Our People
IdeaStar is a talented team of business professionals, digital marketers, network administrators, programmers and Web designers. Together, we have built a reputation for providing innovative Web technology that delivers solid business value to companies across America.
We thrive on our mind-power. IdeaStar’s staff includes a Ph.D, Master’s degrees, and MBAs. Many have B.S. and B.A. degrees in Art, Business, Computer Science, Journalism, Math, MIS, and Physics. But it doesn’t simply take a degree to be top of the class when it comes to innovation, efficiency and creativity. Our staff also has accomplished animators, photographers, writers and musicians, former small businesses owners and military personnel. This is what makes innovation so natural and exciting at IdeaStar.
To learn more about our people visit The Flipside, our company blog.
Our Management Team
James D. Fisher, President: Jim has over twenty years of experience in the field of corporate communications, interactive media and executive presentations. His work is well known and respected among the top managers of Northeastern Ohio's Fortune 500 companies, including National City Bank, TRW, Roadway, Telxon, Rubbermaid, Eaton, and General Electric. From 1984 to 1999, his production company produced literally thousands of presentations for shareholders' meetings, sales conferences, product fairs and educational seminars.
In 1995, Jim began positioning his company to take advantage of the extraordinary opportunities offered by the Internet. This team was among the first to build corporate Web sites in Northeastern Ohio. With the backing of investors, Jim launched IdeaStar in November 1999.
In both 2002 and 2003, Jim was selected as a Finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition. He has also won the local "TechKnow" Award in 2002 and the "Innovation in Business" Award in 2002 and 2003, and is included in Crain’s Cleveland Business "Who’s Who in Technology" since 2002.
Jim also provides public service support to many local non-profits including: Project Love, The International Children’s Games and Cultural Festival, Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Scholarship, the National Greek Games, and the Phillis Wheatley Foundation.
A life-long Clevelander, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Journalism from Kent State University in 1980. Currently, Jim serves as Board Member for Project Love, a local non-profit, and on the Professional Advisory Board of Kent State School of Journalism and Mass Communication. An avid photographer, Jim is a member of American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP). His stock photography is purchased worldwide through Alamy Images of the United Kingdom.
To learn more about Jim visit Wazopia, his personal blog.
Wayne Largent, Executive Vice President & CTO: With approximately 20+ years in computer programming and technical support, we have yet to find a cyber obstacle that Wayne can’t get over, around or through. He is dedicated to providing practical, manageable solutions to customer requests.
Wayne holds both his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Computer Information Sciences from Cleveland State University. An accomplished and creative programmer, he has a broad range of technical expertise, including such technologies as Lotus Notes, C/C++, TCP/IP, Visual Basic, RDBMS and UNIX systems administration.
He holds a Sun Enterprise Computing Certification, the highest level in Sun’s Competency 2000 program with course work in networking and Solaris system administration. He also holds IBM BasTeam Certification for installing and implementing IBM Net.Commerce e-business systems.
Wayne’s remarkable versatility includes excellent organizational skills and the gift of being able to successfully articulate very technical material to the non-technical executive. He is instrumental in the development and promotion of IdeaStar’s insurance technology programs and applications, as well as manufacturing and distribution, events and performing arts, and small enterprise functions.
When we give Wayne some spare time he jams on his guitar while fending off his two bulldogs, "Snow" and "Boston."
Susanne Svette, General Manager: Susanne Svette brings a wealth of talent to IdeaStar. She started with the company in 1998 as Business Manager, and soon broadened her scope to include Account Executive.
Most recently named General Manager, Susanne now focuses on the running of the business with bottom line responsibilities. She oversees sales and administrative duties as well as employee management. In addition, IdeaStar customers continue to benefit from Susanne’s Search Engine Marketing expertise.
Maung Htun, Ph. D., Director of Programming Development: Director of Programming Development Maung Htun (pronounced Mao Toon) is a nuclear physicist turned computer programmer.
He earned his Master's Degree in physics from Western Illinois University, and his PH. D. in Nuclear Physics from Kent State University, then took a job in nuclear medical imaging. When the company downsized a few years later, he switched to programming. Nuclear physics loss. IdeaStar’s gain!
Since joining the company in 2000, Maung has been instrumental in the development of IdeaStar insurance technology programs and e-business applications. His technical expertise ranges from Perl/CGI to .NET, while his personal preference of development environment is LAMP (Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP). Maung also is a Principal Certified Lotus Professional and Microsoft Certified Professional. We’ve yet to find a programming challenge Maung couldn’t resolve.