Digitization and technology is massively changing the world in the last decades. Can you imagine life without computers? Hardly. Digitization is so incorporated into our lives that we take it for granted, without truly realizing its benefits.

Timothy Butler, in the early years of the 21st century, came to the idea that more could be done by enriching components with dynamic data and information. But what does that mean? Imagine every asset in the process having its own story, waiting to be extracted and used for an optimized work process. When everything’s digitally connected, everything works better.

Already an experienced inventor and businessman, Timothy started another journey in his life in 2005, when he created Tego, a platform for digitizing objects and creating smart assets. A brilliant invention that will change his life.

If you’re interested in knowing how Timothy turned his life around and helped the working process become more available and digitized, continue reading about the creation called Tego.

Coming from Turbulent America

Born in the ravaging 60s in the USA, Timothy was growing up in a time that was very different from when he became an inventor. Although very young, Timothy was not immune to the turbulent political times. With all the political and civil movements happening on every corner in 60’s America, Timothy was quickly drawn into what was happening around him.

When he got to high school, Timothy’s main interest became directed toward the science behind human behavior and sociological phenomena. Not being the active type to take part in gatherings or any type of movements, Timothy spent his time observing and analyzing. Even though he was a good student, he was more focused and interested in things that fascinated him, rather than following the standard school subjects.

When he finished high school, Timothy decided to go to Wabash College in Indiana. Young Timothy studied psychology there since it was the field he was most interested in. Back then, he wasn’t actually thinking much about career opportunities. He just chose what attracted him as a science, yearning to learn as much as possible about the wonderful nature of science.

Enthusiastic Timothy’s interest was not constricted to only one subject, which led him to a different path after graduating from Wabash College. Politics was something that he was also occupied with from a young age. Since he was raised in times of scandals, civil rights movements, anti-war movements, etc, politics grabbed Timothy’s attention, big time.

Fascinated by the arts of ruthless politics, Timothy became very much interested in studying political sciences and enrolled at Northwestern University in Illinois. Timothy chose Northwestern because it was the oldest and most prestigious university in the USA. While enjoying the learning experience at Northwestern, Timothy earned himself a master’s degree in international political economy.

Defining Life Priorities

With the graduation from Wabash College and the master’s degree from Northwestern University, Timothy was equipped with the necessary knowledge to start pursuing a career and began the journey toward his professional life. But, being the restless learner that he is, Timothy still felt that it wasn’t enough.

His interests and desire to dive into subjects and gain more knowledge were not keeping him sitting still. Timothy decided to continue the already renowned education that he had garnered. Marketing was the next on his spontaneously developed list. His neverending curiosity was shifting him and making unexpected turns on the road on his journey with an undefined final destination.

Timothy decided to study marketing and business, and he chose the best place to do it, at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He spent three years at the highly respected school, gathering valuable knowledge. In 1990, Timothy earned himself an MBA in marketing. After 9 years of studying, Timothy felt like his education was finally complete, and it was time for him to put it to good use.

The Inventor

Taking his first steps in the world of working professionals, Timothy started working for a tech company, but it was not fulfilling for him at all. He felt that he could do so much more. The world offers endless opportunities for creating something new and original, Timothy believed. He set this as his primary goal, convinced that he possessed the ability to think outside of the box and to come up with creative and new solutions for existing problems.

In 1996, Timothy started his own company called SiteScape. As the founder and CEO of the company, he steered it toward great success. Working tirelessly, Timothy was leading day-to-day operations, as well as securing finances and funding. He took SiteScape to the point of being an enormously successful company, earning millions and attracting some of the big fish as clients.

Even though Timothy achieved great success, for him, that did not mean that he should settle. Timothy’s creative juices were still flowing. Even though he already achieved success with his own startup, Timothy had yet another ace up his sleeve. And he couldn’t resist playing it.

Timothy had a revolutionary idea of a hardware-software platform, used for tracking assets and managing data. His idea could be accomplished by implementing special high-memory chips, using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Restless Timothy was convinced that he’s looking at the future of the many industries and that his innovation can be used across many different industries, improving productivity.

Full of excitement, Timothy decided to withdraw from his company and start a new one called Tego, with the TegoChip as the main product and innovation.

The Chips Are Down

Boosted with confidence and self-esteem to the roof, Timothy started working on his innovation. Timothy was adamantly believing in his idea and the potential it held to become a revolutionary product. He could already see enterprises fighting to get their hands on it and implement it in their business process.

Timothy’s enthusiasm and strong belief in himself didn’t really depict him well among his peers. Leaving a successful company that he himself founded, to start something completely new was perceived as a risky move in his surroundings. However, nothing could turn him away from the pursuit of turning his idea into reality. Like many times earlier in his life, Timothy tagged his spark of necessary eccentricity along, as he believed that being creative and thinking outside of the box needed that extra oomph. So, high on eccentricity and self-esteem, Timothy started working on his project.

It was a hard, touch-and-go beginning, full of difficulties and obstacles. Perfecting the product was not an easy task, it took a lot of time and hard work, a lot of skills, knowledge, and creativity. Timothy managed to gather an expert team around him, a group of professionals who shared his vision and accepted the necessity of sacrifice to make it work.

In 2005, more than a year since leaving his previous company, Tego was finally ready to conquer the world. After two years of slowly attracting attention, in 2007, Tego finally got its first investment, and it wasn’t a small one. Bainco International Investors decided to invest a whole $6M in Tego, giving it a big push for further development.

This was followed by more investors in the upcoming years. Black Forest Ventures, Alpine Meridian, Maine Angels, Marble Harbour Investment Counsel, and North Bay Angels invested in Tego, amounting to a total of $19.5M invested till the end of 2015.

16 Years of Excellence

Tego inc. was founded in 2005 by Timothy Butler, the current CEO of the company. Its headquarters are in Massachusetts, in the small city of Waltham. However small the town Tego is located in is, its success is surely anything but small. It was the company that provided the first IoT application in the aerospace industry. Besides catering to the aerospace industry, Tego provides solutions for the life sciences, healthcare, energy, and other fields.

Some of Tego's famous customers are Boeing, CAT, Honeywell, Synergy Health, and others. Being the pioneers in the use of intelligent assets, the company constantly works on developing new products in step with the needs of the industry.

Before catching the attention of some of the high rollers, Tego had to be restless in making a name for itself. Shaking off competitors like TrackAbout, AB&R, Champion, and WiseTrack among others wasn’t an easy task, but Tego pushed through.

Today, Tego offers employment to 80 people, all working tirelessly towards making Tego a pioneer in the IT industry.

Timothy Butler’s story can serve as a motivation for entrepreneurs throughout the world. Not being afraid to experiment and follow his creative side, got him to the place where he is now, a CEO of his own company that’s been a complete success for 16 years.

He showed that ideas should matter to you more than your comfort zone. Not afraid of being different, even a little eccentric at times - for example, he takes his beloved dog to work with him, he showed that what matters most is staying true to yourself. Invention after invention, now he’s the man that changed industries forever.