Pieter Boekhoff, the 2016 Startup Canada Entrepreneur of the Year and one of Calgary's top 40 under 40. He’s also Mount Royal University’s 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 – iMirror. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Lean Startup What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk Favorite online tool? — Wave Accounting Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— I do If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “I wish that entrepreneurship and startups was more of a thing and I’d known where to get into it”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:44 – Nathan introduces Pieter to the show 02:25 – What is Nobal Technologies and how it generates revenue 02:28 – Software company based in Calgary, Canada 02:40 – Selling iMirror for retail and hospitality 03:03 – 70% revenue from the one-time cost of the iMirror 03:27 – Launched in 2014 03:44 – The idea was inspired by the video made by Corning in 2011 04:02 – Started to build prototypes 04:23 – First year revenue is around $75,000 04:37 – Total of 10 units sold 05:15 – Each unit cost about $15,000 05:38 – They’re looking into a sustainable monthly recurring business model 06:05 – 40% gross margin 06:23 – Net margin 06:28 – Low overhead on the backend 06:28 – They raised a $1M 2 years ago and $800K in grants 06:50 – Process of government funding 07:03 – Partner with NRCIRAP 07:12 – They need to know you’re legit 07:44 – 9 people on the team, based in Alberta 08:00 – Pieter made $1.2 million in 2 years 08:20 – Pieter’s focus now is only iMirror 08:36 – 2016 revenue goal 09:34 – Some clients have more than 1 mirror 09:44 – Pieter wants to expand on the retail side 10:10 – Long sales cycle 10:40 – This is Pieter’s second business 10:53 – Pieter saw the need for the iMirror from his previous business 11:14 – Connect with Pieter through his Twitter and Instagram. Visit his website at Nobal.ca 13:23 - The Famous Five   3 Key Points: Be willing to jump outside the box—ideas are everywhere. Expanding doesn’t always mean adding more people. Learn from your experiences and find ways to share them.   Resources Mentioned: Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages  – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he’s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. @pieterboekhoff – Pieter’s Twitter handle @pieterboekhoff- Pieter’s Instagram account Nobal.ca – Pieter’s business website Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives