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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_00: It's VanCoovers Podcast on the Canada's Podcast Network.
[00:27] SPEAKER_01: Today's episode is brought to you by Shaw Business.
[00:30] SPEAKER_01: Shaw Business offers a whole suite of smart solutions like smart Wi-Fi.
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[00:56] SPEAKER_01: entrepreneur.
[01:01] SPEAKER_01: Hello, this is Robert Smile, come to today with VanCoovers Podcast, a member of the
[01:06] SPEAKER_01: Canada's Podcast Network. Where we talk to the entrepreneurs who are making it
[01:10] SPEAKER_01: happen here in Vancouver, British Columbia. Matthias Marquez founded by a tab in
[01:16] SPEAKER_01: 2008. He has since received numerous awards and recognition for his
[01:21] SPEAKER_01: entrepreneurial success, including being named a BC Business top 30 under 30
[01:28] SPEAKER_01: recipient in 2016. Winner of the 2016 EY Entrepreneur of the Year award and
[01:35] SPEAKER_01: being named to Canada's top 40 under 40 for 2017. A digital gift card industry
[01:43] SPEAKER_01: pioneer, Matthias has been instrumental in driving by-a-tabs growth and
[01:48] SPEAKER_01: customer-focused success. He's also an active advisor to early stage
[01:54] SPEAKER_01: technology companies. Matthias holds a bachelor of business administration
[01:59] SPEAKER_01: degree from Simon Fraser University and the chartered financial analyst
[02:03] SPEAKER_01: designation. Well Matthias, welcome to the show. Thanks for taking the time today
[02:08] SPEAKER_00: to be here for all our listeners. Hey Robert, it's great to be on.
[02:13] SPEAKER_01: Great, okay. I want you to tell us a little bit more about yourself where you're
[02:17] SPEAKER_01: from and give us the details on your current business. Great. Yeah, so as
[02:23] SPEAKER_00: Robert mentioned, my name is Matthias Marquez. I founded a company called by-a-tab
[02:27] SPEAKER_00: online and that's largely my background. So I started by-a-tab when I was a
[02:32] SPEAKER_00: student at university and I had an idea to help brands sell their gift cards
[02:37] SPEAKER_00: online. To me, the idea that brands that really like gift cards and they're
[02:42] SPEAKER_00: like selling them and the fact they weren't really selling them on their
[02:46] SPEAKER_00: websites to me was a big disconnect and that's been my background and my
[02:50] SPEAKER_00: journey so far. It's a really exciting one I would say because we've had a
[02:55] SPEAKER_00: lot of fun in helping some of the best brands in the world transition their
[03:00] SPEAKER_00: gift cards from physical to digital. But yeah, so really my background is around
[03:06] SPEAKER_00: being that kind of story entrepreneur that had an idea from university and
[03:11] SPEAKER_00: fast-forward and we've built this fantastic business that helps us really
[03:16] SPEAKER_00: leaving brands and we've built a fantastic team around us that has helped
[03:22] SPEAKER_00: and been key to the success of our platform and our business. Okay, now did you
[03:28] SPEAKER_01: need financing to start your company and how do you currently make money in
[03:31] SPEAKER_00: your business now? Great. Yes, great question. So in the early days we
[03:36] SPEAKER_00: absolutely did need to raise money and we did need financing. We're based in
[03:39] SPEAKER_00: Vancouver which is a great place to be from and I'm a big fan and
[03:43] SPEAKER_00: supporter of the Vancouver ecosystem. It's not San Francisco, it's not the
[03:48] SPEAKER_00: valley in terms of the available funding. We were fortunate to bring to have
[03:52] SPEAKER_00: we've been we were fortunate to bring on early stage angel-style investors that
[03:56] SPEAKER_00: have been phenomenal and really you know seen that the larger picture and
[04:00] SPEAKER_00: been great partners of myself and everyone here. So to answer your question in
[04:05] SPEAKER_00: early days we did need to raise money and that was going on an angel-style
[04:10] SPEAKER_00: basis from some really great individuals here locally. Okay, so it was local
[04:15] SPEAKER_01: companies that helped start you need to have to go outside of Vancouver to get
[04:18] SPEAKER_00: financing. No, we were again we were fortunate that we we you know I ran into
[04:22] SPEAKER_00: some and I was able to be introduced to some really great local entrepreneurs
[04:26] SPEAKER_00: and local supporters of our business that were investors and that that really
[04:31] SPEAKER_00: made a big impact for us and it was again a local group with the exception of
[04:38] SPEAKER_00: you know one individual from Alberta but I would still categorize that as
[04:41] SPEAKER_01: local angel funding. Good. Okay, what is the long-term vision and what will your
[04:47] SPEAKER_01: company look like in the future? Do you see the company expanding into other
[04:51] SPEAKER_01: areas and where beyond Vancouver BC or even Canada? Yeah, so the majority of our
[04:56] SPEAKER_00: revenues is transacted in US dollars and in the US. So we've always had a
[05:01] SPEAKER_00: long-term vision of growing outside of Vancouver, outside of Canada and
[05:05] SPEAKER_00: outside and into more geographical regions. To answer your question on I kind of
[05:11] SPEAKER_00: the long-term vision for the business, we've from day one had this vision where
[05:15] SPEAKER_00: the world's going digital and payments primarily will be in digital form factor
[05:21] SPEAKER_00: meaning that in the future I'll you know tap my phone to pay for my you know to
[05:26] SPEAKER_00: get on the bus to get into my building to even start my car etc.
[05:30] SPEAKER_00: In that world physical cards in our opinion will become obsolete. So we've had
[05:36] SPEAKER_00: this really fun and kind of forward-thinking vision in terms of payments and
[05:40] SPEAKER_00: specifically gift cards around brands being able to offer their gift cards
[05:45] SPEAKER_00: digitally. So our future is very much more of what we're doing today where we are
[05:52] SPEAKER_00: you know we're focused on growing in the US as we've been growing very quickly
[05:59] SPEAKER_00: over the past several years. We opened up a really small and kind of or we we've
[06:04] SPEAKER_00: opened up an office in the UK that's small still in size but it is our kind of
[06:09] SPEAKER_00: step out there to grow geographically into Europe. So our our focus and part of
[06:15] SPEAKER_00: what's made us successful has been our dedication and being very kind of
[06:20] SPEAKER_00: strategic and how we maneuver but we're not looking to do our vision from the
[06:25] SPEAKER_00: very beginning hasn't changed and if our expansion plans are really just that
[06:30] SPEAKER_01: expanding into additional regions. So the UK is your first expansion market
[06:36] SPEAKER_00: is that correct? Yeah I mean I would say that we're having a lot of fun here in
[06:41] SPEAKER_00: North America and there's still lots for us to grow in our strategic plans are
[06:45] SPEAKER_00: around growth primarily out here but you know to answer your question on a long
[06:50] SPEAKER_00: long-term basis we are looking at international and it is something that
[06:54] SPEAKER_00: isn't our long-term trajectory for sure. Okay well we've learned a little bit
[06:59] SPEAKER_01: about you and we've learned a little bit about by a tab so we want to talk about
[07:02] SPEAKER_01: Vancouver now. What are the biggest benefits for you and being an entrepreneur
[07:06] SPEAKER_01: here in Vancouver BC I want you to give us some of the good points about
[07:10] SPEAKER_01: starting a company here but I also want you to give us some of the tough
[07:12] SPEAKER_01: things or challenges for listeners so they can keep it out for them. Yeah great
[07:17] SPEAKER_00: so Vancouver I mean we're a big supporter and we're very proud to be from
[07:21] SPEAKER_00: Vancouver. Vancouver is there a lot of you know pros and definitely has some
[07:25] SPEAKER_00: challenges but I would argue strongly that the pros are way the the challenges.
[07:31] SPEAKER_00: Being from Vancouver and being a technology company based in Vancouver there's a lot of
[07:38] SPEAKER_00: local support and a lot of kind of local just engagement and involvement that kind of rallies
[07:44] SPEAKER_00: around successful technology companies. You know we're not the valley that has a long
[07:50] SPEAKER_00: list of successful examples I think that that provides a unique advantage to companies like ours that
[07:56] SPEAKER_00: have hit kind of a runway and have a record of traction. So I would say the people here in Vancouver
[08:03] SPEAKER_00: are very strong, very supportive and our culture I would say matches that very well and from a
[08:10] SPEAKER_00: culture fit to have a kind of larger ecosystem that matches the one in our office I would say is a
[08:16] SPEAKER_00: huge benefit for us and has allowed us to be successful in ways I think in other places we wouldn't
[08:23] SPEAKER_01: have been. Okay some of the challenges one of the tough things that you've witnessed or expressed.
[08:29] SPEAKER_00: So I would say that the challenge is I mean you have to go to some of the macro factors such as
[08:34] SPEAKER_00: you know housing prices, housing prices doesn't help what we're doing here you know it does make it
[08:40] SPEAKER_00: more challenging for the staff that we care a lot about to you know they have to theory live
[08:46] SPEAKER_00: further away they have to commute in it's harder to own a property. So I would say housing prices
[08:52] SPEAKER_00: definitely play a factor the other kind of big piece and this is more from a growing company
[08:58] SPEAKER_00: perspective. A acquiring talent has you know increasingly been more and more I wouldn't say
[09:04] SPEAKER_00: challenging but something to focus on you have Vancouver's turning into more of a competitive space
[09:09] SPEAKER_00: for talent and we know we're fortunate to kind of win awards and have a very strong culture and
[09:14] SPEAKER_00: fun environment so we do well in that environment but I can totally see that it is a challenge
[09:21] SPEAKER_00: in a real you know a real thing companies have to deal with because when you when you have companies
[09:27] SPEAKER_00: from the U.S. or other places setting up shop here in Vancouver paying big salaries and they have
[09:32] SPEAKER_00: the big kind of name along with them that definitely brings a challenge that you know you could other
[09:37] SPEAKER_01: you could ideally live without right. Right exactly okay we do some of our best work outside the
[09:43] SPEAKER_01: office is there a place in the lower mainline close to where you live or work where you like to go
[09:47] SPEAKER_01: recharge or get inspired or think about ideas or just think about your business and does it change
[09:52] SPEAKER_01: with the season concerning all the rain we get here. Yeah great question and I would agree with
[09:58] SPEAKER_00: you that a lot of the great work happens outside the office for me personally I think years
[10:05] SPEAKER_00: ago I struggled with that kind of finding a place where to kind of recharge and to you know
[10:10] SPEAKER_00: just have a different perspective on things I had a great mentor of mine kind of pushed me towards
[10:16] SPEAKER_00: cycling and running and for me now and for many years now running has been kind of that place for me
[10:21] SPEAKER_00: so I love going for runs along the sea wall here in Vancouver and that kind of 45 minute 50 minute
[10:27] SPEAKER_00: run really does allow me to think differently take in the scenery so it's kind of a moving place
[10:32] SPEAKER_00: for me but it is when I go for runs and does it change as a result of the rain absolutely
[10:40] SPEAKER_00: unfortunately too often I end up having to run on a treadmill but it's still it's still you know
[10:46] SPEAKER_00: does that for me but it is the rain does impact my moving workplace outside the office for sure.
[10:54] SPEAKER_01: Okay well we have a next question we we have a lot of international listeners so on
[10:58] SPEAKER_01: next question I want you to speak to them if you were to start all over again and you just move
[11:03] SPEAKER_01: to your Vancouver BC but this time you don't know anyone knowing what you know now what would you do
[11:09] SPEAKER_01: and how would you go about starting all over again as an entrepreneur. Great question I
[11:16] SPEAKER_00: I have one thing that I would definitely do and I would highly recommend for anyone coming
[11:21] SPEAKER_00: from elsewhere or even from here and it's as simple as this just reach out to people the community
[11:25] SPEAKER_00: here is very welcoming if I wanted it to kind of oversimplify it I would say people here are very
[11:32] SPEAKER_00: welcoming and less willing to reach out so that's kind of an interesting dynamic right so if you
[11:39] SPEAKER_00: are new and are interested reach out to individuals like myself or others within the industry I think
[11:44] SPEAKER_00: you'll be pleasantly surprised how eager and how willing others are to engage and kind of you know
[11:50] SPEAKER_00: sit down for coffee and kind of assist it's funny because you I think you have this environment where
[11:55] SPEAKER_00: people are really willing to meet and but very unwilling to reach out for that meeting so just
[12:00] SPEAKER_00: you know break against that kind of natural feeling to not reach out and reach out to people you
[12:05] SPEAKER_00: be surprised on how willing people would be to help and the doors that can open for you.
[12:10] SPEAKER_01: Okay let's talk about your routine what does the first hour look like for you when you get up
[12:14] SPEAKER_01: the more and you have a specific routine or a ritual that helps you get motivated to start your day.
[12:19] SPEAKER_00: Yeah my routine is actually kind of funny I get up in the mornings and I the first kind of one of
[12:24] SPEAKER_00: the first things I do is I take my dog out when I you know come to work and I all often go a little
[12:30] SPEAKER_00: bit further or a little bit kind of out of the way because I find that I kind of personal time of
[12:34] SPEAKER_00: just being able to kind of plan out the day and to think things without a bunch of emails coming in
[12:40] SPEAKER_00: or a bunch of phone calls coming in really does kind of help set the tone for my day and I if you
[12:46] SPEAKER_00: know anything about me you know that I'm very much a dog person and very close with my dog and
[12:50] SPEAKER_00: that kind of it just taking them for a walk in the morning I gives me that perspective of hey
[12:56] SPEAKER_00: you know I have this great little buddy and it really makes me feel pleasant while allowing me to
[13:03] SPEAKER_00: think about that bigger picture of what the day is going to entail before kind of really getting
[13:07] SPEAKER_01: the day started. It gets you started in a kind of a different mindset right where you're focused on
[13:12] SPEAKER_00: you and the dog going for the walk. I think you always always start off positive too right?
[13:16] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the dog's never given you stress right so you come out and he's there's like fun you know
[13:22] SPEAKER_00: person you know fun thing you're with and then you think okay what am I doing today? Okay
[13:26] SPEAKER_00: I got this meaning this meaning I gotta get this done and I think it provides a very positive
[13:30] SPEAKER_00: context and so you start the day I think on this is just me and my own personal opinion but you
[13:36] SPEAKER_00: start the day off on a positive foot which I think is important. Yeah okay do you think entrepreneurs
[13:42] SPEAKER_01: have to be weird or unique in a positive way or are wired differently? I think yes to many of those
[13:50] SPEAKER_00: you know I'm fortunate to kind of share my story with others and a lot of the times it's younger
[13:56] SPEAKER_00: kind of you know people that are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur or kind of just starting
[14:00] SPEAKER_00: something and I always say you know don't do it for the money right? You know there are other ways
[14:05] SPEAKER_00: to make money and you know if you want to be an entrepreneur I think you need to satisfy something
[14:10] SPEAKER_00: more important to you than money and if that's encouraging and that's if that's enabling the
[14:15] SPEAKER_00: development of other individuals around you solving a need in the world that you know means a lot
[14:20] SPEAKER_00: to you those are the things that I think make a successful entrepreneur and I think that that
[14:25] SPEAKER_00: usually translates into you know quirkiness or you know obsession over one thing over another so
[14:31] SPEAKER_00: I think entrepreneurs are all an interesting bunch but it's mostly around the fact I think that
[14:36] SPEAKER_00: successful ones need a bigger purpose than just financial and that purpose usually kind of
[14:43] SPEAKER_00: suites them one way or another personality wise so put your passion first and then absolutely yeah
[14:49] SPEAKER_00: I mean the reality is being an entrepreneur is just a ton of work and a ton of stress and
[14:53] SPEAKER_00: tons of socialize and everything else so you know why do that right you don't need to do that if
[14:58] SPEAKER_00: you know it gave you something more than financial gain because financial gain can be
[15:03] SPEAKER_01: you know you can get that somewhere else right yeah okay let's talk about the books you read what
[15:08] SPEAKER_01: books you're reading now and why or even audiobooks and can you recommend any books for our listeners
[15:13] SPEAKER_00: who are also aspiring entrepreneurs yeah so I I'm an interesting place where I'm really
[15:20] SPEAKER_00: interested in I I oscillate between kind of fiction and nonfiction and kind of fun books and more
[15:26] SPEAKER_00: kind of businessy books and at a point I'm currently just going through a ton of more business books
[15:32] SPEAKER_00: I just I find the mechanics of a business and the stages of its growth and like the mechanics
[15:37] SPEAKER_00: around the changes are very interesting to me and no one's crafted a formula on how to build a
[15:42] SPEAKER_00: successful business and because businesses are dynamic so I find it really interesting so some
[15:48] SPEAKER_00: books I think that would be great for anyone to read would be stories like the Nike story with
[15:53] SPEAKER_00: in shoe dog I thought shoe dog was a was a really good book and really made you understand Nike
[15:59] SPEAKER_01: from a different perspective yeah I'm reading I'm reading that one as right now as we speak
[16:04] SPEAKER_00: so good right and it just shows you that they were he was wildly successful and it was not easy for him
[16:10] SPEAKER_01: right so no it wasn't yeah don't tell me what happened because I'm still obviously not
[16:15] SPEAKER_01: happened but I'm it's just about halfway through so I'm just getting to the point where he's
[16:19] SPEAKER_00: just kind of taken things off yeah another book for sure would be Peter Tiel's book
[16:26] SPEAKER_00: he's well known Silicon Valley DC right yeah so he's a definitely just seen guy but around
[16:33] SPEAKER_00: that mechanics of what makes a business successful and what skills of business Peter Tiel's
[16:37] SPEAKER_00: 0 to 1 is a fantastic book to read you could just the way his brain and his mind operates is very
[16:43] SPEAKER_00: in my opinion very mechanical and very thoughtful so having that perspective on what makes a
[16:48] SPEAKER_00: business successful what doesn't make a business successful I think is very interesting okay
[16:55] SPEAKER_00: any online I'll go sorry I got to mention one more book which is Ben Horowitz's book I believe
[17:01] SPEAKER_00: it's called the hard things about hard things I don't know if you've had time to read that but I
[17:06] SPEAKER_00: would I'd rank that up above all the other books it's just it's such a great read if you're in it
[17:13] SPEAKER_00: like if you're in the middle of building a business and you know all the challenges and all the
[17:17] SPEAKER_00: excitement and all the you know the pieces in between having that that book really stands out for me
[17:24] SPEAKER_01: and I highly recommend it any online or offline tools that you use on a daily basis yeah you know
[17:31] SPEAKER_00: I think entrepreneurs are busy and being busy you lean and you look for tools to help you
[17:41] SPEAKER_00: so things like even like like list apps or even even like I never thought I'd be getting such a
[17:51] SPEAKER_00: it becomes such an advocate for things like Alexa and Siri but you know every little thing that saves
[17:57] SPEAKER_00: you a little bit of time I think makes a big difference and like even I was using Wonder List
[18:03] SPEAKER_00: for kind of everything and then I even got even into more granular kind of list apps such as
[18:08] SPEAKER_00: like good reads for different books I want to read so I would say a lot of productivity kind of apps
[18:16] SPEAKER_00: not because I'm a big fan of them just because I've increasingly been valuing the time savings they
[18:23] SPEAKER_01: provide okay now we touched on this a bit early how beautiful Vancouver and BC is a place to live
[18:30] SPEAKER_01: so much going on we got the rivers lakes ocean beaches you name it it's all here how do you balance
[18:35] SPEAKER_01: work and relax and not even think about work and what are your favorite activities to do here in
[18:39] SPEAKER_01: BC do you ski do you bike kayak all hike or simply go for a drive yeah so Vancouver is a beautiful
[18:46] SPEAKER_00: place and it's kind of unfortunate that everyone works so much in with such this nice scenery around
[18:51] SPEAKER_00: it's like today you have a 28 degree day and we're most of us are inside working all day so I think
[18:58] SPEAKER_00: we need to get better at that I personally I need to do that as well I'm I like the outdoors I'm a
[19:04] SPEAKER_00: fan of going for hikes and going for a bike ride and going for a run so if I can do more of that
[19:09] SPEAKER_00: that's a kind of measurement of my own kind of personal success in goals so yeah so getting
[19:15] SPEAKER_00: outside on a sunny day I think is something that's important and has you think differently but also
[19:22] SPEAKER_00: has you appreciate the world a bit better and yeah so and further answer your question I'm also
[19:28] SPEAKER_00: into snowboarding and kind of other kind of activities that are active and kind of fun to do
[19:33] SPEAKER_01: sure you're up at whistle a lot in the wintertime well not enough right I mean yeah I do a couple
[19:38] SPEAKER_00: times a year and I try and get out but in a if I'm being a little self-critical I would say I hope
[19:45] SPEAKER_00: to do more and trying to appreciate the mountains and the the fun kind of things that are available to
[19:52] SPEAKER_01: us here in Vancouver if you weren't doing what you do now what would you like to do for a profession
[19:58] SPEAKER_00: it's a good question I don't know I'd like to say I'd still be an entrepreneur right I really do
[20:07] SPEAKER_00: like the impact that an entrepreneur can make and that doesn't have to be big impact it doesn't
[20:14] SPEAKER_00: have to be small impact either but the impact that you can make on individuals and the impact you
[20:19] SPEAKER_00: can make on a industry or a you know a company that's trying to be you know other newer trying to
[20:26] SPEAKER_00: get to objectives that try to meet like the impact is very driving for me so if it wasn't if I wasn't
[20:35] SPEAKER_00: running if I wasn't here doing buy it I think I would be at half-peeding something that I was
[20:40] SPEAKER_00: feeling the impact I don't know if that I would have to be being an entrepreneur but I would definitely
[20:45] SPEAKER_00: making sure I could feel that impact in seeing it I would have to be that would be a big one for me
[20:50] SPEAKER_01: what kind of a job would you not like to do you couldn't do it yeah I think a very
[20:58] SPEAKER_00: monotonous repetitive job that you know it doesn't really have much impact I think I just
[21:05] SPEAKER_00: you know I don't know if you could you could pay me enough to do any job like that just because I
[21:11] SPEAKER_00: think that I just I just don't think we're on this planet enough long enough to to live a life that
[21:17] SPEAKER_00: we don't you don't kind of kind of see the difference you make and again this has to be you
[21:22] SPEAKER_00: individually can we use a team etc but I just for me again it's it's impact and kind of providing
[21:30] SPEAKER_01: that positive change whether directly or indirectly okay in business what is your favorite word
[21:36] SPEAKER_01: quote or sentence that you like to use good question anything that you people you know
[21:44] SPEAKER_01: obviously he always says things like that like to say things like that or anything like that yeah
[21:50] SPEAKER_00: I don't know I mean I I think if you ask people around me I'd I hope we have to sense this on
[21:55] SPEAKER_00: what I what I like to say um I do like to think and I don't know if I say this enough but I do
[22:01] SPEAKER_00: like to think that we can always do things better right and just because something has been
[22:05] SPEAKER_00: done a certain way it doesn't mean that it's the right way of doing it I probably say this to my
[22:10] SPEAKER_00: dog draper too much but I always say you know a draper we can do it better we you know we can do it
[22:14] SPEAKER_00: better and if you see a story in the newspaper or you see even something that we've struggled with
[22:18] SPEAKER_00: you know you can look at an objective and say you know what we can do that better right so I think
[22:23] SPEAKER_00: I really do think there are many things in this planet or this world that can be done better and
[22:30] SPEAKER_00: when you have you know when you're doing something when you're working in a team environment or
[22:34] SPEAKER_00: you're working a company it's been around for a while or a new company um just you have I this
[22:39] SPEAKER_00: is a personal thing but I think you have to challenge things with that kind of mentality that like
[22:43] SPEAKER_01: hey how can we do this better okay what is your least favorite word or sentence you do not like to hear
[22:53] SPEAKER_00: um it's probably the opposite of that right I think it's this is good enough right you know um
[22:59] SPEAKER_00: I think that the world changes so quickly that you have to be aiming for kind of marginal and
[23:06] SPEAKER_00: constant improvements so it kind of the the the sayings of you know that's good enough or you know
[23:12] SPEAKER_00: that's how we do that's why that's how we kind of we do things um those are the least kind of
[23:18] SPEAKER_00: on the on the the the lesser side for me for sure if you had to pick one or two words to describe
[23:24] SPEAKER_00: yourself what would it be and why yeah it's an interesting question um I'd want to say
[23:38] SPEAKER_00: I mean we're big into core values here and I would I would hope that I and like I'd hope that
[23:44] SPEAKER_00: anyone who would be describing me would would lean on the values that we have here because I really
[23:50] SPEAKER_00: do think I live them very well and um I think we all do live them very well here at BiTub and
[23:55] SPEAKER_00: there there's three words right there um the acronyms e e g c which can also make uh the acronym
[24:01] SPEAKER_00: for electronic gift cards but our core values are entrepreneurial genuine and creative right and
[24:07] SPEAKER_00: if I could I know you asked for two but if I could say three uh those would be my three um absolutely
[24:13] SPEAKER_01: okay what keeps you up at night if anything
[24:17] SPEAKER_00: I think I mean there there are things you can't control and I can handle those very well
[24:23] SPEAKER_00: I think if we if I can control something or we can control something and the outcome
[24:29] SPEAKER_00: could have been better I think that that's uh something that that keeps me up at night
[24:33] SPEAKER_00: so well how come you know we were the ones who could have made that improvement better or we
[24:39] SPEAKER_00: were the ones who created that you know process or that feature you know and it wasn't that great
[24:43] SPEAKER_00: why wasn't it and how can we how could we have made it better um I think if if we have control
[24:49] SPEAKER_00: or the ability to to kind of control the outcome and it could have you know any objects we look
[24:56] SPEAKER_00: back and say that could have been better that's kind of the where my mind probably goes to at the
[25:00] SPEAKER_00: end of the night to say hey you know it's great you know let's give it an A or minus or A but um
[25:05] SPEAKER_00: how could we have made that an A plus how could we have made that process better so um now there's
[25:11] SPEAKER_00: there are times where you just can't control there are you know factors you can't control those are
[25:14] SPEAKER_00: easier in my opinion to to handle but if if we could have controlled it or had an an impact and
[25:21] SPEAKER_00: it was you know sub our standards then that's something that I uh that would keep me up at night for
[25:28] SPEAKER_01: sure okay I want you to give us the top three things on your inspired lifeless this could be a
[25:32] SPEAKER_01: bucket list of any sort whether you want to travel more where you want to write a book you want to
[25:36] SPEAKER_01: philanthropy TEDx talk speaking more anything like that yeah these are great questions so I uh
[25:46] SPEAKER_00: been fortunate to like meet lots of kind of successful entrepreneurs and people that are not
[25:50] SPEAKER_00: entrepreneurs successful also and I've been fortunate to be given lots of great advice um and I've
[25:57] SPEAKER_00: one of those individuals gave me some you know good advice and like having you know kind of goals
[26:01] SPEAKER_00: of side of work and goals that are kind of personal um so just a couple for me at the moment would be
[26:07] SPEAKER_00: um I'm reading's a big one for me so I'm trying to read more so I have some quantitative goals
[26:13] SPEAKER_00: around that uh another one would be kind of seeing my mom more often I literally have some quantitative
[26:20] SPEAKER_00: goals or like how often I want to see my mom and you know how I can do that better um and then also
[26:27] SPEAKER_00: just I don't want to say working less but I think experiencing other things outside of work more
[26:33] SPEAKER_00: would be big for me and that can include travel it can include um even kind of helping other
[26:38] SPEAKER_00: entrepreneurs or other people and other parts of the like that is not specifically around
[26:42] SPEAKER_00: our business here so those would be kind of i big three aspirations at the moment um yeah
[26:49] SPEAKER_00: any plans for trip to Chile? You know um I have been fortunate to be able to go different places
[26:57] SPEAKER_00: and I've gone to Chile a couple times it's probably been a couple years now so I'm definitely
[27:03] SPEAKER_00: do and I'm planning on hopefully going with my mom uh next year in the summer so that'll be
[27:10] SPEAKER_00: fun but I was down in South America not in Chile just a few months ago and uh the year before
[27:16] SPEAKER_00: that as well so it definitely have been down that into that neck of the woods enough but going to
[27:22] SPEAKER_00: Chile specifically is kind of all my list for the next uh kind of 18 months. Okay do you have any
[27:29] SPEAKER_01: advice that you may have received that you can pass on to entrepreneurs throughout PC?
[27:37] SPEAKER_00: Yeah I would say there's a there's a bunch of different piece of advice um some of the more
[27:42] SPEAKER_00: important ones would be around kind of being more willing to have people join you right I think
[27:49] SPEAKER_00: that you know there's a funny thing that you see someone who's very early on in the entrepreneurial
[27:54] SPEAKER_00: journey they'll usually like kind of hide their idea from others and they they want oh I don't
[27:59] SPEAKER_00: like sign this NDA or like I don't want to tell you my idea I'll tell you parts of it and I think
[28:04] SPEAKER_00: that's a fundamental mistake I think that the if you're going to be successful entrepreneur I think
[28:08] SPEAKER_00: you need to be more willing to involve others um trusting others bringing them in and kind of um
[28:14] SPEAKER_00: being willing to share what your plan is and even share in the success of that so I would say be
[28:19] SPEAKER_00: more willing to have others involved and don't just say that like you know it really is an important
[28:26] SPEAKER_00: piece that it's tough to get over but I think you absolutely need to okay okay Matthias are you
[28:33] SPEAKER_01: ready to have some fun yeah always okay good okay as we talked about early entrepreneurs are always
[28:40] SPEAKER_01: connected we're always get we're talking to staff members or clients or we're always very busy
[28:44] SPEAKER_01: bit and we're always connected to the internet we're gonna take you away from all that there's a
[28:48] SPEAKER_01: small tropical island just off of Fiji that only has one phone booth there and there is no internet
[28:53] SPEAKER_01: this place does exist we're gonna drop you off there you won't have a computer or a smartphone
[28:57] SPEAKER_01: or a tablet you can use the phone booth located there anytime to call the boat will come pick you up
[29:03] SPEAKER_01: how long would you last before you made that call what would you do while you were there
[29:09] SPEAKER_00: okay so I'm on an island that's remote there's a phone booth well we don't know if it's remote
[29:14] SPEAKER_01: or not we're just gonna drop you off there you're gonna see a phone booth and it's gonna be an island
[29:18] SPEAKER_00: okay and at any point like pick up the phone and someone comes and picks me up
[29:22] SPEAKER_01: yeah the boat's gonna be out there we're gonna be sitting in the boat waiting yeah
[29:26] SPEAKER_00: what's the weather like is it nice it must be beautiful it's drops off of Fiji yeah it's a beautiful
[29:31] SPEAKER_01: tropical island just in Fiji and this place does exist there's a place there with a phone booth
[29:37] SPEAKER_01: and and I guess it's up to you to find out what else is there so what would you do
[29:40] SPEAKER_00: well last question and I'll answer it um can the the phone can't be used for anything else like it's
[29:45] SPEAKER_01: just it only calls that one no it's a regular everyday phone booth you can do whatever you want with it
[29:51] SPEAKER_00: takes credit card coins you name it oh yeah okay so I mean I think my first I think I'd first
[29:59] SPEAKER_00: be like hey this is a beautiful island this is like an awesome place I mean this is somewhere I can
[30:03] SPEAKER_00: relax so I think I would probably first start with the idea of like hey a little vacation I don't
[30:10] SPEAKER_00: know who dropped me here but it's great and let me kind of enjoy it and that being said I think that
[30:17] SPEAKER_00: I will I would eventually get bored pretty quickly so I try and figure out what to do so I think I
[30:23] SPEAKER_00: would start by I think picking up the phone and calling for someone to pick me up would be a I don't
[30:30] SPEAKER_00: I don't want to say a cop out if you did it right away so I would probably lean against doing that
[30:35] SPEAKER_00: unless I really needed to I think it's start I think it's start by going to explore kind of what's
[30:40] SPEAKER_00: outside the island once I got bored of kind of lying on the beach and you know enjoying that
[30:45] SPEAKER_00: and I guess that would really depend on if there's kind of people or a city or what I can find
[30:53] SPEAKER_00: yeah I would let's say that there isn't a city and then still kind of by myself if the island was
[31:00] SPEAKER_00: really nice and it was accessible I'd probably first use the phone to try and call some of my friends
[31:07] SPEAKER_00: to come down and then yeah like if I if but if I couldn't do that like if I couldn't have other
[31:14] SPEAKER_00: people join me and it was just this nice island and there wasn't kind of no you can bring
[31:18] SPEAKER_00: me up yeah yeah yeah I mean I would try and make the most out of it and enjoy it but eventually
[31:28] SPEAKER_00: I would for sure eventually pick up that phone and get picked up though because not in no
[31:32] SPEAKER_00: internet and kind of no kind of ability to have a real impact would eventually eat at me and
[31:38] SPEAKER_00: I would be like okay well this has been a great couple weeks or a great month or whatever kind
[31:42] SPEAKER_00: of let's get like I'd be happy to go back to work in one way or another so we'll give you a couple
[31:47] SPEAKER_00: weeks before we come get you yeah I think that I think that would be very beneficial right so
[31:53] SPEAKER_00: kind of right like if for any busy entrepreneur and yeah it happens time off like that would be
[31:58] SPEAKER_01: really cool okay okay we're gonna wrap things up here Matias how can our listeners get whole
[32:03] SPEAKER_01: of you and is there anything you'd like to add before you leave us today um so linked in a
[32:09] SPEAKER_00: Twitter and kind of those are different ways to get hold me for sure um what would I say kind of
[32:17] SPEAKER_00: one thing just if there are kind of people thinking of becoming an entrepreneur listening I would say
[32:22] SPEAKER_00: that if if it's driven by your passion a passion or it's driven by something other than kind of
[32:28] SPEAKER_00: financial gain now you can totally make a ton of money being entrepreneur for sure but if the
[32:33] SPEAKER_00: main drive is other than that I would highly recommend it it's the funnest it's the most exciting
[32:38] SPEAKER_00: it's the most engaging job you'll ever have there's never a boring day so I would say if you're on
[32:43] SPEAKER_00: the fence and it's not uh financially it's not only financially driven um you should absolutely do it
[32:52] SPEAKER_01: okay great okay well thank you for coming on the show I've learned a lot about you and I'm sure
[32:57] SPEAKER_01: our listeners have as well awesome thanks a lot Robert great we'll see you next time take care
[33:01] SPEAKER_01: hey there thanks for taking the time today to listen to band through this podcast on the Canada's
[33:06] SPEAKER_01: podcast network we hope you enjoyed this show today make sure you sign up for our newsletters
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