Hestia
Entrepreneurs and start-ups are synonymous with many things. Innovation鈥檚 right up there, of course, along with energy, vision and self-belief.
But there鈥檚 another quality they frequently possess that, for whatever reason, hasn鈥檛 yet 鈥渟tuck鈥濃攖he desire to improve people鈥檚 lives. For ThincLab tenant and third-year 成人大片 Bachelor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship student Sean Grealy, however, that desire is unquestionably the driving force.
Sean is founder and director of Hestia, a company creating new technological platforms to improve care, communication and overall wellbeing in the aged care industry. The motivation, he says, comes from personal experience.
鈥淚 chose this specific venture after last year seeing members of my family struggling to communicate effectively with carers when a grandparent of mine required some specific attention.鈥
鈥淚 saw a real human need there鈥攕omething the market wasn鈥檛 yet addressing鈥攕o decided to create a solution.鈥
He鈥檚 not thinking small, either. 鈥淭he demand鈥檚 on a global scale. We plan to test and grow it in Australia, then take it to the international market to change lives worldwide.鈥
Sean, who somehow also finds time to manage someone else鈥檚 small business, provides yet more proof of the value for entrepreneurs of intensive learning within a community of similarly energised and positive people.
鈥淭he progress of my study, job and new venture is now virtually a single path, because they鈥檙e all so relatable to one another.
鈥淢y degree has laid the foundations for me to understand how to address and grow an opportunity, and how to make a new venture stable for the future; and since moving into ThincLab I鈥檝e really benefited from the networking and mentoring provided.
Getting a start-up off the ground can be exhausting, so it鈥檚 nice to be surrounded by a group of people who truly understand what each other are going through. Their passion and excitement makes you work harder, and can even expand your thinking.
A tangible example of the networking benefit, Sean adds, has been taking on fellow entrepreneur Chris George鈥攁lso based in ThincLab to establish his own tech start-up, Phostech鈥攁s a Hestia developer.
鈥淐hris and I had been studying together for a while, and helped each other out now and again, just as friends.
鈥淏ut after a few late-night ThincLab brainstorm sessions鈥攊nvolving plenty of takeaway food, strong coffee, cheeky banter and many whiteboards鈥攚e realised we could do a lot more to help grow the other鈥檚 ventures.鈥
The next goal on Sean鈥檚 horizon is to complete initial development of the Hestia aged-care platforms and begin beta testing around August 2017. Once testing鈥檚 complete, he says, and 鈥渁 few options鈥 are addressed, it鈥檚 all systems go.
We鈥檒l launch as soon as development is completed and start pursuing national growth immediately. I envision our team growing organically from that point onwards.
He pauses to reflect, then hastens to add: 鈥淥h, and I鈥檓 hoping to complete my degree amongst all that, too!鈥
Looks like our whiteboards won鈥檛 be getting a rest any time soon.