Inspiring inventors of tomorrow: Interview with BigClown founder Alan Fabik
Name: Alan Fabik
Company Name: BigClown
Sector: Open-source Hardware Electronics / Edtech
Your one line elevator pitch?
Big Clown helps everyone, particularly those in education, to learn digital skills in by making real projects for the real world. We believe in making the world of IoT accessible so anyone, no matter their age, can take control of their surroundings.
Personally, I’ve put all my experience and knowledge into BigClown, which I founded with my friends in 2016. I left a job in a big company to become an educator. Together with other rebel teachers, we are changing the way how digital skills are learnt. We’re here to inspire the inventors of tomorrow.
One Course or Book you think everyone should take /
do?
Walter Isaacson’s “The Innovators”
It’s interesting to see how innovators got started. It helps us on our own journey, and reading this should help inspire other innovators in the future. It teaches us about persistence, hard work, and sacrifice, as much as it teaches us about coming up with the big idea that will change people’s lives. We hope to empower others, especially young minds, to innovate and invent for tomorrow.
Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?
This is a hard question. I tried to be a regular employee and it didn’t work out. You can’t become an entrepreneur, you have to be born as one, it’s inside of you. My first business was started when I was 21 and it failed. I vowed not to be an entrepreneur again, as it was very tough to go bankrupt, but I have been drawn back to the adventure. If you are an entrepreneur, you just don’t fit any corporate structure, sooner or later you will step out and you’ll start your own business. Big or small, but yours.
Also, growing up in a communist country, entrepreneurship was not possible until I was 17 years old, when everything in the Czech Republic changed, so it opened up a world of new opportunities too!
What has been the best thing about running your own company?
You can fulfil your dreams by doing things your way. It’s possible things won’t work out as planned, but it’s in your control, and you can change and adapt to challenges along the way. As an entrepreneur, you create your own path, your own way. Working for others is perhaps a “safer” way to earn a salary, but going it alone means you don’t have to compromise on your mission.
And the worst?
It’s difficult building something alone, but as your team grows, there is a huge responsibility to be a leader for them and their families. That creates a lot of pressure, but it inspires me and the team to work harder and better, so that we find continuous success. My team are great though and support me every day.
Where did the idea for the company come from?
During our visit to CES Las Vegas 2016, saw many IoT systems mainly from China and the Far East, but very few real applications.
The idea for “an IoT Kit which will help build real IoT products and projects quickly and easily” popped up back at the hotel during our downtime for some “blue sky” thinking.
We felt we could create something amazing for education, to empower others. We returned home, got to work, and after 3 months we had the first prototype. It’s important to work in an agile way so ideas can be tested quickly.
What were the key milestones you think happened to get to where you are today?
The first milestone was leaving our comfy positions in a big company and putting our savings in jeopardy. Taking a risk is a big part on being an entrepreneur.
The second key milestone was the release of the BigClown alpha version after 8 months of development — the very first touch with customers. It’s important to get your product out in the real world even if it’s not perfect.
The third milestone was the moving our company to the UK in 2018 to develop our product and service further. We wanted to take BigClown to the next level and go global, so as we speak English and wanted to be in the same space as companies like Raspberry Pi, London seemed the right choice. We are now focused on helping the education market, particularly in the UK, to teach digital skills.
How do you measure the impact of your company?
Our focus is on education. We are still new to the market so our focus is on sales, growth and delivering value for educational institutions in the UK and beyond.
In terms of impact, we want to measure the number of “real IoT projects made by students based on the BigClown kit”, as we truly believe it’s a great way for everyone to learn digital skills.
If you had to pass on 3 golden rules for aspiring or current entrepreneurs, what would they be?
- Passion — Do things you are passionate about, otherwise, it’s difficult to build a great company. This is the same for the people we work with. We build relationships with passionate people and organisations. For us, it’s all about electronics, hardware, and education, to help students learn digital skills and succeed in the modern world.
- Focus — Focus on your selected project and eliminate other activities so you can give it your full attention. It’s also important to be patient as things don’t always fall into place when you want, but the focus is key.
- Persistence — If you persist in what you’ve focused on, success will come, even if it may be something different from the original plan. It’s the key to making something memorable with the right goals and strategies. We know the best way to learn is via real projects, so we continue to keep this our focus and to inspire the inventors of tomorrow through education.
What’s the next big goal for you?
We need the help of the public and, most importantly, the “rebel” teachers, those willing to try new things, experiment and help create the inventors of tomorrow.
We plan to find at least 100 rebel teachers in the UK, who will test our BigClown Kit with their students and co-create with us to improve it, so we can deliver better results and enable more people to learn digital skills in a fun and engaging way.
If you want to join the revolution, email Alan Fabik (CEO & Founder) alan.fabik@bigclown.com
For a more comprehensive guide for naming and brand-building, join our CEO Michael Murdoch for a Workshop on telling a memorable story without exceeding the budget at the British Library.
