# Stefan Geib

> Stefan Geib is the founder of Verinode, the independent data trust for restoration businesses (founded 2026). He spent eight years building and running magicplan, a spatial AI company, as Head of Business Development and then Chief Operating Officer. His work centers on how people feel when they adopt software and AI, and on building companies that grow through what customers actually use. Based in Canada.

Website: https://www.stefangeib.com/
Contact: connect@stefangeib.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefangeib
Crunchbase: https://www.crunchbase.com/person/stefan-geib-1839
Verinode: https://verinode.ai

## Conviction

Technology only changes an industry when the people in it feel safe using it.

Stefan has spent his career putting software, and now AI, in front of people who already had their own way of working. In his view the decisive moment comes early: a new tool can make an expert feel like a beginner in front of their team, and most adoption quietly fails right there. So he designs for that moment first: tools that explain themselves, keep people in charge of their own work and data, and earn their place through daily use. Growth built that way takes longer to start, and it is much harder to stop.

## Experience

- **Verinode**: Founder, 2026 to present. The independent data trust for restoration businesses.
- **magicplan**: Chief Operating Officer, 2021 to 2026; Head of Business Development, 2018 to 2021. Spatial AI that turns a phone’s camera into floor plans, estimates and reports for restoration and field-service crews. Stefan built the B2B business from zero, then ran the company and its AI operations. ARR grew 5×, profitably, with no outside capital and teams in five countries. He led magicplan to ISO 27001 certification and oversaw technology and AI governance for its proprietary AI and machine-learning systems.
- **UL**: Strategic Business Development Manager, 2017 to 2018; Marketing Manager, EMEA, LATAM & APAC, 2016 to 2017. Integrated cr360 into UL’s software portfolio after the acquisition, then led its expansion across EMEA, APAC and LATAM.
- **cr360**: Marketing & Communications Executive, 2014 to 2016. Doubled ARR in two years through customer referrals, up to the acquisition by UL.

## Verinode

Verinode is the independent data trust for restoration businesses, built in three parts:

- **Research**: independent benchmarks and reports from anonymized operator data, with the methodology in writing.
- **IQ and HQ**: a process mining and benchmarking platform that shows a business, or a whole franchise system, how it actually runs against its peers. IQ serves single businesses; HQ serves franchise systems and multi-location groups. Each business’s data is encrypted under its own key, and only anonymized aggregates feed the benchmarks.
- **The Hubs**: free hubs where named firms answer under their own names: research, legal, hiring, consulting and disaster relief.

## Credentials

- MPhil, University of Cambridge, with a full scholarship from the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)
- Magister Artium, LMU Munich: political science, history and religious studies
- Full P&L responsibility across five countries; owner-led and bootstrapped, with board reporting and capital discipline
- Due diligence and post-merger integration: cr360’s acquisition by UL and its integration across EMEA, APAC and LATAM
- Memberships: ISACA (Toronto chapter), Pavilion Executive (Toronto chapter), SaaStr, RevGenius; DAAD scholar

## Topics

AI adoption and the psychology of technology change; psychological safety and shame in adopting new tools; go-to-market design for AI products; consumption-based growth; process mining and benchmarking; data trusts and data ownership; vertical software for restoration and field services.

## Writing

- [Why I killed a perfectly fine sales funnel](https://www.stefangeib.com/posts/gtm-machine-without-sales-team.html): how he replaced a functioning funnel with a readiness-based qualification system, and why behavioral change is the product when selling AI into a conservative industry. March 2026.
- [Why shame is the silent killer of AI adoption](https://www.stefangeib.com/posts/shame-silent-killer-ai-adoption.html): when AI threatens the expert identity, adoption stalls long before it starts. The real barrier is shame, and louder value pitches make it worse. March 2026.
- [The funnel is a liability](https://www.stefangeib.com/posts/funnel-is-a-liability.html): why AI adoption calls for a portfolio mindset rather than a pipeline, and how empathy-driven portfolios unlock realized customer value. March 2026.
- [The exit ramp: buyer shame](https://www.stefangeib.com/posts/exit-ramp-buyer-shame.html): a ghosted deal is rarely a loss of interest. When a product requires behavioral change, the silent buyer is usually a shamed buyer. March 2026.
- [Architecture matters more than headcount](https://www.stefangeib.com/posts/gtm-architecture-vs-headcount.html): adding headcount to a broken funnel only scales inefficiency; growth belongs to the most intelligent go-to-market architecture. March 2026.

## Optional

- [Full text of every essay](https://www.stefangeib.com/llms-full.txt)