Today everything in a car is smart, from the tires to the windshields. But there is something that is still just an ugly piece of metal, your license plate. In this episode of Before IT Happened, our host Donna Loughlin tells the story of Neville Boston, Founder, and CSO at Reviver, a disruptive company that is modernizing license plates from a piece of metal to a fully interactive screen with state-of-the-art technology. “Embrace change” is Neville’s mindset and it shows in his life story, from his entrepreneurial background to shifting careers and all the way to bringing the license plate to the 21st century. Listen now and learn how this born entrepreneur is bringing to life a company of the future!
Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.
JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:
(01:48) - Neville’s childhood in an entrepreneurial family - “Success wasn't tied to working for somebody else. It was tied to creating something of need and of interest and building on that.”
(07:49) - Going to UC Berkeley - “You got to see things in a way that other people just dream about. And that was part of your reality. So it was awesome.”
(14:41) - Getting into marketing and working on building company experiences - “That was around the Oscars, Grammys, Super Bowl, NBA All-Star, you name it. We would develop all of these items and ideas for them.”
(19:49) - The potential of digital license plates and getting the business going - “We were forced, hampered, and shackled to a metal plate when everything else on the car, including the tires in the windshield, are smart. It made no sense.”
(28:38) - Expanding the platform’s functionalities - “There are 1,000,001 things you can do with this platform, because it's always on and connected, so you have a way of pushing information and collecting information back.”
(32:06) - Finding the right team to make his dreams a reality - “We've been working with some of the largest fleet management companies in the world. And it looks like this could be a big thing for us and them.”
(40:13) - Privacy and safe transfer of information - “We engage the DMV to verify the license plate number and that it's valid. So there's no more data than that information.”
EPISODE RESOURCES
Connect with Neville through LinkedIn and Twitter
Learn more about Reviver’s Rplate
READ: Digital license plate entrepreneur got government buy-in
SEE: Neville’s interview with Automotive Expert and Car-Talk Host Bobby Likis
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Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.
