Building exciting solutions to big problems

When we first started the Melbourne muru-D program and decided to focus on IoT, I didn’t really know what to expect. In former roles, my interactions with IoT technologies had been relatively mundane- sensors on pipelines, process manufacturing systems, vehicle tracking- the usual IoT bag of tricks. Great information for those who knew how to use it properly, but nothing overly “world-changing”.

I look at the companies in our MEL1 cohort- passionate entrepreneurs solving a range of problems in the agricultural, health, and consumer spaces. Their businesses are far more ambitious and tangible than the kind of IoT uses we were seeing five years ago. They are designing solutions, rather than products, and using the “connected device” methodology of IoT to deliver them. They have a broad range of backgrounds and experiences, but in each of them, there is the spark of excitement of forging their own path and making their ideas become reality.

At the risk of telling the kind of reminiscing stories that my dad used to bore me with (you know the ones – “I learnt Morse code in the navy…”), the world of IoT has changed. Most of the roadblocks that used to be prohibitive, whether from a time or cost perspective, have been removed. Accessibility to 3D printing and other prototyping facilities, cost reductions in computer systems like Arduino or Raspberry Pi, and even easier access to contract manufacturers, enable entrepreneurs to execute ideas that were previously considered “impossible”.

Of course, there’s still plenty of other reasons that startups fail, flawed business model, no access to capital, bad product market fit, team dynamics, etc. But what we are seeing is entrepreneurs having a go at ideas that may have previously, never seen the light of day. And with those attempts come human passion, not just for that specific idea, but for the lifestyle of being an entrepreneur.

One of my longest friends and biggest mentors, Bill Tai, always says, “to the truly engaged, work and play are one and the same”. I’m excited that people are not just stuck with having to find their passion anymore. Thanks to changes in developer technologies, they are now able to create it for themselves. To find their engagement. To blur the lines between work and play.

I feel privileged to be able to join them on their journey, help with their challenges and celebrate their successes.