In 1984, Lazaridis and Fregin rented space above a bagel shop to found Research In Motion (RIM). Their first product was a system for integrating wireless data processors and pagers. This allowed service technicians to send data messages directly from pagers rather than locating payphones.
By the late 1980s, RIM was working on technology for mobile point-of-sale credit card processing. This caught the attention of Jim Balsillie, an industrious Harvard MBA graduate. Balsillie invested $125,000 to join RIM and spearheaded business development activities to drive rapid growth.