Bruce Beaty
Director of Telephony Services
Bruce grew up the son of missionaries working in Guatemala and El Salvador. He remembers hurrying to finish his school lessons so he could scoot down to a local radio station and hang out with the sound engineer, peppering him with questions. Bruce built his first radio power amp at 11 and had his own oscilloscope at 14.
Bruce’s first “real” job was handling tech support on a DEC PDP 11 in the mid-80’s. The rest, as they say, is history… After several years providing network support, Bruce and his “old” college buddy Jon Klaus (they were 27 by then!) founded VentureNet in 1990. They infused the company with their own values – integrity, tenacity, creativity, “plus one” service, doing unto others – to form a great company and great place to work.
Bruce sees one of our greatest challenges to be helping clients understand the cost-justification and benefits of VentureNet’s services and solutions in the midst of economic realities and a marketplace currently driven by fear. Bruce’s guiding principle with clients, vendors, and VentureNet staff alike is to provide lasting benefit to the people we touch.
Bruce is a self-confessed “gym rat”, always ready for a pick-up basketball game. He’s also a born tinkerer – there’s hardly anything he won’t take apart and reassemble (though by his own admission, he has no desire to take on an automatic transmission!). In his spare time, he’s involved in church activities, home-remodeling projects, and building custom audio speakers. He’s a devoted family man and known for his quick wit, corny jokes and ready stories. At staff birthday celebrations, he is well-known for asking, “So, what’s your favorite birthday memory?” – a question that has led to both humorous moments and groans from our team.
Faster than a speeding bullet through the company candy drawer and able to leap tall freeze pops in a single bound, Bruce also provides leadership for VentureNet’s telephony team, which has installed and maintains more than 100 VoIP phone systems.
He considers his dad first among his heroes and has been influenced greatly by investors Benjamin Graham and Andrew Tobias. A devotee of long-term investing and a committed student of the Bible, Bruce says he’d most like to meet “Oracle of Omaha” Warren Buffett and Evangelist Billy Graham.