
Dr Dan Nicolau, engineer, mathematician, biologist and entrepreneur at Innovatrs co-founded Altitude Medical in Oxford, UK in 2007 .
Altitude Medical is an innovative company that aims, through the development of inexpensive and user-friendly devices, to reduce the number of life-threatening infections, both in private and in public buildings.
Innovatrs: What made you do it? Why did you take the plunge, become an entrepreneur and give up that cosy corporate job opp?
Dan: I’m a scientist both by training and by personal interest, so corporate jobs were never part of the plan. Academic posts can be cozy, but they can also be isolating, intellectually and in other ways, starting a company carries with it a very different set of challenges than does research and I was hoping to learn a lot in the process – (I have not been disappointed!) and to develop a new set of skills. The real reason for launching Altitude Medical had nothing to do with jobs. When we started this, my co-founder (Alex) and I were having a long-running conversation about what it would take to save a million lives – how would one invent or deveop something that would prevent a million preventable human deaths? That was the motivation behind the company. What can I say, we were young and wanted to do something noble.
Innovatrs: What does your venture do? What was the original @ha Idea ? And when/where did it hit you?
Dan: Hospital acquired infections, like MRSA, kill more people in the West than car crashes, breast cancer, AIDS and house fires combined, and cost hospitals tens of billions of dollars. Altitude Medical makes devices that prevent the spread of these infections in hospitals and outside of hospitals (e.g. swine flu). They do this mainly by ensuring that people’s hands get sanitised regularly without interfering with their workflow or routine. It’s done automatically for you as part of your day: when you open a door, when you go to the bathroom, etc. While we were doing our PhDs in Oxford in 2007, my co-founder and I were thinking about this ’save a million lives’ project and we had a bunch of ideas. One day we were drinking coffee and he told me about a new idea… we talked while sketching it out right on some napkins, and off we went. Since then, our other co-founders, Jake, Virginia and Will, have each had aha! moments, and all of these aha!s put together have led us to this point. Most people think it’s one bright flash in the bathtub and next thing you know, you’ve got a successful product. It’s not like that… it’s a whole bunch of insights and aha! moments, it’s a process.
Innovatrs: Is this your first business? What past experiences helped you take this fast route to masochism?
Dan: This is not my first business, but it’s my first business that really had to be built from the ground up, with rounds of funding, patents etc. (the previous company was a consultancy, which is much easier in many respects, but also less rewarding). I don’t know about masochism… being an entrepreneur is really fun and exciting. You have to work hard, but you’re working to build something new, you’re working for yourself rather than someone else and in our case, you’re working to improve or save the lives of other folks. So it’s not painful (for me), though it is challenging, and sometimes it can be stressful.
Innovatrs: What was running through your head when you started up? What crises hit you early on?
Dan: We had no idea what we were getting into. Very little was running through our heads, I guess, ha ha, other than altruism and a vague desire to be millionaires someday. Early on we found out the hard way that to build a company, you need to work with and rely on many other people, you need to manage relationships and build new, meaningful ones, not fake ‘networking’ ones but real, lasting professional relationships. And we learned that this isn’t something you can do 2 hrs per week in your garage. It takes a lot of time, sweat, patience, perseverance, a hell of a lot of luck and a well-developed sense of humour.

Innovatrs: What are the long-term goals for your company?
Dan: We want to grow in a scalable way, to make sure that we really make a positive difference to our customers and to the community, and we want to change how people think about infection prevention… to change the ecosystem, so to speak.
Innovatrs: What are the key lessons you’ve learnt over the past few years?
Dan: I’ve been fortunate to learn a lot of things from a lot of people… but the most important lesson, I think, is summarised eloquently by the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius: “Living calls for the art of the wrestler, not the dancer. Staying on your feet is all; there is no need for pretty steps. “
Innovatrs: Have you felt pangs of fear or anxiety when building your business? If so, over what and how did you deal with them?
Dan: We are constantly worried about what we are doing. I think it’s natural. Anybody who isn’t afraid of making mistakes while building a business probably shouldn’t be building one! Starting a company is like navigating a wooden dinghy through a storm in the middle of the ocean: you’re always one step away from disaster. Early on in the company, every decision you take makes a lot of difference. But people help you… you take lots of advice, double-check stuff, have backup plans B-Z and hope for the best.
Innovatrs: What big ol’ failures have you had in the past and how have they helped you get to where you are?
Dan: We have been very, very lucky to not really have had any real failures as a company… As an individual, well… again I’ve been very lucky to not have had any major disasters (thought not for lack of trying!). I think when something goes wrong, you have to try to really analyse what happened and how you can do better next time; and you ought to try to see if you can’t turn that negative into something good. If you can do those two things, then, as my Dad says, ‘every kick in the ass is a step forward’, so that’s what I try to do.
Innovatrs: Have you looked for investors? If so, how?
Dan: Yes, we have been fortunate to have received investment twice, both times at critical stages. We went through high-profile entrepreneurship competitions both times. They were great as a platform for getting our message out to investors.
Innovatrs: What does innovation mean to you and what does it mean in your sector/space?
Dan: To me personally, innovation implies using a novel approach or a novel idea to improve on an existing problem or to change something for the better. In our space, what that means is thinking about how infections are passed around, what are the primary mechanisms by which that happens, what opportunities for intervention does this present, and how can we intervene to substantially change the dynamics of this process.