About FactorFactory
FactorFactory was founded with a simple mission: make professional psychometric assessments accessible to organizations of all sizes while maintaining the highest standards of scientific rigor.
Kent E. Frese, Ph.D.
Founder & CEO
Meet the Founder
Kent Frese founded FactorFactory to bring the rigor of industrial-organizational psychology to assessment tools that consultants and organizations actually want to use. With a Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Capella University and over 25 years of experience in leadership development and organizational consulting, Kent bridges the gap between academic psychometrics and practical business application.
His career spans from front-line management to the C-suite, founding multiple successful companies along the way. That firsthand experience across every level of organizational life directly shapes how FactorFactory assessments are designed: grounded in validated research, but built for real-world use by coaches, consultants, and HR professionals.
Assessment & Psychometric Expertise
Kent's I-O psychology training is the foundation of every FactorFactory assessment. He brings deep expertise in:
- Psychometric assessment design — Item Response Theory (IRT), Thurstonian scaling, classical test theory, and modern forced-choice methodologies
- Personality and behavioral measurement — Five Factor Model, DISC frameworks, 360-degree feedback systems, and leadership values assessment
- Validation and norming — Construct validity, criterion-related validity, differential item functioning, and normative sample development
- Applied organizational psychology — Selection systems, leadership development programs, team dynamics, and organizational culture assessment
Professional Credentials
Education
- Ph.D., Industrial-Organizational Psychology — Capella University
- M.S., Industrial-Organizational Psychology — Capella University
- B.S., Electrical Engineering — Villanova University
Certifications & Affiliations
- Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP)
- Hogan HBRI Certified
- Certified Professional Behavioral & Values Analyst
- Certified Strategic Knowledge Mapping Coach
Academic Contributions
Kent serves as adjunct faculty at Capella University, supervising doctoral research in organizational psychology. His published work includes a chapter in the Handbook of Systems Sciences (Springer, 2020) on strategic planning methodology, and his doctoral dissertation on successful family business succession has been cited in organizational continuity research. He also holds Human Research Curriculum certification (CITI), reflecting his commitment to ethical research practices in assessment development.
The Engineering & Psychology Combination
What makes Kent's approach distinctive is the combination of engineering discipline and psychological science. His Villanova engineering background brings systems thinking, measurement precision, and scalable design to assessment development. His I-O psychology doctorate provides the theoretical frameworks, validation methodology, and psychometric rigor. The result: assessments that are both scientifically sound and technically excellent.
Our Story
Large enterprises have long had access to sophisticated assessment tools, but smaller organizations, independent consultants, and coaches were often priced out or overwhelmed by complexity. Kent saw this gap firsthand through decades of consulting work and founded FactorFactory to solve it — connecting the science of I-O psychology with the practitioners who need it most.
Every assessment on our platform is designed or curated by Kent and his team of experts, drawing on validated psychological theories including Self-Determination Theory, McGregor's Theory X/Y, the Five Factor Model, the Johari Window, and Cattell-Horn-Carroll cognitive ability theory. The result is a suite of tools that meet the standards of peer-reviewed research while remaining accessible and practical.
What We Do
- Assessment Design & Publishing: We design, validate, and publish psychometric assessments grounded in I-O psychology research
- Technology Infrastructure: Our cloud-based platform handles assessment delivery, IRT-based scoring, and professional PDF report generation
- Partner Support: We enable consultants, coaches, and HR professionals to use professional assessments with no minimums or setup fees
- Psychometric Quality: Every assessment is built on validated theoretical frameworks with documented reliability and validity evidence
Our Values
Scientific Integrity
Every assessment is grounded in validated psychological theory and meets rigorous psychometric standards
Accessibility
Professional-grade tools should be available to organizations and practitioners of all sizes
Simplicity
Complex psychometric science delivered through intuitive, practical tools
Security
Assessment data deserves bank-level protection and ethical stewardship
Technology & Security
FactorFactory is built on enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure:
- Hosted on Heroku's enterprise cloud platform with AWS infrastructure
- SOC 2 Type II certified security controls
- Bank-level TLS 1.3 encryption for all data in transit
- AES-256 encryption for data at rest
- GDPR and HIPAA compliant data handling with Business Associate Agreement
- PCI DSS Level 1 compliant payment processing
- 99.99% uptime SLA
- Automated daily backups with point-in-time recovery
- Regular third-party security audits and penetration testing