Neil Book, AS99, and Bella Rimton, BE20

Memoirs of a Mentor-preneur

Why Neil Book likes to hire self-starters from UD

Artika Casini, AS05 November 21, 2024

When the White House embedded security software on its mobile devices in 2007, the Bush Administration turned to a Blue Hen.

It was a surreal experience for Neil Book, AS99, then-president of SMobile Systems, who sat in the West Wing lobby alongside the president of Italy and former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, waiting to make the biggest sales pitch of his career.

“I’m not an engineer,” says Book, a political science alumnus. “I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to answer the technical questions.”

But the antivirus mobile phone software created by his small cybersecurity firm already included an impressive roster of satisfied clients: Vodafone, British Telecom, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. The White House was next, lending a prestige that would ultimately find Book selling SMobile to a new buyer.

“My career has never been about the industry or product,” he says. “It’s been about the opportunity and people.”

An entrepreneur and mentor in near-equal measure, Book is president and CEO of Jet Support Services Inc. (JSSI), which offers a range of client-centric services in the niche world of business aviation.

When Book assumed leadership of the company in 2012, he worked to expand its singular focus on private jet maintenance to include parts supply, leasing, software, advising, financial solutions and more. This multidimensional approach would grow the company from less than 100 employees at the start of his tenure to more than 600 today.

My career has never been about industry or product; it's been about opportunity and people.
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As someone who strives to know each member of his team on a first-name basis, Book has had an admittedly difficult time keeping track of everyone’s lives and families. Yet when he thinks about the best part of his job, he points straight to the people.

“Bella’s a great example of what makes this job so special,” he says of fellow Blue Hen Isabella Rimton, BE20. “I love watching someone come into the company, blossom, grow and achieve their professional goals.”

The two alumni first met in 2017, when Rimton presented her idea for a phone wallet—handsewn from old leggings and jeans at the student Design Studio—to board members of Horn Entrepreneurship, UD’s esteemed training ground for the next generation of problem solvers.

Book, a longtime member of the board, approached Rimton afterward, suggesting she reach out to his industry contacts. Although a fashion career never materialized, the two stayed in touch, and Rimton interned at JSSI during her senior year.

“I was more interested in what Neil had built than in the aviation industry itself,” she says now. In fact, the thought of working for an established company had never crossed Rimton’s mind. “I wanted to find a little start-up and do my own thing. But at JSSI, I learned that even in a bigger company, you can find ways to be creative.”

Book (second from right) with Blue Hen mentees Derek Mihalecsko, BE24, Zach Jones, BE17, and Bella Rimton, BE20

Open-mindedness and innovation have long been among her greatest assets. A golfer from Malmö, Sweden, Rimton spent her youth competing across Europe as a member of the Swedish Future National Team. She had no intention of ever coming to the United States, but a chance encounter with Women’s Golf Coach Patty Post left her intrigued.

“Just visit,” Post told her. “Once you see the campus, once you meet the team, you’re going to want to do this.”

“And I was sold on the idea of going to med school,” Rimton recalls. “That all changed when I came here.”

She instantly fell in love with UD—just as Book had done two decades before—and decided to spend one year in America. A member of the “amazing” golf team (“There were ten players, and only two were American”), Rimton devoted herself to every possible campus activity, including the Entrepreneurship Club.

“There was a thriving, unifying culture of people who wanted to solve problems,” she says of the organization that pushed students like her beyond their comfort zone. “I was very uncomfortable with public speaking in English. All these things were tested through pitch competitions.”

After Rimton was admitted to the highly competitive entrepreneurship major, which accepts only 30 students a year, she launched two companies: an app to connect with locals while traveling, and the phone wallet that introduced her to Book.

The idea that, as a student, you could have a program focused on innovation; on how to identify problems, create solutions and shape an idea into something material. That, to me, is the most exciting thing in the world.”
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At JSSI, she was immediately awed by the organizational culture. “I had seen other companies that were all about process and hierarchy,” she says. “This was not that. If you wanted to make an impact, you could do that on day one.”

As Book puts it, “I want everyone who works at JSSI to think of it as their business. To think, ‘What can I do to make this place better?’”

Today, Rimton serves as manager of strategic marketing, overseeing public relations, web development, digital and social media, investor presentation materials, sales collateral and more. Her growth, from a student-athlete who spoke English as a second language to a global communications director, exemplifies Book’s belief in the power of finding and cultivating talent.

“When you have someone who’s motivated, who’s all in, mentorship is almost a selfish act,” he says. “You want to invest your time in those people because they’ll have the biggest impact on your business. Spending time with Bella was an easy choice.”

Book’s other rules of leadership: “Try not to have an ego. That’s where I’ve seen others get into trouble—by putting their ego in front of what’s best for the company.”

He also believes in the concept of failing fast. “Trying new things has helped our business succeed and scale. And when they don’t work, we fail quickly and move on.”

Finally, Book isn’t afraid to laugh at himself. “We’re selling maintenance programs to the owners of private jets, not solving world hunger,” he jokes. “Our real passion lies with driving growth, innovation, creating new jobs and opportunities for people. That’s where the magic is.”

To that end, Book has applied his entrepreneurial sorcery to support multiple student companies over the years, including LIGHTGLASS, a simulated windows and skylights business where Ben Rapkin, AS15, serves as director of growth.

“I wasn’t investing in the company,” says Book, “I was investing in Ben. I watched his passion, energy and thoughtfulness as a student, and I saw that translate to his career.”

Earlier this year, Book and Rimton returned to campus for an internship fair, looking to find the entrepreneurial spirit inherent in so many Blue Hens, from Ben to Bella and beyond. Indeed, of the ten interns JSSI hires each year, at least two come from Book’s alma mater and, overwhelmingly, from Horn Entrepreneurship.

“The idea that, as a student, you could have a program focused on innovation; on how to identify problems, create solutions and shape an idea into something material,” Book marvels. “That, to me, is the most exciting thing in the world.”