My Second Home: Dan Symons
Co-founder, Folio
Aimed at 20–34 year olds, Folio’s goal is to help a new generation of Millennials save for the things that truly matter to them. Based in Second Home, they feel that current saving tools are obsolete, which makes saving rigid and unexciting. With Folio, users can now make small but frequent savings for exactly what they need. We caught up with co-founder, Dan Symons, to find out more about Folio’s plans for 2017.
How is Folio disrupting your industry?
Folio is the first application allowing you to create customised and flexible saving goals, invite your friends to save with you, and be rewarded for saving more. We want to help our users save for the things and experiences they truly care about.
What recent project are you the most proud of and why?
We won the Barclays Launchpad Hackathon earlier this summer — essentially a competition to integrate the Barclays API into your team’s product. Working through the night with our small team was a tiring but immensely satisfying experience.
What do you want your company to achieve within the next year?
It’s a long list, but short term we’re looking forward to releasing Folio on Android in a few months time. Hitting 100k users wouldn’t be too shabby either.
What advice would you give somebody thinking about starting their own company?
Assuming you have a co-founder, define who is responsible for what – right from the start. While roles may change over time, structure is one of the most important things early on to remain focussed. Once you get past this hurdle, it’s all about the people — take your time when hiring.
“Roles may change over time, structure is one of the most important things early on to remain focussed. Once you get past this hurdle, it’s all about the people — take your time when hiring.”
What person / company has inspired you the most?
I’m a big James Turrell fan. I can’t think of a more relaxing spot for contemplation than his Skyspace at the de Young museum in San Francisco.
How has being at Second Home helped your work?
I think this is a pretty commonly shared opinion, but the plants and lighting really are beneficial. In winter, it’s possible to forget that it’s cold and dreary outside. I also have lots of love for Hugo and the team at Jago. The workers lunch is a great quick fix when we’re rushed and trying to hit our App Store submission deadlines.
What is your favourite design feature about Second Home?
I grew up in a Richard Neutra house in California which my mother kept to period, so the modernist chairs spread throughout the building really does make the office feel like home.
What company at Second Home fascinates you the most?
Visualise. Walking past their studio late at night and seeing a member of the team immersed in VR is always a surreal experience.
Outside of work, what place in London stimulates your imagination the most and why?
The Barbican. The programming is outstanding across so many different verticals. Love that you can go see the New York Phil and just a few weeks later, Jeff Mills (one of the godfathers of Detroit techno), in the same space.
We ask everyone to select a book to become part of Libreria’s permanent collection. Which book would you choose?
Italo Calvino — Invisible Cities — A childhood favourite that I go back to pretty often. I’m also a fan of pretty much everything by Junot Diaz, with The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao being the standout.
Finally, what is the best bit about working for Folio?
We’re a small team, split between London & Barcelona. As an early stage startup facing distance — it’s crucial that we not just get along, but enjoy working together. We’ve been lucky with our hires, and are excited to watch our team increase in size in the coming months.
Find out more at folioapp.io
Second Home is a creative workspace and cultural venue, bringing together diverse industries, disciplines and social businesses. Find out more about joining us here: secondhome.io
