October 25, 2016 | Startup Canada
Startup Canada, the national rallying community and voice for Canada’s entrepreneurs, today named its inaugural Startup Culture and Engagement Ambassador. Rob Villeneuve, entrepreneur and CEO of Rebel.com, assumed the role this morning.
Villeneuve will spend the next year working with Startup Canada as its key culture spokesperson, and will work with the organization to influence entrepreneurial culture nationwide. Villeneuve will also provide weekly startup culture and employee engagement tips in the popular Startup Canada Podcast to educate listeners on how to build an entrepreneurial culture in businesses and organizations of all types.
“Organizations that want to adopt an entrepreneurial culture need to think about their core values, and how these values encourage problem solving, risk taking, innovation, and employee satisfaction,” says Victoria Lennox, CEO and Co-Founder of Startup Canada. “As the Startup Canada Ambassador for Culture and Engagement, Rob will support companies with tactics to celebrate intrapreneurship as a means to achieve company goals.”
“A healthy company culture absolutely contributes to business success,” says Villeneuve, after leading Rebel.com through a significant culture shift over the last two years. “When your culture is strong, your employees are not just engaged and happy, they are also your greatest marketing tool, and that trickles down into every aspect of your business from recruiting to your customer’s experience.”
Just two years ago Rebel’s culture was the reflection of an unengaged and negative work force which lacked purpose and accountability. Today, Villeneuve shares the story of the company’s incredible cultural transformation on stages across the country, in podcasts internationally, and in publications like Entrepreneur. Just this month, Rebel.com was recognized by the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce as the winner of an Ottawa Best Business Award in HR for their corporate culture.
Villeneuve brings over 15 years of experience supporting startups to this role, along with extensive knowledge of software development, domains, and web solutions. Having started and worked for companies such as Gilmour Group, 76Design, and RaceDV, Villeneuve is also a Board Member of the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA).
To learn more about Rob Villeneuve and his role as the Startup Canada Ambassador for Culture and Engagement, listen to the Oct. 25 episode of the Startup Canada Podcast, titled Canada’s Newest Startup Culture Ambassador at www.Startupcan.ca/Podcast.
For more information on this appointment and to schedule interviews, contact:
Kathryn Forrest
Communications, Marketing and Government Relations Manager
Startup Canada
613-627-0787 ext. 106
Kathryn.forrest@startupcan.ca
Jana Dybinski
VP, Marketing
Rebel.com
jana@rebel.com
About Startup Canada
Startup Canada is the leading national social enterprise supporting and giving a voice to entrepreneurs through online programs, national awards, flagship events, and partnerships with private sector and government to foster a community for startup and small business success across the country. For more information, visit www.startupcan.ca.
About Rob Villeneuve
Rob Villeneuve is the CEO of Rebel.com, a domain registrar that creates simple, useful tools to empower participation in the world’s bravest communication space: the Internet. Rob’s expertise is the cumulation of two decades of work in domains, software development and web solutions – but his real passion is in building Agile teams and authentic corporate cultures. A bearded tech geek, Rob galvanizes the Rebel team to experiment with innovation and new technology at every opportunity. Rob contributes to national and international Internet policy development through his involvement with CIRA and ICANN, is a StartUp Canada Fellow for culture and engagement, and a contributor to podcasts and publications that support creators and innovators to succeed.