David Dewolf: At the Intersection of Technology and Business

DIG SOUTH is a technology, business and marketing conference held annually.

I sat down with David DeWolf, president and CEO of 3Pillar Global to get his thoughts on staying relevant in this constantly changing world of business and technology.

I met DeWolf after a long day of attending lectures, panel discussions and networking. DeWolf spoke earlier that day on a panel titled Purpose-Driven Software: Product Development Designed to Grow Your Brand.

Knowing I had this interview later in the day, I should have attended his session. It sounded interesting, but I was hanging out at the marketing stage (check out my full-day rundown here).

Thankfully, I got to catch up with DeWolf and talk about his company, his experience and staying relevant.

The south isn’t often equated with technological advancements; however, Charleston is quickly becoming the “silicon harbor” for startups in the south.

“It’s interesting to see this emerging digital economy coming out of some of the southern cities,” DeWolf said. “We’ve been really compelled and interested to come down here and check out what is going on.”

DeWolf started his company, 3Pillar Global, when he was 26 years old. Today, his company touts nearly 1,000 employees. He got started by building software products that were disrupting markets and consulting. Two years later, he had six employees.

When he stepped back and listened to what the customer wanted, he discovered that very few IT companies were meeting customer needs. He maintains this philosophy today.

3Pillar aims to understand their client’s goal and then intersect their technology with making a business successful.

“They’re all becoming digital to compete in the digital economy,” DeWolf said.

Traditional businesses must adapt to a digital landscape to stay relevant. But, they don’t always know how.

“The relevance for us is that we help those traditional businesses become digital companies, or we help a digitally native startup accelerate and learn from the lessons we’ve learned,” DeWolf said.

It’s the time of the startup. But, according to entreprenueur.com, 70% of all startups fail in the first 10 years.

“The temptation is to lean to one extreme or to the other,” DeWolf said. Startups either focus too much on the great product serving a need or they focus too much on monetizing the product.

This conference is a great opportunity for business leaders to make connections with people like DeWolf and learn how to stay relevant in the ever-changing landscape of the tech world.