BY
Glenda Chong

Editorial Admin

Hype Issue #60

Published on

November 15, 2024

 Danish Lukawski, founder of creative and media agency DANAMIC. Photo courtesy of Danish Lukawski.

When you were ten years old, how did you get your pocket money? At that age, perhaps you begged your parents for money. Danish Lukawski did things differently; he started a business to earn his own.

What started as him wanting to put up photos of his pet hamsters online by learning the now-discontinued HTML editor tool Microsoft Frontpage, became a booming business when a friend’s father needed a site for his printer-selling business.

Looking back at his earliest venture, Danish had but two regrets: he should have taken the leap sooner, and he should have charged his family friend more than $20. While he can laugh at those early days now, those little lessons unknowingly set the stage for something bigger. I spoke to Danish Lukawski, founder of the creative and media agency DANAMIC on his unique journey and the lessons learnt to become the entrepreneur and associate lecturer he is today.

How He Got Started

For most, school is a place with a clear-cut path where you take the courses that aid you in your journey to your future career. Danish took a diploma in Information Technology at Ngee Ann Polytechnic and explored his interest in media by augmenting his diploma with a few modules from the Mass Çommunication diploma.

However, the one other area he had equal passion for – entrepreneurship, wasn’t something the school offered at the time. So it seemed doubtful that, without the resources on offer, Danish could have hoped to become one. Despite this, he showed that the absence of a path doesn’t mean a lack of possibilities – sometimes, it’s an invitation to create your own.

Danish took it upon himself to explore the world of entrepreneurship by attending events linked to Ngee Ann Polytechnic. This was also where help from his Film & Media Studies teachers came in handy, with Mr. Jon Foo bringing him to film galas to meet directors and producers and Ms. Sharon Ismail helping him expand his professional network. 

Outside of building connections with industry people, he also taught himself to build up his skills and qualifications to become an entrepreneur. Why self-taught, you might ask? Simply put, it boiled down to how entrepreneurial courses at the time felt “fluffy”. Instead he directed his energy into obtaining certifications, from companies like Meta, that give him credibility with clients.

Danish (second from left) also took up a course directly from TikTok, allowing his company to be TikTok Ad certified. Photo courtesy of Danish Lukawski.

The Challenges He Faced Building DANAMIC 

When asked about memorable mistakes, Danish mentioned how it took “19 to 29 different failures” before landing on his company’s first “Yes”. Rejection never gets easy, and he remembers it all too well.

“Back when we first got our first office, we tried to kind of knock on everyone’s door in the same building,” He said. Sadly, once his new building neighbours could pick up that they were attempting to sell something, doors were closed. Eventually, a clinic gave them a chance and tried his company’s media services for a few months.

Danish’s company celebrating Christmas just after moving into their office. Photo courtesy of Danish Lukawski. 

Another big hurdle Danish had to overcome was hiring. Sometimes, some hires weren’t good fits and this is where he believes culture-fit is important. “If they didn’t fit in the culture then they either felt like the whole place is against them or they would always be working in a way that everyone else cannot figure out how to work with.” Ultimately, it’s better to be particular when hiring, rather than hiring incompatible employees that leave quickly and affect morale.

And just when you think that Danish has done it all, his story is far from over. Building his own business was not enough for him; he wanted to give back. 

Becoming an Associate Lecturer 

You’d probably look at Danish as though he has two heads when he says this, but of the many reasons why he became an associate lecturer, one was that “it’s like taking a break”!

The one joke he shares whenever this gets brought up is that he traded his 9 to 5 to work 24/7. Becoming an associate lecturer meant he could “partition a day out” where he puts full focus into teaching classes at Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Infocomm Technology whilst turning off from everything else.

The second reason was so he could “keep in touch with youth”. Danish admits that interacting with his students gives him plenty of direction in marketing when applied back to his main work, but ultimately keeping in touch with young people allows him “to keep on the ground”. 

“It means a lot to me because I get to see what they care about, what they’re consuming and then I know where they’re at,” Danish said. In a nutshell, it helps to close the generation gap as he gets to understand the “psyche of where they are as a generation”.

Aside from teaching at Ngee Ann Polytechnic and NUS, Danish also holds sharing across various schools, with this one being held at Greendale Secondary School. Photo courtesy of Danish Lukawski. 

Finally, the most important motivator for teaching at Ngee Ann Polytechnic was, of course, his desire to give back to the school. While he “could have gone to any other polytechnic”, Ngee Ann Polytechnic was one of the institutions that made him who he is today.

Aside from this, he also occasionally returns to his other alma mater, the National University of Singapore, as an industry specialist. This is where his journey comes full circle, as Danish becomes the teacher he didn’t have in his schooling years, imparting his knowledge in a course on entrepreneurship in the new age where students pitch their business ideas to him.

Danish sharing on entrepreneurship at a cognitio event where founders of start-ups shared on their work, in NUS. Photo courtesy of Danish Lukawski.

Advice for Future Entrepreneurs

As Danish helps shape the minds of future innovators in the classroom, he also has additional insights to provide outside of it. When asked to advise anyone with a background similar to his wanting to be an entrepreneur, he has two messages to share.

Danish explains a mental model of thinking about “the land of prosperity” vs. “the land of scarcity”. “I believe in the land of prosperity because while everyone is fighting for that one strange plot of land, I’m going like ‘Guys, there are nine plots here. What are you all doing?’.”

Although there are chances that you might not be able to compete, “there’s always a chance to pivot” or if not, “there’s always a chance to disrupt”. And to him, just because something’s been done before, it doesn’t mean there aren’t better ways of going about it.

“Just gather all the opportunities you want,” Danish stated.

”There’s no harm in trying something and failing cause what do you have to lose? The most you lose is just the time or maybe a bit of money or whatever energy you’ve expended but the experience is invaluable than never trying at all.”

Another piece of advice Danish had: don’t be afraid to share your ideas. Many partners he has worked with were unafraid to share because even if one stole an idea from the other, should the idea fail, they have helped the other “figure out that it was a stupid idea”.

Danish (second from right) taking home an SME 500 Singapore Award awarded to DANAMIC at the SMESummit 2023. Photo courtesy of Danish Lukawski.

Above all else, a willingness to share ideas opens many doors in business. When people come together and share, there will often be synergy, and that’s where enduring partnerships can form.

Or in Danish’s words, “I believe being open and true is better than being close-minded and scared.”