Job Q&A
by Michele Marrinan
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Stefanie Scheer started her career at CBS News before working as a reporter and editor with Sports Illustrated for 10 years. As the Internet took off in 1994, she was tapped to launch SI's Web site and then to work with CNN Sports to launch CNNSI.com. Today, Scheer, 37, spends her days developing content for the upcoming relaunch of TechSpace.com.

Monster.com: What is TechSpace?

Stefanie Scheer: TechSpace is a new kind of incubator. We are an international network of technologically advanced, full-service office communities that provide New Economy entrepreneurs with office infrastructure, venture capital funding, and a wide range of technology and business accelerator services.

Mc: What are you currently working on?

SS: We have recently launched an interim Web site as we work on creating a much more sophisticated site to serve as a marketing tool for our physical locations and the company as a whole and be a robust intranet that will efficiently serve our members' daily needs. We are also building online versions of our acceleration services that will expand our business. TechSpace is strong as a bricks-and-mortar business, and it becomes a great business when we add virtual capabilities as well.

Mc: What qualified you for the job?

SS: I was originally a journalist. When SI merged with CNN Sports, much of the operation was run out of Atlanta. Not wanting to leave New York, I planned to return to an editing job at the magazine, when I received an offer to run NBA.com, WNBA.com and all of the team sites for the two leagues. I ran these basketball sites for two years, leaving in the summer of 1999 to take a job at CMGI in Andover, Massachusetts.

TechSpace's internal corporate recruiter called me about the opening. I knew her from when she had worked at a recruitment firm and had called me about other opportunities. I had a lot of experience managing large sites, and TechSpace was looking for someone to manage every aspect of its Web site and take responsibility for the virtual side of business.

Mc: Any downsides to working for a dotcom?

SS: In my non-dotcom jobs, there were always well-established systems for getting the work done. At each dotcom I've been with, we have had to establish new ways of doing things, and we have often had to adjust our methods with the changing medium. Sometimes it is frustrating to create something from scratch, but on the plus side, a dotcom allows you to reexamine what you do and how you do it, so you can adapt your methods for the better.

Mc: What have you learned at TechSpace?

SS: My management skills are always being challenged and improved by our speedy growth. We are adding a lot of corporate staff and expanding our sites. We added four new TechSpace locations this summer and will add two more this fall and another 12 next year. This creates new management issues that we all have to deal with as our work environment becomes less relaxed and more professional and as roles become better defined.

Mc: What advice would you give someone who wants to work for a dotcom?

SS: A job seeker's goal should be to work for a company with a solid business plan, that expects to be profitable within a reasonable time frame, and has the assets and vision to get to that point. A lot of people spend too much time thinking about the technical aspects of new media rather than the user experience. (How awful is it that we refer to our audience as users?) It is of great importance to think about what makes a viable business and how to best serve customers. Many people call content a commodity, but ultimately technology will become a commodity and quality content and service to the customer will be of prime importance. We will see a great deal of convergence amongst different mediums and types of businesses. I would focus on developing editorial, design, marketing and business skills that will be applicable to many fields and mediums.

Mc: How do you picture the rest of your career?

SS: I would like to incubate my own company here at TechSpace. I have a number of ideas I would like to pull together, and I think TechSpace has capabilities that will allow me to start a company and get it off the ground. The member companies really benefit from TechSpace being a start-up, because they share many of the same experiences and issues.