When a compassionate leader encourages people around them, they lay a strong foundation of acknowledgment and support. They create an environment filled with passion, enthusiasm, and commitment to contribute to improving humanity’s future.
Implementing this compassionate approach, Dan Prince set out on a mission to make healthcare better with his venture illumisoft. As the Founder and CEO, he assists his clients in understanding their needs and provides them with the correct software solutions.
CIO LOOK embarked on a quest to find inspiring leaders; we came across Dan. We talked with him to know how his experience of over two decades has maximized resources that help healthcare organizations.
Below are the highlights of the interview.
Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at illumisoft. What challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today?
I got my start very early in life thanks to having entrepreneurial parents who were early adopters of computers for their deposition service back in the mid-seventies. This allowed me to learn about computer architecture and coding at an early age. Playing with computers back then was like a game to me. I played on the computer much as I played on my Atari. I didn’t imagine that it would turn into a life-long interest or a career. In my 20s, I worked in construction, and it wasn’t until I was a father of four with all the bills that accompanied my children that I decided to get a college degree. I worked part-time, and my wife watched the kids while I went to school full time for four years to earn the piece of paper that would begin my journey into professional technology development.
In early 2014, I was given the opportunity to help someone that was in dire need, the CEO of an early startup by the name of Unidoor Enterprises, who had hired a technology agency to produce a prototype of a software system. After several months without any evidence of progress, he wanted me to help him determine if he should continue that relationship. He wanted me to do an assessment, and of course, he wanted to pay me for my time. My initial response was to turn him down. I didn’t need another job. I had a good job already as a software development manager over several teams at Epiq Systems in Kansas City. But over the next several weeks, he contacted me several more times, asking and then finally pleading with me to help him. I gave in and agreed, but only because of his desperation. I said I would help him, but I wasn’t going to charge him because I didn’t want the hassle of billing and taxes. I just wanted to give him a quick favor and then go on with my life. After a preliminary audit of the agency situation, I determined that they would not be able to provide the system. I reported the same back to the Unidoor CEO with regret about the situation. But then I saw hopelessness in his eyes. The owner had invested a lot of money, and the lack of software was keeping them from moving forward. If the CEO couldn’t deliver on his part, it would be a huge issue for the entire company.
So, again, I gave in and told him I would see what I could do. Within a month, I had hired a handful of developers and was busily creating the software for Unidoor. So those are the things that inspired me to push forward with illumisoft and as a business leader in general. I just want to build something that inspires my sons to build their own businesses and, hopefully along the way, set an example about being centered around helping others.
Tell us something more about your company and its mission and vision.
I take a lot of pride in the fact that my company, as a result of the people within it, is about as modern as you can get. We are a 100% remote company that focuses on high-quality customer service as the utmost priority in any client relationship. We mean it. We would rather provide good customer service than make a profit and are willing to make sacrifices to make sure that our clients get what they want and what they need. Each member of our team values hard work, intelligence, and a drive to be the best that we can be for our clients.
At illumisoft, our mission is to provide the healthcare industry with a technology partner that helps them to 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.
Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in your industry through your expertise in the market?
I wouldn’t say that we’ve really had an impact on the industry…yet. However, we have had an impact on our region in terms of our competition. Time and time again, we have had clients take projects away from other vendors and give them to us. We hope to be able to repeat this pattern of delivery so that we can also repeat the pattern of exponential growth, ultimately expanding beyond Kansas City to every research hospital in the US and abroad.
Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives your organization.
Being centered around helping others is why we at illumisoft have focused our services on the healthcare industry. We realized at some point several years ago that building great solutions feels good, and delighting our clients feels great. But, building great solutions that delight our clients and then realizing you’ve helped literally hundreds of thousands of people around the world live happier, healthier lives feels noble, heroic, and worth it.
Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future goals for illumisoft?
I see illumisoft becoming the go-to custom solution provider for hospitals, private practices, and research centers across the United States. Eventually, we will spread worldwide. We have already seen a consistent, incremental increase in our growth, and we expect that to continue at an exponential rate. Additionally, we plan on becoming a product company and combining that with our service offerings. We have several product ideas in the works, and we have a couple of products already built that we are beginning to market now.
What would be your advice to emerging leaders?
I’ve got a lot of advice for emerging leaders, but it does depend on their situation to a certain extent. If I had to give blanket advice, I would say you read and read constantly. Learn everything that you can learn. Understand that people are flawed and that you have to accept them for their contribution rather than their proximity to your ideal. Operate your life out of a place of love for other people. I truly believe that, although it is kind of corny.
