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A Dealmaker's DNA with Ilan Jacobson
A Dealmaker's DNA with Ilan Jacobson episodes
- Episode 61: Allen Lau
How does a person become an entrepreneur in the entertainment verticals? Today’s guest can share his experience. Allen Lau is the executive advisor for WEBTOON and Wattpad. He’s a serial entrepreneur, a speaker, and an authority on entrepreneurship, the innovation economy, and the benefits of a diverse workforce. He’s also a leader in Canada’s tech community.
Listen to the episode to hear what Allen has to say about how an introvert can succeed as an entrepreneur and leader, how Wattpad came to be in the first place, and what lessons Allen has learned about very high growth.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- Allen’s origin story and what led to his entrepreneurial journey
- How an introvert can be a leader or entrepreneur
- What Allen’s startup journey looked like
- What happened after Allen left IBM
- How Wattpad came to be
- What network effect means and what people get wrong about it
- When Allen transitioned Wattpad from a mobile reading app
- The first lessons Allen learned about really high growth
- Why some people are great at storytelling but others are not
Related Links
Allen Lau
32 min - Episode 60: John Asher
There are a lot of buzzwords out there. One that you may or may not be familiar with is “proptech” what does it mean? You’ll learn more about it by listening to today’s guest, John Asher. John is the president and co-founder of Konfidis. Listen to the episode to hear what John knows about self-teaching, what brought him to the world of startup tech, and what Konfidis is all about.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- John’s origin story
- How John’s childhood growing up on a farm shaped him
- How John was taught to self-teach
- Why John decided to study accounting
- When John concluded that accounting wasn’t for him
- What big companies do well
- Why John decided to move into the world of startup tech
- What Konfidis is all about
- The big goal for Konfidis
- What John is seeing gain traction in the proptech world
- Sorting through the different factors that affect housing
- Shifts in who owns residential real estate in Canada
Related Links
John Asher
Konfidis
Quotes From the Show
“You’ve got to put in the work if you ever actually want to see output.”
“This company is my midlife crisis, how about that?”
“Whatever happens in the U.S. seems to find its way to Canada eventually.”
35 min - Episode 59: Michael Brown
Why are you working? That’s something that Michael Brown has been thinking about lately: what he’s working for and what his legacy is going to be.
In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Michael Brown, the CEO and co-founder of Swept. Michael has a somewhat unusual background as an entrepreneur and has managed to do many different things with it. Listen in to hear what Michael has to say about where he got the motivation and determination to hustle, why he decided to go into the kinds of companies he chose, and what his background as a mechanic has to do with his entrepreneurial career.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- Michael’s origination story
- Where Michael’s hustle came from
- Understanding the value of a dollar
- What Michael did after high school and studying abroad
- Why Michael decided to go into the kinds of companies he did
- Whether Michael’s background in mechanics impacts his entrepreneurial career
- Michael’s purpose right now
- What Michael wants his legacy to be
Related Links
Michael Brown
Quotes From the Show
“My summer was very different from everybody else’s”
“It’s very rare to have a professor who’s actually done it, successfully, who is teaching you. One of her classes is: You have to start a business for $10”
“I want to work hard so I can give more.”
32 min - Episode 58: Drew Green
When Drew started out, he had goals of creating things and finding good people to work with, and he’s managed to achieve those goals and more. He’s the CEO and president of INDOCHINO and a serial entrepreneur, and today he brings his story to the podcast.
Listen to the episode to hear what Drew has to say about building confidence from childhood, learning lessons from fear, and connecting with people in an authentic way that’s not all about networking.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- Drew’s origin story
- How to build a child’s confidence
- Lessons that can be learned from fear
- How to hack the skillset for meeting and connecting with people
- What Drew’s first few years as an entrepreneur looked like
- Drew’s thesis for what he’s doing and how he spends his time
- What Drew learned about finding fraud
- Why gratitude is so important
- Embracing the feeling of uncomfortableness
- Economic themes to double down on today
Related Links
Drew Green
Quotes From the Show
“Luckily, I just had the most wonderful grandparents in the world.”
“In order to grow, in order to make stuff happen, there has to be movement.”
“I don’t want to meet people inauthentically.”
"I’ve embraced the desire to be uncomfortable, because when you’re uncomfortable you have to figure things out, you have to solve, you have to create."
38 min - Episode 57: Mo Lidsky
Today we revisit an interview with Mo Lidsky that took place in early 2020. Mo is the CEO of Prime Quadrant and is a man with many accomplishments. He is an entrepreneur, an investor, advisor, and author. In a replay of this episode, Mo takes the time to explain how he got to where he is today and what his views are on nature vs. nurture. Listen to the episode to hear what Mo has to say about self-awareness, inspiring children, and promoting alignment among critical people inside of an organization.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- What Mo’s early life was like
- Mo’s first business
- Mo’s view on whether success boils down to nature or nurture
- Times when some influence or shift changed Mo’s trajectory
- Mo’s views on self-awareness
- Tools that young people can use to figure out what they should be doing
- How Mo puts his ideas into practice with his children
- Tools that promote alignment among the most critical people in the organization
- How Mo got into his current business
- What Mo loves about what he does
- What is enough
- How philanthropy has influenced Mo’s non-philanthropic ventures
46 min - Episode 56: Sean Morrison
Today’s guest invented the concept of the top-line royalty fund after years of experience in his field. He explains today that entrepreneurship is just in his DNA.
Sean Morrison is the President and CEO of Diversified Royalty Corporation. In more than 20 years working with franchises and finance, he has a lot to say about his experiences, skills, and how he’s operated in various roles. Listen to the episode to hear what Sean has to say about transparency, how to access skillsets related to door-knocking and cold-calling in the modern environment, and how he developed the idea of a top-line royalty fund.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- What Sean does
- Sean’s childhood and background
- The value of transparency
- The ways to hack the skillsets of door-knocking and cold-calling
- Sean’s CFO role and what came after that
- Sean’s desire to use his fact-based sales pitch skills
- Sean’s idea for a top-line royalty fund
- When Diversified Royalty Group really got started
- How the advisory council Sean was a part of connected to Boston Pizza
- Lessons Sean learned from dealing with the government in 2008
- What Sean thinks about government spending in the past few years
- The best way to find Sean online
Related Links
Sean Morrison
Diversified Royalty Corporation
Quotes From the Show
“I think entrepreneurialism has always been in my DNA.”
“I’ve always wanted to be the institutional salesperson versus the retail salesperson, and the institutional one has to have a fact-based sales pitch.”
“I would say that if they didn’t spray the firehose, we would have been doomed. Did they overspray? Of course, cause it’s not their money, who wouldn’t overspray?”
37 min - Episode 55: Rob Normandeau
What drives a person to begin a private equity firm? How do you come up with a name for a business like that or work with partners within it? These are all topics that today’s guest will touch on in his interview.
Listen to the episode to hear from Rob Normandeau as he discusses his degree and previous business experiences, what it’s like to partner with other entrepreneurs, and whether money is the best motivator, as well as what other types of effective motivators for success exist, as Rob discuss his journey, his business, and the future of his industry.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- What Seafort Capital does
- Where Rob grew up and what his childhood looked like
- Where Rob’s law degree came in
- When Rob thought about leaving law
- The transition to a publicly listed company
- Why Rob left Clarke
- Rob’s move to Halifax
- How Rob ended up starting a private equity firm
- Why Rob wanted to expand
- Where the name Seafort Capital came from
- What it means to partner with entrepreneurs
- Whether money is a good motivator
- Good motivators for Rob
- What Rob has learned about the East Coast
- What Rob thinks about the future of his industry
Related Links
Rob Normandeau
Seafort Capital
Quotes From the Show
“I used to always joke that since I studied law, I wanted to get admitted, do my articles, and get admitted so that my mom could tell the ladies at Bingo her son was a lawyer, and then I could move onto business which I thought was more interesting.”
“What we recognized from the start was that if we were successful, if this thing really grew and developed, we would reach a point where it made sense to bring in other investors.”
“It’s important to try to aspire to success and to wealth, but you can’t be short-term in your thinking.”
31 min - Episode 54: Christen Daniels
Firepower Capital – Christen Daniels
What does a head of customer success and corporate development do? What is it like to work for a fintech company? Today’s guest is Christen Daniels, and she’s the Head of Customer Success & Corporate Development at the fintech company, Georgian.
Listen to the episode to hear what Christen has to say about how she ended up in this position, why she’s not a natural risk-taker, how she thinks about risk, and what she has to say about the psychology of transactions.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- What Christen’s childhood looked like and how she ended up where she is
- Christen’s experience studying in another language
- Why Christen says she’s not a natural risk-taker
- Why Christen wrote for the LSAT
- When Christen decided to focus on corporate law
- The psychology of transactions
- What Georgian does
- Recommendations Christen has for entering her field
- Defining and building community
- Christen’s view on the future of evaluations
Related Links
Christen Daniels
Georgian
Quotes From the Show
“I like having a clarity of path, a clarity of purpose, kind of understanding how the pieces are going to come together, and having a little bit of certainty.”
“It was really clear to me that I’m fairly passionate about transactions.”
“Deals are really different when you own the results.”
36 min - Episode 53: Julie MacDonnell
What do you know about the intellectual property laws in the Metaverse? Probably not much, but somebody has to, right? Julie MacDonnell is an intellectual property lawyer by trade, which is a more traditional field, but she’s doing things to disrupt that space.
Listen in to learn about Julie’s company, Halloo, what roles that she believes accelerators and incubators have played in her journey and why she recommends them to others, and why she believes that giving back is so important.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- Where Julie is from and what her upbringing was like
- When the chip on your shoulder goes from positive to negative
- The role that accelerators and incubators played in Julie’s journey
- The importance of taking the right money
- How to start finding a network
- Starting relationships with an authentic desire to get to know each other
- Metaverse IP law
- Areas of law that young lawyers should be paying attention to right now
- Why Julie believes that giving back matters
Related Links
Julie MacDonnell
Halloo
Quotes From the Show
“I’ve got this theory that many problems, business problems even, should be approached through a trauma lens.
“Any accelerator program that gives you money and doesn’t take equity, I strongly, strongly encourage.”
“The barrier to entrepreneurship is so, so low, because what we’re selling and trading and buying in this space is intellectual property.:
34 min - Episode 52: Josh Garellek
How does someone wind up going from a Jewish private school and university, to working in the adult entertainment industry, tp becoming a serial entrepreneur?
Josh Garellek is the co-founder of Arctic Leaf Inc and PartnerPortal.io. He’s interested in teamwork, passion, and camaraderie, bringing people who share those things and what they can do together, and how partnerships and relationships affect business and brands. Listen to the episode to hear what Josh has to say about his role in bringing a fraternity to his university and how frat life affected his entrepreneurial path, how Josh identifies his strengths and plays to them, and what Josh thinks about the Metaverse and online risks to children.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- How Josh grew up, what he’s like, and what he’s doing
- Whether Josh got his entrepreneurial instincts from his home growing up
- Whether Josh’s frat played a role in shaping his entrepreneurship
- The reaction Josh got when he went to work for PornHub
- Why the adult industry is an early adopter of new tech
- What interests Josh about the concept of partnerships and relationships
- What Josh has done to identify his strengths and double down on what he’s good at
- What e-commerce brands get right and wrong
- What brand is really effective
- How seriously brands are taking the Metaverse
- What Josh is doing with his children to mitigate online risks
- What brands need to do to evolve over the next 15-20 years
- How Josh would advise a young person entering the marketing space
Related Links
Josh Garellek
Josh on Twitter
Josh on Instagram
Arctic Leaf
Partner Portal
Quotes From the Show
“I like sitting down and playing video games with a console controller and all that stuff, but to build the games just wasn’t fun for me.”
“Fun fact about the adult entertainment industry is that they created online transactions.”
“We’ve gotten to that point where the brand is bigger than my name.”
38 min
About A Dealmaker's DNA with Ilan Jacobson
From the publisher's feed
Why are entrepreneurs driven to do what they do? Put in endless hours and endure countless failures in pursuit of their dreams. Ilan Jacobson is one of those entrepreneurs. He's built businesses in…
sectors ranging from finance to axe-throwing. He's endured his share of failures, but he, and the entrepreneurs he interviews each week, wouldn't go down any other path. Hear their stories: how they conceived of their ideas, cleared hurdles, endured failure, and ultimately, achieved success, on A Dealmaker's DNA with Ilan Jacobson.