The Trojan Horse Inside Your Client’s Team: Jonathan Bannister, The Design Technology Company

Most engineers start a business by selling their own technical skills, then slowly build a team around themselves. Jonathan Bannister took the opposite approach from day one. His rule was simple: he doesn’t touch the mouse. 

Jonathan is the managing director of The Design Technology Company, a Melbourne-based team of mechanical designers who embed directly into other engineering and manufacturing businesses’ project teams. In this episode, he shares how a side hustle grew into a 20-person operation, and why he focused on business development and revenue from the very beginning. 

The conversation covers the reality of adopting new technology, including a virtual reality investment the business eventually abandoned. Jonathan also opens up about taking on debt to buy out his business partner, the recent sale of the business, and how to remove yourself from the day-to-day.