martin.ertl

I like to simplify things, like turning 30 pages of legal gobbledygook into 10 pages of intelligible contract provisions. What I like even more is reading the Saturday Globe and Mail over brunch and coffee. Then I like to think about how the world ought to be, and after that, how I would go about changing it. Usually by this time, I have to change a diaper for my two-year old son or newborn daughter.

Before life as a husband and dad, I co-founded Navarik, a company that provides software-as-a service (SaaS) for oil producers to manage operational information for their oil cargo shipments globally. I negotiated complex agreements with customers like British Petroleum (BP), Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and the government of Venezuela. In addition to my role on customer deals, I held a bunch of different positions with the company included VP Corporate Development, where I raised $4.0 million in Series A financing ($2.8 million initially, plus a $1.2 million follow-on), and most recently VP Customer Relationships, where I oversaw customer implementations.

I'm also a lawyer, and practised law at Davis LLP before starting Navarik. I served previously on the Board and as Chair of the UBC Alumni Association, where I led a restructuring and transformation of the organization, and I'm currently on Navarik’s Board of Directors. I graduated with a B.Sc. in physics from the University of British Columbia and a law degree with distinction from McGill University.

My company:
LexPublica
LinkedIn:
Martin Ertl