Dr Daniel Swan | #GiveFirst and be a catalyst for positive change

You say your #GiveFirst mentality is what led to startup success with RealAR. Why is #GivingFirst important to you?

Start-ups are sometimes perceived as “get rich quick” schemes, which is largely driven by media hyperbole. #GiveFirst -- a mantra I adopted through Techstars --is really a mindset that entrepreneurship is not about greed, but about being a catalyst for good and positive change. The incredible growth in environmental, social, governance (ESG) start-ups is a great example of this happening.

As an entrepreneur, why is it important to you to advocate for the principles of responsible investment?

To me it comes back to mindset and first principles. If you’re not thinking about your vision being “sustainable” at all levels then that sends a poor message, especially to investors. If you’re guided by principles, it can lead to what’s often known as Smart Money – that is, investors who open doors and operate at a higher, and more collaborative level.

What were some of the key lessons that you have picked up from your mentors?

The key lessons that I learned from having multiple great mentors early on in my career was to listen often, be open, be a sponge, and learn as much as possible from them.

You once flew 23 hours to make a 20-minute presentation. Why?

I knew that I had practised our pitch rigorously and had confidence in RealAR as a product, and its vision. Techstars (the Accelerator Program we were pitching for) have a 1% acceptance rate, so I wanted to give it our absolute best shot to get on the program. I felt that flying half-way around the world demonstrated our commitment to the process – and it worked!

What advice would you give other entrepreneurs about refining their pitch?

Practice, practice and practice! IMHO the Queensland startup community is one of the best in Australia. So having access to high quality pitching events, mentors and feedback was really huge for us, and it gave us a lot of confidence in what we were aiming for.

Entrepreneurship by nature is disruptive, and you mentioned that having the right systems in place is necessary to allow a business to measure the ecosystem and provide decision makers with an accurate feedback loop. Can you provide an example for this?

Start-up methodologies and principles around being lean and agile have matured to the point where this should be second nature. For us, actually having this “baked in” to our product was one of our key breakthroughs, to the point where we started thinking of ourselves as a data-interaction company rather than simple a visualisation one.

What advice would you give entrepreneurs starting out that haven’t had their break-through just yet?

My mantra is simple #juststart and keep this mantra going every day. Seek out mentors and find your tribe. Start-up communities are very open at all levels, from other founders, mentor groups and investors. Create lines not dots, meaning develop those relationships into meaningful ones, this in turn demonstrates you are credible and determined. And make sure to add value to those in your network, and they may in turn introduce you to their networks.

What motivated you to undertake a PhD in your field?

I always like to come back to academia to consolidate and reflect on practical experience. Completing my PhD at QUT gave me space to research and develop deeper ideas around innovation that I was then able to build into the systems and processes of RealAR. One was the idea of interoperability, but at the level of collaboration and culture, not just of technology and systems, and that worked out well.

What is one skill you couldn’t live without as an entrepreneur and why?

A “must do” mindset – always asking yourself, if I don’t do this, who will? I think it’s really important to have a strong focus of continually overcoming barriers and obstacles.

Do you have a question for Daniel? Connect with him on LinkedIn.