MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: SCOTT INDERBITZEN

Could you tell us who you are and what it is that you do? 

My name is Scott Inderbitzen; I've been in Charlottesville for about 4 years and I run a small consulting firm called Lytix (pronounced like the end of the word analytics). Our team primarily focuses on building analytical tools for a variety of financial institutions like health insurance companies and lending agencies but we also dabble in smaller scale business process automation projects. Our main clients have been federal, including the USDA, US Treasury, US Department of Energy, Veteran's Affairs and more but recently we've been taking on a couple private clients which has been exciting!

What do you love most about the work? 

One of my favorite parts about consulting is the fact that no two projects are ever the same. Lots of things are happening across multiple work streams every day so there's rarely a dull moment. Balancing everything can be a bit hectic at times, but the diversity of projects definitely keeps me engaged.

How did you arrive at this point in your career? 

What’s your backstory? Back in college, I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life so I decided to major in something vague like Entrepreneurship. Along the way, I fell in love with statistics and game theory so ended up doing a minor in Analytics. After graduating, I got a job as a financial analyst and then switched over to the consulting world. I spent several years working my way up at a boutique firm and eventually decided to try my hand at launching my own company. It was kind of a crazy decision at the time as (despite my degree in Entrepreneurship) I really had no idea what I was doing, but it has turned out to be a great decision. There's still lots to learn, but it's exciting to work with fun and dependable people every day on projects we *mostly* enjoy. 

Has there been a light switch moment, a turning point, professionally &/or personally along the way? 

There have been a few light switch moments for me, both personally and professionally. The biggest one though came after working as a financial analyst for about a year and a half. At the time, I was living in a city I wasn't crazy about, spending way too many hours at the office, and feeling really burned out. One day, basically on a whim, I decided I'd had enough, quit my job, and started traveling. I spent some time in southern California, then dipped out to Hawaii, and then mixed it up and went over to Eastern Europe. Although it was a fairly reckless thing to do, going on the trip ended up bringing me a lot of clarity. On the professional side, I spent a lot of time during the trip reflecting on the pros/cons of my old job and ultimatley concluded I was going to shift my focus from finance to software development. I ended up doing that and it definitely paid off. More importantly though, on the personal side, the trip helped me realize how much I'd been taking the people I loved for granted. It's a funny thing to find yourself sitting on top of a mountain, looking out over the most gorgeous tropical landscape you've ever seen, only to realize you mostly just miss your friends. That moment taught me a lot.

What are you currently working on, excited about, looking forward to? 

I'm usually working on about 10 things at once but there are two things I'm particularly excited about right now. The first is, I'm planning to launch a new company in 2024 called SongSpot. It'll have a number of different features, but its basic goal will be to help connect pop and hip hop artists to opportunities for exposure in fun new ways. The second is related. I work with a publishing company as a producer/songwriter on the side and am looking forward to expanding that relationship and getting connected with more up and coming artists in 2024. 

What are you reading these days? 

I just finished reading "The Coming Wave" which is a book written by one of the co-founders of Deep Mind. It was pretty interesting and discussed some of the potential upsides and pitfalls that may come along with the advent of artificial superintelligence. A friend of mine also recently started writing a Substack which I'll shamelessly plug here called Directed Divergence. He's an expert on the intersection of geopolitics and finance and writes with a refreshing amount of nuance in our world of polarization.

Anything we missed that you might care to share (closing thoughts)? 

Not that I can think of! I just want to say thanks for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself and thanks for running this great community here at Studio IX. I've really enjoyed working here for a few months and am looking forward to getting connected to more members in the year to come!