Abstract: A story about how focus led Brian into mechanical engineering, the field of design, and the various journeys that these foundations led to. This includes the design of such wide ranging products as automated cow milking systems, combustion engines and table saw safety systems. It also includes starting a company with the added challenge of hardware in the aftermath of the 2008 recession by being the first startup to ever crowdfund. He’ll share how he raised millions in venture capital, fell off the venture track in 2016 and learned how to build a business from there profitably – as well as his experience building overseas offices in Asia and Ukraine. And he’ll share how his company keeps innovating after ten years in business, including his latest solution to foster the development of the skill of focus in education.
Biographical Sketch: Brian is the co-CEO and co-Founder of Swivl, Inc. – an educational technology company with solutions in over 50,000 schools and universities worldwide. Brian has a BS in Mechanical Engineering at the University of New Hampshire and has an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University with a depth in Design. Since Stanford, he was a lecturer at Stanford – teaching Introduction to Visual Thinking to product design majors – and worked in diverse industry markets like consumer electronics, power tools and medical devices as a product design consultant. He founded Swivl in 2010 and grew it quietly into one of the more successful robotics companies of the last decade with over 150 employees worldwide. He’s a serial innovator and continues to develop new hardware and software solutions for the educational market to this day.