IoT Podcast: Over the Air
Navigating the Transition from Service-based to Product-Based Company with Ollie Smeenk, Co-CEO at SODAQ
September 15, 2022
In this episode of Over the Air - IoT, Connected Devices, & the Journey, Ryan Prosser, CEO of Very is joined by Ollie Smeenk, Co-CEO at SODAQ. They talk about how SODAQ is transitioning from being a service-based company to becoming successful as a product-based company.
Ollie's IoT Hot Take

In this episode of Over the Air - IoT, Connected Devices, & the Journey, Ryan Prosser, CEO of Very is joined by Ollie Smeenk, Co-CEO at SODAQ. They talk about how SODAQ is transitioning from being a service-based company to becoming successful as a product-based company. They examine the approaches and challenges involved in shifting to a sustainable IoT company, finding the best use cases that fit its low-power technologies, selecting the best people, and determining the perfect blend of management, sales, and change.

Ollie Smeenk was born in the Netherlands and raised in Tanzania. He has installed a large base of weather monitoring stations across Sub-Saharan Africa and is now Co-CEO of IoT hardware company SODAQ. He drives positive impact through physical products and technical innovation, especially by utilizing solar energy harvesting and low-power technology in underdeveloped nations and concentrating on environmental concerns. He believes that humans can live in harmony with each other and nature.

They cover:

๐Ÿ‘‰ [01:35 - 04:10] The background around the SODAQโ€™s shift from a service-based to product-based company
๐Ÿ‘‰ [05:05 - 06:40] The challenges of transitioning into a product-based mindset
๐Ÿ‘‰ [07:32 - 08:50] Focusing on aligning the different departments towards change
๐Ÿ‘‰ [10:50 - 11:25] The challenge of aligning operations to the transitioning process
๐Ÿ‘‰ [11:30 - 12:25] Hiring the right people
๐Ÿ‘‰ [15:05 - 16:30] Conceptualizing a product-market fit for SODAQโ€™s low-power IoT technologies
๐Ÿ‘‰ []16:35 - 17:20] Advantage of solar-powered asset tracking solutions
๐Ÿ‘‰ [17:45 - 18:40] SODAQโ€™s products and use cases
๐Ÿ‘‰ [21:55 - 22:50] HOT TAKES: The importance of company culture


If youโ€™re interested in how companies can transition from service-based to product-base mindset, tune into this episode of Over the Air โ€” IoT, Connected Devices, & the Journey podcast.

Subscribe here:

๐Ÿ‘‰ YouTube: https://bit.ly/3tYPLQI 
๐Ÿ‘‰ Apple: https://apple.co/3tZpQZ3 
๐Ÿ‘‰ Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3KTQ7Pr 
๐Ÿ‘‰ RSS: https://bit.ly/3E1YJ4j

And connect with Ollie here:

๐Ÿ‘‰LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olliesmeenk
๐Ÿ‘‰Twitter: https://twitter.com/olliesmeenk
๐Ÿ‘‰ Website: http://www.sodaq.com

Instructions on how to follow, rate and review Over The Air are here.

Over the Air is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so