.
Todd Nelson
