Dave’s story on… harnessing technology to transform the educational experience

Growing up in Bunbury, Australia, Dave was raised by parents deeply involved in education whose influence would profoundly shape his professional path. Both lecturers, his father pioneered the Indigenous Studies department in the 1970s when the subject was gaining prominence, while his mother, later disillusioned by institutional bureaucracy, left academia to establish her own mental health counseling training practice. A natural academic, Dave consistently excelled throughout school, initially mirroring his father's more traditional academic path, going on to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and physics. However, much like his mother who forged her own entrepreneurial venture, it was near the end of his studies that the spirit of entrepreneurship truly captured his interest too. 

During university, Dave and a friend, who was also a teacher, co-founded Teach Learn Grow. This initiative provided one-on-one tutoring and mentoring to children in rural and remote Australian communities. It was an opportunity to contribute to a cause they believed held far greater impact than how students typically spent their time outside of academics.

"Building this organization was initially a revolutionary experience. Despite the struggle of balancing it with my studies, the more I dedicated myself, the more I thrived. Sponsorships and rapid expansion quickly made it a sizable operation and then something in me just clicked: while I thought my path was in the lab, which I frankly hated, my true enjoyment and motivation was coming from this business."

As Dave’s focus shifted to entrepreneurship, on completion of his studies, he committed to the business full-time, despite its limited financial runway. To hedge his bets, he also applied for a scholarship at the University of Oxford as his backup plan. As fate would have it, not only did the business secure vital funding, but he was also accepted into the scholarship program. Dave felt he couldn’t pass up the scholarship opportunity, even though it meant leaving both his home in Australia and handing over the leadership of the business. With the charity's mission firmly underway and well-positioned for the future, he was confident it was time to shift gears. While furthering his studies, he'd concentrate on developing ideas for his next venture, something different to the charity based business he was familiar with - he aimed to build his own commercial enterprise.

The long three week train ride from Australia to the UK gave him the perfect pause between work and studies where he had a clear mind and the opportunity to start working on what this next venture might be. Dave recognized that although technology had revolutionized many industries - from CDs to Spotify, and physical documents to Google Drive - books seemed stubbornly stuck in the past.  Yes, they had been digitized, but it felt more like a simple analog-to-digital conversion than a truly revolutionary transformation and he perceived a significant gap in this space, particularly with regards to textbooks. This insight planted the seed for what would later become BibliU: an edtech company specialising in digital textbook and monograph provision for universities, libraries and other higher education institutions. 

The writing was on the wall, Dave’s scholarship would be overtaken by his dreams of making BibliU a business reality.  With Dave, the visionary at the helm, alongside engineers Ellis and Ryan, and with Tao and Daniel focused on the business aspects, the company has come a long way since inception.  BibliU has since grown into a fully integrated campus bookstore services provider that delivers day one access to learning content alongside a premium retail experience that includes textbooks, course materials, and a wide range of campus merchandise. Today the business serves over 150 educational institutions and more than 2 million students. 

“I’ve certainly made mistakes throughout the journey, but many of them occurred long before BibliU came into existence. Most people get stuck in the fear of taking that initial jump into the unknown. Growing up with parents who instilled strong confidence in me to pursue what I wanted, early on I developed a high risk appetite and a willingness to embrace challenges head-on.”

The journey to reach this point was no mean feat. From developing the prototype and securing funding to onboarding publishers and conducting student trials, the business showed great promise but soon encountered harsh realities: a cash-strapped student audience and publishers reluctant to abandon traditional models.  After a year of pushing an unsustainable approach, a pivotal shift to a B2B model proved to be a game-changer, revealing that the best way to support students was by putting the educational institution firmly behind the steering wheel.  With subsequent investment from several supporters, the business was well-positioned to scale rapidly. What followed was a hard lesson of product market fit, listening to feedback and adjusting the product to fit the market needs.  Having perfected their approach in the UK market, the business was poised for global expansion. As is often the case with entrepreneurial journeys, the path wasn’t smooth - they had to revisit and redefine product-market fit in a brand-new territory: the US.  Their efforts ultimately achieved explosive growth.

“As we grew, I realised I needed to grow too, and alleviate the constraints with having to be the decision maker on everything.  Now over recent years our development plans are a real team effort, with the board, the team, myself, a business coach - I’m working really purposefully to empower others.” 

Dave is conscious of getting caught up in the day-to-day, as it robs him of the invaluable time needed to reflect. Looking back to the beginning, his goal for the business has remained the same: to make a significant impact on education. A challenge that will never disappear - from improving access to content to exploring new frontiers like assessments and the role AI may play in tutoring, for Dave and the BibliU business, the journey is ongoing.  

Driven by a commitment to innovation and a desire to create meaningful change in how education is delivered and experienced, Dave doesn’t rule out the possibility of entering the political arena. He has a burning desire to bring early childhood education into focus, recognizing it as one of the most critical and impactful stages in a child’s development. He believes that meaningful policy changes during these formative years can create lasting benefits for individuals and society as a whole, and he is open to leveraging his experience to drive positive change in this area. Whether in business or politics, Dave remains determined to influence education for the betterment of generations to come.

www.dna.co.za

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