Integrators '20 under 40' 2015—Adam Matlin

Adam Matlin, 37

COO, Think Protection

Toronto

Adam Matlin was working in the film industry in Los Angeles when he went to Toronto to attend a hockey game with his father, AlarmForce founder Joel Matlin. “Out of the blue,” he said, his dad asked him if he'd like to come to work for him at AlarmForce as marketing coordinator.

“I gave it a shot and instantly it was a great fit. I loved growing the company with my father,” Matlin said, adding that he learned a lot about the industry in the first month. “After two months, he was asking me what to do,” Matlin said, laughing.

Within a year, he was AlarmForce's marketing manager. Seven years later, he's COO of his father's new startup, Think Protection.

The industry suits him, he said, and not just because his father had a name in the business and gave him a leg up. (He pointed out that he realizes he's fortunate he didn't have to start in the mailroom.) “I like that we provide value to our customers, a value that they didn't even know existed.”

Being a “DIY high-value provider” is exciting in the industry today, he said. “There will always be a need for traditional companies, but the biggest potential growth is in DIY.” The biggest challenge with that model is to provide “exceptional value,” he said.

Matlin said he thinks more young people will be attracted to security careers “the more it goes mass.”

With the further integration of smartphones into security, for example, “the more they'll pay attention,” he said. Now “it's tough, because its not an industry young people think of getting into. My own father was in the industry, and I didn't even think of getting into it. But I loved it and I thrived.”