Saurabh Bajaj is the founder and CEO of Swiftlane, a modern touchless access control system for every office, building, and workplace. Before Swiftlane, Saurabh worked on developing technology for self-driving cars at Lyft, and worked at Facebook and Instagram.
Please tell us a little bit about your company – what is Swiftlane all about?
Swiftlane is a touchless access control company that uses face recognition and mobile credentials for secure facility access. The physical security industry is notoriously slow to evolve, but with all of this incredible technology at our disposal, it doesn’t make sense to continue to approach security in the ways we are currently.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
My background is in the tech and software industry. I’ve worked at Facebook, Instagram, and most recently built out machine learning and computer vision for self-driving cars at Lyft.
Working on both the digital and physical side of security made me think about the security experience as a whole. So, I began to wonder how I could use my background in deep tech to enhance that experience. That is when Swiftlane was born.
What are your plans, how do you plan to grow this company?
Many people are not even aware that the issues we are tackling and problems we are trying to solve even exist, so we are very education driven. Not only about our solutions and the problems they solve, but also on the state of the market and how facility and property managers, for example, can get ahead by making small but intentional changes. Aligning security practices with current technologies boosts tenant retention and decreases overhead, which ultimately means increased profitability for property owners. We want to make sure we are setting our users up for the maximum amount of success.
What was the biggest problem you encountered with your business and how did you overcome it?
Swiftlane product spans across many facets of technology, involving development hardware, software, mobile apps, and high security AI for face recognition. Developing such a complex product was a big challenge.
What were the top mistakes you made starting your business and what did you learn from it?
Some mistakes we have made are around prioritizing only one product, and delaying investment in marketing and sales. In order for a company to succeed, it’s important to invest in all the areas of business. It’s also important to continue talking to customers and potential customers constantly, to maintain a pulse on the needs of our end users.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
Simply by being who we are. Swiftlane is the only all-in-one solution on the market offering face recognition and mobile access control in addition to visitor management through a proprietary system and software model.
We go beyond solving the issues facing physical security by making our product a highly sought building amenity as well as an operational tool.
What is one thing that you do daily to grow as an entrepreneur?
Don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves in an unknown area. I came from tech but spent time understanding how to develop effective marketing and sales as well.
What are three books or courses you recommend for new entrepreneurs?
I think everyone should read “Crossing the Chasm” which explains some of the challenges that startups face with go to market. I also advise a lot of founders to read Elad Gil’s blog which provides incredibly useful advice on fundraising.
What is the one thing you wish you knew before starting your business?
What the winning lottery ticket number is. haha. Building a successful company requires rigor, discipline and execution in so many areas. Everyone has a different background, and my suggestion would be to know your strengths and weaknesses, exploit your strengths and identify ways to fill the gaps effectively.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
Our most effective marketing strategy is education around the problem and the solutions. We want to be able to act as a hub of information for our customers so that they are able to easily make the best decision for themselves and their business.
The security industry requires a lot of trust – trust that the system is working, data is safe, and that best interests and best practices are being prioritized. Our mission is to create as much of that as possible.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new business, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
Most of the initial time and effort should be spent on customer and problem discovery. Get a LinkedIn premium account or email finder and reach out and talk to as many people as possible, who might be a future customer or end user for your product.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Similar to being an educational resource for your consumers, the best advice I can give is to become a thought leader in your field. Learn as much as you can from as many people as you can and in as many ways as you can.
What is your favorite quote?
I really like the Facebook motto of “move fast and break things”. I live by it. You need to overcome the fear and inertia of the unknown and keep moving forward and iterate.
How can we get in touch with you?
You can visit the Swiftlane website, or find us on social media via Linkedin, Twitter or Facebook.
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