Founder’s Dozen: Nick Schweitzer, Founder & CEO of Klydo.

In our monthly ‘Founder’s Dozen’, we will be speaking to some of the leading founders from our portfolio to find out more about their motivation for starting their businesses, as well as trying to uncover some of the little known facts about them to try and decipher some of the secrets to their success! In our inaugural post, we speak to Nick, founder and CEO of innovation platform Klydo, which True invested in at the end of 2018.

Tell us a little bit about your background

I originally studied engineering at university and then become an M&A consultant at KPMG where I worked on over 40 deals in the space of 3 years. When I’d finally had enough of the corporate life, I quit to start my own business, going from an office of 2000 to an office, (more like bedroom), of two overnight. I haven’t looked back since!

What’s the most interesting fact about you?

I operated a student-run, charitable casino business while at uni!

What’s your business and what does it do?

Klydo is the world’s first creative AI for innovation — AI that gives everyone the confidence to create unimagined solutions to the problems that matter most. We’re already partnering with leading brands like Unilever, helping them spot and act on innovation opportunities.

Who or what inspired you to found Klydo?

Both myself and my co-founder Wai-chuen have always been fascinated by the intersection of creativity and AI. Instead of just building AI to free up people’s time to be creative, why not build AI to actually, make people more creative!

What makes Klydo special?

Unlike other AI companies who focus on automation as the ultimate goal, we are building technology that enhances people’s ability to think and solve problems creatively. By no means an easy challenge but that’s why it’s so exciting!

How has True helped you?

True has an incredible network of consumer brands and industry contacts — the introductions they’ve made for us have been invaluable in helping us define our value proposition and product roadmap. And the people they connect us with are always the senior people who have the power to make something happen.

What’s been your happiest moment with Klydo?

After investing so much time thinking about how to create a culture that will attract the best talent around, it’s incredibly exciting to see our hard work pay off with the team growing and everyone within the team being clearly engaged with each other, the vision and their day-to-day work.

Is being a startup founder what you thought it would be?

I knew being a startup founder would have its highs and lows but I think both are more extreme than I anticipated. The highs of seeing a team grow around you, building breakthrough AI technology and tangibly solving customers’ problems are all more rewarding than I could have imagined. But the inevitable lows of people doubting what you’re doing and the uncertainty of money potentially running out takes some getting used to!

If you weren’t running your own business, what would you be doing right now?

If I wasn’t running my own business or doing anything to do with tech, I’d be working in a bike shop in Edinburgh, spending every weekend escaping to the mountains!

Where do you see yourself in 20 years’ time?

I have no idea! I think I’m destined for a very kaleidoscopic career and I quite like the fact that I have no idea where I’ll end up!

What’s your favourite hobby and why?

Mountain biking — there’s something about hurtling yourself down the side of a mountain that really focuses the mind. In that moment, nothing else matters!

If you could live and work anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Vancouver — it has a thriving tech scene and its location near the mountains makes it the perfect combination of being a multi-cultural city with access to the proper outdoors. Living costs might be a bit of a limiting factor though…