FOUNDER SERIES: HOW JOHNNY HANNA CO-FOUNDED ENTRATA AND HOMIE.

• Author: Hanna, Johnny

MY MOM AND DAD divorced when I was seven, and I spent my school years growing up in the diverse community of Pueblo, Colorado. I loved playing basketball and competing--basketball was life--I really thought I'd play in the NBA someday. Unfortunately, I was 5'9", 145 pounds, and surrounded by kids taller and more athletic than I was.

Despite my lofty ambitions, I got cut from the basketball team my senior year. It was devastating and I was blindsided. It was like the world said to me: "you're worthless." But the sting of being cut drove me to play more basketball, not less. In a humorous turn of fate, I hit a growth spurt after being cut. I was now 6'3" and 200 pounds and would have been one heck of a high school guard or forward. So with my new height and physique, I tried out for my college basketball team. I didn't make it.

When I wasn't shooting hoops on the blacktop in Colorado, I spent my summers bailing hay on a ranch in Montana with my dad. It was hard work, and it taught me a lot. My dad was all about grit and toughness, so my worth was tied to the number of bales I bucked and the number of calluses on my hands. Ironically, I was also allergic to horses and hay. First, my basketball career was in question, and now I couldn't even succeed at ranching!

I started school at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho. With basketball and ranching checked off the list for future careers, I decided to try my hand at student government and ended up running for student body president every year of college. And though I lost the election three years in a row, I was appointed to VP of student activities, a key position in the student government where I developed an ambition and love for leadership that has stayed with me ever since.

UPENDING PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

I started my first company with my college buddies right before graduation. My co-founder's wife was a property manager, and she was always sharing the headaches associated with property management. He came up with an idea to build a software company that would streamline the whole process for her. Property Solutions was born.

Property Solutions rebranded to Entrata many years later. Though it seems like a Cinderella story thanks to its recent funding announcement of $507 million, we had our ups and downs like any business. A lot of our challenges were self-inflicted wounds due to a lack of focus on culture. There were many times when I questioned if we would make payroll. Like anything, nothing...