Daan Smans

Background

About Daan Smans

As a kid I always wanted to be an inventor. I spent many a days taking my parents latest electronic gadget apart, wondering how I could use my ingenuity to make the world a better place. My parents may not have always appreciated it, but were supportive all the same -) Growing up in the 90’s I was fascinated by the rapid technological developments - and the new opportunities that it brought. While going through my Engineering studies the emphasis was on the “how do we build this?”. However I realized very quickly that without first answering the questions “what real world problem are we solving?” and “why does it matter?” the product you produce has no purpose. Essentially, products must be easy to understand, easy to implement, and easy to use. When joining the workforce I learned another valuable lesson: everyone is in sales. Maybe you don't hold the title of salesperson, but if the business you are in requires you to deal with people, you, my friend, are in sales. And there I am: the brain of an engineer, the heart of a product manager, and the speech of a diplomat. With a proven track record of building successful products from inception to scale, I’m always on the lookout for the next big challenge.