in Startups

Anthony Lacavera to speak at StartupEmpire

I am happy to announce that Anthony Lacavera will be speaking at StartupEmpire. Anthony is an example of the kind of guy we can all learn a lot from.

The story of Globalive is really one of true entrepreneurial hustle. Anthony, now 34 years old, has gone from graduation day at the University of Toronto, to over $125million in revenue in just under 10 years. From just himself to over 175 employees and he is now the force behind Canada’s next wireless carrier.

I don’t have to tell you how I feel about the current state of wireless in Canada and how it has a negative effect on mobile startups in this country. Tom has been tracking a lot of that activity on WirelessNorth.ca, and wow are we hurting right now.

There is great news for startups however, Globalive says they will likely release a variety of monthly all-you-can-eat plans, and then open their network up to other brands and cellphone companies. This means more than just a 4th national wireless carrier in Canada, it means a whole new level of competition.

I invited Anthony because he, to me, represents the sort of ambition and vision that every startup should have. How many folks have the guts to say they are going to be the next national wireless carrier in Canada and then go make it happen? Just one, that is Anthony.

Globalive has not been an easy ride, they have consistently iterated over their business model, have found new markets when the needed them and their brands, such as Yak, have been growing in prominence.

The story of Globalive is also one of uninhibited ambition. When Anthony needed to raise a few billion dollars to bid in the wireless spectrum auction, he just picked up the phone. “I cold-called about 100 parties, from investors to operators to advisors, people that look at the wireless industry.

That takes guts.

Anthony will be keynoting on Day 2 of the conference. This is your chance to meet one of Canada’s next great success stories.


I would like to thank our Leadership sponsors, Microsoft and HighRoad Communications.

We are also pleased to announce our champion sponsors,

PriceWaterhouseCoopers
Ontario Centers of Excellence
and JLA Ventures.


Visit www.startupempire.ca for more information on the conference and to register.