Edel Flynn, Founder & CEO of Element78
Board Director at Dublin City Volunteer Centre
Edel Flynn is a commercial property entrepreneur. Edel has been driving innovation in the industry in a career spanning 20 years. Leading the advancement of innovative workspaces in Ireland, Edel is founder of Element78 providing workplace management and SaaS solutions to large property portfolios.
Previously, the CEO of The Digital Hub, Edel was responsible for managing the enterprise development and regeneration project for Dublin's southwest inner city. During her time as CEO, Edel developed The Digital Hub's reputation as an international centre of excellence for growing digital enterprises.
Edel also held the positions of EMEA Operations Manager with Regus and was part of the start-up team responsible for scaling Ryanair in Europe.
Edel is an advisor to the government on the start-up ecosystem and consultant to a number of international property development projects. Proven experience managing projects in multiple sectors such as aviation, tourism, serviced office, property development, digital media and technology.
Have implemented projects across enterprises, government, academia and community and devised strategies and delivered investment towards regenerating a city district.
Tell us about your current role and what you like about your career or areas of focus.
I am the founder and CEO of Element78. We started in 2015, providing services and innovation management solutions to large property portfolios.
Quite early on, we saw the opportunity to become a PropTech company providing innovative tech solutions into an old and stale commercial property sector that was very unwilling to change.
We have been lucky to work with companies such as Green REIT and Glenveagh Properties who are forward-thinking and took a chance on a small Irish start-up. Today Element78's key focus is providing SaaS and workplace management solutions to smart buildings and districts.
We pride ourselves as being Urban Regeneration, Cluster & Innovation Specialists managing serviced and enterprise space in mixed-use environments and within enterprise planning zones.
Element78 recently began to work directly for corporates to deliver PropTech solutions for managing new ways of working. This has become a key focus during COVID-19 as companies are looking for software that can manage on-site & remote workers, provide concierge solutions designed to better engage staff focusing on wellbeing, employee engagement—making it easy to manage flexible remote and on-site teams.
We will launch our expansion of our UK business before the end of 2020, and we are currently in the process of closing out a seed capital round that will allow us to expand our customer-centric PropTech solutions.
What inspires you, motivates you, helps you to make each day count?
I started my career in operations, and to be successful, you had to innovate to drive efficiencies within the business constantly.
I was always looking for better ways to get a job done to allow for more time to build good team morale, reward success, demonstrate a successful work-life balance and have fun!
The excitement of building an innovative and successful business attracts talented people and does good in society along the way is what motivates me to get up each morning and try to do better.
During the pandemic, it has allowed most of us to step back, review our life path, prioritise upcoming decisions and get perspective on our personal and work lives. This time has also taught us to never take anything for granted and always ensure that you count your blessings.
Outside of your professional work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
I have a very busy work life, so time spent with my family and friends is paramount for me. I am a very proud mum of two teenage girls that are growing up to be kind, funny and strong.
My husband and I like to ensure we sit down for dinner most evenings as a family to sort out the woes and wonders of what is happening in our lives and with the world in general. At weekends we enjoy walking on the beach, hiking up mountains, canoeing or generally any kind of water sports.
I have a passion for helping start-ups and fellow entrepreneurs. It is a very tough and lonely place at times when you run your own business. During Covid-19, I have been advising business owners on new ways of operating or looking at how they can pivot their business to try to survive. It has been so tough for so many, but I feel better when I am helping where I can.
I am actively involved with Dublin City Local Enterprise Office as part of the evaluation committee for start-up funding and also on the Board of Dublin City Volunteer Centre; both organisations have done and continue to do an amazing job during COVID.
I am passionate about equality and really hate injustices, so do spend time trying to be a positive influence where and when I can.
When it comes to your life chosen career, is there a phrase, quote or saying that you really like?
My all-time favourite is from Richard Branson "Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough, so they don't want to."
More personal to me is from a former boss who always used the phrase "Onwards and Upwards." I did not like it at the beginning but came to love it, as to him, it was a term of positive encouragement.
Philip was a great support to me in my career and always inspired me to do better. I do miss having that support as a leader, getting our business off the ground over the last few years has been tough but worth it. I can only hope that I too inspire others along the way.
I am also a bit of a positive quotes junkie and love reading them when I need a bit of a pick me up. Quotes like "A positive attitude can really make dreams come true – it did for me!" - David Bailey
What are you most proud of in your life?
Being a positive influence on my daughters, showing them, you can achieve anything you set your mind on and that it is OK to fail. Just pick yourself up, dust yourself off and do not make the same mistake twice.
I am also proud to have worked hard to get where I am today. The road has not always been easy or straight forward; there are always daily struggles or obstacles to overcome; that is both the benefit and the curse of being an entrepreneur.
Everything I have achieved to date is by sheer luck, hard work, determination to succeed, and by surrounding myself with good people. If you are not a naturally optimistic person, it is very difficult to survive, let alone scale a start-up business. There are more failures than successes, but that is also half the fun, you are constantly learning.
The next phase of growth for Element78 is so exciting; I cannot wait to build my business from the ground into a successful international company that is a leader in its field. The thought of achieving that motivates me and makes me proud.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
Perfection is an illusion. Nothing is ever perfect, so try to enjoy the process of working towards having the life you desire and creating a workplace environment that allows you to sing.
Always have a dream!
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles?
I admire women like Vivian Wang and Ingrid Vanderveldt.
Vivian is a technology investor in Silicon Valley. She is a strategist and advisor to a number of companies such as California Global Innovation Exchange. Her passion is working with companies that are trying to serve the world for the better and helping them to succeed.
Ingrid is a self-made businesswoman (tech entrepreneur), investor, and media personality. She is the CEO of Vanderveldt Global Investments, EBW2020 (Empowering a Billion Women by 2020) and EBW Cares Distributors. She is passionate about helping women succeed in business. During Covid-19 she stepped up to source PPE in time of crisis. I believe we need more inspiring female leaders that are passionate about creating a better, more balanced society.
Closer to home, I admire Michael O'Leary. Michael is the marmite of Irish business personalities. I worked directly with Michael in my early career, I found him inspiring, direct, honest, and he doesn't suffer fools.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
I have always admired Virgin and Richard Branson. His attitude to work and life is inspiring. "I don't think of work as work and play as play. It's all living."
What is the best advice you have ever received?
Treat everyone in the workplace equally from the cleaner to the CEO; each person brings value and can help you deliver what your customers want. One of my Mum’s little gems.
What drives or motivates you each day in a work environment?
Working with excellent people and constantly asking "what can we do better?".
What are your thoughts on the future of social media?
Social Media is a highly powerful tool. It is a primary source of information for many. I expect that in the coming years we will see this pattern strengthen, and businesses need to adapt and react appropriately.
My only hope is that the false information, cyberbullying and cybersecurity that comes with the benefits of social media are better regulated in the future.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
I find Twitter to be a great platform for keeping up to date on business and technology, in a way that is easy to digest. It is handy for networking with like-minded business professionals and can open a gateway for LinkedIn connections down the line when used correctly.
Personally, I love Pinterest!
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever been a mentor to anyone?
I do not currently have a mentor, but it is certainly something I would love to change.
I do mentor start-ups and have supported many Irish entrepreneurs over the last number of years. It is something I love to do.
How do you network? What is your prefered way to network?
I have to admit I do not network enough; I am very picky about what key events I attend. I find LinkedIn a great online tool for professionals to connect.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work?
Treat everyone with respect, be honest and collaborate where possible. Don't ever think you know it all as there is always something new to learn.
Ignore those that tell you something cannot be done and that change is not possible in "this industry". Change is always possible if you harness your vision to reality every day and always put your customer and staff first.
People are the most important part of any business.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Tech entrepreneurs have been made to look like Rock stars by the likes of the Web Summit and SXSW. But, running your own business is very tough.
The Irish government has prioritised FDI companies over domestic companies for far too long. As an Irish entrepreneur, you do not have all the benefits afforded to international companies coming in from overseas.
Enterprise Ireland does a fantastic job with early funding for start-ups, but the big gap is the funds required to scale. Ireland needs to overhaul tax rules to incentivise entrepreneurs to create jobs and incentivise investors to invest in start-ups.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience?
Success to me is being healthy, happy and having good personal and professional relationships.
Once I am earning enough money to keep a roof over our heads; I count myself as being very lucky, and anything beyond that is a gift.
I do have to remind myself of that every now and then!
What skills do you feel have helped you to become successful?
Previously I developed the Operations of the Digital Hub in Dublin that won numerous European awards during my time; and prior to that my expertise included opening, centrally managing and supporting over 500 Regus Centres across Europe.
Working in these environments at a senior level enabled me to finesse my vision for the future and start my own business in Element78 with a solid team around me.
Is there anything new that you are working on or involved in that you would like to share?
We will shortly be launching Workplace78; an exciting new PropTech innovation platform. We are currently in the closing stages of a funding round that will allow us to expand rapidly.
This is an exciting new concept that will include modules such as Listings, Occupancy Management, Billing, FM Toolkit, Concierge, document management, community engagement, wellbeing and COVID specific solutions.
We have had clients that start with one module from Element78 and then expand to other modules as their business grows, and we have seen this boost their business immensely.