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A Dealmaker's DNA with Ilan Jacobson
A Dealmaker's DNA with Ilan Jacobson episodes
- Episode 51: Rob Lydan
Firepower Capital – Rob Lydan
Entrepreneurs can come from anywhere – including from the trades sector. Today’s guest has a background in trades and is even a qualified welder. He’s also the Managing Director at Phoventus, a company that works in renewable power.
Rob Lydan joins the podcast today to discuss how he ended up in renewable power and what factors brought him to this point. Listen to the episode to hear what Rob has to say about what influenced him about the trades, what his professional trajectory looked like, and how to interact with people who are influential in your life.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- What Rob’s childhood looks like and how he got to this point
- What drew Rob to computers
- What influenced Rob to look toward trades
- Rob’s professional trajectory
- Why Rob didn’t pursue work in Canada when he started Phoventus
- The role of anger in becoming an entrepreneur
- What people get right and wrong when faced with people that influence their lives
- Balancing steadfastness in your vision with flexibility
- How much success in business is reliant on luck
Related Links
Rob Lydan
Quotes From the Show
“You can be the general manager, you get the office right next to the front door, not because it’s most convenient for you, it’s because it’s the shortest walk if you have to leave.”
“Seeing the physical object appear is a lot different than doing something that is purely academic.”
“That’s why when I look at how I treat people, I decided I’m just going to be nice to everybody. Because what goes around comes around.”
“I’m a big believer that there’s probably 100 people that you’ll meet or know if your life, that will determine what happens to you, and how you treat them is the sole determination of how your life will turn out.”
29 min - Episode 50: Frank Baylis
Frank Baylis is an entrepreneur as well as a politician. He’s the president of the medical technology firm Baylis Medical. He also ran for office to represent the riding of Pierrefonds—Dollard in the House of Commons of Canada and was elected in 2015. In today’s episode, Frank will discuss what he’s learned from running a medical technology firm that produces ventilators, what inspired him to get involved in politics, and why having the right business partner is so important.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- Frank’s early life and how he got to Canada
- What it means that Frank thinks of himself as a politician
- How it was for Frank joining his mother’s business
- What Frank has learned about picking a good partner
- What Frank has learned about the partnership dynamic
- What the aligning vision looks like today
- Writing down goals
- Why you need a board of directors
- What the experience of transitioning the business was like for Frank
- What Frank has learned from producing ventilators
- What Frank has learned from having a global mindset
- How Frank’s learned to do business in other countries without making mistakes
- How Frank moved into politics
- How Franks avoided getting too frustrated with politics
- Whether anyone can be anything they want to be
- The value of self-awareness
- Frank’s end goal
Related Links
Frank Baylis
Quotes From the Show
“We may disagree what’s a priority or where we put the emphasis, but the majority of us, we’re almost in agreement 95% of what we want to do.”
“When you become aligned and then find someone that’s aligned and wants to do the same thing you do, that’s the foundation that you build upon.”
“There’s no such thing as a self-made man.”
49 min - Episode 49: Stephanie Shapiro
Giving back can have just as much value as getting, so why not make that a focus? Stephanie Shapiro is the COO of Together We Stand, an organization that supports and serves the military families of the Canadian armed forces. In today’s episode, Stephanie will explain why she believes it’s so important to pay attention to what the military does for citizens.
You’ll also hear Stephanie’s thoughts on mental health, adversity, and vulnerability, and transitioning from a government job into her current role.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- Stephanie’s family history and formative years
- Whether Stephanie had it ingrained in her how lucky she was to be born in Canada
- Why Stephanie landed in HR
- What Stephanie’s journey looked like
- How Stephanie is thinking about mental health
- Whether adversity is a good thing, and how to look for
- How vulnerability equates with bravery
- Why Stephanie decided to leave her government job
- What Together We Stand is trying to accomplish
- Understanding what Canadian armed forces do domestically
- The value of giving back
Related Links
Stephanie Shapiro
Together We Stand
Mama Needs a Vodka
Quotes From the Show
“I talk a lot about vulnerability in the workplace. And to me, I’m a huge advocate of that.”
“To me, vulnerability within the workplace is where the magic happens.”
“The reality is that our Canadian armed forces members and their families and veterans have done so much more than simply serve when there’s conflict.”
30 min - Episode 48: Robin Kovitz
Being an entrepreneur means being able to handle some strange and wild circumstances. And if you’re interested in being one, you need to be up to dealing with anything, from one end of the spectrum to the other.
In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Robin Kovitz, the president and CEO of Baskits, inc. In this episode, she discusses the unusual situations that entrepreneurs have to deal with. She also discusses her lifelong dream of attending Harvard, what criteria she put down as part of the process of deciding what business to buy, and what the value of kindness is in business.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- How Robin grew up
- Why Robin’s family were so adamant about her being educated
- Why Robin’s lifelong goal was to get an MBA from Harvard
- How going to Harvard was life changing
- What the process was of Robin deciding to take a risk on buying a business
- Robin’s non-negotiables
- The value of kindness in business
- The strategy of doing the right thing
- Robin’s views on women in entrepreneurship
- Changes over the past decade in terms of women in power
- The importance of passion for your work
- The future for Baskits
Related Links
Robin Kovitz
Baskits, Inc
Quotes From the Show
“How you take that failure is at the key, I believe, of being a successful entrepreneur.”
“To be good at this job, you have to be willing to do everything.”
“I had this vision, because of my entrepreneurial roots, of running a small business. I really enjoyed being with customers, helping employees and team members”
33 min - Episode 47: Alistair Leyland
What is the future? How do we affect it? How do we raise kids in ways that help them realize and take advantage of their own abilities to make and shape the future?
In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Alistair Leyland, a founding partner at Array of Stars. Listen in to the interview to hear his ideas about how to foster innovative mindsets, why storytelling is such an important skill set for entrepreneurs and innovators, and what the next big transformative thing is likely to be.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- Alistair’s origin story
- How to foster an innovation mindset
- How a doctor and teacher fostered more innovative and entrepreneurial mindsets
- What made Alastair move to the Canadian Film Center
- The skillset of storytelling
- The concept of having difficulty with authority
- What Array of Stars does and why Alistair started it
- Web 3 and the metaverse
- What people are underestimating and why
- Alistair’s opinion on NFTs
- The next big transformative thing
- Brands that are at the cutting edge
Related Links
Alistair Leyland
Array of Stars
Quotes From the Show
“A big part of the Hippocratic oath is finding any and all ways to deliver maximum care for patients.”
“Web 3 is essentially the next chapter of the internet.”
“I would say you don’t have to look too much further than what Nike is doing, with scooping up shops within the Web 3, NFT space.”
37 min - Episode 46; Jason Carvalho
What is the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and what does that mean for you? What does understanding this have to do with success in building your finances or having a career as an entrepreneur? In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Jason Carvalho, entrepreneur, investor, and founder of Carvalho Capital. Listen to his interview to hear what he has to say about how he got into technology in the first place, what the Fourth Industrial Revolution is, what risk really is and how to balance taking risks with the need to be prudent.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- Jason’s early life
- How Jason landed in technology
- How Jason figured out that he was an entrepreneur early on
- Where Jason took his entrepreneurship after finding himself in Victoria
- How much of life’s successes are luck
- Transitioning from entrepreneur and investor
- Defining the fourth industrial revolution
- How the metaverse is going to change things
- Getting prepared for the next generation of worker
- How to balance the desire to be all in with the need to be prudent
- What risk is
- How to follow Jason
Related Links
Jason Carvalho
Jason on Twitter
Carvalho Capital on Twitter
Quotes From the Show
“To be frank, when you start building things, you can see, you understand how it works.”
“There’s no stopping the idea of the metaverse.”
“In order for you to be disciplined, you have to wake up every single day and realize the system is trying to take money from you.”
38 min - Episode 45: Steve Divitkos
Are you running on autopilot? Do you know how to turn off the autopilot? Today’s guest says that people spend more time on autopilot than they’d like to think, and it can prevent them from getting on the right path. Listen in to this interview with Steve Divitkos, an entrepreneur and the former CEO of Microdea. In this episode, you’ll hear about how Steve views entrepreneurship, why introspection is so difficult, and what Steve did right and wrong as a new CEO.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- How Steve was exposed to entrepreneurship
- Why Steve views entrepreneurship through the lens of freedom
- Why Steve decided on his educational path
- What Steve would suggest to people who want to change their path
- Whether everyone has the same ability to remove themselves from autopilot
- What’s difficult about introspection
- An overview of Microdea
- What made Microdea a success
- What rookie mistakes Steve made as a new CEO
- How to recognize and address hiring mistakes
- How the experience of being a CEO compared to what Steve thought it would be
- The importance of focusing on health for the mind and body
- What Steve is interested in doing next
Four exercises to help create a set of criteria against which to evaluate potential career paths:
- Codify your personal core values
- Identify what you're uniquely good at, what you enjoy doing and how you can get paid for it
- Define your WHY
- What do you want people to say at your funeral
Related Links
Steve Divitkos
In The Trenches
Quotes From the Show
“The best definition of entrepreneurship that I’ve ever heard is the relentless pursuit for opportunity without regard or resources currently controlled.”
“Maybe the better way to put it is I remember the moment where I decided I didn’t want to stay on the path that I was in.”
“The concept that…was helpful for me, is this entire concept of being deliberate. Don’t just let life happen to you.”
“I think being an entrepreneur, being a CEO, was the hardest thing that I have ever done in my entire life.”
36 min - Episode 44: Gregory Wade
Partnerships are notoriously difficult, but today’s guest has had some notable success with them. Gregory Wade is currently the managing partner of NextBase, but in the past he’s worked for AT&T and with Samsung, to name a few. Listen to the episode to hear what Gregory has to say about how he ended up working with these large brands, what makes a partnership successful, and why Gregory chose to write a book about mentorship.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- What Gregory’s childhood looked like
- How Gregory ended up working with multinational brands
- How Gregory ended up back in Canada
- What people get wrong about partnerships, and what makes a partnership successful
- Why Gregory wrote a book on mentorship
- What’s broken in building the next generation of leadership
- External mentorship for young future leaders
- The problems corporations face
- The building blocks to a successful career
Related Links
Gregory Wade
Quotes From the Show
“Setting objectives and setting goals is so important.”
“Imagine being able to bring together two long-time rivals in Blackberry and Samsung.”
“It was important for me to understand that space, so in business I could at least understand what the heck… the construct to a contract.”
“I worked very very hard, even at young age, to try and set up what I called these building blocks to a career - wanting to ensure that I built as many components of those blocks that were different.”
34 min - Episode 43: Mimi Lam
Why would someone choose to move from investment banking into cannabis retail? Today’s guest is Mimi Lam, the CEO, and co-founder of Superette, a cannabis retailer. Mimi’s backstory includes a conservative upbringing and a work history in investment banking before she moved into the cannabis world. Listen to her story to hear Mimi talk about how people can check in with themselves to determine whether they’re pursuing their passion, how travel factored into Mimi’s life, and how cannabis has factored into her life.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- Mimi’s background
- What caused Mimi to move from investment banking to cannabis
- The importance of keeping an open mind
- How people can audit themselves in the desire to pursue their passion
- The value of travel in finding yourself and becoming a better person and entrepreneur
- What was appealing to Mimi about Judge Judy
- What Mimi’s family thought about her journey
- Whether Mimi was with a contrarian mindset or developed it along her path
- Mimi’s opinion on the desire to prove people wrong
- Mimi’s transition from banking to cannabis retail
- How cannabis factored into Mimi’s life
- The importance of storytelling
- Where the cannabis retail space is going
- Mimi’s end goal
- What Mimi’s learned about managing teams
Related Links
Mimi Lam
Superette
Quotes From the Show
“We don’t really know what we want to do growing up.”
“I am not the same person today as I was prior to leaving for Shanghai.”
“We looked 2w and said, there’s a big opportunity in retail.”
“I’d rather spend every day doing the things that I love than regretting wasting that time because I had a paycheck or because I did something someone else told me to do”
31 min - Episode 42: Joelle Faulkner
Sometimes, a non-linear path is the best path for the person that’s on it. Today’s guest is a good example of learning and living in a less-than-linear way. In today’s episode, you’ll meet Joelle Faulkner, CEO of Area One Farms. Area One is an alternative asset management firm where Joelle created a farmer-centric private equity model. Listen to the episode to hear Joelle explain what made her pursue varying degrees, what kind of impact her science background has on her business success, and what it was like at the beginning of starting Area One Farms.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- What Joelle’s childhood looked like
- What made Joelle go into law and biodesign
- Why Joelle didn’t like law
- How much of an impact a science background has on the ability to build a business
- Theories around the role dyslexia plays
- How to figure out what you want to do
- What led Joelle to start Area One
- What Joelle underestimated about building a business
- What Joelle would tell her younger self
- How much of Joelle’s decision making is rooted in the desire for happiness
- Whether insecurity is bad if it drives results
- What’s coming next in Joelle’s journey
Related Links
Joelle Faulkner
Area One Farms
Quotes From the Show
“If you could ask questions about it, you could probably understand the answers.”
“I think engineering and science – it made me really good at math.”
“Pick something that will get as close to delighting you as possible.”
“If you want kids to really respect money, and respect hard work that makes that money, they actually have to understand it”
32 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.