St. Louis landed the number one spot on Popular Mechanics’ ‘best startup cities in America’ list. There are many new incredible new startups in St. Louis, including one led by a CHS graduate.

CHS and Washington University graduate Ken Zheng is the CTO of the startup RunIQ.

RunIQ is a mobile and web training tool that allows runners to compare their training routes directly to their race routes through Power, a more comprehensive metric than what exists in the market today. Using Power, the application can tell a runner training in a flat suburban neighborhood how much faster or slower to go in order to hit their goal times on their specific race, regardless of how hilly it is.

As CTO Zheng’s job is filled with a variety of tasks, “My time is split pretty evenly between coding the iOS application of RunIQ and managing the operations for the company, like leading meetings, making sure everyone is on task, and that we’re progressing towards our overall goals,” Zheng said.

RunIQ is a company that launched in St. Louis, placing first in the Spring 2015 Startup Weekend: HEALTHBio competition, graduating from pre-accelerator programs Square One and Startup Next, and subsequently from the accelerator program, Capital Innovators.

Coming back to the St. Louis area may not be most CHS students’ dream, but St. Louis may be the perfect place to do start a company.

“As an entrepreneur in St. Louis, I’ve definitely seen and heard a lot about the rapidly expanding efforts to vitalize the startup community here,” Zheng said. “The community in St. Louis is also smaller and more tight-knit, so it’s a bit easier to get your name out there and rub shoulders with investors and fellow aspiring entrepreneurs.”

A lot of the experience is learning on the job, “I took my Computer Science degree at WashU and joined RunIQ as a part-time developer. Not even a year later, I currently oversee operations of the company,” Zheng said. “I faced many challenges during that shift, but they were all amazing learning experiences. Education is important, but it’s about how you utilize the skills you’ve gained and adapt to your current situation.”

Zheng’s education at CHS fostered his interests and led him on the path to leading a business, “CHS cultivated my interests and creativity for WashU, which in turn shaped my career choices further. After college graduation, I’ve come to realize that school isn’t really about your grades and obsessing over them,” Zheng said. “Did my GPA help me land my first job? Most likely. Do I really remember the obscure equations or algorithms I once knew? Nope. Your grades reflect your perseverance and work ethic much more than what you’ve managed to memorize. For me, school is about being in a community where you can make mistakes and learn more about yourself, how you interact with others, and how you can impact the world for the better. Both CHS and WashU did a great job of teaching me that.”

“I had a great time with cross country and tennis. I wasn’t particularly good at either, but the casual spirit allowed me to enjoy the sports more and just focus on getting better instead of winning. As Class Council Treasurer, I remember each Homecoming Week with fond memories,” Zheng said. “Lots of school spirit and friendly competition. Our senior year the theme was superheroes and villains and I remember this picture of us holding the trophy where I was in this baggy oversized Joker outfit. It was a blast.”

Starting a successful company can be mastered by following these steps, “Identify a problem that you see in the world around you, come up with an innovative answer, gather a team of passionate and skilled individuals who can execute on your idea, and the rest is all a matter of details,” Zheng said. “Once you boil it down, startups aren’t complicated; they may be difficult to successfully pull off, but they aren’t complex.”

The skills Zheng learned in Globe benefit him in the company today, “The grammar and writing skills I gained while working Globe helped me earn the nickname “eagle eye” at one of my previous jobs, and my bosses would sent me important documents to review.”Zheng said,  “The graphic design skills also help me to this day while designing marketing materials for RunIQ and many other organizations in the past.”

RunIQ will be releasing the beta version in the beginning of 2016. To sign up to test the product, go to RunIQ.com/signup