Shardul Pandey Talks To Kenn Kelly Who Co-founded NeverSettle.It

I welcome you, Kenn, please tell our netizens about yourself.

I am dedicated to following Yahushua (Jesus Christ) who is the provider of every success and good thing that I have. He has given me amazing opportunities and experiences as a technology entrepreneur in both Fortune 100 and Silicon Valley startup environments, but I am even more passionate about promoting practical, positive change and impacting the cultures around me. Although I am a US citizen, my wife and I spend as much time as we can traveling to other countries, meeting locals, creating long-term relationships, and serving the local communities. Our goal is to establish self­sustaining solutions to some of their biggest challenges: hunger, poverty, and spiritual hopelessness. My first deep dive into technology came in the form of a C++ programming course that I took through my high school advanced placement classes. From then on, technology became part of my daily life and studies in a profound way. I was the first person in my family to attend a University, and during my time there my passion for education and further learning sparked a fire I have not been able to quench. My journey has been full of amazing people, especially my wife and two business partners Shaul and Andrew, who have mentored me and contributed significantly to where I am today, if I were to stand in a mirror you would see a reflection of them and Him.

Tell us brief history of NeverSettle.It. How exactly your idea sparked?

Never Settle was launched in September 2012, driven and inspired by our relentless conviction to leverage technology to significantly disrupt the world in a positive way. Specifically, Never Settle develops custom web applications and software tools for companies and nonprofits that are tackling the world’s largest problems. Our core founding team has a diverse technology background; combined our experience spans over 30 years of implementing technology solutions in corporate, federal, and startup environments from industry giants like Accenture and Hewlett­Packard, to the US White House, to brand new companies that were a little more than an idea turned into hyper-growth tech start­ups.

The concept of Never Settle came from our previous business experiences where we saw partners and colleagues settling for less than we were willing to compromise on in areas that were critical to our core values. We decided to build a company on the philosophies of doing things the right way and not cutting corners regardless of what it cost us in time or money as an intentional choice to pursue the Never Settle paradigm. Since our founding, this approach has served us quite well and led to some really amazing opportunities for us more quickly than we imagined.

­How many people got associated with working together?

Our team currently consists of three founding partners: Andrew Lundquist, Shaul Hagen, and myself, but we are actively looking for like­minded developers and technology experts who can help us keep up with the exciting growth we’re experiencing. The harder we try to live up to our name the more difficult that quest is especially considering the existing bar we’ve set. Andrew and Shaul are two of the most talented and creative technologists I’ve ever met, and if they ever slow down in building things for our clients they might invent a new internet or something equally impactful. Andrew is an all­or­nothing technology architect who served in the US Air Force and worked for HP at the White House for nearly a decade building custom enterprise collaboration tools for the president’s staff. Eventually, he decided to take his family on the road and become a full­time nomad and explore the continent. Needless to say, he works with us remotely. Shaul is a rare and amazing blend of artistic and graphic design talent mixed with programming skills that makes him a perfect UI / UX engineer. He loves to push the limits of existing tools and translate what people see in their heads into visual reality. Oh, did I mention he’s a rockstar too? Literally, Shaul traveled around the country for 6 years as the lead drummer for a national US band.

We are headquartered in Denver, Colorado, but anywhere on the planet with an internet connection is a potential office for us. As you can tell, we’re all quite avid travelers who seem to find ourselves working all over the world from wherever our journeys take us.

What is your business philosophy?

To live up to our name: in our lives, with our business, and for our clients. To leverage technology to significantly disrupt the world in a positive way tackling the world’s largest problems.

What makes NeverSettle.It different from all the other frameworks out there?

We don’t accept convention and consider “best practices” with healthy skepticism. Convention can be good when it leads to efficiency, but more often it stifles innovation. What really drives us is the discovery of what awaits along the paths less traveled. We’d rather bushwhack through a swamp looking for a shortcut than take the easy paved trail. So, we purposefully break things in order to step outside of them and gain unique vantage points. If we can truly understand something ­ own it from the inside out ­ then we can re­invent it in a revolutionary way whether it’s a process or a piece of software or a mindset. We’re passionate about making things smarter and easier ­ doing more of the work behind the scenes with pre­emptive code so that the user has fewer clicks, and fewer things to figure out. A big differentiator for us is what we call the Golden Rule Approach. We have a deep understanding of business processes, software, marketing, and web applications, but if we can’t meet your needs we will be the first to tell you.

All that aside, our priority and focus is to positively impact the world rather than to make money. We certainly want to be successful, and revenue is a desirable byproduct of that, but we founded Never Settle to make our world a better place. This core purpose keeps our identity focused first and foremost on stewardship. We are stewards first and business owners second, and we just want to be responsible and faithful with whatever opportunities and measures of success that we have. This means that every decision we make must be weighed against that core purpose from the clients we choose to work with to the projects we undertake to the future team members we bring on, and we are already blessed to work with some of the brightest minds and companies out there whose missions are tackling the world’s largest problems.

What are your plans for the future of NeverSettle.It ? What other projects you are working on?

We’re going to continue developing tools and technologies like the NS Cloner Pro that enhance and accelerate the tools upon which so many other developers and businesses rely. In addition to the solutions we’re constantly building for our clients, we are also working on several new WordPress­based ideas, a strategy card game, a web and mobile app that will provide an excitingly novel way to study the Bible and an ebook about working remotely. Some of our current humanitarian projects include working with iempathize.org to eliminate child trafficking and sex slavery, 25inchange.org to end world hunger and obesity, connexionmosaico.org to transform urban slums across the world, osanabar.com an anti­mosquito soap to prevent malaria and sanitation related deaths, jellytelly.com in developing children’s media that parents can be proud of, and creativetrust.com in building literary, music, and media business that impact the world in a positive way.

I am open for interviewing all those individuals, who own their domain to somehow create virtual wealth in webspace since sustaining freedom is mostly built around domains running wonderful utilities in webspace that human­beings enjoy. What is your opinion on continuing this?

We completely agree and think that more people should operate under that paradigm! When people have the rights, the freedoms, and the tools to express their talents they end up adding the most creative and beautiful contributions to our planet that enrich the lives of others. Giving a voice to those ideas, people, and things is a powerful way of influencing future innovation and the freedom of future generations. We appreciate your vision to help inspire others to adopt that same paradigm and strive to do the same.

What is your ultimate message for netizens?

Never settle ­ not even for thinking outside the box ­ Exist Outside the Box!

Thank you very much Kenn for opting Internet as your place of doing business. I wish you success in upgrading humanity!