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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Canada's podcast.
[00:05] SPEAKER_00: This podcast is brought to you by Schneider Electric,
[00:09] SPEAKER_00: supporting Canadian businesses with innovative energy management and automation solutions.
[00:15] SPEAKER_00: Schneider Electric, your digital partner for sustainability and efficiency.
[00:21] SPEAKER_02: Russell, welcome.
[00:24] SPEAKER_02: We've both been really busy, so it's been a little bit of a long journey.
[00:29] SPEAKER_02: It's seldom to have to get it together.
[00:31] SPEAKER_02: But I'm sure EZ365, crypto, NFTs, all of that thing is very much in the news.
[00:40] SPEAKER_02: So it's very relevant.
[00:41] SPEAKER_02: So tell us a bit more about the venture, why you started and what its future might be.
[00:47] SPEAKER_01: Sure.
[00:48] Speaker UNKNOWN: I'm sure it's a little bit more of a thanks, though.
[00:48] SPEAKER_01: And yeah, it's been a bit of a challenge, getting this underway.
[00:52] SPEAKER_01: So really nice to be here, finally today.
[00:54] SPEAKER_01: But you know, the universe finds a way in the end.
[01:00] SPEAKER_01: So yeah, so I've been on this crypto journey since about 2015 when I.
[01:06] SPEAKER_01: Well, the story actually starts a few years before that.
[01:10] SPEAKER_01: I first discovered Bitcoin around 2012 somewhere around there.
[01:14] SPEAKER_01: I think it was about $50 a coin.
[01:17] SPEAKER_01: And I did a little bit of research.
[01:19] SPEAKER_01: I was like, OK, this seems interesting.
[01:21] SPEAKER_01: I went to my wife and I said, I want to buy 100 of these Bitcoins for $5,000.
[01:27] SPEAKER_01: And she's like, are you crazy?
[01:29] SPEAKER_01: Do you think I'm going to hand over my hard earned money to some scammer on the internet that invented fake currency?
[01:35] SPEAKER_01: There's no way.
[01:36] SPEAKER_01: You know, she was financially responsible.
[01:37] SPEAKER_01: So yeah, to this day, I tease her about that about the 100 Bitcoins extra 100 Bitcoins I should have that I don't.
[01:43] SPEAKER_01: But a few years went by and around 2015 I was at the time focused on angel investing.
[01:51] SPEAKER_01: And I was looking for emerging markets, emerging technologies.
[01:54] SPEAKER_01: And I came across Bitcoin again through a friend of mine.
[02:00] SPEAKER_01: And I was like, OK, I started looking into it a little bit more really started wrapping my head around not just cryptocurrencies and in general,
[02:08] SPEAKER_01: but specifically the blockchain technology that underlies it.
[02:11] SPEAKER_01: And to me, this was really what captivated my imagination.
[02:18] SPEAKER_01: And I started my career in 1995 just as Windows 95 and the first net scape navigator were released.
[02:25] SPEAKER_01: And this was for the internet, it's mass adoption moment because it represented for the very first time an easy way for people to get online.
[02:33] SPEAKER_01: And from 95 to 96 to 97, the internet grew 20x annually to where it is today.
[02:40] SPEAKER_01: And so I saw a lot of parallels in terms of the transformational potential of what this blockchain technology represented.
[02:51] SPEAKER_01: And I felt very strongly and feeling been more strongly today that, you know, when you look back from 1995 to today over the last 25 years or so,
[03:00] SPEAKER_01: the incredible influence that the internet has had and the fact that, you know, it has changed virtually every aspect of our society.
[03:08] SPEAKER_01: And I see the same potential with blockchain that we're just in the in the in the infancy of it.
[03:15] SPEAKER_01: And over the next 20 years, I believe it'll have an even greater impact on society than the internet has had over the last 20.
[03:22] SPEAKER_01: So that really started my journey and everything else pretty much got pushed aside.
[03:29] SPEAKER_01: My focus became Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. I started building mining rigs. I started.
[03:36] SPEAKER_01: I tried to brush off some of my old development skills and I think too much time to come by.
[03:42] SPEAKER_01: So I abandoned that, but I did I did mine. I was actively trading. I was investing. I was looking at at a variety of different projects at the time that weren't that many.
[03:52] SPEAKER_01: But and then in 2017, that's when the real excitement started. And and this was really big points coming out party.
[04:00] SPEAKER_01: In January was a thousand dollars and by December, it had was just under 20,000 and that 20 X rise in 12 months.
[04:10] SPEAKER_01: Obviously got a lot of people's attention and throughout that entire bull run on a daily basis five times a day, sometimes more people were calling me old friends from high school people on Facebook that see that I was posting about crypto.
[04:26] SPEAKER_01: And the question was always the same like I want in how do I buy Bitcoin, how do I get it? I tried I did some research I couldn't figure it out.
[04:32] SPEAKER_01: And there was such a massive barrier to entry for the average person that I felt this was a major hurdle to mass adoption.
[04:41] SPEAKER_01: So in January of 2018, the height of the market just before crypto winter set in, I founded easy for 65 with the goal of trying to help facilitate mass adoption by making it as easy as possible for brand new users with no experience to enter the market.
[05:00] SPEAKER_01: And at the time, especially onboarding fiat buying the coin for cash was exceptionally difficult.
[05:09] SPEAKER_01: Certainly going the other way was was nearly impossible. Things have improved a little bit, but they're still a long way to go. And and that was the idea is that we started with the the concept within exchange called easy exchange, which is live.
[05:23] SPEAKER_01: And you know, especially back then now again things are a little bit better, but we were basically the first exchange with 24 hour telephone support. We were one of the first exchanges with credit card processing.
[05:35] SPEAKER_01: And again, the idea is that, you know, if you're an average person and you want to start investing in stocks, you can go to e trade or a merit trade or price water house, you can open up an account with any number of brokerages.
[05:44] SPEAKER_01: And it's fairly intuitive. If you've done online banking, you can figure it out. And if you get stock, there's always a telephone number. You can pick up and somebody will help walk you through it.
[05:53] SPEAKER_01: None of that existed in the crypto space. And so, you know, for it really was a situation where only the most technically savvy and determined individuals ever made it all the way through the end.
[06:05] SPEAKER_01: Most people would simply give up at some point along the way. And this would in my mind, lead Bitcoin permanently in the fringes.
[06:11] SPEAKER_01: So, where we are now for half years later is that we are developing a blockchain based ecosystem. So the exchanges live.
[06:21] SPEAKER_01: We have an NFT component that just launched called easy NFT. We have a gaming and esports component that we're building out that will launch next.
[06:31] SPEAKER_01: It's called easy win. And then we have a learning portal called easy academy because education is a critically important component to mass adoption.
[06:41] SPEAKER_01: So that's basically the idea. And you know, it's been an incredible journey. Three and a half, almost now in January, come January, four years.
[06:50] SPEAKER_01: The industry changes dramatically. We've had to pivot a number of times, but it's an incredible space to be in.
[06:57] SPEAKER_02: But we didn't start as an entrepreneur. You know, how did you get there?
[07:04] SPEAKER_01: It's a really, you know, that's a great question. And I've had this discussion with other people because earlier this year, I turned 50.
[07:10] SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I became an entrepreneur for the first time in 47. And most entrepreneurial stories are, you know, like Mark Zuckerberg or those kinds of people that started their 20s.
[07:21] SPEAKER_01: But looking back, I wouldn't have it any other way. And I truly believe that I needed all of my, all of the experience that I had over the 25 years in the corporate industry.
[07:35] SPEAKER_01: I needed, you know, the two decades of maturity of all of the, you know, the failures of the stumbles along the way.
[07:42] SPEAKER_01: And, and I needed that entire life to in order for this to be successful. I think that if I would have started this, forget the fact that watching didn't exist when I was 20s, my 20s or my 30s.
[07:55] SPEAKER_01: But if I would have tried any sort of entrepreneurial venture, I'm certain, I shouldn't say certain, but I suspect that things wouldn't have gone as well because I wouldn't have had all of this living that I have now done.
[08:10] SPEAKER_01: And so, I love where I am. I'm, you know, I had a good career. I hope I never have to go back into that world. But it's really, really valuable to have had that experience.
[08:25] SPEAKER_02: You know, you're, you're taught about starting up. I mean, everyone needs some kind of financing, you know, you've raised money over the last few years and presently are doing the same thing.
[08:36] SPEAKER_02: You know, for those that haven't been there, what are the key elements, you know, for attracting and winning confidence of investors?
[08:46] SPEAKER_02: I mean, what would you say in the last five years that you've, you said, yeah, this is going to be like this.
[08:55] SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it might seem like a cliche and I always think of that, you know, that the people say that if you love what you do, you'll never work your day in your life.
[09:04] SPEAKER_01: But, but to a certain extent, that's true. And when you, what I have found the biggest differentiator because, you know, great ideas are plentiful executing them is obviously a lot more difficult.
[09:18] SPEAKER_01: But when you go in front of an investor, it's not enough just to have a good idea.
[09:22] SPEAKER_01: Some investors will obviously they will respond to that and that may be enough, but in my experience, what I found is the passion behind the pitch is what's really critical.
[09:37] SPEAKER_01: And investors want to see that you're emotionally invested in the project and they want to see that this is something that you have a personal interest in and a personal passion.
[09:48] SPEAKER_01: And that's, you know, for me, like again, it is a cliche, but I, I've been in the incredible amount of effort and time and money and everything that I've spent over the last three and a half years.
[09:59] SPEAKER_01: I don't really feel like it's a job. It hasn't really felt like work because even if I never started easy 365, I would have been in part of the computer doing crypto investing and doing the researching projects and doing all the stuff on my own.
[10:13] SPEAKER_01: So having that passion, I think is really critical and believing truly believing in what you're doing.
[10:22] SPEAKER_01: And, you know, again, it's the proof is in the pudding. I've been bootstrapping this project. We have raised some money, but for the most part, you know, it's three and a half years and a lot of investment made and I don't regret it for a second.
[10:37] SPEAKER_00: At Schneider Electric, we empower Canadian businesses to utilize energy and resources efficiently Schneider Electric, the future of energy.
[10:50] SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean, I don't know as like you and me. We wired differently.
[10:56] SPEAKER_02: I mean, you know, it is something, you know, in a positive way, is it something unique about the entrepreneurial mindset?
[11:07] SPEAKER_01: I think there is. And yeah, there's positives and there's negatives because I think the level of risk taking that is necessary can definitely be a con in certain settings.
[11:22] SPEAKER_01: The ability to just scrape by and do whatever needs to be done.
[11:30] SPEAKER_01: The ability to problem solve when things pop up and seem insurmountable.
[11:36] SPEAKER_01: You know, it is, it is a unique mentality, I think. And sometimes I wonder, you know, I'll be lying in bed going, what did it get myself into?
[11:46] SPEAKER_01: But those thoughts are a few in far between, you know, we are human after all during setbacks and things of that nature, but overall, you know, it's, it's an incredible place to be and I'm very comfortable.
[12:00] SPEAKER_02: No, it's incredible. I mean, what's the best thing? You know, what, what made, you know, you did 20 years not, not being an entrepreneur.
[12:10] SPEAKER_02: What's the, what's the major difference? What's that switch from here to here kind of thing?
[12:18] SPEAKER_01: The ability to control, to a certain extent, control the outcome and, you know, at the highest level, I would say, you know, I still look back.
[12:29] SPEAKER_01: It was my, my partner, my student to be partner and I, who is at the time we were just friends. We went for lunch and, you know, the, okay, so I'll give you this story as well because it helps put these into context.
[12:44] SPEAKER_01: So, thank you.
[12:45] SPEAKER_01: One of the guys that called me for help in buying Bitcoin and I took him through we went out for lunch. I gave him the intro. I showed him, you know, where do the go to the exchange, how to get in, do your KYC, et cetera, et cetera.
[12:57] SPEAKER_01: And a couple weeks later, he called me back and he said, this has been the most frustrating exercise of my life. I've been stopped every step of the way. I still haven't gotten through.
[13:08] SPEAKER_01: I just can we can we go off for lunch again. I have a million more questions. So we went out for lunch again.
[13:14] SPEAKER_01: And the second time we sat down and he said, listen, I come from a customer support background. I run call centers out of the Philippines for incoming and outgoing and sales and text them more to things like that.
[13:25] SPEAKER_01: He said, why don't we utilize my existing call centers in the Philippines and we can provide support for crypto companies because there's no like he's like, I keep getting stumped and there's no phone call you send him an email. You don't hear back for weeks like it's crazy.
[13:42] SPEAKER_01: So, and then I said, why don't we just build a platform from the ground up with the support already baked right in and that's literally how the idea started and you know, it was, it was that that impetus where he needed the help and we need we had so we sat down for lunch.
[14:04] SPEAKER_01: We came up with this idea. We went home, you know, we met the next day. We talked about it a little bit more.
[14:11] SPEAKER_01: And within three months, you know, there was a company registered. We were in an office. We had some employees. We were we were building this out and it's just incredibly rewarding to be able to take something from your mind and then manifest it in the real world.
[14:28] SPEAKER_01: I think that's what, you know, I'm not an artist. I have zero artistic skill, but it blows my mind that somebody can envision something in their mind and then create something with their hands, whether it's a painting or sculpture that other people can then enjoy and admire and you know building a business.
[14:44] SPEAKER_01: There's some definite analogy to that. You're taking something from your mind and you're manifesting it through your hands and through and to be able to realize a vision, like that is really not possible in a corporate environment unless you're the CEO or, you know, there are other your founder.
[15:00] SPEAKER_01: So I, like I said, I had a very rewarding 20 plus year career in the corporate world and had senior positions have a lot of influence.
[15:11] SPEAKER_01: But you know, it's different. You come up with a vision. If it's a if it's a large enough hierarchy, good luck trying to get that implemented, especially if it's groundbreaking.
[15:19] SPEAKER_01: If it's if it's something that's never been done before, you know, there's a lot of conservativeness in within world for obvious reasons. So I think to me, that's the most exciting thing is is just, you know, being able to realize your vision.
[15:37] SPEAKER_02: If you had to pick one word to describe yourself, you know, what would that would be? And why?
[15:47] SPEAKER_01: The first word that popped into my head when you said that was tenacious. So to me,
[15:53] SPEAKER_01: I'm asking about the common one.
[15:56] Speaker UNKNOWN:
[15:58] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[15:59] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[16:04] SPEAKER_01: Maybe visionary as well. I do like to, you know, my my skill is is is more on the on the, you know, my head is my wife is the detail oriented one of the family. Thank God.
[16:16] SPEAKER_01: My head is usually in the cloud. So I do like imagining things. I do like coming up with with ideas that have never been thought of before.
[16:26] SPEAKER_01: It's it's exciting to break new ground. That that to me is is what I like to try to always accomplish.
[16:33] SPEAKER_02: You know, on the mentoring side, which is a really important thing on our journeys. You know, what's the best piece of advice you received that you keep on using?
[16:45] SPEAKER_02: I think it's a good advice to something that stays there, you know what I mean?
[16:52] SPEAKER_01: So this will be another cliche, but the idea of work like balance is so important. I'm always cognizant of not burning out and not, you know, going too hard.
[17:05] SPEAKER_02: I've got two kids. I don't know. I mean, go and put it hot. The last couple weeks. I know that.
[17:11] SPEAKER_01: There will be exceptions, 15 spurts along the way. But generally speaking, you know, I'm blessed with two wonderful boys, 17 or 20. My wife and I on Sunday will be celebrating our 22nd anniversary.
[17:25] SPEAKER_01: So I really like to make sure that I spend a lot of time there with my family and I have a close friend of mine, Cherry, 10.
[17:36] SPEAKER_01: I think maybe you know as well. Maybe not. She's in Toronto, but I'm losing my thought we had talked about. Maybe I'm thinking about somebody else, but anyway.
[17:45] SPEAKER_01: So she's her project is all about talking to founders about mental illness and specifically, you know, the dangers of burning out and what can happen and things like that.
[17:56] SPEAKER_01: So that to me, you know, you have to push yourself sometimes past your limits, but then you have to take breaks if that happens because taking care of your mental health and your physical health, I practice yoga, I try every day, I try to do meditation and try to keep my mind clear.
[18:15] SPEAKER_01: It's incredibly important. Otherwise, you cannot succeed with with all work focused.
[18:21] SPEAKER_02: What books you reading, listening to, whatever, or something, what books, it gets us a bit about what books have really, you know, it's a bit of the mentoring thing.
[18:36] SPEAKER_02: What books have influenced you and that you keep, you know, maybe opening up and so off and going back.
[18:42] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[18:44] SPEAKER_01: So I have, I have a few favorites for sure. One book that I just read not too long ago that a friend of mine recommended.
[18:53] SPEAKER_01: I can't remember the author off the time I had, but the five dysfunctions of a team.
[18:59] SPEAKER_01: An excellent, really, really good book about a theoretical company and these things like how to make your team most efficient.
[19:05] SPEAKER_01: But probably my most influential books in my life would be, I would say there's three ish male by Daniel Quinn, the Dalek poo by Benjamin Hoff, and the book by Alan Watts.
[19:26] SPEAKER_01: So those would be very different. A lot of a lot of Eastern philosophy in some of them, but I go back to those books regularly and just just love all three of those.
[19:42] SPEAKER_02: You know, what's so you you talked about what life balance, which is kind of interesting for me.
[19:51] SPEAKER_02: What you know, my kids are a lot of my grandkids, so they kind of look back and say, maybe I didn't have the best work like that.
[20:01] SPEAKER_02: What does the typical day look like for you? Because you are a driving thing is pretty odd. I know that.
[20:07] SPEAKER_02: Now, how do you maintain the kind of focus that's needed to succeed with the kind of, you know,
[20:14] SPEAKER_02: I guess attention that's needed to yourself physically and the relationships that the kind of that are so critical basically.
[20:28] SPEAKER_01: Todd management is a very valuable skill for sure, and I try to set a schedule.
[20:35] SPEAKER_01: Even the night before like in one hour blocks.
[20:39] SPEAKER_01: If I have various tasks, I personally, I cannot multitask. I believe that multitasking in general is a myth. I think people that say that they're good at it are good at baking it, but I think our brains are wired to only focus on one thing at a time.
[20:57] SPEAKER_01: And when you try to multitask, you just do multiple things poorly. So it's very important for me.
[21:04] SPEAKER_01: And I try not to get distracted like if I set an hour to do something, whether it's reading, whether it's, you know, going through email, whatever, it's that task.
[21:11] SPEAKER_01: I actually get anxiety when I have when something pops up and I have to attend to it and I've got a switch.
[21:17] SPEAKER_01: You know, what I'm what I'm doing that I still have 20 more minutes of and I have to go on to something else. It bothers me and I get actual anxiety from that because I like to stick to that schedule.
[21:26] SPEAKER_01: So making sure that the physical fitness is in there, making sure that there's time for family in there. So I always like kids are 2017.
[21:37] SPEAKER_01: They're both in the house at the moment, which makes things a little bit easier. So I will coordinate with them and I'll literally get a block of time. I'll say tomorrow at 7 o'clock, we're going to hang out and and watch something on TV or we're going to just chat or whatever we're going to go out for a bite.
[21:51] SPEAKER_01: And so yeah, really trying to to get that schedule and stick to it is very helpful and helps me maintain that work like that.
[22:05] SPEAKER_02: So we are a morning or a night person in that organization.
[22:10] SPEAKER_01: Definitely morning. I am I like to be asleep by 10. I like to be up by 6. I love the mornings. I come downstairs, you know, the house is quiet and in the winter, it's still dark and everyone's still sleeping and that's my quiet time. I make my coffee. I sit down. I just I don't look at email.
[22:28] SPEAKER_01: I might watch a show from the night before or something like that, but it's just like it's a slow leisurely awakening into the day. I don't like jumping out of bed and having to rush to something. So yeah, definitely morning person.
[22:44] SPEAKER_02: So, so I mean, I'll buy from the crypto thing, you know, which I'm sure immersed in. You're a bit of a futurist. I know.
[22:52] SPEAKER_02: So, you know, what are you most excited about these days and in the world, the the strange and wonderful world that we live in basically?
[23:04] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's certainly strange and wonderful. That's for sure. So I really am fascinated by the concept of the metaverse.
[23:14] SPEAKER_01: And in terms of, you know, in cryptocurrency, now we're seeing it in NFTs. The largest is probably decentralized, but there's sandbox. There's crypto boxals. There's some in space. There's a number uplift world is one that I'm personally involved in.
[23:31] SPEAKER_01: And, you know, when you think it like it rubs sometimes when you explain this concept and if somebody doesn't know what this is, I usually say, have you seen the movie ready player one?
[23:44] SPEAKER_01: And if you have, then you kind of have a general idea. And you know, they're there.
[23:48] SPEAKER_01: And you know, there's certainly whether it's 2025, whether it's 2030. I don't know when it will be, but over the next few years we will, you know, as the technology evolves eventually VR and will be full immersion where it'll be indistinguishable from the real world.
[24:07] SPEAKER_01: You'll be able to put on maybe a full bodysuit and you'll have every sensation that you have in the real world that you can meet with friends and whatnot.
[24:16] SPEAKER_01: So a lot of people look at this as a dystopian future.
[24:19] SPEAKER_01: But I think that it'll actually open things up and, you know, human nature session. We're seeing it now as things open up. How much we've missed human to human contact.
[24:29] SPEAKER_01: So I don't think it'll ever fully replace that, but I just think it's, it's, you know, to have a virtual online world or various ones that you can interact with and you can meet with people and you can, you know, I'm building an art gallery,
[24:48] SPEAKER_01: fully immersive art gallery in the virtual world so that people can come and they can see all of the art display that we're selling in the real world and they can see it there and they can in a three dimensional space.
[25:00] SPEAKER_01: And again, it's still very, very rudimentary compared to where it will be five or 10 years from now.
[25:07] SPEAKER_01: So I just love this whole concept of the metaverse and where it might go over the next few years.
[25:15] SPEAKER_02: Very, very interesting. Russell, it's been great meeting you. Well, for those of us, I know we do know each other, but that's fun.
[25:25] SPEAKER_02: This closure. And last, last people listen to this. So, so how, how can people get a hold of you? It's a view spot something that they want to follow on what's the best way for people to get a hold of you?
[25:37] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I am on you can certainly reach me via email, but just generally I stick to Facebook. That's my one social media vice, but I use it personally and I use it a lot for promotion of my business.
[25:54] SPEAKER_01: So you can certainly reach me there at Facebook.com slash Russell for us. That would probably be the easiest way. Anyone can send me a DM and I will respond if we're not already friends.
[26:06] SPEAKER_01: You can tell me thank you for me on this podcast and we can communicate.
[26:10] SPEAKER_02: Thanks Russell. It's been great having you. You really appreciate coming on camera's podcast.
[26:16] SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much. Go really great being on and we'll talk soon. Nice to see you again.
[26:22] SPEAKER_00: This podcast is brought to you by Schneider Electric supporting Canadian businesses with innovative energy management and automation solutions.
[26:32] SPEAKER_00: Schneider Electric, your digital partner for sustainability and efficiency.
