Mentor Spotlight: Ellie Dobson
Ellie Dobson has 15 years of experience building data-driven solutions in complex equipment settings. She is a particle physicist by training, having worked as part of the Higgs discovery team at CERN. She has worked for the past decade for software companies in variety of industries, but with the focus on the application of advanced analytics and digitalisation to engineering disciplines. She currently heads R&D at Arundo Analytics, a Norwegian/US based product and services startup who specialise in IOT analytics for asset heavy industries.
Last week, we were lucky enough to have Ellie in our offices to facilitate a workshop for our cohort on data science and machine learning. She shared her story of working with a fast growing startup over the past 3 years. Below, get a glimpse of why she’s passionate about tech, her aversion to risk-taking, and how she proudly flaunts the title of “nerd.”
1. How did you learn to embrace and take risks?
I haven’t! I’m a pretty risk adverse person. I think it’s good to have at least one risk adverse person in a team.
2. What’s the most important leadership lesson you’ve learned?
The best way to scale a team is to have the courage to paint yourself out of the picture and delegate even important tasks and decisions. A team with a strong structure would survive without you and a team with a weak structure would not.
3. What’s the greatest piece of advice you would give to founders or aspiring entrepreneurs?
Ensure your leadership team has diversity of thought from day one.
4. Tell us a story about how you have failed forward in your career.
In a new job, eager to impress, I said yes to every project I was offered and tried to do everything myself. It was a total disaster on all counts and ever since then I have tried to make sure I have the team I need around me, including people who have the skills I lack, before starting any project.
5. If you could describe yourself in three words, what would they be?
Nerdy, enthusiastic, physicist!
6. What do you think is the biggest challenge facing our world?
Persuading world leaders to tackle climate change head on!
7. Who would you say has inspired you the most on your journey and why?
My husband. He coached me through a severe case of impostor syndrome early in my career, and (unlike me) is able to always see the upside for any experience.
8. Why do you believe in what Katapult Accelerator is doing?
I think, in my industry which is tech, it’s important to give new companies a bite of the apple as monopolies from the tech giants are not a good thing.
9. If you were an emoji, which one would you be?
