Charting New Waters: How a Startup Disrupted Superyacht Navigation

Dave and Alicia Store, co-founders of DSNM, join the Evolve to Succeed podcast to trace their 25-year journey from a one-man, paper-based chart-correction service to an award-winning super-yacht-navigation technology company with 27 employees and 620 vessels under subscription. Dave candidly recounts the scrappy early years - dot-matrix printers, Pritt Stick, and fax machines - while Alicia explains how joining the firm (initially to cover maternity leave) professionalised its finances, people processes and long-term vision. The couple unpack the pivotal moments that reshaped the business: realising captains would pay for a fully managed service; raising prices to signal quality; surviving the 2008 crash, COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine shock; and, most dramatically, self-funding and launching their proprietary software, Compass. Their complementary personalities - Dave the risk-taking visionary, Alicia the detail-driven operator - emerge as the engine behind DSNM's culture of obsessive customer service and constant product iteration. They also share the realities of running a high-pressure, family-run company in a glamorous, yet unforgiving industry. Topics range from work-life integration with their young son Louis, to tight recruitment standards, to the pride (and responsibility) of winning two Queen's Awards and employing a close-knit team. This episode of the Evolve to Succeed Podcast covers… Find a pain-killer, not a vitamin. Early success came from doing the tedious chart-correction work crews hated. Price can signal value. Raising rates—rather than undercutting incumbents—attracted more super-yacht clients. Service DNA first, tech layer next. DSNM's core white-glove support never changed; software (Compass) scaled it. Complementary co-founders matter. Visionary risk (Dave) + operational diligence (Alicia) created balanced growth. Crisis = clarity. COVID and the Ukraine conflict forced the team to reassess purpose, costs and future bets. Culture of "no passengers." Every hire must be a self-starting problem-solver; weak links show instantly in a small team. Bootstrapping builds resilience. Funding software internally preserved speed and ownership—crucial in a niche market. Work-life "blend" beats balance. Shared purpose, clear role boundaries, and intentional family time keep burnout at bay. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to DSNM and Its Founders 06:50 The Evolution of Services and Software Development 12:04 Navigating Business Challenges and Financial Lessons 20:39 Balancing Growth with Company Culture 30:04 The Impact of COVID-19 on Business Strategy 38:18 Reflections on Success and Personal Growth 42:50 Family Dynamics and Work-Life Balance 48:53 Quickfire Questions and Final Thoughts

You can listen to Charting New Waters: How a Startup Disrupted Superyacht Navigation online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Charting New Waters: How a Startup Disrupted Superyacht Navigation is an episode from Evolve to Succeed by Amy Enright.

This episode is 01:04:54 long.

This episode was published on Jul 21, 2025.

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