Featured Founder: Alex Cusell of Jisell

Welcome to our Featured Founder series, where you’ll meet startup founders from Tampa-St. Petersburg who are building and scaling their ventures to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges. We interviewed Alex Cusell of Jisell, a universal platform where gift card brands can engage and incentivize their gift card holders to drive redemption.

What were you doing previously and what inspired you to launch your company?

I was a software engineer, but I always knew that I wanted to be a tech entrepreneur. After about a year, I quit my engineering job and moved out to Silicon Valley to pursue a Master’s Degree in tech entrepreneurship. During that time is when I launched Jisell. I had a bridal shower, where I received countless gift cards and unwanted gifts that were returned for store credits. My wallet was bursting at the seams with plastic cards, which was a frustration I had experienced many times before on holidays, birthdays, graduation, etc. I searched for years for an adequate solution to this problem. The more I explored this industry, the more I fell in love with the problem. Jisell brings together the best parts of existing solutions and new features that our users love!

What pain point is your company solving? What gets you excited to go to work every day?

Name the biggest challenge you faced in the process of launching the company. How did you overcome it?

Where do you see your company headed next?

Give us a tactical piece of advice that you’d share with another founder just starting out.

I would say that as a founder, your mental health is critically important and under constant attack. I would encourage anyone entering this journey to set a standard of prioritizing their sanity, personal values, happiness, etc. Some methods that have helped me: therapy, podcasts, meditation, journaling and volunteering.

Why Tampa Bay?