Few roles offer the chance to build something meaningful in the same place you’re putting down roots. For Sheldon McCormick, joining Communitech as its new CEO is an opportunity to invest in a community his family already calls home.
“I feel motivated because I think it’s very meaningful work,” he said. “There aren’t many organizations with this kind of legacy and platform. We have an opportunity to do a lot of good.”
McCormick and his wife live in Waterloo, where they’re raising their two young children.
“I’m 100 per cent dedicated to the future of Waterloo Region,” he said. “I’m very grateful for the opportunity and motivated to dive in. I’m especially looking forward to meeting with founders and their teams.”
His drive to the Communitech Hub might be short when he officially steps into the CEO position on April 14, but his road to this role has been anything but.
McCormick helped launch and scale Uber across Canada. As General Manager, he built city operations from the ground up and worked with government stakeholders through rapidly changing regulations. He also co-founded and served as COO of Properly, a Canadian proptech company that changed how people buy and sell homes. The company scaled to over $30 million in annual sales and facilitated $1.5 billion in customer transactions.
McCormick’s professional journey has been defined by growth, pressure and constant change - the very things startup founders and their teams experience every day.
“You often start in humble beginnings where you're trying to convince yourself, your friends, and your family that your idea has merit,” he said. “Then you’re chasing your first dollar of revenue and hiring your first employees. It takes a tremendous amount of energy. Just like in a video game, the challenges get tougher at every stage.”
McCormick says joining Communitech is an opportunity to bring his experience full circle and use it to support others.
“There are so many peers going through similar challenges. It can be such a relief to know you’re not alone and be able to turn to others for help. I think one of our biggest roles at Communitech is to help facilitate those connections. There’s something powerful about catalyzing the energy of this local network and bringing together people who genuinely want to support one another,” he said. “I want Communitech to be described as a founder-led movement. As employees, we’re the supporting cast—the infrastructure that supports and amplifies our community.”
When McCormick and his family settled into Waterloo Region, they found a community built on connection, collaboration and a shared drive to build something meaningful together.
“We have a ton of friends and family here,” he said. “I can say that living a few minutes away from almost everybody we know has not gotten old.”
Weekends often include outings to local farmer’s markets.
“We love getting out there, especially in the summer with little kids,” he said. “We try to go every week through the summer and into the fall.”
He’s also a self-declared foodie who’s already staked out his go-to lunch spot near the Communitech Hub.
“I love Eby Street Bodega. I think it has the best sandwiches anywhere in the world and it just happens to be in downtown Kitchener.”
In his first few weeks as CEO, McCormick plans to immerse himself in the local tech ecosystem, listening to founders, partners and community members. He’s also interested in connecting with tech leaders and their teams to understand how they’re adapting to the “powerful tailwinds” impacting the industry.
“AI is the ultimate example,” he said. “It’s transforming both what we build—redefining business models—and how we build companies. It’s a tool that can be applied across nearly every industry and company function.”
It’s a change he’s witnessed firsthand, having started Properly in 2018 when AI was nowhere near the force it is today. Now, he sees a new playbook emerging for startups and sees Communitech serving an important role in connecting the dots.
“I’m confident AI is fundamentally reshaping yesterday’s playbook for building and scaling startups. I’ll be focused on how we can help surface and elevate the best practices that are emerging.”
McCormick sees startups as ongoing experiments and believes that taking smart risks and building a culture of curiosity and data-driven learning should be part of every team’s DNA. It’s that mindset and commitment to helping others learn, adapt and grow that he’s bringing to Communitech.
“My door is open,” he said. “I welcome anyone who wants to share their ideas, feedback and what they love about this community. I’m also open to hearing constructive criticism. It’s all part of how we grow together.”
