A History of Research In Motion - part 1

The future of Research In Motion hangs in the balance. It is the early summer of 1997, and Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie stand in a BellSouth conference room. They've spent the last few years trying to convince the world that mobile email is the future. They're almost there. RIM has already produced one device, the Inter@ctive Pager 900; and is developing a second - sometimes called the Leapfrog.


But BellSouth - the one and only customer for RIM's soon-to-be Leapfrog - isn't happy. They've spent $300 million to buy and build the Mobitex wireless network. But without products to make use of that network, BellSouth finds itself with an unprofitable enterprise. If BellSouth goes through with plans to sell the network, RIM loses its Leapfrog network and the only customer for the device.


RIM Co-CEO's Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie have but one chance to change the minds of the high-level executives in that room. The executives "walked in there thinking they were going to pull the plug," says Jim Hobbs, VP Operations, BellSouth Mobile Data. As Lazaridis begins the presentation that will decide the future of his fledgling company, he comes to a horrid realization. He and Balsillie had been so nervous about the meeting that they had left the models of the Leapfrog in their taxi. It was a make-it or break-it presentation, and the most important parts were lost.

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