Real Stories: Q&A with Francois Menard, Entrepreneur and Innovator

Every once in a while, someone has a simple idea that they can't ignore. Sometimes it can change the course of their career and life. This is one of those stories.

In this exclusive Q&A with Francois Menard, founder of Pulr Technologies, he tells us about his journey becoming a telecom entreprneur. Make sure to stop by and meet him at ISE EXPO at booth 509.

What were you doing before starting your company?

In the 8 years I spent as CTO at AEPONYX working on optical switching chips, I never really abandoned worrying about fiber optic networks, which I spent 10 years of my career doing prior.

So when I decided to try something new again two years ago, I tackled solving a problem which kept creeping up on my bucket list: pulling a patch cable with an APC connector through the smallest hole in a wall. This sparked the creation of PULR Technologies and lead to the invention of the HelicalGrip at the heart of the Helipuller. This tool is now in use in many FTTH projects to help with faster installs of pre-terminated cables. It’ll be on display in our booth 509 at ISE Expo 2024.

How did you come up with the idea for your business? 

Early summer last year,  while iterating on an improvement on the Helipuller, we realized we had discovered the Helitag and its potential as an on-cable RFID for labeling and for sensors. This ultimately justified turning PULR Technologies Inc. into a full-time gig.

So it's fair to say we’re 8 months old, a team of four, with 20+ products under our belt and both Helipuller and Helitag are patent pending. The potential for RFID technology on cables is really astounding and we see the potential of a Helitag RFID on every cable.

When did you realize that this might be a successful idea?

The idea of using a Helitag to create a digital twin of a cable with an RFID then evolved into an RFID carrying sustainability information as a DPP,  a digital product passport. The Helitag became a HeliPass and with NFC technology, it works with your phone and our TapDPP app.

We promote DPP’s two years ahead of it becoming mandatory in Europe, so we know we’re early. But sustainability is a big deal. We are now driving the adoption of DPP’s and this is a rapidly evolving landscape. For instance, we will soon release a blockchain enabled NFC RFID cable tag. This is a requirement for the next version of DPP’s. It’s quite a privilege to figure out how to bring the best of IOT, OT, ESG and Blockchain together. Cable harnesses on cars will need this. Telecom can surf on that bigger wave.

What have you heard from people about your products?

Every week, we get an email from yet another telecom tech in the field thanking us for manufacturing Helipullers and passing the word for us. Although the HeliPass is pretty new, everybody who has tried said it’s the most clever RFID cable tag they have seen and told us they liked how easy it is to use along with our TapDPP App. We are in discussions with many operators to support deployments at scale. Our TapDPP App will help with digitizing cable MOPs and we think it’s a big deal for operators.

What’s the hardest thing about being an entrepreneur in the telecom industry?

Its a lot harder than we thought to get the word out there. Techs are left to figure things out for themselves. They are busy and we make it our mission to help them with easy to understand tutorial videos. We want planners to know their techs can save three to 10 minutes on every install with our Helipuller. It's very affordable, reliable and field proven. We think that both the Helipuller and Helitag RFID can make a big difference to improve productivity in telecom network installs and operations.

What is something you think sets you apart as an entrepreneur?

I often refer to myself as an artist of telecommunications, as I often found myself seeking to find solutions to problems which were dismissed as not worthy. I even patented a completely new way to make a tunable receiver for an NG-PON2 transceiver as a photonic IC. I’m especially proud of the Helitag as my latest invention as it is by far the most affordable one. I like finding solutions by thinking outside the box and going beyond my comfort zone. 

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

I live in Quebec and we have beautiful parks, so putting on the hiking shoes and spending time with my family is what I do. This summer we went all the way around the Gaspésie peninsula for two weeks camping and BnB’ing. Nothing fancy. Fortunately, for most of my career, working on most days has been as fun as being on PTO.

How can people find out more about your product?

We have a very comprehensive website where pricing is at MSRP. We allow people to conveniently buy their first units direct and we then redirect them to our distributors where they get better pricing. We authored plenty of videos on our YouTube channel. It has some of the best material on pre-terminated cable manipulation and on RFID technology. We’ll be at ISE Expo 2024 in booth 509 where we’re sure to meet new and existing customers.