Riva had developed a software application for the optimization of assets addressing the municipal government market. Cook was brought in as a consultant to develop a growth plan for the business and raise $1 million in equity to fund this plan.
After a product marketing review, he concluded that, while the product was competitive, there was greater potential in the Utilities sector and he re-oriented marketing, sales and development activity accordingly. He personally assumed responsibility for key account sales activity and identified a use case at Hydro One. Working with the customer and the engineering team, Riva developed an asset management & investment planning solution that allowed Hydro One to significantly improve investment decisions for transmission and distribution that the Director described as a ‘game changer’ for the utilities industry.
Cook then introduced Riva to the SAP Utilities group in North America and Waldorf in Germany. With this introduction, Riva’s profile in the utilities sector was magnified and soon after, the company was acquired by Powerplan, producing an exit with substantial capital gain for the shareholders.