Carl Fransen is Proof of Concept That Leveraging Cloud Technology is the Future & Encourages Other CEO’s to Embrace Working from Anywhere

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[00:00] SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Canada's Podcast, the number one podcast for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs.
[00:08] SPEAKER_01: Hi, this is Angela Fae from Canada's podcast. Joining me today is Carl Franson from CTECH,
[00:16] SPEAKER_01: who ironically is actually not just around the corner for me here in the NIMO British Columbia,
[00:23] SPEAKER_01: but that's a recent move. So that's part of what we're talking today about is remote work
[00:30] SPEAKER_01: and kind of working from anywhere. What is happening now in the world as we know it? But let's
[00:37] SPEAKER_01: start off with Carl, can you give me a little bit of insight on your entrepreneurial journey to date?
[00:42] SPEAKER_00: Angela, thank you for having on your podcast. It's always a treat talking with you and hanging
[00:45] SPEAKER_00: over with you and to answer your question, my entrepreneurial journey is started back after
[00:52] SPEAKER_00: two and a half years of backpacking around the world. I visited over 40 countries, 250 cities,
[01:00] SPEAKER_00: and when I go back to home to Calgary, I realized I had no fear of the unknown and it was quite
[01:05] SPEAKER_00: extraverted at the time. So back in the year 2000, I started up the CTECH group and in the first three
[01:13] SPEAKER_00: months, I made $800 in three months and how can you turn your back on that kind of money?
[01:19] SPEAKER_01: And but there was a lot of time we received a check. It's for it entrepreneurs like, you know,
[01:24] SPEAKER_00: and you're giving up on my wall right now. But unfortunately, I went for food and for rent at the time.
[01:30] SPEAKER_00: But I did have a goal of mind. I wanted to create a new type of experience for my clients by giving
[01:37] SPEAKER_00: my texts or my people who work for me the best tools to do their job effectively and efficiently.
[01:46] SPEAKER_00: And that's one thing that we kept going through the past 20 years that CTECH has been around
[01:50] SPEAKER_00: is that mindset of always being on the current edge and in diving, headfirst actually into that
[01:56] SPEAKER_00: of that area. And it has been around three to four evolutions of CTECH as I progressed through
[02:05] SPEAKER_00: those 20 years, always trying to look for the bigger, better, faster, stronger, but always keep in
[02:10] SPEAKER_00: mind what the clients are really asking you for. They're telling you the answer to the test and
[02:15] SPEAKER_00: you have to basically adapt your business continuously to what they actually need.
[02:20] SPEAKER_01: Absolutely. Can you give us a quick, what are the three iterations of CTECH today? I mean,
[02:25] SPEAKER_01: we're talking 20 years ago with start, right? I know what. Back when I was your age,
[02:31] SPEAKER_00: computer for all the rage. And there was one computer at a desk and you had to walk into the office
[02:40] SPEAKER_00: and actually do work that way. And that was supposed to be good. That's four to a couple years.
[02:45] SPEAKER_00: So suddenly we have some kind of like this VPN, RDP remote, remote access kind of stuff.
[02:51] SPEAKER_00: So now that people are actually able to work a little bit remotely. And there's a lot of limitations,
[02:56] SPEAKER_00: a lot of problems with that, but it evolved over that time frame.
[03:01] SPEAKER_00: And slowly we say, you what? It's not something you want to server. It's like 10 servers,
[03:06] SPEAKER_00: I can say you want to server but everything onto that one server. Do not have,
[03:09] SPEAKER_00: now I have the reduced amount of hardware. Okay. That's something I learned.
[03:13] SPEAKER_00: But I think the last iteration I'm going to talk about right now is kind of the most important
[03:19] SPEAKER_00: because it's here today. And COVID gave it an artificial push around two to three years.
[03:27] SPEAKER_00: It's normal take but into the future. It's the cloud right now. Everyone knows the cloud or has a month here
[03:33] SPEAKER_00: right now. It's called the modern workplace. And now that we're seeing businesses actually be able to
[03:38] SPEAKER_00: take advantage of this new cloud technology. And what reform it may be to enhance their business.
[03:45] SPEAKER_00: So I had to continuously evolve change and adapt my staff to learn what I've got 25 years
[03:52] SPEAKER_00: experience that are going obsolete right now because they have not learned the new stuff as
[03:58] SPEAKER_01: right yet. Right. Yeah. Well, can you and I realize it's very difficult to predict the future,
[04:05] SPEAKER_01: but I had a visual analogy the other day as I'm listening at the sacred how you're driving down
[04:12] SPEAKER_01: the road in the dark and your lights are ahead of you. And you know, you just have to trust that
[04:16] SPEAKER_01: the road is going to keep, you know, keep going beyond what you can see in the headlights. But if you
[04:22] SPEAKER_01: could just describe the, you know, what you see in the headlights from 2021 ahead, how will that
[04:31] SPEAKER_00: shape how Ctech operates? You know what, the technology was start further in a way as the
[04:37] SPEAKER_00: company actually knows how to build the roads. We're able to know where the roads actually go.
[04:43] SPEAKER_00: And we're able to predict with more general accuracy where the roads going to be going down next
[04:50] SPEAKER_00: five to minutes down the road. And now so what we are able to do right now is saying we are experts
[04:56] SPEAKER_00: on the old technology, but the current technology has these functions. And the biggest, biggest
[05:01] SPEAKER_00: challenge that that techs have is putting the geekiness into English. They're not bilingual.
[05:08] SPEAKER_00: They speak either geek or English, not the both. So I've learned to be bilingual. And so what my
[05:12] SPEAKER_00: prediction is right now is to sum it up in one sentence, anybody at any time can access any
[05:22] SPEAKER_00: information, any where in the world to collaborate with anybody and have it's an on any device.
[05:30] SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of enemies in there. There's a lot to unpack, right? And so one thing that I think
[05:35] SPEAKER_01: that brings to the surface, I think that all of us are dealing with right now is when
[05:42] SPEAKER_01: the world is your oyster, literally, right? When everything is possible or anything is possible,
[05:50] SPEAKER_01: how to filter out or filter in maybe is a better analogy, right? Filter, you know, get through and
[05:59] SPEAKER_01: stay focused on what it is that you are going to excel at in the next era. And what value you can
[06:07] SPEAKER_00: give back to the community. I think I alluded to the answer just a little while ago by listening to
[06:13] SPEAKER_00: the clients. The clients have what I call pain points. Ways of doing business and the ways of
[06:20] SPEAKER_00: actually saying, you know what, I come to the office every single day or I open up that Excel
[06:23] SPEAKER_00: at Excel spreadsheet and look at numbers all the time. And once you understand that there's a
[06:30] SPEAKER_00: new way of doing something, you're able to introduce that new technology into their new environment
[06:34] SPEAKER_00: and saying, you know what, as of right now, do you really want to do that commute anymore?
[06:40] SPEAKER_00: Do you want to have, do you actually want to share files? How about what, what, what, what, what right now?
[06:44] SPEAKER_00: I'll show you how to collaborate in real time with other people, mostly with Zoom right now.
[06:49] SPEAKER_00: We're now having this wonderful Zoom call back and forth. But we're being expand upon that by
[06:53] SPEAKER_00: actually fixing a real busy pain point, whereas I would have everyone drive in for a meeting.
[06:58] SPEAKER_00: That's a very easy one. But how about this? Well, we have people outside inside your organization,
[07:04] SPEAKER_00: collaborate on a document together and actually work on it in real time while looking at each other,
[07:10] SPEAKER_00: talking and editing a file. So, if you'll stop and listen to your clients and say, you know what,
[07:20] SPEAKER_00: you're doing it this way for now. I always like the horse and cart and car analogy.
[07:24] SPEAKER_00: They have a horse and cart. They have a beautiful barn. They have a wonderful horse. They have
[07:34] SPEAKER_00: a car right over here. It's something different. It may not work for you because your rules might
[07:41] SPEAKER_00: not be perfect for the car. But what if I basically showed you what the car looked like?
[07:47] SPEAKER_00: And it's just showing you what this actually fixed your problems.
[07:51] SPEAKER_00: And you know what? It's opening that door, getting that realization saying that you could be doing
[07:56] SPEAKER_00: something that you do normally today. It'd be more efficient on it, more effective. And at the end
[08:01] SPEAKER_00: of the day, be more competitive and have better value for your IT spent.
[08:06] SPEAKER_01: I'm curious, Carl, we've gone from horse and cart to cars to, you know, the future. It's if you
[08:12] SPEAKER_01: reading people like or listening to people like Peter Diamondus and that the roads might not
[08:17] SPEAKER_01: exist, right? Or certainly cars might, ownership of cars might not exist. But you know, and then
[08:23] SPEAKER_01: the Jetsons, heaven forbid, you know, was a show when I was a kid and you know, people were in
[08:30] SPEAKER_01: hovercraft. So I'm curious what your role is at CTECH or what influencers you are, do you listen
[08:42] SPEAKER_01: to not just build the car, build the road beyond the headlights, but actually start to create the
[08:51] SPEAKER_01: vision, see the vision so that the how kind of unfold. You have amazing questions in perfect timing.
[08:58] SPEAKER_00: I also just have to do in that this morning, I blocked off three hours this morning to attend
[09:04] SPEAKER_00: specialized sessions webinar, put them by our vendors. This one is the Ingram Micro,
[09:09] SPEAKER_00: a 10-Ingram Micro One. Normally they fly me down to somebody's those dates and I've taken all
[09:13] SPEAKER_00: these sessions. While they have top industry experts, imagine the future. But put it in ways of
[09:21] SPEAKER_00: actually, here's how we use it today. And give ideas for me to take to my clients.
[09:27] SPEAKER_00: Not only that, it's about me actually applying that current technology to CTECH, my business,
[09:34] SPEAKER_00: is saying, hold a second. I realize right now that I don't spend time like for documents.
[09:39] SPEAKER_00: I have this program that doesn't for me. I say, hey, Angela, you know that dog was working on
[09:43] SPEAKER_00: last week about that, that being in it about about the proposal about new West Corp. And you have
[09:50] SPEAKER_00: no idea. It's like, yeah, sure. Open it up for me. And you know, I have the ability to do that.
[09:55] SPEAKER_00: I go find, and if it works for us internally here at CTECH, I can now then basically prove it
[10:01] SPEAKER_00: and actually sell it to the client as, you know, we ate our old dog food. And it was tasty.
[10:07] SPEAKER_01: And check it out. How important is the proof of concept in a sort of transactional relationship?
[10:18] SPEAKER_01: And what I mean by that is, you know, we hear great ideas or you hear about space travel or you're
[10:24] SPEAKER_01: hear about, you know, it's possible to for or no car ownership and, you know, us all to just
[10:32] SPEAKER_01: have an app and call it a vehicle and at our disposal. So it eliminates a lot of efficiencies.
[10:38] SPEAKER_01: Those are ideas at the moment that are being tested somewhere. How important is proof of concept
[10:42] SPEAKER_01: at a local level or a regional level from your experience in the adoption of technology?
[10:48] SPEAKER_00: The proof of concept is, in my opinion, the difference between success or failure of the entire project.
[10:56] SPEAKER_00: We're offering some people only move when they're uncomfortable. And when they have,
[11:01] SPEAKER_00: when you're seeing a certain way, they don't want to move. But if you offer them a different way,
[11:06] SPEAKER_00: they will potentially adopt onto that if the value proposition is good enough. However,
[11:12] SPEAKER_00: this will come down to the crunch part. This is a new way for them and also for you.
[11:17] SPEAKER_00: You better have the ability to properly deliver that in a way that the clients are asking for and
[11:23] SPEAKER_00: take them on that journey head in hand. So change them from point A to point B and everything
[11:28] SPEAKER_00: in between those two letters and a let them adopt onto it. I've installed massive systems that
[11:34] SPEAKER_00: failed miserably because they worked perfectly yet no one used them. Right. You need to find that
[11:41] SPEAKER_00: that client pain point prove it to yourself that yes, it does work. And then
[11:47] SPEAKER_00: the guide them teach them on how to use it and change the way they really do business.
[11:53] SPEAKER_00: Which is so hard to find right now. We have these CEOs from these multi-million dollar corporations
[11:58] SPEAKER_00: that think driving to an office in their own car is a good idea. Or having an office space is
[12:05] SPEAKER_00: actually mandatory. Or physically seeing their staff is something that needs to be done or
[12:11] SPEAKER_00: or as they're being lazy and non-productive. It's that mindset that you need to get around and change.
[12:17] SPEAKER_00: And we're at the precipice of that the door is there, the door is open. It is trying to get
[12:23] SPEAKER_00: them to walk through and actually see that that is greener on the other side. Well, and that's
[12:28] SPEAKER_01: that's an interesting concept of you know, been listening and reading to different viewpoints as
[12:35] SPEAKER_01: far as the shift in mindset from from you know, COVID being a you know, yes, it's a health
[12:43] SPEAKER_01: pandemic and I would like to acknowledge and express that there's no doubt about the impact in the
[12:50] SPEAKER_01: and the health concerns you know across the world. But some of the legacy pieces that are
[12:55] SPEAKER_01: happening in our day to day and how we interact with our business and our staff and our community
[13:01] SPEAKER_01: and some of the legacy pieces that are that are actually you know brilliant, much more efficient,
[13:10] SPEAKER_01: much more productive, much more efficient. They're not based on resource extraction, you know,
[13:17] SPEAKER_01: they're based on leveraging high efficiency and you've touched on a couple of those things
[13:25] SPEAKER_01: as far as the new way to work in the future. And I think my one of my questions to you earlier and
[13:31] SPEAKER_01: I'd love you to address it as coming from a technology background. What do you know to be the legacy
[13:39] SPEAKER_01: pieces that are no longer disruption? They are they are realities they are and that are that you
[13:46] SPEAKER_01: would love to see happen you know more in the ripple effect more prolifically across the board.
[13:53] SPEAKER_00: Oh good question. Well I think it's time to think about that one for a little bit. But I think
[13:57] SPEAKER_00: not my best answer where should be be this technology and all the legacy. There's some things
[14:04] SPEAKER_00: that technology cannot can't replace is that human interaction that they did the face-based
[14:09] SPEAKER_00: contact. And we need to have basically and sitting at home all the time is not healthy for a body.
[14:17] SPEAKER_00: It requires stimulus. It requires you go aside. It requires that social interaction that a lot of
[14:24] SPEAKER_00: times being mobile doesn't give to you and having the opportunity to seclude yourself in your
[14:32] SPEAKER_00: basement or in your office at home eight hours a day and not get out is something that we need to
[14:40] SPEAKER_00: overcome. So that legacy aspect of being human and having that the human interaction is so very much
[14:48] SPEAKER_00: has gone even more important. We have come these days like Microsoft who have brought back the
[14:53] SPEAKER_00: virtual commute again. They're they're trying to say give your time to rest and reflect and interact
[15:00] SPEAKER_00: with people in a much more constructive way. And we still need to have. Well and I like that you know the
[15:09] SPEAKER_01: virtual commute I tend to go with the you know post work beers have to walk in my life.
[15:16] SPEAKER_01: So yeah right. Yeah no virtual water cooler anymore. Water cooler exactly the water cooler which is
[15:22] SPEAKER_01: you know that's what. Some of the guests some of the best moments and not hot moments happen in
[15:28] SPEAKER_01: the workplace when you're by the water cooler you're relaxed and you've applied things but now you're
[15:34] SPEAKER_01: you're thinking about them and from a new perspective. Building relationships with people as well right.
[15:40] SPEAKER_00: Walk over to someone's desk and say hey let's go from lunch together or hey I need to help with this.
[15:45] SPEAKER_00: And you sit down and you see the body language and they come where they help you and it brings you
[15:51] SPEAKER_00: as a social species it brings you so much closer together that that legacy that legacy piece right
[15:56] SPEAKER_00: there is something that we will be lacking. At least for my generation millennials not too sure were my.
[16:02] SPEAKER_00: So we have like 6000 Facebook friends and never met any of them face. Right.
[16:07] SPEAKER_01: So who knows. Right. Well and speaking of you know the impact of who you're walking outside with and
[16:15] SPEAKER_01: and saying let's meet up for a recreational activity or coffee or lunch. You know the the community
[16:22] SPEAKER_01: in which you live now and work is becoming so much more important. So I would like to touch on the fact
[16:29] SPEAKER_01: that you've just made a move a physical move with your family. Do you want to just describe a little bit
[16:34] SPEAKER_00: about how and why. This goes back to my core tentative being family first and having basically the family
[16:42] SPEAKER_00: not be driven by the technology. And as the president of Ctech also sent example for my staff and also
[16:50] SPEAKER_00: for my clients and clients to be. I used to live in Calgary around two months ago. I moved myself
[16:58] SPEAKER_00: or to the NIMO in a matter of two weeks and I'm not running my company. Yeah I'm not running
[17:04] SPEAKER_00: company my company effectively and efficiently here in the NIMO. When talking with my staff they
[17:12] SPEAKER_00: don't even know I'm actually even here. The only drawback is I work an hour earlier and I see
[17:20] SPEAKER_00: beyond that my company is basically pure modern workplace. Instead of is set up like this. And I
[17:28] SPEAKER_00: reach out to my staff via teams or chat or whatever we collaborate on documents. And in fact
[17:37] SPEAKER_00: my latest round of employees have quit their jobs to come work for Ctech because they didn't want to
[17:42] SPEAKER_00: go to office anymore. So it made me move into NIMO. It was a peer shift of a better lifestyle.
[17:51] SPEAKER_00: I can now basically walk out of my house. I have a view of departure bay. I see the ferry. I see
[17:56] SPEAKER_00: Gabriel Island right across the Bay as gorgeous. Instead of basically driving an half an hour to
[18:05] SPEAKER_00: 45 minutes to Costco I drive eight minutes to a force lane to Costco. Exactly. I like to think that
[18:16] SPEAKER_01: I mean the NIMO it's not in our brand promise here but it almost could be where it's a 15 minute
[18:22] SPEAKER_01: commute to anywhere whether it's Costco or a trailhead or a transport hub. You know it's
[18:28] SPEAKER_00: the end of the last hike that my family did was basically on the edge of NIMO National City
[18:33] SPEAKER_00: itself we went to the Abyss and Creeper Road sort of thing. It was phenomenal. And normally Calgary
[18:40] SPEAKER_00: I would have drive like an hour to get to Cannescus or maybe to trailhead and wherever I am.
[18:48] SPEAKER_00: But everything is so close. The NSP is here. It's phenomenal. Everything is stable. All the
[18:53] SPEAKER_00: amenities are around us right here. But one thing I did for my staff. I had three hours of
[19:02] SPEAKER_00: staff meetings one time. And I don't know the name of the lake. We drive along the island highway
[19:09] SPEAKER_00: number 19 going north on right hand side is a big lake right before the cost going away. I found
[19:16] SPEAKER_00: nice ocean trail and there's probably 200 year olds like like Bertry. I sat down next to it
[19:23] SPEAKER_00: through all my laptop, hotspot in my phone and I did my meetings in a forest next to a lake
[19:31] SPEAKER_00: five minutes from my house. Wow. And I was just a productive I was working in office.
[19:38] SPEAKER_01: Well, and it's adding so you've said some of the things that won't change is the need for the
[19:44] SPEAKER_01: human interaction. I think the second thing that won't change and is probably even more
[19:50] SPEAKER_01: reinforced now is our need to interact in nature. And so you know less paved paradise and more
[19:58] SPEAKER_01: trees and access to natural spaces I think is imperative.
[20:02] SPEAKER_00: You know, one of the big things that I like bring to a table right here is a movement that heard
[20:08] SPEAKER_00: called re-realization. Yes. Remember everyone decided to say you know what, you know what,
[20:14] SPEAKER_00: mom, dad, I'm about to leave the house and go go to the big city and find my career out there.
[20:19] SPEAKER_00: That doesn't really seem to be the case. I'm going forward. This thing. Because right now is everyone
[20:27] SPEAKER_00: is building skyscrapers that have no need to be there anymore. Wow. I'm running a very
[20:32] SPEAKER_00: successful multi-million dollar IT firm from beautiful Nino and just as effective. And my staff,
[20:39] SPEAKER_00: all of them are working from home, being even more effective because they're no time for commute.
[20:45] SPEAKER_00: And also what that is, I can now hire on people anywhere in the world to come here to work for my
[20:54] SPEAKER_00: company just like they're actually working on my side. So I'm seeing I'm predicting this
[20:59] SPEAKER_00: drain of people leaving the need for the brick and mortar skyscrapers or buildings
[21:07] SPEAKER_00: as saying, putting their hand up on the internet saying, I have all these skill sets, I can do all
[21:12] SPEAKER_00: this work, realize graphic artists, designers, customers, people, exactly.
[21:20] SPEAKER_01: Well, in this cave, things like doctors are now so much digital, right? The things that
[21:26] SPEAKER_01: relied on a massive infrastructure, bricks and mortar, and I'll say even campuses, universities,
[21:34] SPEAKER_01: where there was a need to go to a campus. And now suddenly, we have thousands of institutions
[21:42] SPEAKER_01: across the globe that have delivered digitally for the last six months. So I think we're going to
[21:47] SPEAKER_01: see massive move away from bricks and mortar conglomerates. Yeah, let me put your picture for you.
[21:53] SPEAKER_00: Let's say this thing example of a dentist's office or medical center. Say a GP or dentist or
[22:00] SPEAKER_00: wetter's or thing is actually interacting with the patient and they need a consultant specialist.
[22:06] SPEAKER_00: Much like we're doing right now with her two or three pushes of button, being a launch of a webcam,
[22:11] SPEAKER_00: they are cheap. They may seem pointed at themselves, pointed at the actual client and say,
[22:17] SPEAKER_00: all right, and especially on the other side, you know, lift up the person's arm, do this to him,
[22:22] SPEAKER_00: ask him a few questions and then you have a real time on time consult, right then and there,
[22:28] SPEAKER_00: without waiting for an hour or an hour or just to drive there, then wait in line and then
[22:36] SPEAKER_00: get an appointment and do that. Real time consultations happen all the time, especially during COVID.
[22:43] SPEAKER_00: I heard even vets saying point the picture, point the camera at your dog or at your cat.
[22:49] SPEAKER_00: Let me see her pause, hold them up up to the screen and they hold up to screen and they said,
[22:52] SPEAKER_00: do this, do this, do that to them, look at that. And the the special veterinarian is actually
[22:57] SPEAKER_00: diagnosing and actually looking at the health of this animal via webcam and look at his comes,
[23:02] SPEAKER_00: show his comes, okay, excellent. And that's happening today. I want to go back to what were your
[23:08] SPEAKER_01: clauses any time, anywhere? Oh, yeah. I didn't write that down. There's so many 80s in there.
[23:16] SPEAKER_01: It's kind of brilliant, really, is it kind of a, a synopsis, I guess, are an aggregate of
[23:26] SPEAKER_01: yes, of remote work and the gig economy kind of mashing together and, you know, becoming
[23:40] SPEAKER_01: the next wave, I think, and I'm going to say the new reality. Yeah, the new normal, but what
[23:49] SPEAKER_00: are we going to do with the way it being? Absolutely. It's the great reset. And suddenly, as anything
[23:54] SPEAKER_01: is possible, and I think I was listening, I was at the Vincuveraulin economic summit last week and
[23:59] SPEAKER_01: and one of the urban planners said, you know, we've been trying for five years to get
[24:05] SPEAKER_01: paperless and suddenly, boom, we were, we were, paperless in two weeks, thanks to COVID.
[24:11] SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it's a little bit of going back to your comment, right? People only move when
[24:15] SPEAKER_01: they're uncomfortable is, you know, the movement, I think, is going to be dramatic. I think there
[24:21] SPEAKER_01: will be systems, reinvention, which I'm kind of excited about and coming back to being able to
[24:30] SPEAKER_01: work from anywhere. Now you can literally maybe where you live and work is more defined by
[24:39] SPEAKER_01: the natural element and the culture of the people that you're going to bump into, right?
[24:44] SPEAKER_00: That's exactly why I came to Ninoimo. I came here because of the people. I met some great people,
[24:51] SPEAKER_00: authentic, full people right here that really cared. And they were like, I went to ISEBC and
[25:00] SPEAKER_00: went to my car, air care tested. And the guys at the shop were saying, oh, hey, Carl, come down here,
[25:07] SPEAKER_00: take a ride as a real good coffee place for you sit down right there. And the person
[25:10] SPEAKER_00: named is this like, wow, in Calgary, you never get that. And when I got my insurance, they say
[25:15] SPEAKER_00: that you know what? I have never done somebody out of profits as insurance transfers before,
[25:20] SPEAKER_00: I've worked for 15 years. Like, wow, that's great. But the thing is, it's not working from anywhere,
[25:29] SPEAKER_00: is being able to collaborate, communicate, but also be secure. And also bringing people ad hoc
[25:36] SPEAKER_00: that are not in your office, but outside your office. And in real time to work with, it creates a
[25:43] SPEAKER_00: whole community of new of Nulls workers, a share ideas, share concepts to interact together
[25:52] SPEAKER_01: in new and innovative ways. Well, and I'm, I'm curious, that's kind of the where we live and work
[25:58] SPEAKER_01: from. One of the messages that you and I wanted to try and, you know, uncover here is bestowing
[26:04] SPEAKER_01: the idea of that you can live and work anywhere. So we've talked about maybe where you're physically
[26:10] SPEAKER_01: living. How about who you're working with and how that will affect maybe hiring or growth
[26:18] SPEAKER_01: for C-Tech? I mean, using C-Tech as a example and then maybe your clients as far as, you know,
[26:26] SPEAKER_01: like you said, people complete their jobs now and actually go work for C-Tech because you're
[26:29] SPEAKER_01: completely, almost completely digital. Exactly. I know. I could live in, you know, white horse or
[26:36] SPEAKER_01: Ukraine or other than the time zones, you know, different and choose to work for C-Tech, right? So
[26:44] SPEAKER_01: exactly. Choosing C-Tech over all of the other companies really is about you. Yes, and the biggest
[26:53] SPEAKER_01: you and your company and your company values. If everyone's so, yeah, because with, with
[26:59] SPEAKER_00: switch technology, I'd basically put a people first approach actually to living this lifestyle.
[27:05] SPEAKER_00: I had to listen much like my employees, they gave my clients, so to speak. I had listened to
[27:10] SPEAKER_00: them saying, you know what, Carl, I have, I used to do it this way right now. Can you make that
[27:15] SPEAKER_00: better? Carl, I interact with clients this way. Give me an example. My sales guys right now are
[27:22] SPEAKER_00: before and we go to a word document, write for proposal, print it out, attach onto an email,
[27:28] SPEAKER_00: and then send to a bunch of people for corrections and then we sell out to the client.
[27:35] SPEAKER_00: But right now, my sales guys, they can go up to a program, they push a button, all the templates
[27:40] SPEAKER_00: are loaded in there, they fill in a few files, they push the button, and it creates a website
[27:44] SPEAKER_00: for the for the client, and the client goes to the website and view the entire proposal.
[27:49] SPEAKER_00: I cut down my sales team in mid-time by around 70% by creating that one tool for them.
[27:58] SPEAKER_00: And now who you work for is pretty important because I realize that not everyone is like Carl
[28:04] SPEAKER_00: at Ctech. I have completely embraced the new technology based on my current business
[28:10] SPEAKER_00: pain points to make it look better for my clients. Other CEOs, other business owners or decision
[28:16] SPEAKER_00: makers kind of have a term mindset, they're my set. I've done it this way for the past 20 years.
[28:21] SPEAKER_00: It works. I know it. I like it. Don't change it because it changes scary. I call those guys
[28:28] SPEAKER_00: the dinosaurs and there's a big asteroid coming down. They may survive, perhaps not in their
[28:33] SPEAKER_00: existing shape or form, but I'll rather be the mammals that realize that with this COVID
[28:38] SPEAKER_00: asteroid that that's going to be heading us, that I can take that as an opportunity. I can
[28:43] SPEAKER_00: take the opportunity to say, you know what, with the changing landscape, I'm going to adapt my company
[28:47] SPEAKER_00: so that my staff can be successful here in the new normal. So adaptation, I've written that down
[28:54] SPEAKER_01: because I think that's one of the, you know, as technology and progress, if you like, advances so
[29:03] SPEAKER_01: quickly, something that, you know, historically, and we can all think of those examples of,
[29:10] SPEAKER_01: you know, blockbuster and codec and things like that, we know those business stories, but
[29:15] SPEAKER_01: in going forward, you've already reiterated CTECH three times. What sort of pace do you think
[29:24] SPEAKER_01: companies need to adopt going forward? And then what are those core
[29:29] SPEAKER_01: gillset that will be required going forward as we ourselves have to embrace them, but also, you
[29:37] SPEAKER_00: know, in our teaching of our kids? Exactly. This speed is dictated by how fast their customers
[29:43] SPEAKER_00: are able to adapt on to what the clients are actually providing for them. So I'm going to go to
[29:49] SPEAKER_00: to go to a client's side and say, you know, I can give you all this cool technology, but are you
[29:53] SPEAKER_00: able to use it? And not only are you able to use it, but are you, but are your clients able to
[29:58] SPEAKER_00: adapt on to this and actually say, that's a real good idea. Is there a business value to that?
[30:02] SPEAKER_00: And the problem is every single business business is unique. There is a core infrastructure that
[30:09] SPEAKER_00: needs collaboration communication, but the deeper dive into things that is what is their unique
[30:15] SPEAKER_00: selling feature? How are they going to get to market? And how can they be more competitive?
[30:21] SPEAKER_00: If one business today needs to compete, another business right here needs to compete. Who's
[30:29] SPEAKER_00: going to win out? The clients going to make the decision. I want those clients that are able to
[30:36] SPEAKER_00: better, I want to give those clients, my clients, the tools for them to compete better,
[30:43] SPEAKER_00: be more efficient, better spend for their IT dollar than someone else who does it the
[30:48] SPEAKER_00: traditional way. And that takes an investment. That takes a little bit of leap of faith as well.
[30:52] SPEAKER_00: Will it work? Can I, is this a good way about going about doing things? I'll be going to first,
[30:59] SPEAKER_00: but right now 68% of most businesses in Calgary, I'm across across Canada, are not at full
[31:05] SPEAKER_00: capacity as right yet. And that is a daunting figure. But that means that they need to compete to
[31:14] SPEAKER_00: survive. And the guess what? The board game, the economy has changed radically. And now is a
[31:21] SPEAKER_00: time to figure out, all right, since the game has changed, I need to figure out what best way for
[31:27] SPEAKER_00: me to put my players, my like my pieces, like be able to adapt and also survive while everyone
[31:33] SPEAKER_01: else wants to eat my lunch. So I, I'm just bringing another, I spoke to Leor who is the CEO of the
[31:45] SPEAKER_01: Sustainability Group in Canada that promotes sustainability and he's based in Calgary. So sustainability
[31:52] SPEAKER_01: in business and one of the questions that I'm not allowed to really say it because we don't have
[31:56] SPEAKER_01: an answer yet and it's not a perfect articulated campaign yet, but it's coming is the future of
[32:02] SPEAKER_01: capitalism, right? And addressing that. So it's a big one. Wow. Is what does that look like
[32:11] SPEAKER_01: from a Canadian perspective, how we uniquely do business in Canada? And I don't know if you want
[32:17] SPEAKER_00: to touch on that idea. Oh wow. My way from I talked about this actually yesterday about,
[32:24] SPEAKER_00: choose, about perhaps the death of capitalism or the evolution of a new form of capitalism.
[32:30] SPEAKER_00: Right now, our economy basically is a buy sell economy. Those who may start able to sell
[32:36] SPEAKER_00: their products, you can go buy those sort of thing. They are naturally selected to evolve and to grow
[32:42] SPEAKER_00: and tell someone else can buy a sell in a different way. Now the COVID here, accessibility,
[32:50] SPEAKER_00: and even in Calgary, the crash of the oil and gas market, there is a massive economic
[32:59] SPEAKER_00: upheaval that traditional businesses will have a lot of challenges to even survive.
[33:08] SPEAKER_00: But now I'll talk about with COVID, the government is giving us money to survive in a lot of cases,
[33:15] SPEAKER_00: just a bailout. And when the money or the blood of the economy start flowing, the body dies.
[33:23] SPEAKER_00: And right now, whereas DASIS right here, capitalism requires that continuous exchange of
[33:31] SPEAKER_00: goods and services for us to grow. For us to make that 10% growth year over year,
[33:37] SPEAKER_00: or else we're falling behind. And now that we have basically, right now, the lost decade,
[33:43] SPEAKER_00: the lost, not the last, but the lost decade, we're going to have the governments or the
[33:52] SPEAKER_00: countries that are able to survive. We'll be the ones that are able to better adapt to this,
[33:59] SPEAKER_00: I got influx of money. No one can spend it because they're allowed to leave their homes.
[34:05] SPEAKER_00: And they do leave their homes, they get groceries and come back. That's killing a lot of the
[34:10] SPEAKER_00: businesses out there that could be growing with their market and their new ideas,
[34:15] SPEAKER_00: which is going to cause massive problem in the future because it wasn't too much money in the system.
[34:22] SPEAKER_00: So we think we have inflation, the dollar devaluation, and then all the higher taxes to pay for all
[34:29] SPEAKER_00: the loans. And go with more money, but that's also bad thing, a long run. I wish I had the crystal ball
[34:34] SPEAKER_01: for you, but... Well, I think that's the point, right? We're kind of building that destination and
[34:41] SPEAKER_01: trying to make that road as fast as we have the lights turned on. Right back to our analogy,
[34:48] SPEAKER_01: but the... Yeah, so maybe revisit this conversation again,
[34:55] SPEAKER_01: at least over Red Wine or Craft Beer here. You're on. Absolutely. Or on the climbing mall, right?
[35:04] SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, local. It'd be great.
[35:05] SPEAKER_01: Carl, it's been awesome. One question that I feel is yet an answer right now for me
[35:13] SPEAKER_01: in getting to know you is what influences, what mediums, what conferences, what...
[35:21] SPEAKER_01: Who is influencing how you think?
[35:26] SPEAKER_00: May have this come from a lot of different sources, but mainly I'm on the board of a lot of
[35:33] SPEAKER_00: corporations. Okay. And these corporations fly me out around North America and I talk with other
[35:39] SPEAKER_00: business leaders, other like... Other like-minded people, but with different ideas, different concepts.
[35:46] SPEAKER_00: And being on those boards helps out quite a bit, but not only that, is now that with COVID here,
[35:52] SPEAKER_00: there's a plethora of these specialized webinars that target people like myself,
[35:58] SPEAKER_00: say, here is what... How you can be easily draw the future.
[36:04] SPEAKER_00: The fact I'm watching Netflix right now, Decoding Bill Gates' mind, is one of them right now.
[36:11] SPEAKER_00: What motivates him? How does he think? How does he actually live his life in a way as
[36:15] SPEAKER_00: a world's man and also founder of Microsoft? And really, it feels with you, my family.
[36:24] SPEAKER_00: Absolutely. My family tells me what they like, what they don't like. Hey, you're working too much,
[36:29] SPEAKER_00: or hey, you know what? This right here needs to... I don't like this part of a power list,
[36:35] SPEAKER_00: all these needs to be changed. And then from there, I can go back and say, you know what,
[36:39] SPEAKER_00: I can read your mind list all this way. And if I can do that, maybe I can push this out to my staff
[36:44] SPEAKER_00: and say, hey guys, every Wednesday, on CTAC, we have games, we have virtual games tonight.
[36:50] SPEAKER_00: We hop on, hop on, we play a game together, and we're now more social as a team.
[36:56] SPEAKER_01: Absolutely. When I'm curious, you've made the move. I know it's only recent, but have you noticed
[37:02] SPEAKER_01: any other staff that have put in requests for, you know, a two-week leave while they relocate to
[37:08] SPEAKER_00: another community? Everyone's jealous of me. Absolutely. And in fact, some of my peers,
[37:15] SPEAKER_00: very educated, high-level, very high-paid individuals are a thing, are... I'm a constant
[37:22] SPEAKER_00: communication with them. And they're saying, maybe I can live in the NIMO. And we're actually
[37:29] SPEAKER_00: hosting a family actually next week coming here and doing exactly what I'm doing. And a lot of
[37:35] SPEAKER_00: our friends and Calgary are saying, you know what, Calgary may not be the place to be right now.
[37:39] SPEAKER_00: I can work from anywhere. Now that you guys have done it, we can do exactly the same thing.
[37:45] SPEAKER_00: So I think that we're kind of the first in a long series of people that are actually making this
[37:51] SPEAKER_00: an actualization of this reality that this right here is doable. You will have to go to the big city,
[37:57] SPEAKER_00: pay a massive mortgage for a small house, a downtown core. You can come to a place like this,
[38:02] SPEAKER_00: pay the same amount, have a much larger house in a forested area with neighbors who you know.
[38:08] SPEAKER_01: And that forest drive to Costco. Well, and I think that even in the tourism sense that there's a,
[38:15] SPEAKER_01: you know, the whole high-level conversations are about the hyper-local, right? And the return to
[38:22] SPEAKER_01: hyper-local where you know your neighbors, you spend time because you... you're not commuting two
[38:27] SPEAKER_01: hours a day, you're actually out doing your yard work and you're, you know, walking to the
[38:31] SPEAKER_01: corner store and things like that because you've got a little bit more time. So I think... My local
[38:35] SPEAKER_00: living worker and by working and living local. Yes. And having that community feel yet again,
[38:41] SPEAKER_00: like back in Calgary, I really didn't know my neighbors that much because even though I worked from
[38:47] SPEAKER_00: home, they didn't. They... Right. At 6.30 in the morning, they're in their cars driving to downtown.
[38:54] SPEAKER_00: Right. Yeah. Or whatever they drive. I don't know if I was at home working, whatever they left.
[39:00] SPEAKER_00: I just see them all day. I took a walk around in empty suburbia.
[39:05] SPEAKER_01: The highest and best use would be a little bit more densification, right? And actually,
[39:10] SPEAKER_01: yeah. And going back to, I think, you know, the... be sewing the idea and the final... or final
[39:15] SPEAKER_01: wrap-up being you can work from anywhere and wouldn't it be great if you can nurture those
[39:21] SPEAKER_01: human connections and natural connections in wherever you work that doesn't at all detract from
[39:28] SPEAKER_00: being able to work globally. Engineer, you're lifestyle for a positive experience.
[39:32] SPEAKER_00: A positive life. Good. I'm meeting you there. It has been an absolute pleasure having you on Canada's
[39:38] SPEAKER_01: podcast and looking forward to liaising you with you again. I know we'll meet again.
[39:43] SPEAKER_00: Tell it on it. Have a good day, Bachelor. Bye.