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Pieter Boekhoff, the 2016 Startup Canada Entrepreneur of the Year and one of Calgary\'s top 40 under 40. He\\u2019s also Mount Royal University\\u2019s Horizon Winner and one of Canada\'s 10 Mentor Rock Stars. Listen as Pieter talks about the company he founded, Nobal Technologies, and the success of their flagship product \\u2013 iMirror.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? \\u2013 Lean Startup
• What CEO do you follow? \\u2013 Elon Musk

• Favorite online tool? \\u2014 Wave Accounting
• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?\\u2014 I do
• If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? \\u2013 \\u201cI wish that entrepreneurship and startups was more of a thing and I\\u2019d known where to get into it\\u201d

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Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:44 \\u2013 Nathan introduces Pieter to the show
• 02:25 \\u2013 What is Nobal Technologies and how it generates revenue
• • 02:28 \\u2013 Software company based in Calgary, Canada
  • 02:40 \\u2013 Selling iMirror for retail and hospitality
• 03:03 \\u2013 70% revenue from the one-time cost of the iMirror
• 03:27 \\u2013 Launched in 2014
• 03:44 \\u2013 The idea was inspired by the video made by Corning in 2011
• • 04:02 \\u2013 Started to build prototypes
• 04:23 \\u2013 First year revenue is around $75,000
• 04:37 \\u2013 Total of 10 units sold
• • 05:15 \\u2013 Each unit cost about $15,000
• 05:38 \\u2013 They\\u2019re looking into a sustainable monthly recurring business model
• 06:05 \\u2013 40% gross margin
• 06:23 \\u2013 Net margin
• • 06:28 \\u2013 Low overhead on the backend
• 06:28 \\u2013 They raised a $1M 2 years ago and $800K in grants
• 06:50 \\u2013 Process of government funding
• • 07:03 \\u2013 Partner with NRCIRAP
  • 07:12 \\u2013 They need to know you\\u2019re legit
• 07:44 \\u2013 9 people on the team, based in Alberta
• 08:00 \\u2013 Pieter made $1.2 million in 2 years
• 08:20 \\u2013 Pieter\\u2019s focus now is only iMirror
• 08:36 \\u2013 2016 revenue goal
• 09:34 \\u2013 Some clients have more than 1 mirror
• 09:44 \\u2013 Pieter wants to expand on the retail side
• • 10:10 \\u2013 Long sales cycle
• 10:40 \\u2013 This is Pieter\\u2019s second business
• • 10:53 \\u2013 Pieter saw the need for the iMirror from his previous business
• 11:14 \\u2013 Connect with Pieter through his Twitter and Instagram. Visit his website at Nobal.ca
• 13:23 - The Famous Five

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3 Key Points:

• Be willing to jump outside the box\\u2014ideas are everywhere.
• Expanding doesn\\u2019t always mean adding more people.
• Learn from your experiences and find ways to share them.

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Resources Mentioned:

• Toptal\\xa0\\u2013 Nathan found his development team using Toptal\\xa0 for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn\\u2019t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal\\xa0 developers.
• Host Gator\\xa0\\u2013 The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
• Freshbooks\\xa0\\u2013 The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
• Leadpages\\xa0 \\u2013 The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
• Audible\\xa0\\u2013 Nathan uses Audible when he\\u2019s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
• @pieterboekhoff \\u2013 Pieter\\u2019s Twitter handle
• @pieterboekhoff- Pieter\\u2019s Instagram account
• Nobal.ca \\u2013 Pieter\\u2019s business website
• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives