Jon’s Bio
What a ride!
It all started when…
As a true entrepreneur and previous to LDS, Jonathan owned Jon’s Bikes out of Long Island, NY. He holds a sociology degree from an American university but technology was his true calling. After marrying his spouse Laura they moved to Canada as she was transferred to a hospital in Toronto. Jon became lead e-bike mechanic at large e-bike company in the city, where his technical mind paired with great people-skills were on full display. As time went on he saw the emergence of drones, which sparked serious curiosity. As fate may have it, Jon met Joel on a cold January morning in Mimico, Ontario.
While Jon assisted an older friend with flying their drone for the first time, his people-skills and technical know-how were immediately noticed by Joel. Jonathan is a true entrepreneur, which made him a great fit for Joel as a business partner and co-owner of LDS. On top of a professional demeanour and great interpersonal skills Jon had something Joel lacked…an extensive technical mindset.
As Jon and Joel worked together in year 2, they focused on strengthening their own unique abilities and how they would make LDS better. Jon immediately immersed himself in the world of photogrammetry, learning the ins and outs of post-processing, geospatial influences on their drone imagery and really helped shift their focus to industrial applications as the technical mind of the two. As focus turned to these more intricate uses of drones such as mapping projects and inspection work, they saw revenue grow faster and faster.
Flash-forward to today - Jonathan oversees technology as Vice President and how LDS leverages various softwares and equipment for all industrial applications they now offer. The rate at which he’s learned a multitude of softwares from ESRI to QGIS to Bentley Autodesk is seriously impressive. Leveraging the gift-of-the-gab Jon has also been paramount in pivoting the company to look for partnerships, helping further differentiate themselves from competitors.
Being such a people-person it’s not surprising that Jonathan has quite the rolodex of contacts both in and out of the drone space. As such he’s created opportunities to partner with other brilliant minds in drone technology, such as Gather AI. Jon successfully established a partnership with this company as their Canadian business development support, in bring autonomous drone-based inventory monitoring solutions to any company burdened with warehouse inventory. Jon has been integral in sourcing additional revenue streams for LDS through these types of partnerships which has allowed the company to grow much quicker.
As a born-and-raised American, Jonathan has also played an integral role in US business opportunities for LDS. His professional network spanning across North America has allowed the LDS reach to felt almost everywhere. Jon is also responsible for positioning the company as one of the first organizations of any size with both Transport Canada and FAA licensing and certification as commercial drone operators.
The success of a startup meant being there for customers 24/7 and this is something Jon has held true to this day. He is never afraid to pick up the phone or leave on a moment’s notice, to support work in the field. His calm, cool and collected personality has helped establish a team under himself, who embody the hard work, kindness and respect he does.
When Jon isn’t working he enjoys spending time with his 3 kids and wife, as well as travelling as much as he can. He loves to entertain with a cold drink by the pool and would love to get the chance to meet you.
