In this podcast episode, Jonathan interviews entrepreneur Robert Ducharme about his company, Routezilla. They talk about the continuous nature of entrepreneurship and the most important person that influenced Robert's path. They emphasize the power of mindset and gratitude in overcoming challenges and achieving success. They also delve into Robert's experiences starting and growing businesses, including how he navigated his landscaping company during the 2008 economic downturn. They discuss the transformation of Routezilla into a tech company and their partnership with Google.

Robert Ducharme is the founder of several successful start ups. He is the Founder/CEO of Routezilla, a tech company serving the likes of Tesla. They've partnered with Google to increase appointments from Google business profiles.

What We Discuss:

[00:03:07] Robert shares his upbringing in an entrepreneurial family, and tells us about a significant individual who influenced his entrepreneurial path.

[00:10:23] The impact of pre-framing on cortisol levels and testosterone, and how it affects mental psyche.

[00:11:21] The role of gratitude in shifting from struggle to empowerment and attracting goodness and opportunities.

[00:13:09] Robert talks about his Father's influence, embracing challenges, and the mindset that leads to opportunities and holy moments.

[00:21:25] The two discuss the challenges and motivations of being an entrepreneur.

[00:25:22] Robert shares how he stumbled into the landscaping business and how it quickly grew into a thriving enterprise.

[00:30:11] Robert talks about the challenges his business faced during the global economic collapse in 2008 and the changes it brought to his personal life.

[00:32:12] Exploration of bidding on government tenders and taking over an irrigation service department as recession-proof business ideas.

[00:35:27] The decision to automate the business processes and the development of a software solution to make the business profitable.

[00:42:13] Robert and John discuss the pivotal moment when their booking system started generating a high volume of appointments, and how they turned it into a tech company.

[00:48:51] Robert talks about the unexpected partnership with Tesla and how their booking system revolutionized the way Tesla handles appointments.

[00:53:52] Discussion on how failure is seen as a pathway to success in Silicon Valley and the importance of embracing failure in entrepreneurship.

[00:56:46] Exploration of the mindset shift in Silicon Valley where ideas are evaluated based on their potential to become billion-dollar businesses and the importance of not giving up.

[00:58:17] Comparison of the default response of skepticism in Canada towards entrepreneurial ideas and the more collaborative and optimistic approach in Silicon Valley.

[01:07:20] Robert talks about his experience meeting with British Telecom and Gannett, two big companies, and the challenges he faced in trying to secure deals with them.

[01:11:27] Robert emphasizes the importance of pushing through and finishing what you have to say, even when faced with challenges or skepticism.

[01:13:43] Marcel from SAS Academy introduces Robert to the CEO of High Level, a marketing platform, and discusses the possibility of using Routezilla for their clients.

[01:23:12] Importance of continuing on the entrepreneurial journey and not quitting.

[01:25:02] The significance of embracing challenges as opportunities for growth and success.

[01:27:16] The idea that personal growth and improvement is a lifelong journey that never reaches an endpoint.

Episode Resources:

Website | Routezilla