Taking (unmanned) flight



Dr Yoge Patel (Blue Bear Systems | CEO)



In this first of Series Two of our Ghost Lights Podcasts we focus on How to Begin.



Here we have the good fortune to talk to tech entrepreneur Dr Yoge Patel, CEO of Blue Bear Systems a UK leader in unmanned flight technology about how she began to grow her company.



She reflects on the developmental benefits of being in the middle of a family of 7 children and how that gave her with the opportunity to watch and listen as she was growing up – key capabilities for an entrepreneur.



In the conversation she reflects on a characteristic that unites all entrepreneurs – an impatient desire to change the status quo. Although she is a self-confessed ‘techie’, her approach to running a business has a solid human-based foundation, built on simple principles – or ‘mantras’ – and a non-hierarchical shared ethos.



Her secret of success?



Even after her mother told her as a child to ‘stop smiling, people will think you are simple’ – it is always to be herself, whether speaking to a cabinet minister or the youngest recruit in the office. She reflects on some of the advantages of the Covid lockdown amongst all the difficulty, ‘I love it when one of my most senior guys tells me that he has to break off a video call to put his two year old son to bed for a nap. We have won back time from our commute for our families.’



She is optimistic about the development of technology – believing that it must always contribute to broader societal value, always be a tool for the furtherance of mankind and that good emotional design is the foundation for good engineering. Connect with Yoge on LinkedIn · Website · LinkedIn · Follow on Instagram