FROM THE START: A chat with the co-founders of Dization
Ascender’s FROM THE START series continues with our 2022–2023 Incubator!
Too often, we learn from other founders only after they’ve “already made it,” but there’s a lot to gain from their journeys as early-stage entrepreneurs. FROM THE START is our ongoing interview series with founders from our Incubator that traces their startup stories from the beginning, reveals some of the resources helping them overcome the bumps, and points out ways you can help them thrive.
Since joining the 2022–2023 Incubator in June, all of the companies have been hustling to get their brands and businesses out there. Now it’s time to get to know them!
Some answers have been edited slightly for brevity.
What’s been the journey that’s led you to start your company?
We started our early careers at the same small Nuclear Engineering Services startup as entry-level computer engineers. There were fewer than 10 employees at the company, and we were fortunate to gain experience while wearing many hats at a young age to help grow the company.
As part of this experience, we quickly moved from technical engineers/individual contributors into leadership roles. We gained experience building teams, developing products, forecasting business growth, tracking sales, and managing all the aspects critical to growing a small business.
This small business grew from 10 employees to more than 300 after a larger company acquired it. We were very fortunate to get international experience at a large blue-chip company in high-end management positions, but we really missed the excitement and passion of a small business. With that in mind and the desire to help other small businesses, we leveraged our experience to start Dization.
What’s the problem that your business is solving?
Having both been part of a growing startup, we saw firsthand the difficulties of running and growing a business. We saw how much information was needed to make good decisions and how much time was spent pulling data together to make decisions effectively and efficiently.
As time went on, new online tools for small businesses became available, but they only solved individual problems. A solution for Sales/CRM or Project Management or Task Management or Accounting. Making informed decisions is the key to success for small businesses — the real power is tying all of your information together so it can be quickly and efficiently analyzed. We saw this gap in the market for an easy-to-use online platform that integrates existing tools and then automatically analyzes the information to help business owners save time and money.
With this in mind, we developed the Dization Hub, which brings the power of analytics to small businesses. The platform is a one-stop hub connecting the dots between Sales, Employees, Tasks, Finances, and more, automatically providing useful insights.
For example, by connecting time entry with accounting tools, we can automate invoicing for services businesses and save them valuable time. In addition, by connecting this information with all of the company’s data, we can help small business owners identify better pricing models to support their customers.
We’re the team best suited to solve this challenge because we have the technical background to develop the solution, as well as the practical experience in managing and growing a small business. We lived the challenges we’re solving.
What bumps have you encountered so far in your entrepreneurial journey?
One of the largest “bumps” for the both of us was deciding to leave a large, well-paid, “safe” corporate job for something unknown. We were brought up to believe that reaching the certain level in our careers that we had achieved was where we were meant to be. However, there was a lack of satisfaction in not directly helping others. Through the support of friends and family, we each overcame this fear and decided to follow our passion.
What does being an entrepreneur mean to you?
Both being engineers, we love to solve challenging problems. The best parts of our careers have been experiences when we were able to work hand-in-hand with our customers to help them solve their problems. We love using our expertise to help other small businesses and startups succeed. The more we can help other startups and small businesses grow, the better our region will be.
What’s a resource or tip that’s helped you develop as a founder and move your business forward?
One of the best tips we can give others to help develop as a founder would be to take the negative feedback as an opportunity to improve your idea. It can be scary to have an idea, to share that idea, and to have that idea rejected by others. However, that negativity and rejection are not negativity against you, so take it positively to improve.
What’s next? How can our readers help you?
With the help of our intern cohort, we’re making big advances with new enhancements to our product. We’re adding new functionality and integrations and improving the usability based on the feedback from our current users.
We’re also increasing our outreach to more and more small businesses that can benefit from our solution, which includes increasing the frequency of social media posts, adding a monthly newsletter, and developing a new digital marketing campaign.
Right now, we’re looking for small businesses & startups who want to try out our solution. We’re also growing our network of advisors, mentors, and connections for potential fundraising so that we can better help our customers. Get in touch!
Learn more about Dization.
Visit: https://dization.com/
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From fledgling tech companies, healthcare innovators, and nonprofits to makers, creators, services and shops, Ascender is for Pittsburgh’s entrepreneurs. We help businesses of all types in the Pittsburgh region start and build a business through education and connectivity. See how Ascender can help you.
BRIAN BOCCARDI & ROB SANTORO was originally published in Ascender on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
