Meet Will | Founder of Paddly

We had the good fortune of connecting with Will and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Will, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The idea behind Paddly was from a problem that I faced frequently as a paddle boarder who travels a lot. I found it really difficult to find paddle boarding spots when away from my local area.

With my background in marketing and web development, I knew that there was an opportunity to provide a better platform than the others which are available.

I launched Paddly after a short period of building our MVP, and validated the idea with a small number of users and local businesses. Since then, we’ve launched a bunch of new features and have many more in the pipeline.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
It’s been a rollercoaster adventure for me and my career. After studying Engineering at university, I spent the first 6 years of my career working in the offshore oil and gas industry. An entrepreneur at heart, it killed me that I didn’t have the skills to grow my own business online, as many of my peers were doing.

I spent the past 4 years scaling up my digital skillset, and have since launched a few successful businesses, including one ecommerce business and another SaaS startup which brings an old school engineering practice into the digital age.

I appreciate that my career has been diverse, and I value the skills that I learned as a Chartered Engineer, and how they can benefit my new life as an entrepreneur. I’m currently working between a range of exciting projects, and will continue to learn every day.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m a digital nomad, and have been on the road, travelling the world, since January 2022. In my travels I’ve been to some fantastic places in South East Asia and Central Asia. I had a particularly good time travelling in Kazakhstan, which was eye opening for me. Some of my favourite spots are in Singapore, where I lived and worked previously during my time as an Engineer. I love the Marina Bay area. Most recently, I’ve been working in Bali, where you’ll find me in a quiet corner of a trendy cafe with my laptop!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The team at NZSUP and all of our other industry partners (the list is growing), who have supported Paddly in our early days. We appreciate you and the hard work you have done to grow our community.

Website: https://paddlysup.com

Instagram: @paddly_sup

Facebook: https://facebook.com/paddlysup