An Entrepreneurial Drive Since The Age Of Seven Leads To Success, A Founder’s Story with Paul McKenzie

I’m Paul McKenzie, CEO of NexOptic, a company based in South Korea and Canada. We offer a suite of AI Computer Vision Software Products led by NexCompress™. We deliver clearer digital video through noise minimization and save 30%+ on energy streaming costs. We are an ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) company that reduces the carbon footprint while providing cost savings too, our customers. I’ve held roles as Founder, Co-founder, CEO, CFO, and Director for several successful publicly traded companies. Paul has raised approximately USD $120 million in working capital for his corporations.

Tell us about your childhood and where you grew up

I was born in Vancouver, Canada, but spent a lot of time growing up in Mexico, as well as attending schools in both the US and Canada. I’ve also lived in several countries in Europe, so you could say I’m well-traveled.

How did you get started as an entrepreneur?

My entrepreneurial instinct has always been innate. When I was around seven or eight years old, we lived on a golf course. My friends and I would hunt ravines and find lost golf balls. We’d package them back up and resell them to the golfers. That was my first taste of entrepreneurial success, and I haven’t looked back since. As time went on, I developed an interest in equities, stock markets, and brokering. I found that lots of small Canadian companies were looking for ‘projects’ – something to invest in. And other companies were looking for capital. So I specialized in brokering connections between the two. I began to build a portfolio of banking associations. It led to me starting my own publicly traded company. I now sit on a number of boards, and often play an instrumental part in taking companies public, if that’s the direction they choose to go. Eventually, my career led me to be a co-founder of NexOptic in 2015, and I was reinstated as the CEO in 2019. NexOptic is publicly traded. Being an entrepreneur is a rollercoaster ride. I’ve found that my ride has had more ups than downs, but my constant drive for success makes that possible.

What is one business lesson you would tell a startup founder?

For any startup founder, I would tell that person that if your passion is there and it’s strong enough, you’ll succeed. Ask yourself, does it feel like this is what you’re meant to do? Even during the lows, does it still feel right? In the case of NexOptic, we spent several years developing specialty lenses for imaging, then had to face the reality that they would not be economically viable. But in the process, we had the seeds of NexCompress, software we built to compress images and videos in real time. So it felt right to continue the development of NexCompress, and it turned into a standalone product. To me, the move felt right, and I was dedicated to my team. We persevered, and are working towards the commercialization of our product. As a startup founder, I had the passion and dedication to believe in what my company could do, and I knew I had a seasoned team next to me to help bring that vision into reality.