Startup Canada Podcast: Geotab founder Neil Cawse on building a leading big data company

“Geotab wants to be the Apple of the telematics game.”

When the U.S. Government un-blocked GPS from being used exclusively for defense in 1996, Neil Cawse saw an opportunity for the emergence of the Internet of Things. Having launched Geotab in 2000, today Neil Cawse has built one of the largest telematics companies in the world – a company that leads in big data and which serves some of the world’s largest companies, including a leading freight and logistics company, and Enterprise Rent-a-Car.

As CEO, Neil leads the company’s growth and development, but his passion for engineering keeps him involved in the day-to-day engineering and design of Geotab systems. Prior to Geotab, Neil has been founding and running his own businesses since 1992. In 1998, he sold his software development company, which employed more than 100 engineers, to Datatec, an international ICT solutions and services group.

Neil was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Ontario in 2015. In this episode of the #StartupPodcast, host Rivers Corbett dives into what it really takes to scale from startup to a global company – from empowering entrepreneurial teams and focusing, to harnessing big data, and building your company as an open platform for others to build upon.

The Startup Canada Podcast Show is a production of Startup Canada, a grassroots, entrepreneur-led movement to bring together, celebrate, and give a voice to Canada’s entrepreneurship community. On the podcast, award-winning entrepreneur host Rivers Corbett speaks with the movers and shakers of Canada’s entrepreneurship community to give a glimpse into the future of business, and share insights on everything from social innovation to the future of work, investing, and why we need to think bigger to take our businesses global. Join Rivers Corbett for new episodes every Tuesday airing at 10 AM ET for lessons, trends, and opportunities in entrepreneurship from Vancouver to Fredericton; and Israel to Peru.

You can find every episode of The Startup Canada Podcast Show at www.startupcan.ca/podcasts/.

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Startup Canada is a grassroots network of entrepreneurs working together to build an environment for entrepreneurship in Canada.

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