Meet Jessica Acosta Jaquez of theDevMasters | tDM in Playa Vista and Irvine

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Acosta Jaquez.

Jessica, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I graduated from Pepperdine in 2017 with my MBA, my goal was to obtain the knowledge and relationships for me to grow as a professional and entrepreneur. After graduation I took several months “off”, working full time and spending much needed time with my husband and two kids. I had my daughter in grad school and felt that I missed so much of her and my then two-year-old son’s life, I wanted to focus on just being mom.

A couple of months later an old friend and colleague reached out and asked if I’d be interested in taking over the Startup Grind Chapter in Orange County, as it wasn’t doing well. I said, “absolutely but let me talk with my husband, he just got me back.” My very supportive husband agreed it was an excellent opportunity to build OC’s startup ecosystem and the commitment wasn’t anything compared to grad school.

Going to school in LA and then being at home in OC, I felt that I needed to go up to LA to be part of the startup community; but this gave me the opportunity to help build a stronger community here at home. The first Startup Grind event after a year hiatus had four people; a disappointment and a gut check, this was going to be a lot harder than I expected! But I was determined to build a place for startups and entrepreneurs to come once a month to be inspired, connect, and learn. Today, two years later we average between 30 – 45 people at our monthly events. There is still a LOT of work to be done in OC but we are slowly getting there!

During this journey building Startup Grind, I had an opportunity to meet with the founder of theDevMasters, an AI company. At the time the company desperately needed someone to lead them. I came on board in March of 2019 as a partner in the business, I oversee the organizational strategy, joint ventures, development, marketing, and everyday operations.

In June of 2019, theDevMasters expanded into tDM an advisement and development company specializing in startups and SMBs to build custom AI/ML/DL solutions. The expanded sister brand allows both companies to leverage synergies including a scalable farm of new fully trained data scientists and full access to instructors to develop custom training for corporations looking to develop internal talent. In 2020 tDM will be releasing its first AI product focusing on NLP/NLG/NLU.

In any given day I’m advising startups in artificial intelligence, to presenting overseas to executives about the need for their internal digital transformation into Machine Learning, to developing and implementing AI roadmaps, to handling daily operations at the office, and motivating and supporting my staff for their personal and professional development. Then as other parents/guardians know, I still go home, make dinner, make lunches, gives baths, help with homework, read a book, and give a bedtime story or sing a lullaby before jumping on a 9pm call to overseas clients. I LOVE IT!

Has it been a smooth road?
No, it hasn’t been a smooth road. If anyone tells you otherwise, they are not being truthful or have blacked-out the trauma. There have been several times that I’ve wanted to walk away, go to an established company with benefits, vacation, and a 401k. It would be easier right?! I can go to work, hustle for 8 to 9 hours, then head home; GLORIOUS right!?… For some, but not for me.

Being a small business we live and die on cash flow; thank God for that MBA! There have been months where I wasn’t sure I was going to make payroll let alone getting a paycheck myself. There have been days when I’ve had to say no to my business partners and put my family first; that’s not easy to do no matter where you work. We get into heated arguments and debates about the direction of the company. Communication gaps, cultural barriers, gender roles, age differences; have all come to head several times.

So why keep going? …well because I’m building something that I hope will change the world for startups and SMBs. My passion is to build a company with purpose, to bring efficiency and scalability to companies worldwide. I have mentors from Pepperdine and Startup Grind and I have friends who are there to be honest with me when I’m heading in the wrong direction. I have a loving a supportive husband that I can’t do a fraction of what I do in a day without. These people help me when I’m in the muck of the grind, to remind me to keep moving forward.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with theDevMasters | tDM and your work at Startup Grind– tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Startup Grind is the largest independent startup community. We host monthly events featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators, and investors who share lessons learned on the road to building great companies. Our goal is to inspire, educate, and connect with our startup community and be a resource to them. During our Fireside Chats I am 100% candid with the guest; don’t give me the magazine story, give me the grit, I want the truth because we need the transparency. Being an entrepreneur and running a startup is flip’n hard; its not a glorious life where everyone will be a winner at the end. There is no trophy for second place. Innovate, scale, give excellent customer experiences, and take care of your cash! Even then we might fail, learn from it and move on.

theDevMasters specializing in training individuals to become data scientists and provide corporate training for organizations to develop internal talent to leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning for their business. The five-year-old company has earned several awards for its top data science training worldwide. In 2019, theDevMasters partnered with Brandman University, part of the Chapman University system, to offer a data science training course through the university. In February 2020, theDevMasters will be traveling to King Saud University to host a special five-day training for their women students.

During this past year tDM was born, to service businesses in the development of custom AI roadmaps and implementation of AI solutions. tDM utilizes theDevMasters as a resource and funnel of ready to work data scientist to scale for larger projects. In 2020 tDM will be launching its first NLP/NLG/NLU product for businesses worldwide. Currently, we are in beta with companies here in the states and companies abroad including Cambodia and the Bahamas.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
There is so much diversity in people and thought, it’s like no other city in the world; you also can’t beat the weather! My family and I are season seat holders for LAFC, the passion the city brings to those games represents the passion the city has for everyday life. #JumpForLAFootballClub

Since we are such a big city, it’s been hard to develop a strong startup community similar to the Bay Area; but it will come one day!

Pricing:

• Startup Grind OC/Irvine event admission starts at $10 including food, drinks, and beer. https://www.startupgrind.com/orange-county
• theDevMasters training courses start at $5,995 – $14,995 http://www.thedevmasters.com/
• To schedule an initial free consultation https://www.thedevmasters.com/data-strategy-consulting

Contact Info:

• Address: 17875 Von Karman Ave Suite 150, CA 92614
• Website: https://www.startupgrind.com/orange-county |  https://www.thedevmasters.com/
• Phone: 949.534.3934
• Email: [email protected] | [email protected]

Image Credit:
Startup Grind photos are from Jarrell Wynns, [email protected]

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