We’ve all heard the fairytale success stories of CEOs who built their multi-million dollar companies from scratch, but with every rise of a business empire comes trials and tribulations of how they got there. In fact, 1 in 4 entrepreneurs fail at least once before succeeding, but what they learn from those failures ultimately helps them succeed.
From being part of the first BlackBerry smartphone team to watching it fall, then multiple companies himself, serial technology entrepreneur and founder Chris Piche talks about his experiences of what it takes to be a successful technology founder.
The following interview with Chris Piche, Founder of Smarter AI, discusses how his business came to be and how his role and views as a CEO have changed over the years to create a successful global brand within the world of AI cameras.
Wayne Washington:
Welcome to the CEO Secrets Executing Strategy Podcast. I’m Wayne Washington, founder, and CEO of Grow company profits. We help CEOs stop leaving money on the table while sustaining profitability to fund and manage growth. The CEO secret for executing strategy podcasts is CEOs helping other CEOs with tips, tools, and techniques to implement company projects or other work activities on time, on target, and on budget. Let’s spend the next 30 minutes with my guest CEO and maybe learn different tools to put into your CEO toolbox.
Wayne Washington:
All of my CEO guests successfully operate companies with annual revenues in excess of $3 million. Today, my guest is Chris Piche, who is an IT genius. He talks about the things he’s done and some of the things he’s been a part of. Remember the word ‘BlackBerry’ as we talk about these things. He’s been doing some things very, very well. Chris, I hope I didn’t put too much into the air for you to live up to but Chris, welcome to the show.
Chris Piche
Thanks, Wayne. It’s good to be here. Thanks for having me.
Wayne Washington
Well, I just want to ensure I have the right name of the company, Smarter AI. Is that correct?
Chris Piche
Yes, that’s right. Smarter AI.
Wayne Washington
That’s interesting. I know you do some things with AI and cameras. But rather than me trying to explain it, help our audience understand. What’s the startup story? How did Smarter AI get started?
Chris Piche
Well, the idea goes back to about ten years ago now. I lived and worked in Canada and ended up being part of the BlackBerry smartphone team. A technology company that I had founded in Canada became the component of the BlackBerry smartphone that was responsible for voice and video calling.
Chris Piche
During my work with BlackBerry, I had a front-row seat to what, at the time, was a very new product called the iPhone. I saw firsthand how quickly a market could be disrupted. During my time with BlackBerry, which was about one year, it went from being, at the time, the biggest company in Canada with a market cap somewhere around $20 or $30 billion, and over the course of one year, the market cap dropped by about 95%. So the market cap went down to $1 or $2 billion just in one year. And so, I saw how quickly a technological transformation could disrupt a market.
A few years later, I decided to start a new technology company. My original motivation was actually to set an example for my daughters. I had just gotten married, and my wife and I had two newborn daughters, twins. And I decided that I wanted to set a good example for my daughters by showing them that whatever they might want to pursue in life if they were really committed to it, there was nothing that they couldn’t accomplish. I took the lessons I learned at BlackBerry and decided to apply them to my new company, Smarter AI.
Chris Piche
My idea was that, in the same way that phones had been transformed by Apple and later by Android, cameras would be transformed in the same way by AI. As we all know, there are cameras everywhere, recording everything that we’re doing. Whether we’re using public transportation or in an office, restaurant, whatever it is, there are security cameras everywhere. Now thanks to AI technologies, instead of just recording that data, it’s possible for cameras to see, listen, and understand.
Chris Piche
I started Smarter AI with the idea to build a software platform for AI cameras; in the same way that Android and IOS or software platforms for smartphones, Smarter AI would be a software platform for AI cameras.
Wayne Washington
Let me ask you a question. As you say that, Chris, you know, for the typical CEO out here, who might be in marketing professional services type of business or a SaaS business, how could they take that technology and use it with Smarter AI’s technology?
Chris Piche
In the same way, smartphones are everywhere today; AI cameras will eventually be prevalent in all industries and walks of life, improving our personal and professional lives. In the same way that mobile apps are crucial in smartphones, AI cameras have something that we, as computer scientists, call “neural network models.” In the same way that smartphones can be programmed with mobile apps for different use cases, AI cameras can be programmed with AI models for different camera use cases. So whether somebody is in manufacturing, if somebody is working in the government, or whatever kind of business you’re in, an AI camera can be programmed to understand what’s happening around it in a way that’s relevant to your business and find ways to improve the efficiency of your business.
Wayne Washington
Let me ask you, Chris, as you said, is this something you’re pioneering? Are you in a race with other companies to get it out?
Chris Piche
AI cameras are certainly a competitive market. It’s a winner takes all market once the market is mature. Typically, in technology, there’s a small number, maybe two or three, companies that dominate a market and then several niche players. In smartphones, for example, we’ve got Android, we’ve got iOS. And then there are a few niche players. And AI cameras are going to be the same way. Today we’re in a race with several competitors to see who can figure out the product market fit and who can grab the biggest share of the market.
Wayne Washington
Not to give away any of your trade secrets or anything, but help our audience. The name of this show is CEO Secrets of Execution, and you’re right in the middle of executing; how will you execute the win and beat your competition?
Chris Piche
I was reading about Amazon last weekend, an interview with Jeff Bezos, and the interviewer wanted to focus on the success of one of Amazon’s businesses, AWS, their cloud service. Jeff Bezos made the point that AWS is a huge success for Amazon. But it was only possible because Amazon had tried five or ten different businesses before. The other four or the other nine hadn’t been successful. But Amazon had the discipline to measure and make data-driven decisions about how to pivot or, in some cases, to stop something that wasn’t working. So I try to bring the same approach to anything I do, including Smarter AI. I’ve found that when we try something if we can measure it, we can decide whether to continue it, and eventually, that leads to success.
Wayne Washington
You said something; there’s been a motto of mine for a long time. It’s a quote from Peter Drucker, ‘if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.’ So you have to have good data to make smart, informed decisions. So I agree with you 100%. But as I listen to your talk, what gives you perseverance, what gives you stick to activeness? You know, a lot of people start ideas, go off it for a month, two months, three months a year, at some point in time, they give up and do something else. What’s going to keep you hanging in here?
Chris Piche
It’s kind of like gym memberships. On January 1 or January 2, everybody is in the gym working on their new year’s resolution. But not all of them last through the year. I think the key is choosing something you’re truly passionate about. I’m sure the same is true for you and all the CEOs who might be listening to us. If you have to force yourself to get up in the morning and go and do whatever it is you’re doing, you’re probably not in the right line of business, and you’re probably not going to achieve great success. So for me, if I’m doing something that I’m passionate about, I wake up every day looking forward to figuring out how to make it successful or how to make it more successful.
Wayne Washington
That’s a great way of trying to look at it. And I’m going to ask a very direct question, what makes you a good CEO?
Chris Piche
In the CEO position, everybody brings something a little bit different to it, but I’m probably far from the best manager. Fortunately, I’ve been able to build my team and hire people around me with some of those skills that I don’t, but I think I bring a couple of things to the table.
In terms of the company’s strategic direction and the areas we should focus on, my goal is to provide good leadership in this respect. Secondly, I bring a lot of passion to what we’re doing. I try to spread that as best as I can, with the rest of the team. The software business, or the technology business, Wayne, as I’m sure you know, at times it’s not the easiest business, it sort of ebbs and flows in workflows. There are different times when we call on people to go above and beyond to get something done, or to get something done by a deadline, or to get something important done for a customer. But I bring a lot of passion for what we’re doing. And I’ve never asked anybody to do anything that I wouldn’t do myself.
I think an example that I’ve seen in the media, probably a lot of our listeners have seen in the media, Elon Musk famously slept on his factory floor for two or three years while he was trying to figure out with his team how to scale the Tesla Model 3. Now, I don’t have a factory floor to sleep on, but in the same way, I don’t mind getting in the trenches with anybody on our team.
Wayne Washington
To me, it’s an example of passion; you’re going to do what it takes to get there. I’d love to have you back and talk about it a little bit later, but one last thing I want to talk about our fellow CEOs, with some tips or techniques, or a parting thought, a parting idea, or something you learned that you’d like to pass on to other CEOs that was helpful for you, there are CEOs out there who are struggling, there, this move from day to day, they’re having a hard time getting cash flow, they’re having a hard time keeping employees. But mentally, they’re struggling. How should CEOs get through this tough time?
Chris Piche
I think, for me, in the past, when I’ve gotten off track, or I feel like I’m starting to get off track, I found that it’s an essential skill for CEOs to be honest with themselves. If you’re not honest with yourself about what’s happening, or what’s not happening, and why, you might keep going further and further off course. If you can look in the mirror and be honest with yourself about what you’re doing or what you’re not doing and why that’s sort of the first step to getting yourself back onto the course. For some of us, we’re fortunate that we’ve surrounded ourselves with a good set of advisors or a good set of friends who can help us with that; whether or not you’ve got people around you that can help you with that, I think that’s really important when you’re going through a tough time is, to be honest with yourself about why that is. And what you really need to do to get back on course.
Wayne Washington
Thank you, Chris; I really appreciate that because I’m gonna think about who our audience is. Our audience is our peers. And I think our peers will accept that comment and that feedback from you more than a word from their wife or a word from some consultants. So I appreciate you openly sharing that feedback with the audience. Thank you very much.
Wayne Washington
I need to start winding down here. How would someone get a hold of you, Chris?
Chris Piche
Well, you can find me on all social media. I’m on Twitter @realchrispiche, on Instagram, @realchrispiche, or you can get me through our company’s website, which is https://smarterai.camera/.
Wayne Washington
It’s nice to sit here and talk more to you, Chirs. I’m very intrigued by technology. I’m an engineer by trade, so when I hear some things you’re talking about, my mind starts twirling, and I have a lot of these questions. I would love for our audience to have an opportunity to get a hold of you. So please contact Chris for any information about him or his company. You might want to stick around with Chris; he might be doing some things you can invest in in a few years.
Chris, I appreciate you taking the time today to come on the show and talk about what you’re trying to do with your company. Again, this is Chris and Wayne Washington getting ready to sign off for the CEO secrets for Executing Strategy. This CEO secrets for Executing Strategy podcasts by CEOs for CEOs, sharing tips and techniques to help us produce sustainable growth. Tune in next week for another one of my amazing guests, a CEO of a company with revenues above $3 million, for that conversation between me and that CEO. I hope everybody has a good day and we’ll see you next time.