Simplicity over perfection, people over processes, and communication over documentation,” such is the belief of Dan Prince, the Founder, and CEO of illumisoft. He is a futurist who believes in continual improvement, personally and professionally, and believes technology can considerably extend our average lifespan.
A Tale of a Techie
With the benefit of having entrepreneurial parents, Dan got an early start. They were early adopters of computers for their deposition service in the mid-seventies. Having access to those allowed him to learn about computer architecture and coding early. Back then, playing with computers was like a game to him, and he played on the computer much as he played on his Atari. He never imagined that it would turn into a life-long interest or a career.
In his 20s, Dan worked in construction, and it wasn’t until he was a father of 4 with all the bills that accompany them that he decided to get a college degree. He worked parttime, and his wife watched the kids while he went to school full time for four years to earn the piece of paper that would begin his journey into professional technology development.
Dodging Bullets
Dan was given an ultimatum at work, and he wound up quitting that job in May of 2015 after a year of working on Unidoor’s project on the side. In June of 2015, Unidoor pulled the plug on the project. His income suddenly dried up. He knew he could’ve gotten his job back, but at that same time, it made him feel a bit guilty. One of his sons was working hard trying to grow his business and struggling with it. He wasn’t throwing in the towel, and as he pondered what to do next, he felt obligated, as a father, to take advantage of this opportunity to build his own business in support of his son.
Another time, in early 2018, Dan had found a considerable number of new clients and new projects and were humming right along. He hired 20 people when suddenly, the majority of the work was either completed or was canceled within a short time. Dan found himself unable to make payroll more than once, and as a result, he let everyone but three people go.
It was a very dark time for him. Dan considered throwing in the towel and even looked for a CIO position for a few weeks. But, it dawned on him that he still had clients who needed their projects finished, so he continued to work. He and his team changed their model from onshore developers to offshore, from the rapid turnaround time to scheduling projects further, and they made it through.
Influencing the Healthcare Industry
Being centered around helping others is why they at illumisoft have focused their services on the healthcare industry. They realized several years ago that building great solutions feels good, and delighting their clients feels great.
As of today, they have done about 42 projects worth over $10M. Their projects have helped 30 different clients and changed the lives of 100’s of thousands of children and families of children with diabetes and other diseases. They have had ZERO failed projects, although they could not complete one due to a shrinking budget and cost overruns. They have 100% 5-star reviews. After all these efforts, illumisoft was awarded the 2021 Globee Awards Gold Medal for Best Healthcare & Medical Innovation.
Philosophy and Ideologies
illumisoft’s culture all starts with its values. Dan revisits the list below whenever its team members face difficult times and the need to deliver difficult news.
- Continuous Personal Improvement – They cannot be the best in business if they cannot be their best selves.
- Craftsmanship – They do it right. Right means it solves the solution in the simplest, lowest-cost way.
- Consistency – It is not enough to be the best only part of the time.
- Confidence – Confidence comes from having built the skills through personal development.
- Courageous & Tactful – It can be difficult to voice opinions to a client, but necessary. Well-earned confidence allows for tactfulness.
- Honesty and Accountability through Transparency – They communicate to their team and their clients their achievements and the challenges they face, and their plans to overcome.
Work Culture
As CEO of illumisoft, Dan takes much pride in the fact that his company, as a result of its people, is about as modern as you can get. The illumisoft team members are 100% remote, focusing on high-quality customer service as the utmost priority in any client relationship. They mean it.
Dan further adds, “At illumisoft, our mission is to provide the healthcare industry with a technology partner that helps them make the technology changes necessary to provide the best healthcare results possible. Our vision is to make technology work out of healthcare work. We’ll do the tech stuff that enables you to do healthcare at your best.”
Keeping Up with the Evolution of Technology
“We implement technology on the cutting edge in our industry because the biggest leverage you can get on technology is found in newer things…before people even realize it is possible. The truth is that our challenge is that, realistically, you can’t adopt every technology as soon as it comes out. Our approach is to balance adopting technologies with letting other people vet them first,” Dan shares.
Looking Ahead
Looking towards the future, Dan and his team members see illumisoft becoming the go-to custom solution provider for hospitals, private practices, and research centers across the United States. Eventually, they will spread worldwide, as they have already seen a consistent, incremental increase in their growth, and they expect that to continue at an exponential rate. Additionally, they plan to become a product company and combine that with their service offerings. They have several product ideas in the works, and they have a couple of products already built that they are beginning to market now.
A Piece of Advice to Budding Entrepreneurs
Dan’s piece of advice: “I’ve got a lot of advice for aspiring business leaders, but it does depend on their situation to a certain extent. If I had to give general advice for entrepreneurs, I would say: read, and read constantly. Learn everything that you can learn through reading. It’s inexpensive and truly beneficial in all areas of life. Next, understand that people are flawed and that you have to accept them for their contribution rather than their proximity to your ideal.”
