Andrew Skafel Discusses the Impact of COVID-19 on Edgewater Wireless in the Short & Long Term

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[00:00] SPEAKER_00: It's Toronto's podcast on the Canada's podcast network.
[00:06] SPEAKER_00: Hi everyone, I'm Phil Bliss, a business visionary and welcome to Toronto's podcast.
[00:11] SPEAKER_00: Part of the Canada's podcast network, your source of the great insights from entrepreneurs
[00:16] SPEAKER_00: across Canada.
[00:18] SPEAKER_00: So I'd like to welcome the Canada's podcast as you can see I'm sitting in the middle of
[00:21] SPEAKER_00: grocery in Toronto.
[00:22] SPEAKER_00: I'm not quite sure where you are, but you know, maybe you can tell us a little bit about
[00:28] SPEAKER_00: yourself, you know, what made you become an entrepreneur, what you're up to now.
[00:32] SPEAKER_00: Just give us a little bit of background for our listeners and viewers so that they know
[00:37] SPEAKER_00: who you are.
[00:38] SPEAKER_01: My name is Andrew Scaffle and I'm sitting on my patio in Napa Valley, at least my virtual
[00:44] SPEAKER_01: patio.
[00:46] SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm actually like many of us, I am working from home in Ottawa, Canada at the
[00:52] SPEAKER_01: moment.
[00:53] SPEAKER_01: You know, my background, I'm the president and CEO of Edgewater Wireless and I've been a,
[01:01] SPEAKER_01: you know, lifelong entrepreneur that's really, I've really found a lot of enjoyment in the
[01:07] SPEAKER_01: technology space and I've been in the tech industry over over 20 years now and spent
[01:14] SPEAKER_01: a good chunk of my time based in the Asia Pacific region, South America and, you know,
[01:21] SPEAKER_01: finally, you know, now I'm back in Canada.
[01:24] SPEAKER_00: So, you know, with the current pandemic, the COVID-19 scenario that's happening, you know,
[01:32] SPEAKER_00: these, these, these topical podcasts were focusing a little bit more on trying to mix your
[01:38] SPEAKER_00: journey up with some of your responses to what's happening.
[01:44] SPEAKER_00: How are you managing it on a general level?
[01:47] SPEAKER_00: Obviously, you know, every little bit of employees, so that's really more in terms of that, that
[01:54] SPEAKER_00: internal level.
[01:55] SPEAKER_00: How has it affected you?
[01:57] SPEAKER_01: You know, we're, we're in the, the, the, the Wi-Fi space and the core of what we do is
[02:04] SPEAKER_01: actually, you know, semiconductor and intellectual property heavy.
[02:09] SPEAKER_01: So, as the pandemic started to, started to really unfold, your key priority is our, our
[02:17] SPEAKER_01: based asset, you know, the first are people, then the customers and then our stakeholders.
[02:24] SPEAKER_01: And, you know, because we're, we're an IP intensive company with a lot of software, you know,
[02:32] SPEAKER_01: it's, it was somewhat, you know, a somewhat smooth transition to, you know, keep people safe
[02:39] SPEAKER_01: and have them, have them working from home.
[02:42] SPEAKER_01: So that's been a real big focus for us.
[02:46] SPEAKER_01: And, and I think, you know, that's been the biggest change in, in the way, the way that
[02:51] SPEAKER_01: we work.
[02:52] SPEAKER_01: You know, on the, the, the, so, you know, internally it's taken some adaption and then, you know,
[02:58] SPEAKER_01: I'm sure we're like, we're like many, many.
[03:01] SPEAKER_00: We're similar, you know, I mean, usually half of us went to the office.
[03:06] SPEAKER_00: Now, none of us are going to the office.
[03:07] SPEAKER_00: So basically, the difference.
[03:09] SPEAKER_01: That's it.
[03:09] SPEAKER_01: That's right.
[03:10] SPEAKER_01: And, you know, we become accustomed to some background noise every now and then when
[03:15] SPEAKER_01: we're doing Zoom meetings and things.
[03:18] SPEAKER_01: But the schooling from home is, is challenging as well.
[03:24] SPEAKER_00: Is this, in the longer term, you know, with this sort of pandemic, with COVID-19, all
[03:31] SPEAKER_00: the things that we've happened, is it going to change your business model?
[03:36] SPEAKER_01: You know, it's, it will have profound and global changes to the way that we all work and
[03:43] SPEAKER_01: live.
[03:44] SPEAKER_01: I think our business model is, you know, this is, this has had some major impacts to,
[03:52] SPEAKER_01: to two areas of our business.
[03:55] SPEAKER_01: You know, supply line and customers.
[03:58] SPEAKER_01: I think on the supply line side, we're seeing, you know, impacts to those who rely on some
[04:10] SPEAKER_01: of the harder hit markets like China as part of the global supply chain.
[04:15] SPEAKER_01: And that's impacted mainly our larger competitors very early on as, you know, the entire
[04:24] SPEAKER_01: country of China pressed pause, essentially, right, to try to, to get a handle on the,
[04:31] SPEAKER_01: the pandemic, which was, you know, very much the right thing to do.
[04:35] SPEAKER_01: You know, for, for others like ourselves, you know, we, we manufacture in the US and
[04:44] SPEAKER_01: we've seen very little in the way of supply line disruption to date.
[04:50] SPEAKER_01: You know, and that's not saying that there won't be some supply line disruptions going forward,
[04:53] SPEAKER_01: but I think we've been fortunate in that sense.
[04:57] SPEAKER_01: You know, where, where we've seen the most profound change, and both you and I are examples of
[05:02] SPEAKER_01: this is, you know, on our, our customer side, you know, one of our major customer segments is
[05:08] SPEAKER_01: the service provider space or in particular the, the, the cable operators through our work with,
[05:14] SPEAKER_01: cable labs. And, you know, they have seen a dramatic and profound change to their, to their
[05:22] SPEAKER_01: business. You know, a few days ago, one of the, the senior executives from Comcast showed network
[05:33] SPEAKER_01: statistics that said, you know, they'd seen a 60% rise in network traffic where, you know,
[05:41] SPEAKER_01: work from home is taking place. So that's a, that's a phenomenal step up on, on the network capacity.
[05:49] SPEAKER_01: You know, more relevant to us, they saw a 24% rise in mobile data to Wi-Fi. So, you know, Wi-Fi has
[05:59] SPEAKER_01: become, you know, it's gone from being a nice to have to a, a, a, a critical element of
[06:06] SPEAKER_00: absolutely unique. So, let's get back to you. Okay, a little bit. You know, we were talking earlier
[06:13] SPEAKER_00: about your educational background, you've got a great educational background. Why did you become
[06:18] SPEAKER_01: entrepreneur? As we talked about earlier, you know, it is, it really is a series of bad decisions.
[06:25] SPEAKER_01: You know, I, I think there's a lot of enjoyment to, to taking the entrepreneurial path. And,
[06:34] SPEAKER_01: you know, I think that enjoyment, you know, stems from a, a belief and a, and a, and a real
[06:44] SPEAKER_01: desire to, to, to make things better and, and to go for, for, for the change and the excitement
[06:51] SPEAKER_01: that only the entrepreneurial path can, can offer. And that's what really brought me, brought me
[06:57] SPEAKER_01: down that, that path. And then, meshing that with technology, you know, there's just such a
[07:03] SPEAKER_01: phenomenal amount of opportunities in the, in the technology space. So, you're an author. So,
[07:10] SPEAKER_00: let's talk about Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton. Let's talk about Ontario. Why did, you mean, you
[07:15] SPEAKER_00: could have done something, Valley, you could have done here, you said you were in Brazil.
[07:20] SPEAKER_00: Why did you come back to Canada to build up, you know, to make a living, to build companies,
[07:25] SPEAKER_00: that, that kind of thing. You're an Asia, you're on, you said. So, what, what come back here?
[07:33] SPEAKER_01: You know, I, I think Canada and, you know, offers such a, a great platform for
[07:43] SPEAKER_01: starting and building businesses. You know, there's, there's the, the, the fact that we have such
[07:49] SPEAKER_01: a phenomenal depth of talent. You know, one of the, one of the reasons I ended up in, in Ottawa is
[07:55] SPEAKER_01: they, it has such a strong history of, you know, technology, success stories and, and deep, deep
[08:03] SPEAKER_01: ecosystem of, of engineering talent. And, you know, the engineering talent is one thing. And,
[08:11] SPEAKER_01: you know, as we, you know, I'm, I'm not an engineer by training. I'm anything, anything but. And,
[08:18] SPEAKER_01: I, I think the fact that there's so much expertise there, there is very much a niche that a, a,
[08:27] SPEAKER_01: a creative entrepreneur can carve out and really work for some of the, the greatest minds in the,
[08:34] SPEAKER_01: you know, in the country and in the, in the world.
[08:37] SPEAKER_00: Canada was that in mind. I mean, just moving back to the global thing for a minute, you know,
[08:43] SPEAKER_00: and thinking of, of Canada and country, which is really important for us. I mean, obviously,
[08:49] SPEAKER_00: many businesses are going to be in trouble in the long go. What kind of civil whining do you see
[08:56] SPEAKER_01: coming out of this? You know, I think you never want to be the one that's, you know, profiteering from,
[09:05] SPEAKER_01: from crisis. But, you know, our business is profoundly impacted by, by what's going on.
[09:15] SPEAKER_01: You know, our thesis around Wi-Fi is that, you know, it's been around since 1999. And, and since 1999,
[09:24] SPEAKER_01: it's followed the exact same approach. It's followed a, you know, a single lane road approach,
[09:31] SPEAKER_01: which in 1999, when you or I were sitting in our basements with a laptop, connected to a single
[09:37] SPEAKER_01: router, you know, worked great. But fast forward to today, there's what, like, 8 billion Wi-Fi devices
[09:47] SPEAKER_01: in the market, 4 billion of those shipped over the last, over the last year. So there's,
[09:53] SPEAKER_01: a phenomenal number of devices. And it's, it is a market that is ripe for change to, to go, you know,
[10:02] SPEAKER_01: simply from a single lane highway to a multi lane highway. And our approach is to build and patent
[10:09] SPEAKER_01: the industry's first multi lane highway. Now, this, this, this, this, movement of work from home
[10:16] SPEAKER_01: means that the vast majority of us are, are now connected over Wi-Fi. And I don't know, like, about,
[10:23] SPEAKER_01: about your experience, but it's routinely interrupted and, and has now become one of the biggest
[10:31] SPEAKER_01: choke points of the network. You know, over 40% of, of customer care calls at the, the, the big
[10:37] SPEAKER_01: cable operators was Wi-Fi related. And that was before COVID. Now, when you see these massive spikes,
[10:45] SPEAKER_00: it's certainly not getting better. I mean, I, I, kind of, any I'm building with probably about 100 or
[10:51] SPEAKER_00: so people, you know, it's been fine, except now, everyone's home. Some days it's not very good.
[10:59] SPEAKER_01: And that's really the, the, the silver lining of, of the, the pandemic for, for us is that, it is
[11:08] SPEAKER_01: a very strong proof point about what we're doing and drives our, our customer demand.
[11:15] SPEAKER_01: So, you know, that, that's really the, the, the upside, you know, crisis, the crisis aside.
[11:21] SPEAKER_00: Coming back to you as an entrepreneur and your experience and how, you know, others can learn for it,
[11:28] SPEAKER_00: what's been the greatest challenge you've faced in business today? And, you know, how did you overcome it?
[11:36] SPEAKER_01: It really depends on the day. I think, you know, one of the biggest challenges, I think, for,
[11:44] SPEAKER_01: you know, for any business that I've been in, particularly in the technology space is,
[11:53] SPEAKER_01: identifying your market and your market need. And, and I think that has been, that, that's,
[12:01] SPEAKER_01: that, that has been a constant struggle for, for newer emerging technology companies that I've,
[12:07] SPEAKER_01: that I've been involved with. And then once you have that market identified, that's the, the,
[12:13] SPEAKER_01: the catalyst for, for, you know, driving the, the growth of the, the, the company. And, you know,
[12:21] SPEAKER_01: one of the key things is, um, to really be ruthless on, on how you identify your market.
[12:29] SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, the worst thing a, a new company can do is to try and be all things for everyone and,
[12:36] SPEAKER_01: uh, go out with a broad, broad view of the market. Um, you know, success is, is, is much more likely
[12:44] SPEAKER_01: if you narrow that down and, uh, you know, actually know what you do better than anyone else. And,
[12:49] SPEAKER_01: and define that and stick to that as, as your core principle.
[12:54] SPEAKER_00: If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your 20 year old self?
[12:59] SPEAKER_01: Gosh, that's a, that's a good one. Don't stay out as late. Um, you know, nothing, nothing good
[13:04] SPEAKER_01: happens after midnight. Uh, no, you know, as a, as a 20 year old self, you know, I, I think, um,
[13:13] SPEAKER_01: gosh, that's a really difficult question. You know, the, a lot of the exposure I was, I was lucky
[13:19] SPEAKER_01: enough to have as, um, you know, as a 20 year old, um, all the mistakes that you make, all the new
[13:25] SPEAKER_01: things that you, that you do sort of leads, um, leads you already, uh, all the way down the path to
[13:31] SPEAKER_01: where you are. The biggest thing I would say is, you know, don't take yourself so seriously.
[13:36] SPEAKER_00: What's the best advice you've ever received?
[13:40] SPEAKER_01: You know, that, that's, I, actually, I, I have really been fortunate to have some, you know,
[13:47] SPEAKER_01: to have some great, um, mentors along the way. Um, and, uh, you know, very early on, there were,
[13:56] SPEAKER_01: a couple of folks that, um, you know, especially as a 20 year old, um, you know, got me to press pause
[14:05] SPEAKER_01: before you speak. And, you know, inserting that pause and, um, really allowing yourself the time
[14:16] SPEAKER_01: to, to, to think about what's going on and the impacts of it is, you know, it's pretty powerful
[14:21] SPEAKER_00: advice, especially for a 20 year old. If you had to put one word to describe yourself,
[14:26] SPEAKER_01: what would it be in the way? Um, you know, describe myself. I'm, I, I, I would say endlessly
[14:33] SPEAKER_01: optimistic as, as one word, um, uh, and, uh, and fortunate, um, are probably the two words.
[14:42] SPEAKER_01: The optimistic side of, uh, side of things, I think that is, is one of the critical elements of being,
[14:48] SPEAKER_01: being an entrepreneur. Um, you, you really do have to see the, the, the glass half full and the
[14:55] SPEAKER_01: opportunities that are ahead to, um, to stay motivated and, and to drive the, the business forward.
[15:02] SPEAKER_01: And fortunate, um, you know, I, uh, particularly in this, uh, in, in this environment, I do consider
[15:08] SPEAKER_01: myself to be, be quite fortunate that everyone's healthy. Well, look, can you come and be reading,
[15:13] SPEAKER_01: listening to what, what, what, what, what ever. Um, I, I, I am reading some very old books,
[15:22] SPEAKER_01: um, right now, there, I, I managed to, uh, discover, uh, the, uh, Churchill biography, um,
[15:29] SPEAKER_01: an original edition, um, which is, which is heavy reading. Um, I don't think I finished that.
[15:36] SPEAKER_00: I remember reading it a long time ago. That's right. I'm, I'm only part way through.
[15:40] SPEAKER_01: Um, and, uh, um, you know, short, short reads, I, I am a regular reader of, uh, the economist and,
[15:48] SPEAKER_01: uh, fortune as well. Um, and, and in terms of things that I'm listening to, I, I'm starting to
[15:54] SPEAKER_01: listen to a lot more, um, podcasts and some of the analysis that are taking place just on the,
[16:00] SPEAKER_01: the global markets. You're a morning or a night person? I'm very much a morning person.
[16:06] SPEAKER_01: What's your most favorite place in the world? Oh gosh, there's a, you know, there's a couple of places.
[16:13] SPEAKER_01: I'm, I'm a, a huge fan of the Canadian Rockies. Um, I just, I love the, the, the, the tranquility and
[16:20] SPEAKER_01: the, the space there. Um, and, uh, you know, uh, the other, other place for me is, is, are, are, are
[16:27] SPEAKER_01: place on the lake where, uh, you know, where our family goes. So it's quite, uh, um, and some people
[16:33] SPEAKER_00: that I'm with too. Last, last kind of thing on, on COVID, is there any advice to, uh, or fellow
[16:42] SPEAKER_00: entrepreneurs or a lot of them listen to the, to the podcast, uh, that, that you think might help
[16:48] SPEAKER_00: them guide them through this, uh, anything that you could, you could say to them.
[16:54] SPEAKER_01: You know, I, I think particularly in a time of, um, of crisis and, and unknown, like what we're
[17:02] SPEAKER_01: going through today, um, there, there's, there's really two things. First of all, look after your,
[17:09] SPEAKER_01: your people, you know, whether that's, uh, whether that's your team, uh, you know, your team and your
[17:14] SPEAKER_01: family, um, and, and second of all, learn to be very comfortable that, um, you may not have all the
[17:23] SPEAKER_01: answers. Um, this is, this is very much a dynamic time, like, like nothing we've, we've seen before.
[17:30] SPEAKER_01: Um, and, uh, you know, you, you need to be comfortable making decisions based on, um, uh, less than,
[17:38] SPEAKER_00: uh, a full set of, set of facts. So people listen to this, they often like get a hold of our subjects.
[17:46] SPEAKER_00: Uh, how can people get a hold of you online? You know, I can be reached, uh, either, either directly,
[17:53] SPEAKER_01: um, via, via email or through our website, which is edgewaterwireless.com. You know,
[18:00] SPEAKER_01: my, my email or contact details are, are, are up on the website. Um, uh, you know, we're, uh,
[18:06] SPEAKER_01: a publicly listed company. So we, we trade as YFI and the TSXV. So it's a, you know, pretty easy to
[18:13] SPEAKER_00: find my information. Okay. Well, thanks, it was great. That's a really good, good observation.
[18:19] SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me, Phil. Thanks everyone for taking the time today to listen to Toronto's podcast
[18:24] SPEAKER_00: on the Canada's podcast network. I hope you enjoyed the podcast today. Make sure you sign up for
[18:30] SPEAKER_00: a newsletters or write a review for us on iTunes. You can connect with us on Twitter, Facebook,
[18:36] SPEAKER_00: Instagram, LinkedIn or at CanadaSpodcast.com where you can listen, discover and engage. You can
[18:43] SPEAKER_00: also check out what other entrepreneurs are doing across the country. I'll see you next time.