#NEXTFounderChats: Olivier Proulx
Olivier Proulx is a Next Founders entrepreneur and the CTO of Mogile Technologies.
Tell us a bit about you and your venture! What was your inspiration for creating Mogile Technologies?
Our mission at Mogile Technologies is to increase electric vehicle adoption by providing innovative software solutions. We created the ChargeHub platform to help potential EV drivers learn about electric vehicles and charging. 200,000 users have used the ChargeHub platform to find over 46,000 charging stations in North America.
What ignited the spark in you to build ChargeHub?
We wanted to solve a problem. More and more electric vehicles were being sold, but people didn’t know where to charge them apart from their own homes. We created a small database for Canada and the project grew from there.
What would you say is the single most influential factor in Mogile Technologies’ success?
We are really good listeners. It may sound corny, but we’ve been in the EV industry for 10 years and we touch all stakeholders of the charging infrastructure as ChargeHub. We listen to the industry’s problem and try to find innovative ways to solve those problems using win-wins for all stakeholders.
Who is an entrepreneur you look up to most?
I really look up to Alexandre Taillefer. He is passionate about electric mobility and has found innovative ways to create profitable businesses in this field. His is extremely smart and well spoken.
What company or founder do you admire the most?
I admire Pixar. The company has stood up to what they believe in from the beginning and have created innovative technology AND inspiring children movies.
How do you believe evolving technology will impact transportation over the next 10 years?
I think the transportation industry is the next major industry to get a complete overhaul. I think the transformation will come with electric vehicles. The electric vehicle powertrains are become much more mature and the cost of batteries is constantly decreasing. Moreover, I think the entire sales process is shifting, so the entire industry will need to adapt. There are many more factors, but I’ll keep it brief here. Autonomous vehicles will follow after that.
What’s one thing about entrepreneurship that you want people to know?
I think you have to make sacrifices. Some folks have this perception that entrepreneurship is sexy, but they forget the sacrifices and risks you take. Both my wife and I run our own business, we own our home and have 2 young children. Last year, we didn’t know how much we would make from one month to the next. We buy used things for our kids. We have old cars. We don’t watch TV. But we are building value in society and we enjoy every moment.
If you could talk to one person from history, who would it be?
I’m going to put two names down here, and they are not from “history” per se, but from recent times. I would love to meet Steve Jobs; he is such a famous character. I would love to be in a meeting with him or spend a day seeing how he ran Apple. I would also love to hang out with Robin Williams. I’m not sure how this would move my professional career forward, but I admired his energy and comedy, so I think spending an hour with him would have been a riot.
When you’re feeling drained, what do you do to recharge?
There are two things I do when I’m drained, depending on my spouse’s availability. I like to watch a good Pixar movie with my 2 daughters. Or, I go bouldering. Bouldering is rock climbing without a rope up to 5–6 meters and falling on big mattresses. I find that even if I’m really drained, bouldering gets me energized. It combines problem solving with exercise, which fits me perfectly. It makes me focus 100% on the something.
Follow Olivier’s journey on Twitter!
