Forty Under 40: Scott Andrews

Scott Andrews considers himself “an engineer lost in the business and finance world.” In charge of operations and finance at Hayseed Ventures in Fayetteville, Andrews has helped create more than 70 jobs in the region during Hayseed’s first year of investing in and expanding early-stage technology companies.

“Even five years ago, we couldn’t have done this here,” Andrews said of the region.

Andrews was raised in Fayetteville; his father was a professor at the University of Arkansas. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Kansas, earned an MBA at the UA, then returned briefly to Kansas City to work with a private equity group before John James called him in 2015, looking for a sidekick at Hayseed.

The men had met through an angel-investing group.

Andrews is tasked with finding promising startups and developing them by helping create a strong web presence and setting strategies for marketing and growth. The companies must be based in Arkansas. “I make sure the wheels are turning; I push companies in the right direction and help portfolio companies develop financial models,” Andrews said. He’s also running operations and finance for Scrub Shopper, another of James’s startups.

Andrews is driven but lighthearted, with a voracious appetite for learning, whatever the subject. He didn’t expect to land in the startup industry. He was drawn to engineering, computers and electronics — now essential to the business world.

“Really good investors have an operations background and know how to build a good company,” he said. “I’ve always been lucky, and good luck follows hard work.”