Daniel Siegal, MD of Navv
An exclusive Tech Tribune Q&A with Daniel Siegal, MD (co-founder and CEO) of Navv, which was honored in our:
Tell us the origin story of Navv – what problem were you trying to solve and why?
Paul E. Zieske and I founded Navv in 2018 to transform healthcare with location intelligence. We met in the 2014-15 inaugural class of Henry Ford Innovations’ Davidson Fellowship program. We realized we were working towards the same problem from different ends (me from the care provider’s end, Paul from the technology end). Navv provides a care traffic control platform that provides real time location systems for healthcare’s fast-paced and dynamic work environment.
What was the biggest hurdle you encountered in your journey?
In the early days of a company, there are so many different hats to wear, and never enough hands to do it all. One of the biggest challenges and easiest mistakes to make is feeling like you have to do it all yourself. I’ve been fortunate to have a rock star co-founder who has been at this with me from the beginning in Paul Zieske, and our skill sets complement each other well. We are both grateful for all the smart people we’ve now surrounded ourselves with. We simply couldn’t do this on our own, and so it’s both challenging and rewarding at the same time to bring new folks onto the team, give them the support they need, and watch them grow professionally and individually. Navv Systems is very much a team, and it’s exciting to see all that hard work now start to bear fruit.
What does the future hold for Navv?
The future of Navv is to keep transforming healthcare operations. Our company will continue to improve productivity, safety, and efficiency for healthcare teams, patients, and visitors with NavvTrack®.
What are your thoughts on the local tech startup scene in Detroit?
Startup culture in Southeast Michigan is fast paced and competitive. It’s been great to be part of a community, with great connections at TechTown Detroit, Ann Arbor SPARK, MichBio, and in the larger community of national and local HIMSS groups. Everyone wants to see each other succeed while putting their best foot forward.
What’s your best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Do it! Don’t wait. The challenges and the community are so rewarding. The best advice I would give someone who is thinking about starting a company is to create a solid foundation with trusted partners and start blazing your own trail, because no one else is going to do it for you: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”.