Influencer Editorial Team
There was a time when Draven McConville had no place to call home. No door to lock behind him. Not even a bed to call his own. Just the cold, the unknown, and the weight of silence that follows when you feel invisible.
Today, McConville is a tech entrepreneur and investor who sold his field service management platform, Klipboard, to Kerridge Commercial Systems in 2024 for an undisclosed sum. The path between those two points wasn’t linear, predictable, or easy. But it taught him lessons about resilience, leadership, and building businesses that no amount of privilege could have provided.
Foundation Years
Being homeless wasn’t just a struggle for McConville, stripping away every comfort and illusion. Nights on the street taught him something that no business school ever could: how to read people instinctively, how to adapt at lightning speed, and how to build something from nothing.
“Pain became my teacher. Hunger made me resourceful. Constant rejection built my endurance,” McConville said in an episode of SaaSy Talk. At 18, he found himself in Northern Ireland with just £200 and a bus ticket. He started from the bottom, working as a glass collector in bars. By age 19, he was managing a nightclub with 110 staff and £250,000 in weekly turnover.
Agency Life
After his success in hospitality management, McConville transitioned into the creative industry, working in brand and creative agencies. This experience gave him his first real exposure to the business world beyond nightlife, teaching him about brand strategy, client relationships, and the power of design thinking.
Working with clients taught him how businesses could differentiate themselves through thoughtful design and customer experience rather than just features or price. “I learned how to think about problems from multiple perspectives and developed skills in project management, client communication, and strategic thinking.”
This period also introduced him to technology companies as clients, giving him insights into how software businesses operated and the challenges they faced in communicating complex solutions to non-technical customers. These were the experiences that would ultimately prove invaluable when he later founded his own tech company.
Building Klipboard
When McConville founded Klipboard, he brought lessons from his unconventional background to the tech world. The company didn’t start with code or algorithms but with design thinking and deep customer understanding.
McConville spent months shadowing field service technicians, understanding their daily frustrations. “Most field service platforms were built by engineers for engineers, not by people who understood the realities of working in the field,” he notes.
This research shaped their entire product philosophy. Field technicians worked in environments with poor connectivity, so the software needed to function offline. They wore gloves and worked in bright sunlight, so the interface needed large, high-contrast elements.
Staying Connected As CEO
One practice that became central to Klipboard’s success was McConville’s habit of joining sales calls without revealing his role as CEO. He’d present himself as a “product specialist” and listen to how prospects described their problems.
“When people know they’re talking to the CEO, the conversation changes,” McConville explains. “But when you’re just another voice on the call, people are remarkably candid.” This unfiltered feedback became invaluable for product development and strategic decisions.
Patient Capital and Company Culture
Klipboard chose patient capital over traditional venture funding, securing investment from a family office that shared their vision of building sustainable, profitable business rather than chasing rapid growth.
“Patient capital gave us the freedom to build our business according to our own timeline and priorities,” McConville says. At Klipboard, he built a culture where mistakes were seen as opportunities to learn, not failures to hide.
Lessons from the Exit
When Kerridge Commercial Systems acquired Klipboard, it validated McConville’s approach of building for long-term value rather than short-term metrics. “Every difficult moment in my path contributed to our success,” McConville reflects. “The hunger that kept me moving when I had nowhere to sleep became the drive that kept me creating when competitors were catching up.”
Investing and Advising
Today, as an investor and advisor, McConville looks for entrepreneurs who understand that building sustainable businesses requires more than just technical skills. He’s particularly interested in founders who have faced real adversity and learned from it.
“The best entrepreneurs I work with are deeply curious about their customers’ problems, willing to admit when they’re wrong, and understand that sustainable success comes from creating genuine value.”
“To anyone out there who feels like they’re at rock bottom, just know that rock bottom is solid ground,” he says. “You can build some awesome things from there.”
