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Mike Lazaridis
BlackBerry genius shares simple secret of success: Listen to your customers
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RARELY DO YOU run across a CEO who can
eloquently articulate both the benefits of Sun's J2ME
(Java 2 Micro Edition) and the four partial differential
equations developed by 19th-century physicist
James Clerk Maxwell. Mike Lazaridis is one who can.
As founder and co-CEO of Research in Motion (RIM),
Lazaridis has been paramount in creating wireless
devices that are easy to use and extremely useful --
a claim only a few others can make.
At the helm of the Waterloo, Ontario-based company
since leaving college and founding RIM in 1984,
Lazaridis has overseen every aspect of development
of the increasingly popular BlackBerry handheld
device since it was a pipe dream in 1993.
"In the early days of developing the BlackBerry, our
employees were embarrassed to admit they were
taking them home to use," Lazaridis explains. "It was pretty big back then.
That is why people then called it the 'hamburger.' "
No longer built in a clam shell-like packaging, the five wireless BlackBerry
devices available today look nothing like hamburgers; they are stylish and
elegant tools that have won over millions of users. Originally created to
provide information technologists with e-mail access, the BlackBerry is a hit in
the banking, legal, military, and government industries as well, and it will
probably gain even more popularity later this year when voice capabilities are
complete.
But to Lazaridis the continuing success of the device is not a big surprise.
"We have a saying here at RIM. It is 'doing your math,' " he says. "Our culture
is to double-check, check twice, and ask customers before we undertake
changes. If we work long enough we know users will find value in our
products."
Lazaridis says the company has been successful with BlackBerry because it
listens to what customers want and then adds those functions after testing
and retesting. Some of those advancements include embedded antennas as
well as the use of internal rechargeable lithium batteries. His philosophy made
it easy for Lazaridis and company to rewrite all of their proprietary
applications last year for Sun's J2ME.
"The wireless community adopted J2ME as a standard, and we decided to
implement it to expand the number of developers who could port apps to our
device," Lazaridis adds. Of course, RIM began researching the idea four years
ago.
Now it is voice. "Our customers told us they wanted voice in the BlackBerry
when they need it, and that is what we did," Lazaridis says.
The company will start using a 2.5G (2.5 generation) wireless voice and data
network-- a GPRS/GSM (General Packet Radio Service/Global System for
Mobile communications) -- to make calls on the BlackBerry. Currently, RIM is
offering a voice-enabled device in the United Kingdom and plans to bring it to
the United States in the first half of 2002. And when it does, BlackBerry users
will be able to make phone calls no matter where they are, as the number of
networks available worldwide to deliver service grows from two to 166.
But Lazaridis isn't all technology all the time. He, his co-CEO Jim Balsillie, and
COO Doug Fregin have formed the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
Located in Waterloo, the city where Lazaridis was born, the institute
advances the study of foundational theoretical physics. Lazaridis fronted $20
million to initially fund the research institute and will donate $80 million more
during the next year.
"What we have and enjoy today is a result of physics discoveries," Lazaridis
explains. "Maxwell's equations are an example of physics discoveries that have
been commercialized. Marconi invented wireless transmissions from Maxwell's
discoveries."
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Dave Winer - SOAP co-author strives for simplicity and drives decentralization
Mark Lucovsky - The brains behind HailStorm sees Web services as a hub for simplifying busy lives
Back to 2002 Technology Innovators
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Profile |
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| Mike Lazaridis - Research in Motion's founder has his sights set on adding voice capabilities to the BlackBerry handheld. |
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Current position - Founder and co-CEO |
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Age - 42 |
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Technology prediction - "Applications and devices taking advantage of 2.5G
wireless networks will revolutionize the way people interact. These
connected data devices will become the closest thing we have to mental
telepathy on a world scale." |
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Related Links |
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Hall of fame 2002 - Several industry icons join InfoWorld's Innovators Hall of Fame |
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Ones to Watch 2002 - These up-and-comers are developing the technologies that will matter most in the coming months |
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Where are they now? - Since the 2000 Ones to Watch were named, many dot-coms imploded and the economy
soured. How have these technological talents fared? |
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