People and relationships are the most important things of a great innovation culture. Here are some of our leadership team together with some of the startups we currently work with.
Dr Dan Swan, FOUNDER
Across the world, I have been very lucky and privileged to have been involved with many successful technology start-ups and listed companies in the US (NASDAQ), UK (FTSE) and Australia (ASX). My journey began in the mid nineties as web startup which, through a series of acquisitions, resulted in a NASDAQ IPO and eventual purchase by the then second largest global tech firm, Oracle, before reaching the age of 30. Shortly afterwards I moved to Australia building a career in digital as an executive manager which included business development, sales and marketing and a track record for $1-10M scalable enterprise technology platforms combined with consecutive awards in digital marketing. More recently I am involved with Australia's burgeoning startup scene as a founder, investor and mentor, and created StartInno a Co-working and Innovation Hub in Byron Bay in 2014-2019. Though StartInno’s pre-accelerator programs, RealAR - an augmented real estate app - was successfully incubated and is now a Techstars Portfolio Company, part of the Colliers Proptech Accelerator class of 2019. Though not a full-time academic, I have PhD in Innovation & Innovation Management in the Creative Industries, from QUT in Brisbane, Masters in Interactive Media (MIM) from UTS in Sydney, a BA (Hons) in Sociology from Ruskin University, Cambridge UK with several papers published in Academic Journals, Conference Proceedings and Research Projects. Most recent has been a review of Media Policy methods in “The Palgrave Handbook of Methods for Media Policy Research” (2019).
I began by just starting and so what drives me is to help others "#juststart" as well.
Lisa Ludvigson, GUN
Lisa has spent the past 20 years delivering internet software projects with distributed and virtual teams. She loves putting teams together, getting new projects off the ground and guiding wobbly projects back on track. Lisa has extensive experience delivering Agile projects and working with bootstrapped startups and startup teams within corporate businesses.
Eliza Hassell, Scout
Hailing from WA, Eliza has been moving East over the last 6 years. After finishing a Bachelor of Rural Science in Armidale, NSW, she moved to the Northern Rivers in 2015, always seeking a challenge and trying new things.
As the newest intern at StartInno, Eliza is keen to expand her tech knowledge, network with the amazing habitants of the Byron Bay area and #juststart chasing her passion for helping people and agriculture combined. Along with the internship, Eliza is undertaking the Incubator Program and working on a hobby farmer consulting business, aiding small farmers and people with lifestyle blocks to realise their sustainability and productivity potential.
Pierre Guilbaud, Ranger
Pierre joins us from the Toulouse Business School whilst pursuing a Masters Degree in Entrepreneurship. After working with startups for just a year, he joined Google France for Pros Digital Skills Programme as a digitiser, including becoming a leading Google Coach in France. He enjoys leading new projects and ideas, organizes getting things done, as well as promoting change and decision making. Surf & Skate fanatic, he love traveling and so is delighted to be in beautiful Byron Bay. As the newest intern at StartInno, Pierre is motivated to improve his entrepreneurship knowledge by contributing his skills and being involved in development of the very exciting: StartupAcademy.org
Paul McKey, Mentor
Paul McKey (ex Apple/IBM) has helped redefine careers and businesses to respond to the both the challenges and opportunity of innovation. He asks the question: How does the collaborative economy work? Why are tribes critical for your company? How can you design a business that revels in disruption rather suffers from it? Paul has also authored a new book - Everyone is a Business - which provides a new perspective on how to bring together technology and business that provide compelling customer experiences. Friend and mentor of StartInno, Paul is currently retired but can't stay out of trouble.
