Meti Basiri, CMO of ApplyBoard, Discusses How He’s Grown His Company During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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[00:00] SPEAKER_01: It's Toronto's podcast on the Canada's podcast network.
[00:07] SPEAKER_00: Hi, I'm Andrea Sassoum, your Toronto's host for Canada's podcast, number one, entrepreneur
[00:13] SPEAKER_00: news network.
[00:14] SPEAKER_00: Today, I have a great pleasure to be here with NETTE, plus here he's the co-founder and
[00:21] SPEAKER_00: CMO of Applied Boy.
[00:23] SPEAKER_00: And as well as we have the rest of the team here, so welcome everybody.
[00:28] SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
[00:29] SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having us.
[00:30] SPEAKER_01: It's great to have you and I heard a lot about Applied Boy.
[00:35] SPEAKER_01: It's been very busy for you, even though we are doing this interview in the midst of
[00:40] SPEAKER_01: a global epidemic.
[00:42] SPEAKER_01: I've seen that Applied Boy is actually growing its business versus we see a lot of
[00:49] SPEAKER_01: fortunately, a lot of businesses slowing down.
[00:52] SPEAKER_01: So what did I start off by, you know, you're telling me a little bit about yourself as an
[00:57] SPEAKER_01: entrepreneur and your journey as an entrepreneur?
[01:01] SPEAKER_02: Sounds good.
[01:02] SPEAKER_02: So I think the story can start a bit because one of the questions that everyone asks me,
[01:09] SPEAKER_02: when did you decide to be an entrepreneur?
[01:11] SPEAKER_02: And I always respond back from the time that I was born.
[01:15] SPEAKER_02: And the reason for that, I remember when I was very early on, maybe like six, seven years
[01:20] SPEAKER_02: old, I would have sold my toe, actually my parents would have buy me toys, and I would
[01:26] SPEAKER_02: have sell it to my people in the street or in the class or in the kids' garden.
[01:31] SPEAKER_02: Add discounts.
[01:33] SPEAKER_02: So that's the funny thing.
[01:34] SPEAKER_02: I would have lose my beef.
[01:37] SPEAKER_02: I didn't know much of accounting that time, but it worked out.
[01:42] SPEAKER_01: As long as it's buying and selling, it works out.
[01:45] SPEAKER_02: As long as I would have taken money out and put it in my pocket, I was happy, you know.
[01:50] SPEAKER_02: Putting the joke on the side, yeah.
[01:52] SPEAKER_02: So we started our flabberg 5 years back.
[01:54] SPEAKER_02: So we came as international students, me and my brothers, as flash co-founders, we came
[02:02] SPEAKER_02: ourselves as international students.
[02:04] SPEAKER_02: We went to the process of applying for schooling Canada and coming here through the whole process,
[02:10] SPEAKER_02: which is a very lengthy process.
[02:12] SPEAKER_02: It's not actually an easy process.
[02:14] SPEAKER_02: So that when we went to school, that was always a question, why this is a hard process?
[02:19] SPEAKER_02: Why cannot be easier and why is it not so transparent for a student so that they can
[02:24] SPEAKER_02: make the right choice?
[02:25] SPEAKER_02: Because at the end, we're playing with the people's life.
[02:28] SPEAKER_02: People's making the decision when there are thousands of miles of them is sitting in a
[02:33] SPEAKER_02: small city and making this very hard choice.
[02:37] SPEAKER_02: So as a result, we started five years back.
[02:39] SPEAKER_02: Actually, it's short of a week, to know, four weeks short of five years.
[02:44] SPEAKER_02: So we started May.
[02:45] SPEAKER_02: This is almost more coming to our fifth year at university.
[02:49] SPEAKER_02: And since then, business has been good.
[02:53] SPEAKER_02: We've been growing and being lucky, but I think luck comes out of a lot of persistence and
[03:00] SPEAKER_02: amazing team around you.
[03:01] SPEAKER_02: So that's a little bit about me and my journey of seven years old when I was seven till now.
[03:08] SPEAKER_01: You know, it's funny because I also shared my journey in one of the podcasts.
[03:14] SPEAKER_01: And I also started when I was six or seven years old.
[03:17] SPEAKER_01: So my next question to you would be, do you think that entrepreneurs are born or do you
[03:25] SPEAKER_01: think that's something you sort of become?
[03:28] SPEAKER_01: You choose to become?
[03:29] SPEAKER_02: I think it's both.
[03:31] SPEAKER_02: But having the parents around you is really important.
[03:34] SPEAKER_02: My parents were not on to a partner, but they were very business-minded people.
[03:40] SPEAKER_02: So my mom was, she was a principal of schools for 30 years.
[03:46] SPEAKER_02: And my dad was running his own business for the last five years, but they were very
[03:52] SPEAKER_02: business-minded people.
[03:54] SPEAKER_02: So I think that's how we grow up, that everything needs to make sense.
[03:58] SPEAKER_02: The whole balance needs to make sense.
[04:00] SPEAKER_02: So that's how we grow up.
[04:02] SPEAKER_02: But when we came to Canada, I never could have seen myself working for someone as not
[04:08] SPEAKER_02: a reporting.
[04:09] SPEAKER_02: I don't have a problem.
[04:10] SPEAKER_02: You learn from reporting to someone or working with someone at that sense.
[04:15] SPEAKER_02: But I could have never think of someone's going to come and my paychecks or everything
[04:20] SPEAKER_02: depend on someone, even if it was 10 times as smaller than a job that I would have
[04:26] SPEAKER_02: get.
[04:27] SPEAKER_02: So I think that's kind of both it developed during your childhood and become a preference.
[04:33] SPEAKER_02: I think like as someone that's been through a lot in the past, like at least 10, 12 years
[04:38] SPEAKER_02: of my life, being on the printer is super hard.
[04:41] SPEAKER_02: I don't think so.
[04:42] SPEAKER_02: Any one thing just being on the printer is the best thing.
[04:45] SPEAKER_02: It's actually hardest thing.
[04:47] SPEAKER_02: Sometimes I don't want to lie.
[04:49] SPEAKER_02: You think about, I wish that I was working for someone.
[04:52] SPEAKER_02: I don't want that much responsibility.
[04:53] SPEAKER_02: I don't want that much of a pressure on my shoulder.
[04:57] SPEAKER_02: But at the end, it makes you happy because now you're doing something and you have an amazing
[05:02] SPEAKER_02: team about yourself, about around you that makes you a lot happier and actually makes
[05:07] SPEAKER_02: you grow faster by having those amazing people around you.
[05:10] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it looks like you have an amazing team around you.
[05:14] SPEAKER_01: You're right with having, I think, parents as an example or somebody as an example of
[05:21] SPEAKER_01: entrepreneurship.
[05:21] SPEAKER_01: I think you get comfortable around the idea of entrepreneurship as a concept early on.
[05:27] SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of an easy transition.
[05:30] SPEAKER_01: If you do decide to become an entrepreneur, you're comfortable with a concept.
[05:34] SPEAKER_01: That's correct.
[05:35] SPEAKER_01: So with a plywood, there's some.
[05:37] SPEAKER_01: Really amazing things that are happening right now.
[05:39] SPEAKER_01: I follow you on social media and LinkedIn.
[05:42] SPEAKER_01: So you have recently expanded.
[05:46] SPEAKER_01: I know that you were working with Canadian universities and Canadian colleges mostly.
[05:53] SPEAKER_01: And there was a recent announcement.
[05:55] SPEAKER_01: Do you want to tell me a little bit more about that?
[05:57] SPEAKER_02: We're sure.
[05:58] SPEAKER_02: So because one of our applied vision and the vision is really first of all, making education
[06:03] SPEAKER_02: accessible around the work.
[06:05] SPEAKER_02: That's the end goal for us.
[06:08] SPEAKER_02: And then making at the path of that, we want to be a ward leader of studying abroad.
[06:14] SPEAKER_02: So in order to be there, we need to make sure we provide the students the options that
[06:19] SPEAKER_02: they want to go.
[06:20] SPEAKER_02: Not every single student wants to come to Canada.
[06:23] SPEAKER_02: Not every single student could come to Canada because of their visa chances because of
[06:28] SPEAKER_02: their education, background and many other reasons.
[06:30] SPEAKER_02: So we recently launched the UK, which has been amazing and super successful.
[06:35] SPEAKER_02: I've been impressed with the amount of interest we have received in the last three days.
[06:40] SPEAKER_02: So we have launched the UK.
[06:41] SPEAKER_02: We are working with some US schools too.
[06:44] SPEAKER_02: So right now at the moment, we are welcoming international students around the world to
[06:48] SPEAKER_02: these three countries.
[06:49] SPEAKER_02: And our goal is to get to the place that we can even launch China, any other country,
[06:54] SPEAKER_02: because there are so many amazing countries that bring international students in their country
[06:59] SPEAKER_02: and then teach them and make their better version of themselves.
[07:03] SPEAKER_02: And that's our goal.
[07:04] SPEAKER_02: We want to get the place that we would be able to help us do this anywhere that you
[07:08] SPEAKER_02: decide to go outside of their countries.
[07:11] SPEAKER_01: Is that a sort of a three year, five year plan that you have and how many countries do
[07:16] SPEAKER_01: you see applied for it in?
[07:18] SPEAKER_02: Oh, wow.
[07:19] SPEAKER_02: That's a tough question because if you want to do it right, UK was a pre-plan of seven
[07:25] SPEAKER_02: months that was successfully launched.
[07:28] SPEAKER_01: Only one country.
[07:29] SPEAKER_02: The one country was a pre-plan of seven months.
[07:33] SPEAKER_02: So definitely as teams getting together and now we have more people around the company,
[07:37] SPEAKER_02: that could be easy, easier in the long term.
[07:41] SPEAKER_02: So I don't necessarily think within five years we're going to have a war but within five
[07:46] SPEAKER_02: years we're going to have a popular destination such as Australia, New Zealand, Ireland,
[07:50] SPEAKER_02: France, Germany, at least a major one.
[07:53] SPEAKER_02: At the same time, it has to make sense busyness wise because you can just go and then open
[07:58] SPEAKER_02: a country and there is not much of demands for it.
[08:02] SPEAKER_02: So that's the goal but it's not really easy what we do because when you're really thinking
[08:08] SPEAKER_02: about it, one of students wants to go abroad.
[08:11] SPEAKER_02: It can be very different from your nationality or age, your schools that you study and from
[08:18] SPEAKER_02: the supply side, from the school side, it could be very different from the University
[08:23] SPEAKER_02: of X to University of A, different requirements.
[08:27] SPEAKER_02: So if you want to do it right and give the students the best knowledge and information,
[08:32] SPEAKER_02: there is a lot of pre-planet involved.
[08:34] SPEAKER_01: So with the current situation that we're in, how has this affected because I think in
[08:40] SPEAKER_01: your business, just like in any business, it's relationship building, now with the travel
[08:46] SPEAKER_01: bands and everything that's happening, how has that impacted a plywood?
[08:51] SPEAKER_02: So I would like to say, is it a concern?
[08:55] SPEAKER_02: Yes, how long does it continue?
[08:57] SPEAKER_02: We'll get to know, right?
[08:59] SPEAKER_02: But I think what we really need as a human think about it is the people in no situation,
[09:04] SPEAKER_02: and our best effort has been, oh, let's bring more international students.
[09:09] SPEAKER_02: We're like, what about those?
[09:11] SPEAKER_02: A lot of residents close down.
[09:13] SPEAKER_02: What are these international students in the country right now doing?
[09:16] SPEAKER_02: If there is a lot of this international student, they had a part-time job of in retail,
[09:20] SPEAKER_02: which all is going to get pretty much no income for a few months.
[09:24] SPEAKER_02: So I think that's how our focus has been making sure first we can help our students in
[09:29] SPEAKER_02: the country and making sure that they empower them and do whatever it's in our control.
[09:35] SPEAKER_02: I'm optimistic.
[09:36] SPEAKER_02: I think this is actually for the human, this was something that broke the countries together,
[09:42] SPEAKER_02: broke the humanity together.
[09:43] SPEAKER_02: So that's, I look at it as optimistic toward a bit.
[09:47] SPEAKER_02: But at the same time, depending on how long does it last, it will impact.
[09:52] SPEAKER_02: But will the student decide not to go abroad?
[09:55] SPEAKER_02: When this is over, the Finti dancer is not.
[09:58] SPEAKER_02: Students that want to go abroad and they want to study abroad, they do it.
[10:03] SPEAKER_02: Maybe there would be a shift in the market, and that's what we've been in our focus.
[10:06] SPEAKER_02: We're welcoming international students and our partners, still help the students.
[10:10] SPEAKER_02: Let's support them because we know this is a temporary nothingness permanent.
[10:15] SPEAKER_02: And we'd rather to actually take this moment and focus on our infrastructure,
[10:19] SPEAKER_02: making things more scalable.
[10:22] SPEAKER_02: And that's why you don't see any kind of a stop in our growing.
[10:25] SPEAKER_02: We're going to continue growing.
[10:26] SPEAKER_02: We actually, I think the last figure they told me they were like over 80 job positions
[10:30] SPEAKER_02: still open in our website and people still cannot part.
[10:34] SPEAKER_02: And we are going to continue grow because I think actually this is the best time to get
[10:38] SPEAKER_02: an amazing talent and focus on the thing that you never had focused.
[10:43] SPEAKER_02: Because it was always running after the growth, making sure we help the students.
[10:47] SPEAKER_02: Now is the time to focus on our infrastructure, our customer service.
[10:52] SPEAKER_02: And that's what we've been doing there.
[10:54] SPEAKER_01: I like that.
[10:54] SPEAKER_01: And that's a very good point, Meti, because I think a lot of businesses in this situation
[11:00] SPEAKER_01: are focusing on the negative things and looking at the things that they cannot do.
[11:05] SPEAKER_01: Instead of looking internally in terms of things that you can do right now,
[11:10] SPEAKER_01: even though one side of the business slowed down,
[11:14] SPEAKER_01: there's so much that can be done in terms of other things.
[11:18] SPEAKER_01: And you can still be productive and so broad.
[11:21] SPEAKER_02: For sure.
[11:21] SPEAKER_02: And I think it's the one way of showing your team that, obviously, we don't know,
[11:27] SPEAKER_02: there's so much uncertainty.
[11:29] SPEAKER_02: I cannot say what is it going to be three months, six months from now.
[11:32] SPEAKER_02: But I think that's the easiest way of showing your team that you got our back.
[11:36] SPEAKER_02: Now we have your back, you know,
[11:38] SPEAKER_02: unfortunately, this is something that no business is or government can control.
[11:42] SPEAKER_02: It's something that requires every single human being
[11:45] SPEAKER_02: get their hands together and solve this.
[11:48] SPEAKER_02: And I think as a result of that, whoever has the power,
[11:52] SPEAKER_02: and they can do something we should be thinking about any other opportunity
[11:58] SPEAKER_02: or other ways of helping each other.
[12:00] SPEAKER_02: That's what being our approach, we're going to continue to do so.
[12:04] SPEAKER_01: That's a very good approach.
[12:05] SPEAKER_01: So I would like to hear from you because you're a successful entrepreneur.
[12:09] SPEAKER_01: What's the best piece of advice you ever received?
[12:12] SPEAKER_01: Or it can be the worst piece of advice.
[12:14] SPEAKER_01: For me, I always say it was the worst piece of advice that sort of,
[12:17] SPEAKER_01: you know, was a turning point for me.
[12:19] SPEAKER_01: So if that's something that you can recollect and maybe share with our listeners.
[12:23] SPEAKER_02: We're sure.
[12:24] SPEAKER_02: So I think the best things that I got it from a few of my mentors,
[12:28] SPEAKER_02: I know learn, is today and tomorrow they're going to be different.
[12:33] SPEAKER_02: And whenever we are celebrating something,
[12:35] SPEAKER_02: the moment of that celebration,
[12:37] SPEAKER_02: I'm thinking, when is the next downside?
[12:39] SPEAKER_02: Whenever I'm the downside, we're thinking,
[12:41] SPEAKER_02: what is it the next upside?
[12:43] SPEAKER_02: Life is about that.
[12:44] SPEAKER_02: You know, nothing is a CD, nothing.
[12:46] SPEAKER_02: It's going to be on the top.
[12:48] SPEAKER_02: So that's what I think to anyone, it's really at the end,
[12:52] SPEAKER_02: is if there is not a downside,
[12:54] SPEAKER_02: we're not going to enjoy the most of the upside.
[12:56] SPEAKER_02: If there is no upside, we're not going to appreciate the downside and the
[13:01] SPEAKER_02: upside that we had.
[13:02] SPEAKER_02: So I think that's something that I'm really there.
[13:05] SPEAKER_02: And really the greatest advice.
[13:07] SPEAKER_02: And always, I remember when Snapchat went public.
[13:12] SPEAKER_02: And he was the youngest billionaire.
[13:15] SPEAKER_02: I remember that time.
[13:16] SPEAKER_02: And then always, everyone was saying, how lucky he is.
[13:19] SPEAKER_02: And I would have been one of those people.
[13:21] SPEAKER_02: Because that time, I was like, that was, I think, three, four years back.
[13:24] SPEAKER_02: And I was like, yeah, the guy is so lucky.
[13:26] SPEAKER_02: I don't think so.
[13:27] SPEAKER_02: Any business becomes successful.
[13:29] SPEAKER_02: We'd love.
[13:30] SPEAKER_02: Yes, you become lucky to have a great idea.
[13:33] SPEAKER_02: Persistence and the people.
[13:35] SPEAKER_02: These are the two things they're going to make you successful.
[13:38] SPEAKER_02: And it's not love.
[13:39] SPEAKER_02: Like, I can't tell you the number of days that we are not asleep
[13:45] SPEAKER_02: because we know the crisis is happening.
[13:47] SPEAKER_02: And we need to work days and nights to make sure that happens.
[13:50] SPEAKER_02: So I think that's something that I learned.
[13:52] SPEAKER_02: And I received that we cannot chill and business goes on.
[13:56] SPEAKER_02: It's own.
[13:56] SPEAKER_02: It's persistence.
[13:57] SPEAKER_02: I never giving up.
[13:59] SPEAKER_02: Regardless of whatever is the business,
[14:02] SPEAKER_02: you would be successful if you don't give up.
[14:04] SPEAKER_02: Even if it's as much as selling pen that it existed years.
[14:10] SPEAKER_01: And it's a common trait that I hear entrepreneurs say is the persistence.
[14:17] SPEAKER_01: If you don't give up and you persist.
[14:19] SPEAKER_01: And even if there's a challenge, you look at it many different ways
[14:22] SPEAKER_01: until you sort of find a solution.
[14:24] SPEAKER_01: But not giving up.
[14:25] SPEAKER_01: I think your biggest enemy is yourself.
[14:28] SPEAKER_01: If you give up on yourself, then everybody else will.
[14:32] SPEAKER_01: So with the biggest challenges,
[14:34] SPEAKER_01: what is one of the biggest challenges you ever faced in your business?
[14:39] SPEAKER_02: I think it's the process,
[14:42] SPEAKER_02: a scaling the process,
[14:43] SPEAKER_02: a specifically in the business that we are,
[14:45] SPEAKER_02: which is so complex.
[14:47] SPEAKER_02: A lot of people say, are you afraid of competition coming?
[14:52] SPEAKER_02: We see a lot of people see how a hybrid is on rise.
[14:56] SPEAKER_02: They're like, oh, we're going to do the same thing.
[14:57] SPEAKER_02: I'm like, not at all.
[14:58] SPEAKER_02: I actually wish there was more competition.
[15:00] SPEAKER_02: So we could have learned from them.
[15:01] SPEAKER_02: Because we're inventing and improving every process ourselves.
[15:06] SPEAKER_02: So I think that's a challenge.
[15:07] SPEAKER_02: A scaling the process and putting the right people
[15:11] SPEAKER_02: at the right process to make sure that the scale that process.
[15:14] SPEAKER_02: That's going to be a challenge.
[15:15] SPEAKER_02: I think that's never ending a challenge.
[15:18] SPEAKER_02: And that's going to continue.
[15:19] SPEAKER_02: That's, I think, that's the biggest challenge
[15:21] SPEAKER_02: that any game business has faced as we do.
[15:25] SPEAKER_02: I'm very optimistic person.
[15:28] SPEAKER_02: So we have an amazing team.
[15:30] SPEAKER_02: And when I go back to two years ago, a year ago,
[15:32] SPEAKER_02: even at last month,
[15:33] SPEAKER_02: we are improving those process
[15:35] SPEAKER_02: and we inventing a lot of things.
[15:37] SPEAKER_02: And that's as long as that's a bad way.
[15:40] SPEAKER_02: And we are in the right direction.
[15:41] SPEAKER_02: I don't think so.
[15:42] SPEAKER_02: There is any challenge that we cannot overcome.
[15:44] SPEAKER_01: That's great.
[15:45] SPEAKER_01: And what advice would you give an entrepreneur looking
[15:48] SPEAKER_01: to sort of start a business right now?
[15:51] SPEAKER_01: It can be right now.
[15:52] SPEAKER_01: It can be once the epidemic is over.
[15:55] SPEAKER_01: Is there a piece of advice?
[15:57] SPEAKER_02: In terms of right now, actually,
[15:59] SPEAKER_02: I think it's the best time to start a lot of business.
[16:02] SPEAKER_02: Because when everyone is swimming
[16:04] SPEAKER_02: toward a river,
[16:06] SPEAKER_02: the person is going to win
[16:07] SPEAKER_02: that actually put the best effort
[16:09] SPEAKER_02: and swim against a river flow.
[16:11] SPEAKER_02: If you really look at it and whatever right now needs to be,
[16:15] SPEAKER_02: right now, a lot of people focusing on online
[16:17] SPEAKER_02: XYZ, that's good.
[16:19] SPEAKER_02: But we're not going to overnight shift
[16:21] SPEAKER_02: and both behavior.
[16:23] SPEAKER_02: So I think actually right now,
[16:25] SPEAKER_02: it's a good time that you can think
[16:27] SPEAKER_02: and see how fragile the whole economy
[16:30] SPEAKER_02: and the whole world was.
[16:32] SPEAKER_02: And think about what are the services
[16:34] SPEAKER_02: or businesses that is lacking.
[16:36] SPEAKER_02: I think that's something that I would say
[16:37] SPEAKER_02: regardless if you want to start something
[16:40] SPEAKER_02: and start it regardless of what it is.
[16:42] SPEAKER_02: But if it's a service company,
[16:44] SPEAKER_02: there's so many service companies
[16:45] SPEAKER_02: that are super successful.
[16:46] SPEAKER_02: Not everything needs to be taken.
[16:48] SPEAKER_02: Not everything needs to be sass or passed, you know.
[16:51] SPEAKER_02: And then in terms of giving advice,
[16:53] SPEAKER_02: is pick a good idea,
[16:56] SPEAKER_02: go prove that the idea works
[16:58] SPEAKER_02: with talking with the people,
[17:00] SPEAKER_02: never be shy of picking on the phone.
[17:03] SPEAKER_02: Myself, there were schools
[17:05] SPEAKER_02: that after 67 times follow,
[17:07] SPEAKER_02: we got them on.
[17:08] SPEAKER_02: Or took me two and a half years,
[17:10] SPEAKER_02: personally, 67 times I follow.
[17:13] SPEAKER_02: I'll be that as school to get.
[17:14] SPEAKER_02: So never give up.
[17:16] SPEAKER_02: When we started,
[17:17] SPEAKER_02: many people told us this is a bad idea.
[17:20] SPEAKER_02: UGA is not going to be successful.
[17:22] SPEAKER_02: No students going to go online.
[17:24] SPEAKER_02: This is crazy.
[17:25] SPEAKER_02: And five years later,
[17:27] SPEAKER_02: every all those people come,
[17:29] SPEAKER_02: says now we're happy that our
[17:30] SPEAKER_02: private exists because look at this situation.
[17:33] SPEAKER_02: UGA's are the only end to end
[17:35] SPEAKER_02: online process for students.
[17:37] SPEAKER_02: We believe in ourselves and we believe
[17:40] SPEAKER_02: that is a problem with no solution
[17:43] SPEAKER_02: and we start focusing on the solution.
[17:45] SPEAKER_01: That's great.
[17:46] SPEAKER_01: And you operate in a KW area.
[17:49] SPEAKER_01: So why would you recommend
[17:51] SPEAKER_01: your city to other entrepreneurs?
[17:55] SPEAKER_02: Personally, I love a smaller city.
[17:58] SPEAKER_02: I think it's time is so important
[18:01] SPEAKER_02: that I don't appreciate
[18:03] SPEAKER_02: of sitting in a bus or a car
[18:05] SPEAKER_02: or something two or three hours
[18:07] SPEAKER_02: of in my day on traffic.
[18:09] SPEAKER_02: So I think that is so much more
[18:11] SPEAKER_02: we can do during that time.
[18:12] SPEAKER_02: So that's what I love about
[18:13] SPEAKER_02: Warralu.
[18:14] SPEAKER_02: It's a small medium,
[18:16] SPEAKER_02: not a small anymore.
[18:17] SPEAKER_02: It's a medium-sized city.
[18:20] SPEAKER_02: And there are a lot of amazing
[18:22] SPEAKER_02: new grads.
[18:24] SPEAKER_02: When you look at Lourier,
[18:26] SPEAKER_02: Warralu and Kanastuka College,
[18:27] SPEAKER_02: they are producing over 10,000
[18:31] SPEAKER_02: alumni every year.
[18:33] SPEAKER_02: And those are the future of this city.
[18:35] SPEAKER_02: And I think that's something
[18:36] SPEAKER_02: that we should focus of it.
[18:38] SPEAKER_02: A definitely there is a lot of perks.
[18:40] SPEAKER_02: And to be in KW,
[18:42] SPEAKER_02: but there are constant, you know,
[18:44] SPEAKER_02: you wouldn't find every talent.
[18:46] SPEAKER_02: You know, there are some
[18:48] SPEAKER_02: roles that is really hard.
[18:49] SPEAKER_02: But I think this whole situation
[18:51] SPEAKER_02: happens.
[18:52] SPEAKER_02: It's going to open every single
[18:53] SPEAKER_02: business owner's eyes that,
[18:55] SPEAKER_02: you know what, I'm going to go
[18:56] SPEAKER_02: removed.
[18:56] SPEAKER_02: It doesn't matter.
[18:57] SPEAKER_02: If we made it,
[18:58] SPEAKER_02: this is our third week work from home.
[19:00] SPEAKER_02: And I think that's going to last
[19:02] SPEAKER_02: few more weeks.
[19:03] SPEAKER_02: If we made it and nothing happened.
[19:05] SPEAKER_02: So what it stops us to have people
[19:07] SPEAKER_02: in Vancouver, Montreal,
[19:08] SPEAKER_02: Quebec, any city in Canada.
[19:09] SPEAKER_02: And I think that's an approach of us.
[19:11] SPEAKER_02: But KW has been really good.
[19:14] SPEAKER_02: It's amazing.
[19:15] SPEAKER_02: A lot of cost of rental for offices.
[19:18] SPEAKER_02: Those are cheaper.
[19:20] SPEAKER_02: And even the human resource,
[19:21] SPEAKER_02: you get as many as good resources here
[19:25] SPEAKER_02: as good as even Toronto.
[19:27] SPEAKER_02: But again, a few thousand dollar
[19:28] SPEAKER_02: cheaper for a starting company.
[19:30] SPEAKER_02: And then when you go into a
[19:31] SPEAKER_02: skill enough,
[19:32] SPEAKER_02: those all at the end count.
[19:34] SPEAKER_02: So I think like,
[19:35] SPEAKER_02: if anyone to start as long as your
[19:37] SPEAKER_02: net tech company don't
[19:38] SPEAKER_02: compete here,
[19:40] SPEAKER_02: take our engineers, you know.
[19:41] SPEAKER_02: Then they'll come.
[19:44] SPEAKER_01: That's great.
[19:45] SPEAKER_01: So you would definitely
[19:45] SPEAKER_01: then recommend KW area for somebody
[19:48] SPEAKER_01: that's not a competition to you
[19:50] SPEAKER_01: to start their company.
[19:52] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[19:53] SPEAKER_02: I did actually hear Justin Trudeau
[19:55] SPEAKER_02: Prime Minister yesterday
[19:56] SPEAKER_02: that said he how much KW companies
[19:59] SPEAKER_02: are helping and then
[20:00] SPEAKER_02: making a lot of things.
[20:02] SPEAKER_02: And I think that's a symbol of this whole
[20:04] SPEAKER_02: Canada that before even anyone
[20:07] SPEAKER_02: decide that we'll go work from home
[20:10] SPEAKER_02: start-ups in our skills or shopp-y
[20:11] SPEAKER_02: fire, Google, they all
[20:13] SPEAKER_02: when work from home before even any
[20:14] SPEAKER_02: news came out.
[20:15] SPEAKER_02: So I think that's amazing
[20:16] SPEAKER_02: now we can see those things here
[20:18] SPEAKER_02: and initiate it by KW companies.
[20:21] SPEAKER_01: Very good.
[20:23] SPEAKER_01: And you know, it must be really
[20:25] SPEAKER_01: exciting to be part of all of that.
[20:27] SPEAKER_01: You know, to help grow the KW
[20:28] SPEAKER_01: economy and businesses and
[20:31] SPEAKER_01: provide jobs like applied
[20:32] SPEAKER_01: where it is.
[20:33] SPEAKER_01: So that's really good.
[20:35] SPEAKER_01: I'm going to get a little bit
[20:36] SPEAKER_01: personal now, Matthew.
[20:37] SPEAKER_02: Well,
[20:39] SPEAKER_01: so I'm sure listeners will love to
[20:41] SPEAKER_01: know what you do to
[20:44] SPEAKER_01: unwind, to sort of disconnect,
[20:47] Speaker UNKNOWN: these stress.
[20:48] SPEAKER_02: Here's the thing though.
[20:50] SPEAKER_02: I think it depends on what is it that you
[20:52] SPEAKER_02: like in the moment of your life.
[20:55] SPEAKER_02: And that change.
[20:56] SPEAKER_02: Truly what we do at Applied
[20:58] SPEAKER_02: makes me so happy that I can
[21:00] SPEAKER_02: impact other people's life.
[21:02] SPEAKER_02: My life would have been very
[21:03] SPEAKER_02: different or could have been
[21:06] SPEAKER_02: night or day difference if I wasn't
[21:10] SPEAKER_02: I didn't decide to come to camp.
[21:12] SPEAKER_02: I think that impact of it
[21:13] SPEAKER_02: drives us so much that I think that makes me
[21:17] SPEAKER_02: happy and that's my unwind moment.
[21:19] SPEAKER_02: If I get the email from a student or someone
[21:21] SPEAKER_02: that I just become a part of the
[21:24] SPEAKER_02: honor, at least X, Y, Z, that's enough.
[21:26] SPEAKER_02: So I think at this moment
[21:28] SPEAKER_02: it still work give me enough pleasure
[21:30] SPEAKER_02: that I don't need.
[21:32] SPEAKER_02: But there are the times that I just
[21:34] SPEAKER_02: unplug everything and just see it go to
[21:38] SPEAKER_02: outside walk around.
[21:40] SPEAKER_02: You know there are those moments but at the
[21:41] SPEAKER_02: same time I think Applied
[21:43] SPEAKER_02: is giving us enough boost
[21:45] SPEAKER_02: that I don't need those moments much of
[21:49] SPEAKER_02: as of now.
[21:50] SPEAKER_02: As I'm going to be older,
[21:51] SPEAKER_02: my things get different.
[21:53] SPEAKER_02: But as of now I think that's enough.
[21:56] SPEAKER_01: That's great.
[21:57] SPEAKER_01: And you know, are you
[21:59] SPEAKER_01: are you a morning or a night person?
[22:01] SPEAKER_01: Do you want to
[22:02] SPEAKER_01: what's your idea of your work at morning
[22:05] SPEAKER_01: or at night?
[22:06] SPEAKER_02: My day to day routine is I wake up seven o'clock
[22:11] SPEAKER_02: before seven o'clock.
[22:13] SPEAKER_02: And then as much as I can get job done,
[22:16] SPEAKER_02: I'll focus but I don't go back
[22:18] SPEAKER_02: go to the bed if there is something left.
[22:20] SPEAKER_02: So sometimes my night goes till one or two.
[22:23] SPEAKER_02: Sometimes it's 10 o'clock or sometimes it's 6 p.m.
[22:27] SPEAKER_02: So for me it really doesn't matter
[22:29] SPEAKER_02: but I used to be very night person.
[22:31] SPEAKER_02: I used to be work till six seven
[22:34] SPEAKER_02: and then sleep few hours in morning.
[22:36] SPEAKER_02: But I actually get a lot more done
[22:39] SPEAKER_02: when I start the day sooner
[22:41] SPEAKER_02: and then you're more productive.
[22:43] SPEAKER_02: So but at the same time I think at this moment
[22:45] SPEAKER_02: it depends the workload as much as as long
[22:48] SPEAKER_02: as I don't have work that day.
[22:51] SPEAKER_02: I'm okay with that.
[22:52] SPEAKER_01: That's great.
[22:53] SPEAKER_01: What's your favorite place in the world?
[22:54] SPEAKER_01: I'm sure you've traveled a lot.
[22:57] SPEAKER_01: I've seen a lot of places.
[22:59] SPEAKER_01: Is there one that sort of stuck with you
[23:02] SPEAKER_01: that has a special place in your heart?
[23:06] SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
[23:06] SPEAKER_02: Maybe I would say that it's not.
[23:08] SPEAKER_02: That's going to maybe change.
[23:09] SPEAKER_02: I've been there five times and I just love the food,
[23:14] SPEAKER_02: the people and how...
[23:16] SPEAKER_02: You know like in Canada,
[23:17] SPEAKER_02: this was a big shock when I came to Canada was
[23:20] SPEAKER_02: when I walk around people smile.
[23:23] SPEAKER_02: That's really a love energy.
[23:24] SPEAKER_02: Getting energy from people and I pass those energy.
[23:29] SPEAKER_02: And that's one of the countries I feel I felt that.
[23:32] SPEAKER_02: You know people are super happy,
[23:33] SPEAKER_02: super motivating people around.
[23:36] SPEAKER_02: So I think as of now I would say
[23:38] SPEAKER_02: the autonomous on the top of the list.
[23:40] SPEAKER_02: But again I only been in 18 countries.
[23:42] SPEAKER_02: That will change as I have a chance to
[23:45] SPEAKER_02: visit all other countries.
[23:47] SPEAKER_01: I like when you say that only 18 countries.
[23:51] SPEAKER_01: That's fun to have countries.
[23:54] SPEAKER_01: So I'm going to ask you a couple of rapid-fire questions.
[23:57] SPEAKER_01: You don't have to think too much about it.
[23:59] SPEAKER_01: You can just ask whatever comes to your mind first.
[24:01] SPEAKER_01: So if you were doing what you're doing today,
[24:04] SPEAKER_01: what would you be doing?
[24:07] SPEAKER_02: Perhaps whether I was in any social worker,
[24:11] SPEAKER_02: anything that I could have paid back to the community
[24:13] SPEAKER_02: and help people or I would have go to different business
[24:17] SPEAKER_02: which was anything related to construction.
[24:19] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's something that always was my passion.
[24:23] SPEAKER_02: I was going to study civil engineering,
[24:25] SPEAKER_02: I studied business marketing,
[24:26] SPEAKER_02: but I think that would have been the first two choice.
[24:30] SPEAKER_01: That's great to know.
[24:31] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I wouldn't have guessed.
[24:32] SPEAKER_01: It's a big contrast.
[24:35] SPEAKER_01: Is there a book that you're currently reading?
[24:37] SPEAKER_01: If there's not a book,
[24:38] SPEAKER_01: it can be a podcast or anything else
[24:40] SPEAKER_01: that you sort of like to do on the odd days?
[24:45] SPEAKER_02: Right now I'm actually, I don't read book.
[24:47] SPEAKER_02: I'll listen through the audio ball.
[24:49] SPEAKER_02: So I'm listening to the Escort.
[24:52] SPEAKER_02: It takes care of itself.
[24:53] SPEAKER_02: It's really interesting because it talks about
[24:56] SPEAKER_02: how you should align the whole company together
[25:00] SPEAKER_02: and then give the task to the people
[25:01] SPEAKER_02: and make them own it.
[25:03] SPEAKER_02: And then as of that,
[25:04] SPEAKER_02: if every single person in the company
[25:07] SPEAKER_02: from the reception till the CEO of the company,
[25:11] SPEAKER_02: they own what they do then,
[25:13] SPEAKER_02: the outcome will be better.
[25:15] SPEAKER_02: And even if it's not, then everyone own what they do.
[25:18] SPEAKER_02: That's something that I'm really enjoying it right now.
[25:21] SPEAKER_01: Very good concept, I think.
[25:22] SPEAKER_01: If you feel a part of something,
[25:24] SPEAKER_01: not just an employee,
[25:25] SPEAKER_01: but actually owning something,
[25:29] SPEAKER_01: it makes it that much
[25:32] SPEAKER_01: dear to your heart, I think.
[25:34] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[25:35] SPEAKER_01: So are you, if you had to pick one word
[25:38] SPEAKER_01: to describe yourself,
[25:40] SPEAKER_01: what would it be and why?
[25:42] SPEAKER_02: I think I would say energetic.
[25:44] SPEAKER_02: I can impact many people's mood.
[25:50] SPEAKER_02: If I'm down, I can bring them on,
[25:51] SPEAKER_02: fortunately down.
[25:53] SPEAKER_02: If I have a lot of energy,
[25:55] SPEAKER_02: which is the most off the case,
[25:56] SPEAKER_02: I can boost many people's mood.
[25:59] SPEAKER_02: And that would be the word that I think
[26:01] SPEAKER_02: people might say about me,
[26:03] SPEAKER_02: or that's what I want that's least to be, you know.
[26:08] SPEAKER_01: And what is keeping you up and night these days?
[26:11] SPEAKER_01: I know there's so many things happening around us.
[26:14] SPEAKER_01: It's really hard to kind of cool out everything.
[26:16] SPEAKER_01: But is there one or two things that you think about at night?
[26:21] SPEAKER_02: Not really interesting.
[26:23] SPEAKER_02: When I go to bed,
[26:24] SPEAKER_02: I'll just put the phone on the side
[26:26] SPEAKER_02: and I sleep like a baby,
[26:28] SPEAKER_02: wake up.
[26:31] SPEAKER_02: That's, I think that's my unplugged moment.
[26:33] SPEAKER_02: Then I mean the bed,
[26:34] SPEAKER_02: I'm not thinking of anything,
[26:36] SPEAKER_02: but if there is a project or something in my mind,
[26:38] SPEAKER_02: I'll just come out of the bed,
[26:40] SPEAKER_02: write it down and go back to bed.
[26:42] SPEAKER_01: I wish I could do the same.
[26:46] SPEAKER_01: And do you have routines in the morning or in the evening?
[26:50] SPEAKER_01: Like in the morning, do you have to have a cup of coffee
[26:52] SPEAKER_01: or go for a walk or work out or yoga or whatever?
[26:58] SPEAKER_01: You know, because you may have.
[27:00] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think like, yeah, the coffee is obvious.
[27:02] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I don't think so.
[27:03] SPEAKER_02: Maybe there's 2% on the printer in this word
[27:05] SPEAKER_02: that leaves without coffee.
[27:07] SPEAKER_02: That's not me.
[27:08] SPEAKER_02: I do have to first get the cup of coffee,
[27:12] SPEAKER_02: I have to put my dog back in the back here
[27:14] SPEAKER_02: and just relax for a few minutes
[27:16] SPEAKER_02: and then get a start work.
[27:18] SPEAKER_02: And then in evening, I would always have
[27:20] SPEAKER_02: half an hour to one hour.
[27:22] SPEAKER_02: Usually if I cook,
[27:23] SPEAKER_02: that's the moment of the relaxation.
[27:25] SPEAKER_02: If not, I'll just do anything,
[27:27] SPEAKER_02: read the book, listen to book.
[27:29] SPEAKER_02: Do anything that is not related.
[27:32] SPEAKER_02: Thankfully, I'm not yet in the
[27:35] SPEAKER_02: mode of going for exercises.
[27:37] SPEAKER_02: I don't, I don't want to say I don't have time,
[27:40] SPEAKER_02: that's excuse, but it's not there
[27:42] SPEAKER_02: that I really feel that I need to do.
[27:44] SPEAKER_02: But as long as you eat healthy
[27:46] SPEAKER_02: and you have a good healthy mindset,
[27:48] SPEAKER_02: I think you can balance it out.
[27:50] SPEAKER_02: But that's pretty much more of the routine.
[27:52] SPEAKER_02: I had that morning and that half an hour
[27:54] SPEAKER_02: to one hour in evening.
[27:56] SPEAKER_02: It has to be there every single day.
[27:59] SPEAKER_01: That's great.
[28:00] SPEAKER_01: And the last question is,
[28:02] SPEAKER_01: there is a small tropical island in the middle of the ocean
[28:06] SPEAKER_01: with only one phone booth and no intimate.
[28:10] SPEAKER_01: So we drop you off, there's no technology at all.
[28:13] SPEAKER_01: In any time, you can use the phone booth
[28:14] SPEAKER_01: on the island to call the boat to come and pick you up.
[28:18] SPEAKER_01: How long do you think you would last
[28:19] SPEAKER_01: before making that phone call?
[28:22] SPEAKER_01: And what would you do?
[28:23] SPEAKER_02: What is the temperature in that island first?
[28:26] SPEAKER_01: Well, say it's hot, you know, 30 degrees.
[28:29] SPEAKER_02: Okay, I'll just take a hammer or something,
[28:31] SPEAKER_02: destroy that phone booth and stay in that island.
[28:36] SPEAKER_02: Let's stay there forever.
[28:38] SPEAKER_02: I think, yeah, I don't know, maybe a few weeks.
[28:42] Speaker UNKNOWN: It depends, though.
[28:43] SPEAKER_02: It depends if I imagine it today,
[28:45] SPEAKER_02: five seconds later,
[28:47] SPEAKER_02: it's picking up.
[28:48] SPEAKER_02: But actually, always think, I think after
[28:50] SPEAKER_02: when the time comes that I want to give myself
[28:53] SPEAKER_02: a couple of months break,
[28:55] SPEAKER_02: that would be situation.
[28:56] SPEAKER_02: It goes onward, just focus on the life.
[29:00] SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I never thought about it.
[29:03] SPEAKER_02: But I think if it's today,
[29:05] SPEAKER_02: give me two days I call back, you know.
[29:08] SPEAKER_02: But if it's two or three days, as of now,
[29:12] SPEAKER_02: I think that's how long I can stay out of the business.
[29:15] SPEAKER_02: You know, just if you have fun in whatever you do,
[29:19] SPEAKER_02: as long as you go to a sleep and at the end of the night,
[29:22] SPEAKER_02: you say, this was a good day and I enjoyed my day.
[29:25] SPEAKER_02: I think then you should do whatever you do.
[29:28] SPEAKER_02: Continue doing that.
[29:29] SPEAKER_02: My belief is I leave once and I have to take advantage
[29:32] SPEAKER_02: every single day of my life.
[29:35] SPEAKER_01: I like that.
[29:37] SPEAKER_01: That's a good way to live by.
[29:41] SPEAKER_01: Matthew, thanks so much and thank you to your team as well
[29:44] SPEAKER_01: for joining us today.
[29:46] SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for the opportunity.
[29:48] SPEAKER_01: I'm Andrea Sassoum, your Toronto's host for Canada's podcast,
[29:53] SPEAKER_01: the Asian's number one entrepreneurial network.
[29:54] SPEAKER_01: It was a great pleasure to be here with Matthew Basieri,
[29:58] SPEAKER_01: who is the co-founder of the Five Boy.