SAN ANTONIO \u2013 San Antonio is home to more than 160,000 veterans \u2014 and a growing number of them aren\u2019t just entering the workforce after service. They\u2019re building companies.<\/p>\n
Veteran-owned businesses make up nearly 7% to 8% of all employer firms in the San Antonio metro area, according to data compiled by the San Antonio Business Journal from the U.S. Census Bureau\u2019s Annual Business Survey \u2014 almost double the national average of 4.65%. <\/p>\n
Texas is home to roughly 213,000 veteran-owned businesses, and San Antonio consistently ranks as a top-20 U.S. city for veteran entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
Kelsey Waters is one of them.<\/p>\n
Waters served as a Marine Corps communications officer from 2009 to 2012, responsible for keeping networks running in the field \u2014 sometimes out of the back of a Humvee.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe joke in my community is \u2014 if it plugs in, you\u2019re responsible for it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
After leaving the Corps, Waters spent years working in the tech sector before co-founding Openlane in August 2024. The San Antonio-based startup is an AI-powered platform that helps small businesses pass security audits and compliance certifications \u2014 essentially helping them prove to potential customers that they can be trusted.<\/p>\n
The idea came from years of frustration with the way that work was being done.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter most of my career running these systems manually \u2014 using a spreadsheet to track every piece of evidence \u2014 I just said, \u2018Wow, this is kind of insanely inefficient,\u2019\u201d Waters said. \u201cMy two co-founders and I sat down and said, \u2018I think we could build something that is materially better.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
She says the instinct to go solve that problem didn\u2019t come from the tech world. It came from the Marine Corps.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really think that\u2019s actually a very military skill set \u2014 to take the initiative, have the bias for action, and say, \u2018Hey, what is out there does not meet people\u2019s needs,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI think I can build something that does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waters has been a Geekdom member since 2020 and recently received a $30,000 investment through the Geekdom Community Fund. Brian Sierakowski, entrepreneur in residence at Geekdom, says the support system matters \u2014 because starting a business is harder than most people expect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re building a business, nothing\u2019s fixed,\u201d Sierakowski said. \u201cThere\u2019s basically an infinite number of permutations of how you can get to success \u2014 and that\u2019s the most challenging thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
For veterans specifically, Waters says the skills are already there. The missing piece is usually community.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou already know deeply about responsibility, about bias for action,\u201d she said. \u201cSurround yourself with good mentors, find a good community. We actually have a good cohort of current military, veteran, and reservist founders operating right here in San Antonio today.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the hurdles that come with starting any business \u2014 Waters isn\u2019t fazed.<\/p>\n
\u201cFounders are going to be founders,\u201d she said. \u201cEspecially veterans \u2014 we\u2019re not easily dissuaded from much of anything.\u201d<\/p>\n