Patrick Spence led Sonos as CEO from 2017 to 2025, taking the speaker maker public on the Nasdaq in 2018.
Worth knowing
He has built consumer hardware sales organizations at the scale few Canadians ever see, growing BlackBerry's from roughly $50 million to more than $20 billion, then running the commercial side of Sonos before taking the top job. He knows what it takes to sell a physical product through global retail and to carry a company through public-market scrutiny.
Story
Patrick came out of the Ivey Business School at Western Ontario and spent roughly fourteen years at Research In Motion, rising to lead global sales and marketing as BlackBerry became Canada's defining technology company. He joined Sonos in 2013 as Chief Commercial Officer and was promoted to chief executive four years later. He stepped down in January 2025 and now advises the company from Santa Barbara.
Highlights
- CEO, Sonos, 2017-2025; led its 2018 Nasdaq IPO
- Grew BlackBerry sales from roughly $50M to more than $20B
- Chief Commercial Officer, Sonos, 2013-2017
- HBA, Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario
- Canada's Top 40 Under 40, 2007
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