The Yachting Ventures Startup Spotlight series goes beyond the pitch decks and press releases to share the real stories behind early-stage startups.

We sit down with founders in our community to explore their journeys, from the first spark of an idea to the realities of building a company in leisure marine.

This week, we sat down with William Wills, founder of All Hands Yacht Management Software.

What’s your story?

I started my career at sea at 19 on supply vessels in the North Sea, worked my way through deck roles, and eventually became a Safety Officer on large expedition ships and 90m+ yachts operating worldwide.

Every vessel I joined was struggling with the same problems, outdated software, endless admin, messy compliance systems, and crew wasting hours on paperwork instead of running the yacht.

I built All Hands to fix what I lived with daily, a modern, practical platform designed by someone who actually worked onboard.

Why does the industry need your solution?

Yachting still relies on legacy systems that feel like digital filing cabinets rather than real operational tools. Compliance, crew management, maintenance, and audits are fragmented across spreadsheets, PDFs, and outdated platforms.

All Hands brings everything into one modern system, automated, audit ready, and built around how yachts actually operate saving time, reducing risk, and making compliance far less painful.

What have you enjoyed most about starting your own company?

Seeing something I built solves real problems for captains and crew. When someone tells me it’s cut their admin in half or made audits easier, that’s incredibly rewarding.

I also love the freedom to innovate fast by listening directly to yacht crews and building features they actually need, not what a boardroom thinks they need.

What challenges did you face at the beginning?

Breaking into a traditional industry that’s slow to adopt new technology was tough, especially as a solo founder building while still working at sea. Gaining trust, proving reliability, and funding development without big investors were real challenges.

But being from the industry helped, people knew I understood their problems because I’d lived them.

What’s next for your business?

The goal is for All Hands to become the go to operating system for yacht management covering compliance, crew, maintenance, yards, audits, and real time operations in one platform.

In the next few years I see it supporting hundreds of vessels globally, working with management companies, and setting a new standard for modern maritime software.

Any advice for entrepreneurs just starting out?

Build from real problems, not assumptions. Spend time with the people actually using your product, listen obsessively, and iterate fast.

The maritime industry values trust so focus on reliability, real value, and long term relationships over quick wins.

A quote you live by:

Build what you wish existed.