Dark Stry allows its users to go on a self-guided journey to discover the hidden world of Perth. Their tours contain immersive stories that blend photos, videos and audio.
Q1: What did you do before starting Darkstry?
I run a technology consultancy, The Exchange Collective, in my ‘spare’ time. Dark Stry’s ’30 day from idea to market’ launch challenge was driven largely by necessity… I only had four weeks between finishing one major client project and starting a new one.
Prior to Dark Stry, I had a previous start-up, Ignitzee, that provided a series of automated tools to simplify business planning for small business owners. While Ignitzee never made it to the big leagues, we still use several Ignitzee tools behind the scenes as part of The Exchange Collective.
Q2: How did Darkstry get started?
At least one bottle of bubbles may be responsible for Dark Stry...
At the start of 2022, my co-founder and I were frustrated at how many hospitality venues had either completely closed or substantially reduced their hours in the Perth CBD. We wanted to see more people in forgotten spaces. Our favourite thing to do when travelling is to do walking tours. We’ve used some pretty terrible walking tour apps in our time, and coming from an innovation background, we figured we could do it better to get people back out and about. So, we did. Dark Stry is our love letter to all things Perth.
Q3: What’s been the most challenging thing about starting a start-up in Western Australia?
We don’t fit neatly into a box, so like most start-ups, we’ve found working with process-driven organisations challenging. Engaging with local government, insurers and accreditors has required out-of-the-box thinking! We don’t have scheduled events, set geographical boundaries, make traditional art, have named participants or write proprietary code. We’ve had to do some deep thinking to squeeze what we are done into their existing processes and guidelines rather than expect flexibility.
Q4: What piece of advice do you give aspiring entrepreneurs in Western Australia?
Get a working prototype as quickly as humanly possible! It is totally normal to be embarrassed by what it looks like. Our early codeless prototype was critical for us to understand who we are targeting and what they are willing to pay for. We found out very quickly that young people aren’t interested in historical pub crawls – they are drinking less than any other demographic. But they do love true crime! This has driven a sense of urgency for our Murder and Macabre walking tours, which we will be launching in the next quarter.
👉 Explore Perth with one of Dark Stry's self-guided tours