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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Canada's Podcast.
[00:05] SPEAKER_00: Hi everyone, welcome to Canada's Podcast, the number one podcast for entrepreneurs in Canada.
[00:12] SPEAKER_00: I'm Phil Bliss, founder of Canada's Podcast.
[00:15] SPEAKER_00: Today we're going to meet Matthew von Teichmann, an ethical investor, startup advocate,
[00:21] SPEAKER_00: risk taker, believer in downtime, natural foodie, family first guy,
[00:28] SPEAKER_00: and executive chair of purposeful stacking ink.
[00:34] SPEAKER_00: Matt has started nine companies.
[00:36] SPEAKER_00: His first business was a bar restaurant when he was at university, then he launched a franchise,
[00:42] SPEAKER_00: window cleaning company which he sold, and you know six others.
[00:47] SPEAKER_00: The last one, the public in 2015, very successfully.
[00:53] SPEAKER_00: So Matt, welcome to Canada's Podcast and as we were talking before, I wish I was out skiing,
[01:00] SPEAKER_00: I wish I was with you, but you know, we can't.
[01:03] SPEAKER_00: Some of us have to work.
[01:05] SPEAKER_00: No, we all know we all know we can work anywhere.
[01:08] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, I'm not working much right now, but that's okay.
[01:14] SPEAKER_00: So, you know, before we get too deep in conversation, why don't you tell everybody a little bit about yourself,
[01:21] SPEAKER_00: what you do, you know, why you're on Canada's Podcast, you know, something of Matt as the entrepreneur, if you like.
[01:31] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, great.
[01:32] SPEAKER_01: So I've been an entrepreneur in my whole life.
[01:34] SPEAKER_01: I'm not quite 50 and started my journey at about, I guess I was 18 when I started my entrepreneurial journey.
[01:42] SPEAKER_01: I was only having started a window cleaning company and then sort of a sold it slash gave it to my brother and then started up a bar when I was at university and sold that and got into.
[01:54] SPEAKER_01: I think the first person in Canada to do online recruiting with a company called job shark with a few partners and sold that and then got in 22 years ago, got into natural food and I've launched 11 brands and in the natural food industry.
[02:09] SPEAKER_01: I grew a group of them to be quite large, just about 100 million in sales and took that public and then left three years ago to basically pursue my personal passions a little bit more within food, which is I'm I'm I'm very big into supporting kids through philanthropy and so I tried to marry my fill in throw up a tendencies with with my business interests and created a
[02:36] SPEAKER_01: popcorn company called purple s full popcorn that basically is designed to give most of the profits or you know, a line trade 25% of the profits of of that CPG company to support kids in underprivileged communities.
[02:51] SPEAKER_01: So so been around and done a lot of different things had a ton of failures a few successes and and I think you know have some some maybe some interesting learnings from it all.
[03:02] SPEAKER_00: So you know obviously I'm an entrepreneur too.
[03:08] SPEAKER_00: Is there something different about entrepreneurs?
[03:11] SPEAKER_00: You know when you look at the others around you.
[03:16] SPEAKER_00: Is there something different? Some some can kind of characteristic? You know, is it just that we just that we can't hold a job or that we're all ADHD?
[03:24] SPEAKER_00: I don't know what you know.
[03:26] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think the secret sauce for entrepreneurs is is purely appetite for risk. I really I really believe you know I've a I've three brothers and my younger brother one of my younger brothers was having a great career at a core and you know corporate career and and one day I was having lunch with him and my dad and and basically said you know I got I have an idea.
[03:47] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't know if I want to pursue it and he was it was risk reluctant and and eventually he took the leap after you know a little bit of thought and and he took the leap and he was massively successful and it was really just the leap it was that that ability to take on risk desire to take on risk that I thought that I think sort of makes an entrepreneur an entrepreneur I think it and everyone's got a million ideas but but but not not everyone takes the leap to kind of.
[04:17] Speaker UNKNOWN: So I think it's a great thing to do is to go forward and see what comes up.
[04:20] SPEAKER_00: You mean I was reading your background. You mean you started nine companies.
[04:25] SPEAKER_00: I don't think all of them have been successful but you must have with that knowledge have developed some kind of process that you know from from those very you know start up days if you like to.
[04:44] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the midpoint to end point mean tell us a little bit about that I mean you've you've got you've got the kind of experience chops that I kind of want to get some of that knowledge out there basically.
[04:59] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know it's interesting I'm not sure it's so much a process as it is just a real desire to solve a problem you know I'm a huge believer that that if you can't figure out if you're an entrepreneur and you're trying to you know start a business and.
[05:12] SPEAKER_01: And you're you're not solving and you know a problem that currently exists you probably don't have much of a business and so everything I do now is designed around solving a problem you know I have four startups you know two that have done quite well and two that are you know colossal failures at the moment and.
[05:31] SPEAKER_01: And you know it's a all of them solve a problem or supposed to solve a problem in one way or another so that that's kind of the the start of it and then beyond that it's you know that it's it's all the the nitty gritty the details the you know the positioning I have a mushroom company for instance and and.
[05:49] SPEAKER_01: And our positioning in that mushroom company is is is basically to to be the best the problem we're solving I should say is is to is to be the best supplier to the large food service companies and mushrooms because in the type of mushrooms we grow.
[06:04] SPEAKER_01: There's there's very spotty coverage throughout the year some people grow in the summer and winter whatever and we want to be a year rat supplier so you know solving the problem but then you have to position it you have to execute on so many details so.
[06:16] SPEAKER_01: There's so many facets of it but one thing I would say is that bringing in partners I bring a lot of partners into my businesses and I have for the last.
[06:26] SPEAKER_01: 10 to 10 years 12 years basically not so much to be operating partners necessarily but to be thought partners and and so I asked them to come in I give them equity typically you know a very small chunk of equity to start but it gets them you know it gets them involved in the story and then when problems occurred I have people who know the story.
[06:46] SPEAKER_01: No me and and and can be sort of the right up to speed and can can be able to help right away so I think that's another piece of my my success or luck or whatever it might be is is that I make sure I have a lot of really smart people kind of around the table whenever I need them.
[07:06] SPEAKER_00: Yeah that's really good one you know what do you see is the biggest challenge in your future is an entrepreneur.
[07:16] SPEAKER_00: You know I don't want the economy is great or bad or what what what do you what do you see is the biggest challenge yeah mine's a very personal one and it's kind of motivation now a drive might be a better you know a better word.
[07:33] SPEAKER_01: I've been fortunate that that we know a few of my companies have done quite well so I'm you know financially independent and and now I'm really I'm almost 50 and my kids are almost out of the house you know empty nesting next year and my wife and I are really super focused and keen to just you know travel and and experience things and see the world and it's very hard to build a business if you're not kind of focused on it so my my fear a little baby with all these startups I've got is that.
[08:01] SPEAKER_01: You know is that i'm going to take my eye off the ball because I kind of want to enjoy life a bit more than I than I you know happy I mean I've enjoyed my life but I have more freedom to enjoy my life now.
[08:12] SPEAKER_01: So it's it's a transition for me personally my wife you know empty nesting but it's also a business transition for me to i'm thinking I probably have to bring in operators into the companies to make sure that the details are well looked after.
[08:25] SPEAKER_01: And then I can be more of a sort of executive chairman support role than than an actual operator so for me it's it's kind of motivation slash drive is is the you know is is my overarching kind of concern going forward.
[08:41] SPEAKER_00: So let's keep on the advice side you know so you've got somebody that's listening to this that.
[08:48] SPEAKER_00: There was a bit mean you know wants to start start up what would you say to them you know that you learned after the fact.
[09:01] SPEAKER_00: You know in terms of that start up period what advice would you give them.
[09:08] SPEAKER_01: Well that's I mean you know every start up is different but I think again I think the biggest thing is resiliency and you have to start with an appetite for risk as we talked about earlier but then you have to you have to really be able to to to take a shot kind of thing it's it is the startup journey is sort of a you know a two steps back.
[09:28] SPEAKER_01: You know two steps forward three steps back for a long long time you know for for years as we talked about before we came on air it's you know in the years before you know each business gets going.
[09:42] SPEAKER_01: And and you really have to have you know in my opinion and even in you know as having done this a long time even my new ones I think i'm going to I know I've got the the secret sauce and it's going to go brilliantly right away and.
[09:55] SPEAKER_01: And then you get you get you know hit in the face and and you take these steps back and you have to regroup and figure out what you did wrong and and and and continue the journey and and I think for an entrepreneur that that ability to take a shot and and get back up.
[10:10] SPEAKER_01: And and and keep moving is probably the most critical element for it's not just an entrepreneurial journey is for anyone in life is because you know as I say to my kids you know you're going to have so much failure in your life and.
[10:23] SPEAKER_01: And if you don't know how to get off the mat and if you don't know how to pick yourself back up you're never going to be successful in any part of your life you just you have to you know relationships fail businesses fail up you know there's so much failure but then it's offset by these wonderful successes in life that that that overshadow the failures so quickly.
[10:42] SPEAKER_01: But you have to be able to get to the successes so you have to be resilient.
[10:45] SPEAKER_00: You know you said you like to have sort of people around the table that you can that you can you know work with get it get get get advice from you know in terms of mentorship what's the best piece of advice that you've received you know that you can carry around in your pocket kind of thing that that sort of you know is always there.
[11:11] SPEAKER_01: Yeah I mean as as a mentor the best piece of advice is you know for for business owners new business owners is is get more money than you think you need because you're always going to run out of money there you know I just I've done it so many times and.
[11:26] SPEAKER_01: Even the new ones I'm constantly putting money into these things and if I didn't have the ability to put money into it they they'd be gone.
[11:33] SPEAKER_01: And you know if entrepreneurs who don't don't have access to capital early you know it's very their food strapping as long as they can but when they start getting capital take more.
[11:44] SPEAKER_01: I know I had a journey in my last my last company was was public and got quite large and and you know I was always reticent to to to oversized my deals and we raised you know 50 million dollars or 48 million dollars but I could have raised 150 million easily.
[12:01] SPEAKER_01: And I you know there's just such an appetite for what we're doing at the time and I kept on pairing back these deals and.
[12:08] SPEAKER_01: And I had a great board member advisor who mentor as well who basically said Matt you're you're crazy like take the money you know one deal we want to raise 12 million we were subscribed to 30 million he's like take the money and I'm like now it's the values too low it's going to keep growing and boy we needed that money you know a year later we really needed that money and we ended up doing a down deal.
[12:29] SPEAKER_01: And and it's it's just a you know I think that advice of take the money when the money is available is something that every entrepreneur should listen to don't don't worry about the equity is much take the money.
[12:41] SPEAKER_00: You know when faced with sort of you've you've you've had lots of challenges so when you when you kind of hit that unexpected one which are always the worst ones.
[12:57] SPEAKER_00: Yeah is a methodology you know that you've kind of evolved in terms of handling that kind of thing.
[13:05] SPEAKER_01: Yeah you know I don't I don't think it's probably a methodology well maybe it is it's you know it's it's going back I think to the the core you know the simplest principles of the company the core mission of the company in those sort of things and retrenching.
[13:17] SPEAKER_01: It depends on the problem obviously but if you have one of the systemic problems in your business then going back to kind of the core mission and and almost reinventing the company which I've done on several occasions is is you know it is probably worthwhile some people you know might try to sell it or throw in the towel entirely or whatever but but often if the core problem still exists there's just and then you can find a solution for it so.
[13:43] SPEAKER_01: And you know if it's those big those big business altering challenges which I've really had to in my life and then it's go back and go back and make sure that the mission or you know the problem you're solving is still a problem and if it is and then figure out a new way to solve it and if it isn't then move on.
[14:05] SPEAKER_00: Is there anything else in life you would have like to do I mean you beat an entrepreneur.
[14:10] SPEAKER_00: Do you reflect on you know it might have been really fun to do this kind of thing.
[14:17] SPEAKER_01: Yeah I I I love this journey so much and I would be an absolutely horrible employee so no I like I can't imagine.
[14:26] SPEAKER_01: I would get fired in every job I ever you know I'd ever do for somebody else because I don't really play by the rules very very well like I you know I don't like systems I don't like structure I just like.
[14:38] SPEAKER_01: You know free thought and and and that's great when you're starting up businesses not great when the businesses are bigger and you know I realized that I've had two big businesses and both have been you know I should have left earlier but in both cases I.
[14:51] SPEAKER_01: I was you know running them and and you know the business were getting bigger you know hundreds of people 10 to millions of sales and I just was the wrong person to run it and and so you know I think I don't see any other career path for me like I just think I'm hardwired to take risk and do startups and and that sort of thing and and on the personal side of my life I'm super fortunate that I've done you know virtually everything you know I wanted to do and that's the wonderful.
[15:21] SPEAKER_01: Freedom of being an entrepreneur is that you do you do have time to do what you want to do and and you know there might be sacrifices along with that but I'm I feel incredibly blessed unfortunate that I've done you know I've done most of the stuff I wanted to do in life and I've lots more things I want to do in the future and I don't see a different career path I just I'm one of those guys who.
[15:43] SPEAKER_01: Who just loves to start stuff up and and I think I think it's the only thing I could have done.
[15:49] SPEAKER_00: Kids have some fun questions here so you are morning or night person I ask everyone this I'm always interested.
[15:56] SPEAKER_00: Morning.
[15:57] SPEAKER_00: Definitely.
[15:58] Speaker UNKNOWN: I assume that.
[15:59] SPEAKER_00: I assume that.
[16:00] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[16:00] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[16:01] SPEAKER_00: The time is exactly seven in the morning or whatever it is yeah it's morning.
[16:06] SPEAKER_00: Is there anything you sort of any book you've read or or the or podcast or whatever that that really kind of you would recommend to the audience that influenced you.
[16:22] SPEAKER_00: I mean I've got three or four books that really kind of set set my processes.
[16:28] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean I'm a big fan of like the Malcolm Blackwell's books.
[16:33] SPEAKER_01: I mean I've been fortunate to spend a bit of time with him and see him once or twice and read his all his books.
[16:40] SPEAKER_01: I think Blink is a fabulous book I've governed my life around that sort of instinctual how you feel about people in the first five seconds or three seconds or whatever.
[16:49] SPEAKER_01: And the gut feels so I think that's a wonderful one for business people negotiation Victoria Medvedek I believe is her name wrote a wonderful book and negotiation.
[17:01] SPEAKER_01: The book itself is is fairly good if you get an opportunity to see or speak it is world changing from a business standpoint on negotiation pricing and different things in business that that is a phenomenal.
[17:15] SPEAKER_01: You know phenomenal read or or if you know YouTube video or whatever.
[17:19] SPEAKER_01: But no I think you know I read I read a lot of nonfiction interestingly and I excuse me a lot of fiction interestingly enough historical fiction and I think you know for me in my life I'm a big believer in and kind of balance.
[17:36] SPEAKER_01: So I always have a business book and I've always got a you know a historical fiction book and say me actually.
[17:43] SPEAKER_01: Yeah it's great like I love I love I love the old stories that sort of teach me a little bit but really teach me about the time.
[17:52] SPEAKER_01: But yeah I think you know I think one of the things I've kind of learned in life is how important it is to take time off and even take vacation things but even in a day.
[18:05] SPEAKER_01: You know a given work days to go and take a half hour and reflect I you know I some people called meditation for me it's more like sleep like I I kind of sit somewhere and close my eyes and I find coming out of that half hour or whatever it might be 20 minutes 45 minutes you know I have a new brain kind of thing and I can tackle the problems of the day.
[18:26] SPEAKER_01: So I you know if you if you have a chance to read books of meditation you know I suggest those are interesting and the other really interesting one is not the greatest read in the world but it's called meditations and it's but it's about stoicism.
[18:42] SPEAKER_01: And Marcus really is I think wrote it and and that was a wonderful you know interesting a bit complex read but the whole concept of stoicism I think is something that off entrepreneurs really would would benefit from learning about it said you know it's a wonderful philosophy.
[19:00] SPEAKER_00: You know they've had to pick one word to describe.
[19:05] SPEAKER_00: Matt what would it be and why.
[19:09] SPEAKER_01: One word resilient would be would be the word I'd probably choose for me it's you know I've just been you know in these journeys having having started as many companies as I have you know there's so many failures and and and you know so many mistakes I would have like to you know taken back and you know just just so many problems and I would I would consider myself a very resilient person and I think that's really helped me get.
[19:38] SPEAKER_01: So I think that's really the most important thing that I've been able to get to you know where I've gotten to is not not giving up on when when it looks insurmountable kind of picking myself up and and you know and dusting myself off and trying again and pivoting and sometimes accepting failure I mean that's one of the things that we have to do is accept that that you maybe you've made a mistake that that's beyond repair and accepting failure and moving on.
[20:00] SPEAKER_01: But but resilience in sort of doing something new trying it again and not giving up would be mean for sure.
[20:09] SPEAKER_00: What's keeping you up at night on a business front these days.
[20:14] SPEAKER_01: Yeah I mean it's it's much more operational I have you know I have these four startups you know I've got some investments you know in seed stage companies but their numbers aren't that huge so they never keep me up sometimes I wonder how I can help a little bit more but I think that's really important.
[20:30] SPEAKER_01: But I think the you know the main ones are around my four kind of core businesses and and you know I think a bunch is about what am I going to do next year when when I'm empty nesting and and my wife and I are going to be traveling and you know how do I structure the businesses so I'm spending a lot of time thinking about people to bring in who to promote you know those sorts of things.
[20:52] SPEAKER_01: But I feel very lucky that that that I don't I don't dwell you know I don't dwell on the past very much and you know I'm always kind of looking forward and and and I'm always trying to find the bright side and so I'm you know I'm in a spot where where you know I'm comfortable in life and then I've got you know wonderful family and I've got you know I've got these businesses that have real potential so I think you know nothing really keeps me up at night I have I have lots of things.
[21:21] SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking about but but nothing really nothing really keeps me up.
[21:26] SPEAKER_00: Well Matt it's been great meeting you I wish you had the skin but that's fine.
[21:33] SPEAKER_00: Let's do the next one in person at the stage.
[21:37] SPEAKER_00: Okay sounds great and thanks very much for coming up and kind of this podcast.
[21:44] SPEAKER_00: How can people get a hold of you if you know they they listened or look at this and say I got to get a hold of this guy.
[21:53] SPEAKER_01: Yeah great I'm much more active on LinkedIn I'm not a big social media guy but I'm much more active on LinkedIn so Matthew Vaughan Teichman you can find me on LinkedIn and and otherwise my email is M-A-T-T-V-T at c4funds.com
[22:09] SPEAKER_01: and anyone can email me anytime and happy to happy to chat especially you know I think for those who are going through the entrepreneurial journey and having a lot of questions.
[22:18] SPEAKER_01: I'm always happy to give a little time to just see if I can talk through it.
[22:23] SPEAKER_01: I don't you know I don't I can't guarantee I'll be interested in investing or any of those things because I get a lot of those requests but I certainly will give my time to see if I can I can help.
[22:34] SPEAKER_00: Okay Matt thank you very much.
[22:36] SPEAKER_00: It's been great to meet you.
[22:37] SPEAKER_00: Thanks Phil.
[22:38] SPEAKER_01: Appreciate it. Nice to meet you.
