“I grew up in the Highlands of Scotland, where Braveheart was filmed. They actually auditioned my school for extras in the movie, but I unfortunately didn't get a place. It was the very stereotypically Scottish landscape and I lived quite an outdoors life, a lot of skiing and mountain biking. I was in Scotland until I was 18, when I moved to England to go to university, then I got a job as a systems engineer in the aerospace industry. Later, I joined a growth stage startup, making helmets for American football teams and the US military. I don't know if it's just having been lucky or not, but getting people to pay you to learn how to do something is amazing, like when I transitioned from engineering to marketing. I guess a lot of people would try and solve that problem by going to university. I tried to solve it by getting a marketing job and learning on the job, trying not to be completely out of my depth. To get that job, I just used all my skills from project management to get a similar role in marketing, and then I just slid along into more marketing meetings, advertising meetings and just learned by doing. It wasn’t super intentional, I was just interested in how it works. I think of myself as a jack of all trades, but master of none – someone who solves problems systematically and creatively. I also really like to learn on my own, from YouTube and blogs, in particular; you can really learn anything online. And you don't even have to pay for it. I sometimes think it is just like copying other people, copying what they do and working out why that works. They say imitation is the best form of flattery, but it turns out it's also the best form of learning. I use all these skills in the startup world today and I enjoy it because I think something that has always been important to me is creating something, something larger than yourself. If somebody loves something that I've made, that's great – that's how I get my biggest kicks in life and I guess that's what a successful business is. That’s the key for me to find satisfaction and keep my engine running.”
Portant is a no-code document automation startup that deletes repetition from people’s workday.