President's Speakers Series on Entrepreneurship
Billions of ideas on entrepreneurship.
What else would you expect from a billionaire?
Introducing the first inaugural lecture in the President's Speakers
Series on Entrepreneurship, featuring Sir Terry Matthews,
co-founder of Mitel Corporation.
On Entrepreneurship: From Mowers to Microprocessors
by
Sir Terry Matthews
Co-founder of Mitel Corporation
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
7:30 p.m.
D.F. Cook Recital Hall
Music Building, Room MU-1045
(Parking available in lots 15 and 15B)
Join Canada’s premier tech entrepreneur as he shares his
expertise on serial entrepreneurship from his start up company,
Mitel to countless others, including Newbridge Networks, March
Networks, Solace Systems and more.
CLICK HERE
TO VIEW THE LIVE WEBCAST.
Also stay tuned for the live Q&A session with Sir Terry
Matthews following the lecture.
Questions and comments for the Q&A can be directed to mclair@mun.ca.
Sir Terry Matthews
Sir Terry Matthews is a highly unusual blend of
talented engineer, evangelical salesman and technological
visionary. He is a “serial entrepreneur” who has
founded over 60 companies in the high tech communications field.
His most notably start-ups were Mitel and Newbridge Networks which
played a major role in the development of Canada’s
“Silicon Valley North."
Mitel, formed in 1973 by Matthews and his partner Michael Cowpland,
was so named as a contraction of “Mike and Terry’s
Electric Lawnmowers”. This first endeavour was a fiasco but
the company went on to phenomenal success by developing the first
push button phone and then expanding into microprocessors and
semiconductor devices.
In 1985, when Mitel was sold to British Telecom, the serial
entrepreneurs began again, Michael Cowpland started Corel and Terry
Matthews started Newbridge Networks. The latter was sold to Alcatel
in 2000 for $7 billion.
Terry Matthews, like so many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, has
a strong allegiance to his native land. He has invested hundreds of
millions turning Celtic Manor, the former nursing home in which he
was born, into Europe’s largest hotel, golf and conference
centre. Terry is quoted as saying” I think the resort can act
as a magnet to draw new investment into Wales from across the UK
and overseas. I did my best to put up a building that you can see
from the West End of London and I didn’t come far short of
it!”
Terry Matthews is Wales’ first billionaire. In 2001 his
contribution to the UK was recognized through a knighthood.
