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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_01: It's VanCouver's podcast on the Canada's podcast network.
[00:12] SPEAKER_02: Hello everyone, I'm Angela Faye, Hub Builder and co-host of British Columbia's podcasts.
[00:19] SPEAKER_02: Part of the Canada's podcast network, your source for great insights from entrepreneurs
[00:23] SPEAKER_02: from across Canada.
[00:25] SPEAKER_02: We talked entrepreneurs who are making it happen here so you can listen, discover and engage.
[00:31] SPEAKER_02: Today I'm talking to Lance Montgomery here in British Columbia who is a business leader
[00:37] SPEAKER_02: and he's grown global teams and brands for over 15 years.
[00:40] SPEAKER_02: He is a visionary and business leader and has worked with companies from early stage to
[00:46] SPEAKER_02: acquisition leading multiple agency teams and really the most recent including the largest
[00:52] SPEAKER_02: telco in Canada.
[00:55] SPEAKER_02: Right now though, he's a pursued an entrepreneurial journey which we're going to learn a little bit
[00:59] SPEAKER_02: about today.
[01:01] SPEAKER_02: One thing I just have to acknowledge is Lance's business was an idea 18 months ago launched
[01:08] SPEAKER_02: a whole entire platform six months ago and has already publicly traded.
[01:12] SPEAKER_02: So that's my wow factor and that's fantastic.
[01:14] SPEAKER_02: So Lance, just great to have you here.
[01:17] SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me.
[01:18] SPEAKER_02: Tell us a little bit about your entrepreneurial journey.
[01:20] SPEAKER_02: Time to get to where you are today.
[01:22] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's one of those things that I think everybody in life always has an idea and you
[01:27] SPEAKER_00: know, every day you walk around, you see something to think of something but I think the
[01:31] SPEAKER_00: difference between most people and entrepreneurs is taking a swing for it.
[01:37] SPEAKER_00: Right.
[01:37] SPEAKER_00: I had an idea.
[01:38] SPEAKER_00: It was a personal problem.
[01:41] SPEAKER_00: I tried to find a solution.
[01:43] SPEAKER_00: I couldn't find a solution.
[01:44] SPEAKER_00: I wasn't happy with the solutions in the industry.
[01:46] SPEAKER_00: So I made a decision to solve an industry problem and that's brought us to where we are today.
[01:52] SPEAKER_02: And so you've gone from being sort of corporate working in a corporate environment to now, you
[01:57] SPEAKER_02: know, CEO founder on your own.
[01:59] SPEAKER_02: How was that transition?
[02:01] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was always something that I had in the back of my mind.
[02:04] SPEAKER_00: I always wanted to be my own boss and I think everybody always does.
[02:08] SPEAKER_00: I'm not a fan of punching a clock.
[02:10] SPEAKER_00: I don't like being stuck to a schedule.
[02:13] SPEAKER_00: I like being able to have a big voice and opinion in the room as to what we're doing, why
[02:18] SPEAKER_00: we're doing it and how we're doing it.
[02:20] SPEAKER_00: I wanted something to be sort of my own and this gave me that opportunity and I always
[02:25] SPEAKER_00: knew throughout my career.
[02:26] SPEAKER_00: I've been in senior level roles for a long time.
[02:29] SPEAKER_00: I always knew there was going to be a time where I was going to be running my own business
[02:33] SPEAKER_00: and finally, curious.
[02:36] SPEAKER_02: How did you know?
[02:37] SPEAKER_02: What was the fire in your gut?
[02:39] SPEAKER_02: What are your influences?
[02:41] SPEAKER_00: I always looked at the owners of the companies that I worked with or the senior level management
[02:48] SPEAKER_00: and I always, the question I always asked is, why can't I do that job?
[02:53] SPEAKER_00: There was never any reason why I couldn't.
[02:55] SPEAKER_00: I always learned along the way and figured out what to do, what not to do, what mistakes
[03:00] SPEAKER_00: other people have made and kind of decided I won't make those mistakes but it was always
[03:04] SPEAKER_00: something where I wanted to have the ability to make decisions and build something that
[03:11] SPEAKER_00: was near and near to my heart.
[03:12] SPEAKER_02: Tell me a little bit more specifically about, hey, Brian, what is the problem that you're
[03:16] SPEAKER_02: solving in the industry and why does it mean so much to you?
[03:20] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so hey, Brian, it's a marketplace app.
[03:23] SPEAKER_00: It's an app that connects homeowners and home service experts.
[03:26] SPEAKER_00: I saw a massive opportunity in the space to really help these experts that are already
[03:33] SPEAKER_00: doing this work, whether it's through Craigslist or any other means, referrals from friends,
[03:39] SPEAKER_00: but really changing the perception of this industry and bringing an end-to-end platform
[03:43] SPEAKER_00: and solution to the market that gives homeowners the peace of mind that they can get these
[03:48] SPEAKER_00: small tasks done around the house with confidence.
[03:51] SPEAKER_00: Knowing that these people are better, they've gone through criminal checks, background checks.
[03:55] SPEAKER_00: Their quality of their work is good.
[03:57] SPEAKER_00: It can be done on their time, on their schedule.
[04:00] SPEAKER_00: No money changes hands.
[04:02] SPEAKER_00: The easy way to think of it is urbanization for the home maintenance field.
[04:06] SPEAKER_00: I think this is an industry that really needed the perception change and needed to be disrupted.
[04:11] SPEAKER_00: And I see a huge opportunity for it.
[04:14] SPEAKER_02: I agree with you.
[04:15] SPEAKER_02: I think that needs disruption.
[04:16] SPEAKER_02: I'm just going to say that there's been some platforms like you say Craigslist or Anjus
[04:20] SPEAKER_02: List or something in the past.
[04:22] SPEAKER_02: One thing that I feel particularly attracted to your product in the market is the pre-qualification
[04:29] SPEAKER_02: of tradesmen because everybody's biggest fear is invest some money in the job not done
[04:37] SPEAKER_02: to your satisfaction with your most valuable asset, which is your physical asset, your home.
[04:44] SPEAKER_02: So how do you pre-qualify?
[04:47] SPEAKER_00: That was one of the biggest challenges in building this business is ensuring that we are bringing
[04:53] SPEAKER_00: trust to the homeowner and ensuring that we're putting good quality people into people's
[04:58] SPEAKER_00: homes.
[05:00] SPEAKER_00: This business came from an idea where my dishwasher was broken at home and my wife was at home.
[05:06] SPEAKER_00: And I wanted the confidence that if I called a company that the person going into the house
[05:10] SPEAKER_00: is not going to be a criminal, is not going to steal things from my home or put my family
[05:15] SPEAKER_00: at risk.
[05:15] SPEAKER_00: So in going through the process of building, this was sort of a number one thing we needed
[05:19] SPEAKER_00: to solve.
[05:20] SPEAKER_00: Looking at the industry into what options there are out there and how to build this into
[05:24] SPEAKER_00: the platform we came across a company based out of Victoria, which is called certain.
[05:29] SPEAKER_00: Certain is an AI based company that we've tied directly into the app that does background
[05:35] SPEAKER_00: checks, criminal checks, an ID verification.
[05:38] SPEAKER_00: How it happens if you take a picture of your driver's license front and back as well as
[05:42] SPEAKER_00: a selfie and what that does in real time is it does a credit check, criminal check, and
[05:46] SPEAKER_00: background check, and ID verification.
[05:48] SPEAKER_00: So that gives us all of the verification right in app that we know who this person is.
[05:55] SPEAKER_00: We know they don't have a criminal record.
[05:56] SPEAKER_00: We know that they have been credit and we're good to send them in just somebody's home.
[06:01] SPEAKER_00: And then the quality of the work is based on ratings and reviews.
[06:04] SPEAKER_00: So we put that into the control of the customers to the more work they do, the better work
[06:09] SPEAKER_00: they do, they're going to appear at the top of the list.
[06:12] SPEAKER_02: So what is the service that you're providing to the tradesmen?
[06:15] SPEAKER_00: We're basically providing a platform that brings the business to them and gives them
[06:19] SPEAKER_00: the convenience to set their own schedule, set their own rate rate, work where they want
[06:24] SPEAKER_00: when they want.
[06:26] SPEAKER_00: I keep going back to Uber and only because it's a very relevant comparison.
[06:30] SPEAKER_00: But there's people who work full-time but are also Uber drivers in the evening and maybe
[06:34] SPEAKER_00: turn it on for an hour around the recall and do a few rides.
[06:38] SPEAKER_00: We're bringing that same value to the whole maintenance experts because we're finding people
[06:42] SPEAKER_00: who are retired who are just general handymen who want to work three days a week and only
[06:46] SPEAKER_00: one of our 10 kilometers from where they live, we give them that ability.
[06:49] SPEAKER_00: We also bring the marketing to them.
[06:52] SPEAKER_00: So they have to go out and spend money on Google ads or post ads on Craigslist.
[06:57] SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about money changing hands, checks bouncing, schedule changes, things like
[07:03] SPEAKER_00: that.
[07:04] SPEAKER_00: We bring an all-encompassing platform to the experts and we bring the business to them.
[07:08] SPEAKER_02: So basically you're providing all of the business foundational services to the tradesmen so
[07:13] SPEAKER_02: that they can go ahead and just do the work that they love doing.
[07:16] SPEAKER_00: That's exactly it.
[07:18] SPEAKER_00: We want to provide these people the ability to go and do what they're good at.
[07:21] SPEAKER_00: I'm not paving everybody with the same brush but most electricians out there are probably
[07:26] SPEAKER_00: not the best marketers or probably not the best panelists.
[07:29] SPEAKER_00: They're probably not the most organized people so if they're good at doing electrical work
[07:33] SPEAKER_00: let's have them focus on doing good quality work.
[07:36] SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
[07:36] SPEAKER_02: And so you're both brokering trust and you're brokering business.
[07:40] SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
[07:41] SPEAKER_02: I love the platform.
[07:42] SPEAKER_02: Anyway, I haven't used it myself yet but I love the idea.
[07:45] SPEAKER_02: I'm excited about the possibility of it coming to an IMO.
[07:49] SPEAKER_02: Speaking of that, where are you operating now?
[07:51] SPEAKER_02: What are your key markets?
[07:53] SPEAKER_00: Right now we're in Vancouver, Toronto, both cities.
[07:56] SPEAKER_00: We started with an update, a launch in Vancouver to just kind of test the platform and learn.
[08:02] SPEAKER_00: We then did a full scale press launch with Brian himself in Toronto and March.
[08:07] SPEAKER_00: That included live on our interviews at Global News, CTP Morning Live, CP24,
[08:13] SPEAKER_00: rep this television and that's when we really went loud and proud.
[08:17] SPEAKER_00: And we're actually planning as we speak, we just walked out of a meeting this morning
[08:21] SPEAKER_00: to plan to launch our next city.
[08:23] SPEAKER_00: And our plan in 2020 is to go across Canada and every urban seven.
[08:27] SPEAKER_02: How can communities support you in coming to their region?
[08:33] SPEAKER_00: I think it's more, you know, our whole business is based on data.
[08:37] SPEAKER_00: So, you know, we see a lot of potential cities or potential customers
[08:42] SPEAKER_00: who are responding to our social posts or sending us direct messages saying,
[08:46] SPEAKER_00: when are you coming to the city?
[08:48] SPEAKER_00: So really, it's a matter of reach by the community saying,
[08:51] SPEAKER_00: we would love this service.
[08:52] SPEAKER_00: There's lots of opportunity here.
[08:54] SPEAKER_00: And what we do is we assess that data to make a smart business city.
[08:58] SPEAKER_00: There's nothing saying that we can't be in every small community in every major city,
[09:02] SPEAKER_00: but we have to be careful.
[09:04] SPEAKER_00: We don't want to understand ourselves and over-commerce.
[09:07] SPEAKER_00: But if we see the demand is there, and that's what people can do to help us
[09:11] SPEAKER_00: to show us the demand, and then we'll investigate is there enough poll maintenance experts
[09:16] SPEAKER_00: in that space because we have to go through a recruitment phase
[09:18] SPEAKER_00: to get them in the platform and then we can launch.
[09:20] SPEAKER_02: So, I'll also tell me about Brian.
[09:23] SPEAKER_02: How did Brian come into your formula?
[09:25] SPEAKER_02: Who is Brian, and why is he such an important part of your...
[09:28] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this was kind of the light bulb moment,
[09:31] SPEAKER_00: and really the story that everyone always wants to hear and know about.
[09:35] SPEAKER_00: You know, Brian Ballmanner is one of the most trusted home maintenance
[09:40] SPEAKER_00: or contractor in Canada.
[09:43] SPEAKER_00: He has seven TV shows.
[09:46] SPEAKER_00: He's known everywhere he goes.
[09:48] SPEAKER_00: I've walked downtown Toronto with him in every two seconds.
[09:50] SPEAKER_00: Someone wants to picture with him.
[09:52] SPEAKER_00: But anyway, how he got involved in the business is when I originally came up with this idea,
[09:57] SPEAKER_00: I named the company FastHast Technologies,
[09:59] SPEAKER_00: which just for no given reason, just I thought it was a good opportunity and a good name.
[10:04] SPEAKER_00: But as I started to kind of build out our marketing plan and our launch plan,
[10:08] SPEAKER_00: the cost to market with some unrecognized brand was really going to be tough to drive
[10:13] SPEAKER_00: consumer confidence, and we have to spend a ton of money to get our brand out there.
[10:17] SPEAKER_00: And one day I was driving to work, and I just got this light bulb moment of,
[10:21] SPEAKER_00: you know, and a really easy way to minimize cost and to really bring confidence to the consumer
[10:27] SPEAKER_00: is to add a celebrity to this.
[10:29] SPEAKER_00: And my immediate thought was Brian.
[10:31] SPEAKER_00: Every time I turn on my TV on HDTV, he's on another show,
[10:35] SPEAKER_00: or he's at a home show, or he's on the TV screen at every RBC across Canada.
[10:41] SPEAKER_00: But the million dollar question was, how do I get ahold of this guy?
[10:44] SPEAKER_00: I don't know from a whole new ground, I've been seeing him on TV.
[10:47] SPEAKER_00: So I went to rindballmur.ca and went to contact, and there was contact form there.
[10:53] SPEAKER_00: And I filled out a two paragraph, little sales pitch about, you know,
[10:57] SPEAKER_00: the disruption I'm looking to do.
[10:59] SPEAKER_00: And the next day I got a phone call from a 416 number, and it was Brian.
[11:03] SPEAKER_00: And he basically said, I absolutely love this idea.
[11:06] SPEAKER_00: I would love to support it.
[11:08] SPEAKER_00: I'd love to put my name behind it.
[11:09] SPEAKER_00: Let's talk.
[11:09] SPEAKER_00: So fast forward a couple of weeks, I was in Toronto having breakfast with them.
[11:13] SPEAKER_00: And we decided to change the company name to Hey Brian,
[11:16] SPEAKER_00: which is a bit of a two-sided play.
[11:19] SPEAKER_00: One is a playoff of Hey Siri and Hey Alexa and Hey Google.
[11:23] SPEAKER_00: The other is, that's what Brian gets asked 20 times a day,
[11:26] SPEAKER_00: because Hey Brian, you love him.
[11:28] SPEAKER_00: So that's where it all came from.
[11:30] SPEAKER_02: We've heard a little bit where you've come from.
[11:32] SPEAKER_02: What's the vision for, you said, as far as controlled rollout?
[11:37] SPEAKER_02: How fast and furious are you looking to grow your business?
[11:42] SPEAKER_00: It's all based on how much money we have to spend.
[11:45] SPEAKER_00: The more we can put into marketing, the quicker we can grow.
[11:49] SPEAKER_00: We've added a new CMO to the team, Kendo Bell,
[11:51] SPEAKER_00: who's a very seasoned marketing executive.
[11:54] SPEAKER_00: And we've actually built a predictable marketing plan,
[11:57] SPEAKER_00: where we know exactly if we put a million dollars in the top,
[12:01] SPEAKER_00: we know exactly how many customers that's going to drive us,
[12:04] SPEAKER_00: and exactly how much revenue that's going to drive us.
[12:06] SPEAKER_00: So the more we can put in the top, the more we get out of the bottom,
[12:09] SPEAKER_00: the quicker we can grow.
[12:11] SPEAKER_00: But our launch strategy is fairly simple.
[12:13] SPEAKER_00: It's really a two-pronged strategy.
[12:14] SPEAKER_00: We go do a recruitment drive through social and digital marketing,
[12:18] SPEAKER_00: and then we launch to the consumer,
[12:19] SPEAKER_00: and then we manage the market voice.
[12:21] SPEAKER_02: And are you happy to talk about capital a little bit?
[12:24] SPEAKER_02: What's been your capital raising experience?
[12:28] SPEAKER_00: My experience has been kind of learned as you go.
[12:31] SPEAKER_00: It's a tough thing to do.
[12:33] SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of people out there looking for money,
[12:36] SPEAKER_00: and we're all competing for the same money.
[12:39] SPEAKER_00: But being public really gives us that catalyst and that engine
[12:42] SPEAKER_00: to tap into the capital markets.
[12:44] SPEAKER_00: We've recently hired our new CFO, which is Blair Jordan.
[12:48] SPEAKER_00: He comes from echelon, the capital market space.
[12:51] SPEAKER_00: He understands the capital market's very, very well.
[12:53] SPEAKER_00: So really leading on him to help drive capital markets
[12:55] SPEAKER_00: in the fundraising strategy.
[12:57] SPEAKER_02: Let's talk a little bit about where and how you work.
[13:00] SPEAKER_02: So your Vancouver based.
[13:02] SPEAKER_02: You're in your office today,
[13:03] SPEAKER_02: so you actually have physical bricks and mortar space
[13:05] SPEAKER_02: for your team.
[13:06] SPEAKER_02: How big is your team?
[13:07] SPEAKER_00: Right now we have 15 people, all encompassing
[13:11] SPEAKER_00: from creative director to design, to QA,
[13:15] SPEAKER_00: to development, to customer service,
[13:17] SPEAKER_00: to marketing, data, scientists, HR, everything is in-house.
[13:23] SPEAKER_02: And do you have any remote workers at this point?
[13:27] SPEAKER_00: Our CMO advisor is actually based in Montreal,
[13:30] SPEAKER_00: like you can look out here once a month
[13:31] SPEAKER_00: where we have strategy sessions.
[13:33] SPEAKER_00: And that's the beauty of it being 2019 and technology.
[13:37] SPEAKER_00: It's you really all don't need to be in the same room.
[13:40] SPEAKER_00: We have that luxury, but I do enjoy having the team
[13:44] SPEAKER_00: all of your together and all working together.
[13:46] SPEAKER_00: It just makes for making decisions
[13:48] SPEAKER_00: and getting things done quicker.
[13:49] SPEAKER_02: Right, so the physically walking past each other
[13:52] SPEAKER_02: and conversations about a coffee pot are really important.
[13:55] SPEAKER_00: That's where I see his come from.
[13:57] SPEAKER_00: I'll be sitting in my mouth with an idea
[13:59] SPEAKER_00: and I can walk directly out to our head of marketing
[14:01] SPEAKER_00: and say, hey, what about this?
[14:03] SPEAKER_00: There's value to that.
[14:04] SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
[14:06] SPEAKER_02: What about as you expand, do you have a team in Toronto?
[14:10] SPEAKER_00: No, not yet.
[14:11] SPEAKER_02: No, okay, so you've launched into markets,
[14:13] SPEAKER_02: so you do anticipate keeping all of your team in Vancouver
[14:17] SPEAKER_02: and just having a presence in other communities?
[14:20] SPEAKER_00: I think we may look at potentially opening up
[14:23] SPEAKER_00: a customer service division in Toronto,
[14:25] SPEAKER_00: just given the time zones.
[14:28] SPEAKER_00: And the market in Toronto is quite a bit larger,
[14:30] SPEAKER_00: but right now we're just gonna stick with Vancouver
[14:32] SPEAKER_00: and see where it goes.
[14:33] SPEAKER_02: So you don't necessarily need a team in the locations
[14:36] SPEAKER_02: where you have a brand presence?
[14:38] SPEAKER_00: No, not really.
[14:39] SPEAKER_00: The only outreach we get from customers
[14:42] SPEAKER_00: and home maintenance experts is either
[14:44] SPEAKER_00: through our live chat, direct by phone, by email.
[14:48] SPEAKER_00: And we have our customer service team here
[14:51] SPEAKER_00: that messages all those hours.
[14:53] SPEAKER_02: Any global aspirations?
[14:55] SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
[14:57] SPEAKER_00: Brian and I get asked this a lot in a lot of our interviews
[14:59] SPEAKER_00: of, you know, is this a global play?
[15:02] SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the day, people's homes are a global play.
[15:06] SPEAKER_00: So there's nothing stopping us.
[15:07] SPEAKER_00: I think the only thing that is going to prove
[15:10] SPEAKER_00: is a bit of a challenge is different taxes, different laws,
[15:14] SPEAKER_00: you know, different languages.
[15:16] SPEAKER_00: So that's all things we need to consider
[15:18] SPEAKER_00: as we continue to develop the app.
[15:20] SPEAKER_02: Talking about some of those potential red tape barriers,
[15:24] SPEAKER_02: is there anything kind of front and center
[15:26] SPEAKER_02: that if you could like take a magic eraser to and say,
[15:29] SPEAKER_02: this is, you know, the biggest piece of red tape
[15:31] SPEAKER_02: in the construction side of things
[15:33] SPEAKER_02: or in the home maintenance side of things,
[15:35] SPEAKER_02: what would you love to see wiped off
[15:37] SPEAKER_02: out of the red tape scene?
[15:38] SPEAKER_00: In this small task space, there really isn't much.
[15:42] SPEAKER_00: I think if you ask Brian about, you know,
[15:44] SPEAKER_00: the large contracting and renovations base,
[15:46] SPEAKER_00: he could probably give you about 20 things
[15:48] SPEAKER_00: that he would like to do wiped off.
[15:50] SPEAKER_00: But, you know, we're really focusing on the little,
[15:52] SPEAKER_00: you need a really painted or a door installed
[15:56] SPEAKER_00: or a faucet replaced.
[15:58] SPEAKER_00: There's really not a lot of red tape.
[16:00] SPEAKER_00: The one big thing for us is we want to ensure
[16:02] SPEAKER_00: that our electricians and plumbers have their tickets,
[16:04] SPEAKER_00: that they have business insurance, things like that.
[16:06] SPEAKER_00: And that's just the process we need to go through manually.
[16:09] SPEAKER_02: Let's talk a little bit about what's your insights
[16:12] SPEAKER_02: as a CEO in entrepreneur.
[16:13] SPEAKER_02: What's kind of a little bit of your daily routine?
[16:16] SPEAKER_02: We keep you inspired and motivated,
[16:18] SPEAKER_02: keeps your energy high in Vancouver.
[16:20] SPEAKER_00: Well, I think that the one thing is,
[16:22] SPEAKER_00: my dreams are a little different now.
[16:25] SPEAKER_00: They used to be really fun,
[16:26] SPEAKER_00: and I'd win the lottery or, you know,
[16:28] SPEAKER_00: a lot of them each and now all I dream about is the business.
[16:32] SPEAKER_00: And, you know, what we're doing next
[16:34] SPEAKER_00: and where we're going.
[16:35] SPEAKER_00: You know, so a day in the life of what I do is really
[16:39] SPEAKER_00: here to support the team.
[16:41] SPEAKER_00: My job as a CEO is to make decisions.
[16:44] SPEAKER_00: I hire smart people in certain areas
[16:47] SPEAKER_00: because they're experts at what they do.
[16:49] SPEAKER_00: I am not a creative director, I am not a CTO,
[16:52] SPEAKER_00: I am not a developer,
[16:53] SPEAKER_00: and that's why I have people in those roles.
[16:56] SPEAKER_00: And really the way that I'm on the business
[16:58] SPEAKER_00: is I let those people drive the business.
[17:01] SPEAKER_00: And when decisions need to be made,
[17:03] SPEAKER_00: I get involved and I make the end decision.
[17:06] SPEAKER_00: And I drive the strategy alongside with our CMO
[17:09] SPEAKER_00: and CFO and our senior executive team.
[17:12] SPEAKER_00: That's really where we kind of come as a team
[17:15] SPEAKER_00: to make a lot of collective decisions.
[17:17] SPEAKER_02: So Lance, you're based in Vancouver specifically.
[17:21] SPEAKER_02: What inspires you in Vancouver?
[17:25] SPEAKER_02: Is the particular activity, recreation,
[17:27] SPEAKER_02: favorite restaurant, where you'd love to get energized?
[17:30] SPEAKER_00: I'm a big golfer and I like sandwiches.
[17:34] SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I could have a disability
[17:35] SPEAKER_00: to golf potentially year round.
[17:38] SPEAKER_00: And probably the number one place to eat for me
[17:41] SPEAKER_00: is a little sandwich shop called Say Hey.
[17:44] SPEAKER_00: Which is down in Gas Town and that's usually my go-to.
[17:47] SPEAKER_02: And what about your personal motive, Aston?
[17:50] SPEAKER_02: What do you have like an inspirational quote
[17:52] SPEAKER_02: on your computer or your wall that's your affirmation every day?
[17:56] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's the weirdest thing.
[17:57] SPEAKER_00: I've had the same one for a long, long time.
[18:00] SPEAKER_00: And it's always, tomorrow's the future.
[18:02] SPEAKER_00: Yesterday is the past.
[18:03] SPEAKER_00: Today's a gift that's why they call it the present.
[18:06] SPEAKER_00: That's so sweet.
[18:07] SPEAKER_02: It's a Christmas card on the meeting.
[18:09] SPEAKER_02: And Eddie must read books
[18:12] SPEAKER_02: that have been a great source of, I guess,
[18:14] SPEAKER_02: innovation or inspiration for you.
[18:17] SPEAKER_00: I read a lot of books.
[18:19] SPEAKER_00: I'm a big biography guy.
[18:21] SPEAKER_00: So I always read on inspirational people.
[18:24] SPEAKER_00: I can't name specific ones.
[18:27] SPEAKER_00: The recent ones I would say,
[18:29] SPEAKER_00: but there's actually a swear word on the front of the book.
[18:32] SPEAKER_00: And I can't really say that,
[18:33] SPEAKER_00: but there's many people who will know what it is.
[18:35] SPEAKER_00: Is that Richard Branson's one?
[18:37] SPEAKER_00: No.
[18:38] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[18:38] SPEAKER_00: I think I have it right here.
[18:40] SPEAKER_02: And who's the author?
[18:41] SPEAKER_02: Mark Manson.
[18:42] SPEAKER_00: He's Mark Manson.
[18:43] SPEAKER_00: He's the same author as did the Sattel Art
[18:45] SPEAKER_00: of not giving a fuck.
[18:46] SPEAKER_02: And what's the takeaway sentiment that you loved
[18:49] SPEAKER_02: about that book?
[18:51] SPEAKER_00: I think just putting things into perspective.
[18:53] SPEAKER_00: It's really easy to get wrapped up into your own mind
[18:56] SPEAKER_00: and trust me, leading a public company
[18:59] SPEAKER_00: can take you down some rabbit holes and be done pack that.
[19:02] SPEAKER_02: I just, I have a few more questions about that,
[19:04] SPEAKER_02: but I've just got to ask.
[19:06] SPEAKER_02: Give me one sound bite as far as the experience
[19:09] SPEAKER_02: of having a public company,
[19:11] SPEAKER_02: not everybody gets to that level
[19:13] SPEAKER_02: and you've launched out of the gates publicly.
[19:17] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think it's a whole new world.
[19:19] SPEAKER_00: You're reporting to a whole new audience.
[19:23] SPEAKER_00: When you're a private company, it's very easy to just manage
[19:27] SPEAKER_00: your time, your schedule, your day, the business,
[19:29] SPEAKER_00: make decisions without having to announce that out
[19:32] SPEAKER_00: to the public, whereas when you're running a public company,
[19:34] SPEAKER_00: you're really reporting to the shareholders
[19:36] SPEAKER_00: and to the shareholder community.
[19:39] SPEAKER_02: What is the most must attend event on your radar?
[19:43] SPEAKER_00: I'm actually going down to a capital markets event
[19:47] SPEAKER_00: in the Bahamas in January.
[19:49] SPEAKER_00: That's where a lot of brokers go and people invested
[19:53] SPEAKER_00: or interested in investing in tech stories.
[19:56] SPEAKER_00: That's an important conference for us
[19:58] SPEAKER_00: and I think it's going to be something
[19:59] SPEAKER_00: that's going to help drive a lot of interest
[20:00] SPEAKER_00: in the capital markets for us.
[20:03] SPEAKER_02: Any particular professional associations
[20:04] SPEAKER_02: that if you were somebody in tech or somebody in the trades
[20:09] SPEAKER_02: in Vancouver that you would recommend?
[20:12] SPEAKER_00: Tech Vancouver is one that I've spoken at
[20:15] SPEAKER_00: and that I'm a part of.
[20:17] SPEAKER_00: I think that's a great industry
[20:20] SPEAKER_00: and they hold some really good events
[20:22] SPEAKER_00: because there's a lot of people in the tech space
[20:24] SPEAKER_00: who are either just coming into tech
[20:26] SPEAKER_00: or are trying to build their businesses themselves.
[20:30] SPEAKER_00: So a lot of great resources that I can talk
[20:32] SPEAKER_00: into throughout that association.
[20:34] SPEAKER_02: Nice and are they, is that a membership based organization?
[20:37] SPEAKER_02: Tech, thank you.
[20:38] SPEAKER_02: Cool, awesome.
[20:39] SPEAKER_02: And what about any sort of time saving tools
[20:41] SPEAKER_02: that you use personally?
[20:44] SPEAKER_00: I'm a big fan of voice notes.
[20:47] SPEAKER_00: So I leverage Siri a lot to keep me in check.
[20:51] SPEAKER_00: Whenever I think about something
[20:52] SPEAKER_00: or I have something that's on my to-do list,
[20:54] SPEAKER_00: I don't write things down.
[20:56] SPEAKER_00: I just tell Siri to put it my calendar as a reminder.
[20:59] SPEAKER_00: So that thing's constantly going off,
[21:01] SPEAKER_00: but it keeps me in check.
[21:02] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's almost like a mini virtual assistant,
[21:04] SPEAKER_02: really, isn't it?
[21:05] SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
[21:07] SPEAKER_02: Any last minute comments that you'd love to share
[21:09] SPEAKER_02: with an audience knowing that we have thousands of listeners
[21:13] SPEAKER_02: across Canada that are either business decision makers
[21:15] SPEAKER_02: or entrepreneurs that you'd love to share with them
[21:17] SPEAKER_02: about the trends coming up?
[21:20] SPEAKER_00: I don't specifically want to talk about the trends.
[21:23] SPEAKER_00: I think if there's a lot of entrepreneurs
[21:25] SPEAKER_00: that are listening to this,
[21:26] SPEAKER_00: I think the key message I would say is don't give up.
[21:30] SPEAKER_00: It's very easy as an entrepreneur to run up against a brick wall
[21:33] SPEAKER_00: and think it's over and throw up your arms
[21:36] SPEAKER_00: and give up on things, but persistence is key.
[21:40] SPEAKER_00: And the second thing is surround yourself
[21:41] SPEAKER_00: with a good team.
[21:44] SPEAKER_00: Get the right people in the right roles
[21:45] SPEAKER_00: that are really good at what they do.
[21:47] SPEAKER_00: And you focus on what you're good at.
[21:49] SPEAKER_00: That's been the key to Heybrien getting toward us today.
[21:53] SPEAKER_01: Fantastic.
[21:54] SPEAKER_01: Lance, how can we get a hold of you post-poss get?
[21:56] SPEAKER_01: What's the most effective or quickest way to get to you?
[22:00] SPEAKER_00: Best way to reach me is just through email.
[22:02] SPEAKER_00: It's lance at haybrien.com.
[22:05] SPEAKER_00: And I can always be reached either through our invest email
[22:09] SPEAKER_00: as well that comes to me directly or just through email.
[22:13] SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for joining us.
[22:14] SPEAKER_02: Lance, I look forward to seeing Heybrien roll out
[22:16] SPEAKER_02: across Canada.
[22:17] SPEAKER_02: I think it's a service that every community can take advantage of.
[22:20] SPEAKER_02: So let us know how we can help you.
[22:42] SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
