Geoff Falconar leads a very active
and diverse career in the areas of marketing and business management,
focused primarily on the software, e-commerce, & aerospace industries.
After working a few years in many areas
of customer service, sales, sales management, and marketing in several
industries in the 1980's, Geoff entered the high tech
software development business. That has been an exceptionally
rewarding and exciting experience.
In the early to mid 1990's, Geoff led
the business development and marketing at several world-class
companies respected for being the leading-edge in their
industries.
One of these was Madenta Corporation, a
leader in the development of software and electronics for the 'assistive
technology' industry, where Geoff was Marketing Manager and the CEO's
"right hand man". Geoff started at Madenta with the
two founders and a secretary. A little over two and a half years
later Madenta had a network of distributors in 11 countries, a staff
of 12+, a suite of software and electronics products on the
market, and the respect of an entire industry (when you launch
the 'on screen keyboard' in MS Windows 'accessibilities' options, it's
Madenta's product which you are using). Geoff's job was to build
the company to the venture capital stage, and Geoff left Madenta
literally while the VenCaps were inking the deal.
Geoff was fortunate enough to have
worked with Evan Chrapko as part of a team brought in to turn CELcorp
around to profitability. Evan has gone on to business fame for
having led the most successful technology business development in
Canadian history, selling the company for over 800 million dollars
after just 18 months. Geoff feels very fortunate to have had the
opportunity to learn so much from Evan during his time at CELcorp and
shares many of Evan's business philosophies.
In 1996, Geoff had a contract to assist
a budding artificial intelligence company. The business
opportunities uncovered were so huge, that Geoff shut down his
consulting business to take a part ownership in the company and the
role of Vice President of Worldwide Marketing. Within 8 months,
the company had gone from 2 guys in a basement to a thriving,
respected business entrenched in the corporate world. Geoff's
uncanny ability to conceive business relationships which produce
multiple- win scenarios for all involved enabled the company to become
involved in major deals with several very large corporations.
In 1997 Geoff started three years in an
executive position at the prestigious Economic
Development Edmonton, the agency for business development in the region of Edmonton, Canada
(Canada's fastest growing major city). He was responsible
for the development and growth of software, multimedia
e-commerce, aerospace, and call centre industries in the region. Geoff played a key
role in attracting over $600M in investment and 2200+ jobs.
In his public service role, Geoff
worked with over 250 technology companies, exploring & helping
improve their business plans, strategies, mistakes,
and successes. The valuable knowledge gained in
this is some of what Geoff now infuses into technology companies via
consulting.
After finishing up at EDE in early 2000, Geoff had a contract with Trader.com,
the world's largest publisher of classified advertising, where he helped turn around a B2B, Web-only business unit by
re-building its e-commerce and marketing strategies.
Geoff is President & CEO
of AEROSTUDIES Inc., an aviation e-Learning development business. Combining his extensive aviation technical skills
(an intense interest since childhood, he also has Aircraft Maintenance
Engineering training) with his software/internet business experience seems the perfect blend for
Geoff. He has gathered together a team of highly talented
professionals to make this a world-class business with no equal.
In late 2001 Geoff founded a
major industry association called Tech
IT Easy Club. In about 3 days he grew the association from
zero to over 100 members. It continues to be the fastest growing
and most exciting technology association in the city with well over
275 members from more than 175 companies, and Geoff
continues to lead it.
Geoff continues to help technology companies become more commercially
successful in his role as President and Senior Business Consultant of Allantra
Venture Development, the management consulting organization through
which Geoff applies his experience and talents to client companies.He
is a consultant of choice for technology business clients for BDC
Consulting (a division of Business
Development Bank of Canada) and RHI
Management Resources, one of the world's largest management
consulting firms.
Falconar has a broad range of post secondary
education in the areas of marketing, business management, and
aerospace. He is continually building his knowledge
base via seminars, conferences, and other courses. He admits he
is also addicted to reading trade magazines and business books. Geoff
is a big fan of Brian Tracy,
who started his training career in Edmonton, Geoff being one of his
earliest customers.
Geoff is a glider pilot and maintains a strong study of aircraft technical and business topics, particularly in commercial aviation. Although Geoff has traveled extensively across North America and numerous times overseas, he still resides in his birthplace of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada with his wife and two young children.
BONUS
WEB SITE MATERIAL!
Some
favourite quotes:
"Government sees business in three
ways: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And
if it stops moving, subsidize it". ...Ronald Regan
"Trust, but verify".
...Also Ronald Regan
"The
best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire
them away."
...Once again, Ronald Regan
"Reporters are faced with the
daily decision of painstakingly researching a story or writing what
other people tell them. Both approaches pay the same".
...Scott Adams, 'The Dilbert Principle'
"I can sum up the secret to
success in seven words: Never give up. Never, never give up".
...Winston Churchill