From AfterWork to Life's Work: Spotlight on Hugh Dixson, Founder of Switchboard

A conversation with the brains behind the supply chain integration platform that's kicking manual entry to the curb

Switchboard are on a mission to modernise the systems, tools and practices that sit underneath global supply chains. Often, they are as old as trade itself, and feature pen and paper far more than you’d expect. The Switchboard supply chain integration platform puts and end to manual entry madness. It connects a business to its supply chain with one single point of integration; so businesses need only integrate once to exchange data with anyone in their supply chain; from suppliers, to customers and logistics providers.

Founder Hugh Dixson is an industry expert, having experienced the painful problems of inefficient supply chain integration firsthand at logistic and freight scale-up Ofload. In a short amount of time, Hugh and his team have built a product and onboarded early customers who are equally as excited about a world where digitisation removes the headaches that supply chains are famous for. In this interview, we hear from Hugh about life as a founder, his early affinity for how things work and his bent for action. For more information on the successful foundations of his business, check out our Investment Notes.

Hugh Dixson, founder of Switchboard.

1. How did you get the idea for your business?
 

Before I founded Switchboard I was working at another startup in the logistics & supply chain industry - Ofload. In my roles there (first as Head of Operations, then as Head of Mergers & Acquisitions), I saw firsthand the enormous amount of manual process in the supply chains of many businesses of all different sizes and industries.

For example, it is common for companies of all industries and sizes to have multiple people manually entering and updating information in their IT systems (orders, inventory, transport and warehousing, etc). Staff were creating and emailing PDFs or screenshots or excel files to communicate with their suppliers, customers, and supply chain partners. Then someone at the other end has to manually enter these documents to their system as well... A very slow, manual, costly, error-prone process for 2024!

Given the size and complexity of the supply chain industry, I felt that there had to be a better answer. So, I founded Switchboard to build exactly that - a modern way for businesses to automatically and digitally exchange information required in their supply chain.

2. Talk us through your journey…How did it go from an idea to a living, breathing thing?

I had a good understanding of the pain point and a potential solution from my time in the industry, but I needed to broaden my understanding and validate my hypotheses. This meant (literally) hundreds of phone calls and discussions with people from a wide range of roles and companies across the industry, in dozens of countries. This allowed me to continually refine the idea and the way I communicated it. I am still doing this process even today, continuing to build out my network and understanding of different supply chain practices. It's a part of my job I love doing!

In parallel, I knew I needed to get funding to make it happen. There was a long process of meeting with lots of different people - early stage venture capital funds, angel investors, syndicates, and so on…

Eventually, I had enough understanding and industry support, and financial backing to get things started - hiring the initial team, starting the product build, and working hard to serve our initial customers.

3. What was the biggest barrier to getting your business off the ground? How did you overcome it?

I think there are actually 2 early hurdles that I should highlight:

1. The biggest hurdle is actually starting (and then sticking with it through the early trials and tribulations, see point 2). Plenty of people have great ideas and don’t ever take the “leap”.

2. Early doubt from prospective investors and customers (you will hear ‘no’ many, many times!). There are days where it can feel really hard and like you’re facing resistance from every angle, but then there are also days where everything you touch works and it all seems to click into place - all part of the rollercoaster that is early-stage businesses

The very un-exciting answer is that it was just about taking every call, every opportunity, and showing up every day. You never know which one call will lead to the introduction that unlocks something big.

The other key element was to get something out quickly. There is a balance between navigating through all the expert and industry calls to further refine your understanding and solution, and spinning your wheels for too long. Every business will have a different ‘incubation time’, but as soon as possible, you should start building and deploying and (most importantly) getting feedback! You must have a bias towards execution and delivery.

Once you get through these initial barriers and you’ve got a working product with a good set of customers and clear pathways forward, things start to flow a bit more. It’s never ‘easy’, but you start to get some momentum and that really helps, I promise.

4. What inspired you to make Switchboard work?

I’ve known for some time that founding a business interested me. It came down to a combination of landing on the idea that I wanted to pursue, and it being the right time for me both personally and professionally. I felt that I had the right combination of professional skills and experience from my career to date, plus the industry knowledge and connections to ensure Switchboard could reach its full potential.

5. Outside of your company, what are you into right now?

I’m trying to spend as much time as possible outdoors - so for me that means going for runs, walks (mostly with the dog), and playing golf! 

6. Who or what inspires you and keeps you focused on your north star?

At the moment, the growth is really exciting. We are at a stage where we are seeing lots of customer adoption and there are a wide range of people and companies across a range of industries that are enthusiastic about what we are doing. 

Seeing this business that started out as an idea and, after a lot of work, is now a fully functioning company is really motivating and keeps me and the team running hard to keep up the great trajectory we are on.

7. Talk us through a standard day in your life as a founder…

If there is such a thing… One of the great parts of being a founder is that there is a lot of variety in the work!

My days will normally involve a number of meetings with the team, or with potential or current customers or investors. The discussions can range from how we can work with different potential clients, how our product is going to develop, new business development strategies, and any number of other topics. I will often have some work to get done as well - including emails, preparing & reviewing materials for internal projects or for clients, updating models, and other bits and pieces that go with running a business.

I’m a morning person, so I normally try to get through part of my to-do list for the day early. This is sacred time for me, when it’s quiet and there aren’t the distractions of the day. It helps me get into a good rhythm for the day and build some momentum early.

I normally head into the office (or sometimes work from home) and then get into the day’s meetings and other work. 

In the evenings, I try to switch off for a couple of hours and have dinner and spend time with friends and family and then will get back into any work I need to close out.

There is lots of variety though - sometimes on days that aren’t as busy I can get out and do some exercise in the morning or take the dog for a walk and a coffee.

8. What unusual or childhood experiences prepared you for what you do today?
 

Since I was a young child, I’ve always loved transport and big machines - trucks, ships, planes, etc. My mum always says she isn’t surprised at all I ended up in the supply chain industry! Not sure that it was essential preparation, but I’ve always had a fascination for the industry.

9. What is your golden rule that you try to live and work by?
 

Attitude is everything - do everything you touch with intent and effort and you’ll be amazed at the high standard you set (and achieve) for yourself and those around you.

10. What advice would you have for anyone looking to take the plunge?

It’ll be hard, but it’s worth it. There will be shaky moments, especially in the early days, but just keep showing up and putting in the effort (with that stellar attitude), and things will generally work themselves out.

It is definitely important to do your research and make sure you fully understand the problem space and your potential solution. However, when you feel ready (or maybe even a little bit before that), start trying to actually make it happen. Depending on your context that can mean a few different things (getting funding, getting a team, deploying a lite MVP, etc). Until the rubber meets the road, you don’t know anything.