NexusHQ, a software developer for the insurance and financial services industry, is a company built on cross-country cultures. Founders Kyle Ginavan and Mark Chai, combined their Kansas farm town and city slicker roots, respectively, to create what they believe is the first provider of an operating system tailored to insurance agencies.
For its first four years, NexusHQ headquartered in New York City with its employees scattered throughout the country. Chai lived in New York, Ginavan in Leawood and Kelechi Anufuro, a programmer, in L.A.
According to Chai, NexusHQ’s former home provided the competitive business environment needed to launch the company, but the benefits of the big city stopped there.
BECOME A SPONSOR
Join us in championing the narrative of success, resilience, and ingenuity that defines Nebraska’s startup community. Learn more »
“The great thing about the NYC business community is that there’s a collection of super-competitive people looking to be successful,” Chai said. “However, it’s really hard to break down those barriers of building relationships. I lived there six years in a building of 22 floors, and I didn’t meet one person I could talk to about business.”
The desire for change led Chai and Ginavan to think about a new home. They scanned business communities across the country in search of a vibrant, collaborative environment. Despite his proximity to the Startup Village, it wasn’t the KC native who tossed around the possibility of moving to the community.
One week later
“It was completely Mark’s idea,” Ginavan said. “We were eating dinner during a business trip in Denver, and Mark had read a story in The Wall Street Journal about the Startup Village.”
Although Ginavan lives 10 minutes from the KCSV, he was unaware of the burgeoning community of entrepreneurs emerging along 45th Avenue and State Line Road. Fortunately for Chai, it wasn’t a tough sell.
“By the end of dinner we were calling real estate agents. By the end of the week we were under contract,” said Ginavan.
They made the move official in December 2013 after becoming one of the few companies within the KCSV to purchase a house rather than rent. Mark and his family relocated to Leawood and Anufuro moved into the upstairs portion of the NexusHQ house.
At first, the transition to an in-office work environment raised a concern for Chai.
“There is a cultural challenge of having employees come to the office every day when they once had the flexibility of working from home,” Chai said. “But our house is more than a corporate setting. Our wives and kids come over for lunch. There’s a more familiar and laid-back atmosphere.”
Take off
Chai also credits the move for a giant jumpstart in company growth.
“We’ve taken off,” Chai said. “Before, we were OK, but we weren’t very focused. Working in the same place where we are literally right next to each other is much more productive than G-chatting, meeting once a week in KC or working from home.”
Due to the drastic cost-of-living difference between NYC and KC, along with booming business, the NexusHQ relocation also means a bigger capacity to hire. Currently there are six full-time employees and an intern, but “our team could double within the next year, and we will double our revenue in the next three months,” Chai said.
And according to Chai, the collaborative environment that’s made the KCSV famous did not disappoint.
“The Startup Village is such a novel and organic engine, to actually be in it and a part of it is awesome,” he said. “It’s a community of entrepreneurs that I don’t think can be replicated. None of these people are paid to spend time out of their normal hours helping people.”
NexusHQ wasted no time in joining those efforts, assuming the role of a mentor among younger businesses gaining ground.
“A lot of companies [in the SV] are primarily startups. We’ve been in business 3–4 years, we have 50-plus clients, so we’re past the startup phase,” Chai said. “Being here, we can contribute credibility and success with business leaders.”
Since moving, Chai has taken it upon himself to pay it forward by convincing his clients KC is the place to be.
“An incredible byproduct of moving here has been talking to people across the country about the Startup Village,” said Chai. “It’s turned into a really cool marketing story because before we had clients that would never think of coming to KC for a meeting. Now, they’re literally flying to see us.”
