WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.879 If you're running a business right now, you're 00:00:01.879 --> 00:00:03.740 playing a game where the rules keep changing. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:06.839 Trade tensions, economic uncertainty, culture 00:00:06.839 --> 00:00:09.720 wars, the world is rapidly changing around us. 00:00:09.900 --> 00:00:12.019 And companies, especially independent and local 00:00:12.019 --> 00:00:14.859 businesses, are having to adapt faster than ever. 00:00:15.560 --> 00:00:17.600 That's why Mission Critical is evolving. We're 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:20.179 diving deep with the founders, CEOs, and entrepreneurs 00:00:20.179 --> 00:00:23.140 who are navigating this chaos in real time. The 00:00:23.140 --> 00:00:24.859 ones making the tough calls, pushing through 00:00:24.859 --> 00:00:26.980 unpredictability, and proving that resilience 00:00:26.980 --> 00:00:29.480 isn't just a buzzword, it's a survival skill. 00:00:29.870 --> 00:00:32.149 How do you scale in an economy that feels like 00:00:32.149 --> 00:00:34.670 it's on shaky ground? What happens when U .S. 00:00:34.850 --> 00:00:36.530 policy shifts send shockwaves through Canadian 00:00:36.530 --> 00:00:39.770 industries? And in a world where diversity, healthcare, 00:00:39.990 --> 00:00:42.750 and economic resilience are becoming battlegrounds, 00:00:42.829 --> 00:00:45.149 how do businesses double down instead of backing 00:00:45.149 --> 00:00:48.329 down? These are the real conversations that matter 00:00:48.329 --> 00:00:51.210 to business leaders right now. I'm Lance Chung 00:00:51.210 --> 00:00:53.929 and this is Mission Critical. Let's get into 00:00:53.929 --> 00:00:57.429 it. Hi Dax, how are you? I'm great. You're visiting 00:00:57.429 --> 00:01:00.320 Toronto. How's, what brings you to town? Well, 00:01:00.380 --> 00:01:02.320 we've got a new I've got a new book called echoes 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:04.939 from Eden that's that just came out two days 00:01:04.939 --> 00:01:09.260 ago Congratulations to the tiff crowd. Yeah and 00:01:09.260 --> 00:01:12.439 promoting it with with with NKPR at the it lounge 00:01:12.439 --> 00:01:16.219 Which is a gifting lounge as well as indigo book 00:01:16.219 --> 00:01:18.469 tour date Yeah, that happened last night. Yeah 00:01:18.469 --> 00:01:19.909 Do you feel like a rock star just like going 00:01:19.909 --> 00:01:22.010 on a book tour and like being able to? Spread 00:01:22.010 --> 00:01:23.870 the gospel of your book and everything. I mean, 00:01:23.909 --> 00:01:26.390 it's been really a lot of fun I mean we had an 00:01:26.390 --> 00:01:30.170 amazing crowd in LA And then just like an even 00:01:30.170 --> 00:01:32.409 better crowd here in Toronto with amazing questions 00:01:32.409 --> 00:01:35.230 super engaged Folks that just want to hear that 00:01:35.230 --> 00:01:39.150 things can still be done for the planet So the 00:01:39.150 --> 00:01:42.099 book took, you know uh talks about a two -year 00:01:42.099 --> 00:01:46.420 period from 2022 to 2024 when I uh stepped down 00:01:46.420 --> 00:01:48.920 as a lightspeed CEO and became the chair and 00:01:48.920 --> 00:01:50.680 could kind of pursue this dream of investing 00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:52.700 in conservation and then going on the ground 00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:55.180 to all these places and putting my putting my 00:01:55.180 --> 00:01:58.620 life at risk yeah yeah in the amazon to start 00:01:58.620 --> 00:02:01.140 with and uh and then you know every other crazy 00:02:01.140 --> 00:02:04.379 place after and it's just i'm so glad we eric 00:02:04.379 --> 00:02:06.819 and i wrote this book because it's just a time 00:02:06.819 --> 00:02:09.180 capsule of something that was a super special 00:02:09.180 --> 00:02:12.039 time It's fun to talk about. Okay, starting there 00:02:12.039 --> 00:02:13.599 actually, because that kind of like touched on 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:14.979 a little preview of like everything that I wanted 00:02:14.979 --> 00:02:17.500 to talk to you about. When you talk about like 00:02:17.500 --> 00:02:20.860 life and death scenarios, what is your approach 00:02:20.860 --> 00:02:25.259 to being outside of your comfort zone? And how 00:02:25.259 --> 00:02:28.439 does that kind of how is that reflected in your 00:02:28.439 --> 00:02:30.800 endeavors when it comes to writing your books 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:33.180 and your personal missions, but also your business? 00:02:33.300 --> 00:02:37.900 Yeah. So I've learned a lot about You know, you 00:02:37.900 --> 00:02:40.479 know my leadership style and also just being 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:42.759 leader at lightspeed now now that i'm back my 00:02:42.759 --> 00:02:44.659 favorite period ever at lightspeed where we have 00:02:44.659 --> 00:02:47.060 a lot of work to do but uh, you know being able 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:50.039 to do This for two years the conservation piece 00:02:50.039 --> 00:02:53.069 and just actually be on the ground with What 00:02:53.069 --> 00:02:57.090 feel like startups? I've realized that the through 00:02:57.090 --> 00:02:58.949 line to everything that I really enjoy doing 00:02:58.949 --> 00:03:02.169 is that entrepreneurial spirit, right? So whether 00:03:02.169 --> 00:03:04.229 it's helping the restaurants and retail businesses 00:03:04.229 --> 00:03:06.930 that Lightspeed supports, or being on the ground 00:03:06.930 --> 00:03:08.509 with these conservations that are up against 00:03:08.509 --> 00:03:11.110 impossible odds, like a restaurant is when they 00:03:11.110 --> 00:03:14.969 open their doors, it all has that same startup 00:03:14.969 --> 00:03:17.629 DNA, that kind of spirit. And of course, we were 00:03:17.629 --> 00:03:21.139 a startup. at one point, and we're always doing 00:03:21.139 --> 00:03:24.360 startup -y things inside the company. And then 00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:27.419 there's all sorts of projects within Age of Union, 00:03:27.539 --> 00:03:30.080 which is my environmental projects that are building 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:32.939 things from the ground up and trying new ideas. 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:37.400 So I think that's the through line for me is 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:39.979 starting something from zero with the odds against 00:03:39.979 --> 00:03:43.400 you. And then getting out of your comfort zone 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:46.099 is just something you have to get used to if 00:03:46.099 --> 00:03:49.430 you are an entrepreneur at heart. You've got 00:03:49.430 --> 00:03:53.770 to have a comfort with risk. Of course, calculated 00:03:53.770 --> 00:03:56.449 risk. And I think as you get more experienced 00:03:56.449 --> 00:03:58.830 and more seasoned, you know how to calculate 00:03:58.830 --> 00:04:01.789 the risks. Not put yourself really in danger. 00:04:03.050 --> 00:04:05.030 Blend in with security, especially if you've 00:04:05.030 --> 00:04:08.469 been going to the gym when you're in the middle 00:04:08.469 --> 00:04:18.550 of Haiti. So it's how to create The best of those 00:04:18.550 --> 00:04:20.610 moments to learn from because you're really you 00:04:20.610 --> 00:04:22.250 really you when you're out of your comfort zone 00:04:22.250 --> 00:04:24.209 That's when you learn the most. Yeah. Yeah, and 00:04:24.209 --> 00:04:26.029 that is truly you're not gonna learn a lot in 00:04:26.029 --> 00:04:27.949 your comfort zone and in your bubble Yeah, you 00:04:27.949 --> 00:04:30.230 know, it's you're not gonna grow and that I feel 00:04:30.230 --> 00:04:31.810 like that's truly the mindset of an entrepreneur 00:04:31.810 --> 00:04:33.730 especially at a startup level where you're like 00:04:33.730 --> 00:04:36.709 constantly trying to like solve problems that 00:04:36.709 --> 00:04:38.709 are out there that you know, maybe there's not 00:04:38.709 --> 00:04:40.889 as there maybe there are solutions but not the 00:04:40.889 --> 00:04:42.470 solution that you're looking for and just trying 00:04:42.470 --> 00:04:46.060 to find ways to create different paths and As 00:04:46.060 --> 00:04:48.759 a result, that is going to involve putting yourself 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:51.480 into situations that might be out of your comfort 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:53.180 zone, even if it's in a professional setting 00:04:53.180 --> 00:04:56.339 too, right? Yeah. Um, and embracing that mindset 00:04:56.339 --> 00:05:00.879 of like exploring that, that like feeling of 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:04.379 like kind of not wanting to or feeling of just 00:05:04.379 --> 00:05:07.100 like keeping things moving and trying to solve 00:05:07.100 --> 00:05:09.300 problems and everything. I think you have to 00:05:09.300 --> 00:05:12.139 take risks if you want to win against impossible 00:05:12.139 --> 00:05:17.050 odds or, or change the game. So you are, you 00:05:17.050 --> 00:05:20.529 know, one of those rare leaders where, you know, 00:05:20.649 --> 00:05:23.250 you sit at really this intersection, a very unique 00:05:23.250 --> 00:05:26.829 intersection that overlaps between business, 00:05:27.209 --> 00:05:31.269 community, activism. So when people think about, 00:05:31.269 --> 00:05:34.810 you know, Dax de Silva, what do you hope is kind 00:05:34.810 --> 00:05:38.529 of the first thing that comes to mind as someone 00:05:38.529 --> 00:05:43.160 that does the work that you do? Well, I think 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:45.540 that you know, many people know me from different 00:05:45.540 --> 00:05:51.319 from different paths, right? So In Canada, I 00:05:51.319 --> 00:05:53.180 think most people understand me as you know, 00:05:53.180 --> 00:05:55.939 the founder of light speed But if I'm in environmental 00:05:55.939 --> 00:05:58.600 circles or film circles where we've done documentaries, 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:00.300 there's a sort of a different understanding I 00:06:00.300 --> 00:06:02.120 think there's some things that are the same. 00:06:02.279 --> 00:06:06.759 I think I'm engaged. I'm on the ground I'm I 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:10.000 think an approachable person but a person that 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:14.829 loves to to lead and also create. So there's 00:06:14.829 --> 00:06:17.069 there's commonality between the different versions. 00:06:17.990 --> 00:06:21.550 But but yeah, there are there are sort of there's 00:06:21.550 --> 00:06:24.790 there's sort of like a number of different different 00:06:24.790 --> 00:06:27.189 versions. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Depending on where 00:06:27.189 --> 00:06:29.170 you are and who you're. But they're one authentic 00:06:29.170 --> 00:06:32.350 person. Right. I think that that we we do have. 00:06:33.420 --> 00:06:36.339 I think throughout our lives, we water different 00:06:36.339 --> 00:06:38.439 seeds that are all different part of us, you 00:06:38.439 --> 00:06:40.740 know, and the same garden. Yeah, exactly. And 00:06:40.740 --> 00:06:43.480 things come into season at different times. They 00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:48.220 cross pollinate each other. And so that's like 00:06:48.220 --> 00:06:50.720 all of the different pieces are authentically 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:56.019 me. And that's that's I think that's how you 00:06:56.019 --> 00:06:58.810 kind of live the maximum. your maximum potential. 00:06:59.410 --> 00:07:01.930 I won't say I'm there, but but I wouldn't be 00:07:01.930 --> 00:07:06.189 happy. I think if if if I was only it could only 00:07:06.189 --> 00:07:08.029 be one of those things. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. 00:07:08.550 --> 00:07:10.569 Yeah. You know, as you mentioned, Lightspeed 00:07:10.569 --> 00:07:13.250 started off as a startup and as a scrappy startup 00:07:13.250 --> 00:07:16.790 from Montreal. And it's obviously grown into. 00:07:17.769 --> 00:07:20.910 a global platform that is also powering a whole 00:07:20.910 --> 00:07:23.069 networking community of other businesses. When 00:07:23.069 --> 00:07:26.350 you look back on that journey, what surprises 00:07:26.350 --> 00:07:29.230 you the most about where that journey has taken 00:07:29.230 --> 00:07:35.250 you along the way? I mean, the scale of it is 00:07:35.250 --> 00:07:39.610 always always surprises me. You know, we're 3 00:07:39.610 --> 00:07:43.230 ,400 people. It's more than a billion in revenue. 00:07:43.829 --> 00:07:46.050 When I started it, my only goal was to win an 00:07:46.050 --> 00:07:48.750 Apple Design Award from Steve Jobs. I was like 00:07:48.750 --> 00:07:51.470 a handcraft, like really detailed crafting pixels 00:07:51.470 --> 00:07:53.949 for the first version of Lightspeed. I was such 00:07:53.949 --> 00:07:57.990 a Mac nerd since I was 13 and a coder. And actually 00:07:57.990 --> 00:08:01.290 I had no business background whatsoever and no 00:08:01.290 --> 00:08:05.319 sense that I was ... leader at all I had to grow 00:08:05.319 --> 00:08:07.540 into that because the team was like well what 00:08:07.540 --> 00:08:10.480 are we doing all this for at some point so I 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:12.500 had to start figuring out how to tell them you 00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:15.660 know and then communicate even more broadly than 00:08:15.660 --> 00:08:20.500 that over time. So the scale of it is, you know, 00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:23.540 sometimes it takes a bit of perspective. So when 00:08:23.540 --> 00:08:27.699 I stepped back for two years, I came back appreciating 00:08:27.699 --> 00:08:29.920 the company on a whole other level because I 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:32.399 think when you're inside something for a long 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:35.639 time, you don't see it properly. You see it from 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:38.340 inside the bubble. You see it for all the challenges 00:08:38.340 --> 00:08:40.600 it has. You don't see it for how incredible it 00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:47.309 is. And that's why um that's why I can enjoy 00:08:47.309 --> 00:08:52.289 this like period of transformation uh like more 00:08:52.289 --> 00:08:54.330 than I think I've ever enjoyed any other phase 00:08:54.330 --> 00:08:58.389 of the company but what what is what I have always 00:08:58.389 --> 00:09:00.070 what I missed in those two years about light 00:09:00.070 --> 00:09:03.250 speed is just like the incredible level of the 00:09:03.250 --> 00:09:06.429 people you get to work with yeah uh it's it's 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:08.980 it's extremely stimulating, you know? And so 00:09:08.980 --> 00:09:11.200 for somebody with an entrepreneurial spirit, 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:14.519 you know, you kind of never want to have a minute 00:09:14.519 --> 00:09:16.419 when you're bored, right? You never want, you 00:09:16.419 --> 00:09:18.519 always want to have something very meaty to tackle. 00:09:18.659 --> 00:09:20.620 And preferably a dozen things, you know, that 00:09:20.620 --> 00:09:25.169 are worth tackling. And Lightspeed's got... You 00:09:25.169 --> 00:09:29.730 know no shortage of like really fascinating opportunities. 00:09:29.909 --> 00:09:32.470 Yeah, always in motion Yeah, always and I can 00:09:32.470 --> 00:09:35.889 only imagine also just the number of businesses 00:09:35.889 --> 00:09:38.230 and entrepreneurs that you're also powering like 00:09:38.230 --> 00:09:40.610 the stories that are coming from there not like 00:09:40.610 --> 00:09:43.090 externally from the company to it just the whole 00:09:43.090 --> 00:09:45.409 ecosystem well, that's the light that's the thing 00:09:45.409 --> 00:09:50.250 that I that we That we get to enjoy as light 00:09:50.250 --> 00:09:54.289 speeders that we actually started really celebrating 00:09:54.289 --> 00:09:58.210 as of our summit like we can go on the streets 00:09:58.889 --> 00:10:01.730 Uh in uh, you know in in north america and or 00:10:01.730 --> 00:10:04.210 and in europe for restaurants north america is 00:10:04.210 --> 00:10:07.250 more retail Europe it's more restaurants. We 00:10:07.250 --> 00:10:09.570 can go and we can see our our software being 00:10:09.570 --> 00:10:12.389 used In some of like our favorite places in the 00:10:12.389 --> 00:10:15.330 city, right? You can't do that. If you're enterprise 00:10:15.330 --> 00:10:17.649 software You can't do that when you're working 00:10:17.649 --> 00:10:19.789 in lots of different kinds of companies You can't 00:10:19.789 --> 00:10:22.509 see your your software powering something really 00:10:22.509 --> 00:10:25.330 cool. Yeah in action in action. Yeah, and so 00:10:25.330 --> 00:10:28.129 we actually at our at our company summit we We 00:10:28.129 --> 00:10:30.070 did like a lightspeed company map. So if you're 00:10:30.070 --> 00:10:32.330 just on a street in Amsterdam, you can find all 00:10:32.330 --> 00:10:34.090 the lightspeed customers on that street. You 00:10:34.090 --> 00:10:37.509 can go and spend your money there. And you can 00:10:37.509 --> 00:10:40.789 feel a sense of pride about, okay, I worked on 00:10:40.789 --> 00:10:43.909 that, or I understand the workflow, or they're 00:10:43.909 --> 00:10:46.950 having a struggle and I can maybe plug them into 00:10:46.950 --> 00:10:49.990 something that could make them a better business 00:10:49.990 --> 00:10:53.070 and make us a better company by maybe addressing 00:10:53.070 --> 00:10:54.870 something that we didn't know. Sure, and you 00:10:54.870 --> 00:10:58.340 can tangibly see the... The work that you you've 00:10:58.340 --> 00:11:00.639 created actually be like people using the platform 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:02.879 and everything too Yeah, I mean I think you know 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:06.179 in a world where people are searching for the 00:11:06.179 --> 00:11:08.360 meaning of the things that they do and work on 00:11:08.360 --> 00:11:12.600 We're lucky because we are we we see how our 00:11:12.600 --> 00:11:18.500 software powers community businesses that may 00:11:18.500 --> 00:11:21.700 be up against, you know, big franchises, uh, 00:11:21.980 --> 00:11:24.379 that have like enterprise software that's like 00:11:24.379 --> 00:11:27.159 cost millions of dollars. So we're kind of democratizing, 00:11:27.159 --> 00:11:29.539 you know, those kinds of tools, whether it's, 00:11:29.539 --> 00:11:31.620 whether it's operations tools or AI tools or 00:11:31.620 --> 00:11:33.500 all of that, like we bring it so that they have 00:11:33.500 --> 00:11:36.000 a competitive advantage. And you, and you want 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:37.840 those businesses to thrive. You don't want them 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:41.029 all to be Replaced by Starbucks and like, you 00:11:41.029 --> 00:11:43.409 know, yeah the big chains I always talk about 00:11:43.409 --> 00:11:45.870 with my peers like I feel like the sign of like 00:11:45.870 --> 00:11:48.990 a really healthy neighborhood and community ecosystem 00:11:48.990 --> 00:11:51.190 is a number of like independent businesses that 00:11:51.190 --> 00:11:53.649 you see and like it might not not every single 00:11:53.649 --> 00:11:56.090 independent business will be your thing, but 00:11:56.090 --> 00:11:59.909 you can always be happy about the You know a 00:11:59.909 --> 00:12:01.610 new business that it's independent opening up 00:12:01.610 --> 00:12:03.110 in your neighborhood because it's just adding 00:12:03.110 --> 00:12:05.629 to the health of an ecosystem or and neighborhood 00:12:05.629 --> 00:12:07.909 and all that money goes back into the community 00:12:07.789 --> 00:12:11.470 and not into some foreign country, especially 00:12:11.470 --> 00:12:14.490 as we're thinking as Canadians about where our 00:12:14.490 --> 00:12:17.629 dollars end up going, you know, who does it end 00:12:17.629 --> 00:12:20.129 up helping? And then the other question that 00:12:20.129 --> 00:12:24.490 I get that's an interesting one is, okay, well, 00:12:24.889 --> 00:12:26.490 you know, you're writing about conservation, 00:12:26.750 --> 00:12:29.250 which is, you know, an environmental topic, you 00:12:29.250 --> 00:12:31.690 know, it doesn't light speed fuel consumerism, 00:12:31.789 --> 00:12:34.850 you know, like, well, I mean, if you're going 00:12:34.850 --> 00:12:38.879 to shop, or you're going to eat out you should 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:41.659 eat at the businesses and shop at the businesses 00:12:41.659 --> 00:12:44.340 that are putting money back into the community 00:12:44.340 --> 00:12:47.600 that can make the sustainable local choices more 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:50.379 so than the multinational chains yeah right if 00:12:50.379 --> 00:12:55.059 you're we all have to consume but those businesses 00:12:55.059 --> 00:12:57.639 have that consciousness you know or they strive 00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:00.120 for it or they're more connected to the local 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:03.830 consideration right so That is, for me, that's 00:13:03.830 --> 00:13:07.350 the connection. That's what I see in those locally 00:13:07.350 --> 00:13:11.570 owned businesses is that sensitivity and that 00:13:11.570 --> 00:13:14.549 likelihood, especially now that there's more 00:13:14.549 --> 00:13:20.809 patriotism in how businesses are stocking, where 00:13:20.809 --> 00:13:24.610 they get their ingredients or supplies. They're 00:13:24.610 --> 00:13:27.220 thinking about, okay, how does this help? our 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:30.039 country and the discovery of like other independent 00:13:30.039 --> 00:13:32.320 businesses that are also part of that fabric 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:34.860 and part of that supply chain. You don't have 00:13:34.860 --> 00:13:37.580 to rely on overseas and everything like that, 00:13:37.659 --> 00:13:40.320 too. Right. And also the more you do locally, 00:13:40.620 --> 00:13:43.820 the less it costs costs you in carbon. Yeah. 00:13:43.820 --> 00:13:47.179 And also it's like we have we have we did a study 00:13:47.179 --> 00:13:49.299 at Lightspeed about something called value spending. 00:13:49.799 --> 00:13:52.840 And the younger you go in demographics, the more 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:55.860 where people spend their money is aligned to 00:13:55.860 --> 00:13:58.159 some set of values, right? Well, and people are 00:13:58.159 --> 00:13:59.740 just asking more questions. They're asking more 00:13:59.740 --> 00:14:06.299 questions. Looking back on everything that you've 00:14:06.299 --> 00:14:08.500 built in your career and your entrepreneurial 00:14:08.500 --> 00:14:12.460 journey, how has your perspective on entrepreneurship 00:14:12.460 --> 00:14:16.379 and leadership changed and evolved? If anything, 00:14:16.539 --> 00:14:18.960 what do you think is the biggest difference between 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:28.200 those first few years and now? Think the biggest 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:32.440 observation that I've made This year having been 00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:37.340 you know 20 years on and at lightspeed Is I think 00:14:37.340 --> 00:14:41.179 at first you don't you might second -guess some 00:14:41.179 --> 00:14:44.419 of your instincts? What you feel in your gut. 00:14:44.419 --> 00:14:47.840 I think over time as you do you do more you trust 00:14:48.090 --> 00:14:51.269 those instincts more you trust that wisdom that 00:14:51.269 --> 00:14:54.470 you build up from having seen a lot uh and i 00:14:54.470 --> 00:14:56.309 think you when when you don't trust your gut 00:14:56.309 --> 00:14:59.230 you get yourself into trouble you know has it 00:14:59.230 --> 00:15:03.149 gotten you into trouble yeah yeah yeah yeah it 00:15:03.149 --> 00:15:05.549 it definitely has and i think that when you're 00:15:05.549 --> 00:15:10.070 true to um when you're true to your values and 00:15:10.070 --> 00:15:14.850 and your uh and you act and decide on that on 00:15:14.850 --> 00:15:20.129 that truth uh Very rarely do you go in the wrong 00:15:20.129 --> 00:15:23.629 direction? You know when you compromise and of 00:15:23.629 --> 00:15:25.330 course as you're building a company you make 00:15:25.330 --> 00:15:27.309 lots of different compromises because there's 00:15:27.309 --> 00:15:29.669 other stakeholders that want other things and 00:15:29.669 --> 00:15:31.629 you say I'm not gonna fight that battle or I'm 00:15:31.629 --> 00:15:34.330 not you know, that's important to them I'll stay 00:15:34.330 --> 00:15:37.450 in my lane on that one. You know, that's I don't 00:15:37.450 --> 00:15:40.789 think that's a good if I if I look in in retrospect 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:44.240 Those are the compromises that we're now trying 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:46.379 to correct. You know what I mean? Like that's 00:15:46.379 --> 00:15:48.659 that so I think that's that that's been the evolution 00:15:48.659 --> 00:15:50.620 There's so many different evolutions that happen 00:15:50.620 --> 00:15:53.960 as a leader in 20 years But that's the one where 00:15:53.960 --> 00:15:56.100 having coming having come back with a very fresh 00:15:56.100 --> 00:15:59.259 perspective Not compromising on that one. Yeah. 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:02.440 Yeah We talked a little bit about this already, 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:06.500 but how do you see small businesses really being 00:16:06.500 --> 00:16:12.460 kind of the the source of really shaping Culture 00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:16.039 in our community and and similarly like how does 00:16:16.039 --> 00:16:18.019 something like a company like light speed help 00:16:18.019 --> 00:16:23.679 to protect and empower? that that kind of Role 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:25.879 that small businesses play. Well small business 00:16:25.879 --> 00:16:28.779 is local culture. It is local identity. It's 00:16:28.779 --> 00:16:31.879 the look. It's the food. It's the it's the brands 00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:36.240 that That make a place unique that make a city 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:38.299 unique if everything's the same everywhere then 00:16:38.299 --> 00:16:41.519 no city is unique There is no there is no identity 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:46.000 in in a in a place. So That's what we do as a 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:48.759 business is we make sure that we fuel their ambitions 00:16:48.759 --> 00:16:51.519 You know with the technology with the insights 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:54.720 they need that can be competitive with these 00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:57.059 Multinationals, you know and these these big 00:16:57.059 --> 00:17:00.490 chains. Otherwise, they don't have They don't 00:17:00.490 --> 00:17:02.190 have the means to compete. They don't have the 00:17:02.190 --> 00:17:05.750 means to be viable as businesses. And we know 00:17:05.750 --> 00:17:08.829 that those businesses make such a big difference 00:17:08.829 --> 00:17:12.589 in enriching a city and enriching a culture. 00:17:13.309 --> 00:17:16.750 What do you find is the biggest pain point that 00:17:16.750 --> 00:17:19.230 businesses are facing right now? What's the feedback 00:17:19.230 --> 00:17:21.339 that you're getting? Well, I mean there's there's 00:17:21.339 --> 00:17:24.900 the things that are uh that are immediately challenges 00:17:24.900 --> 00:17:27.339 things like supply chain things like inflation, 00:17:27.339 --> 00:17:32.299 uh, you know post covid there's uh a lack of 00:17:32.299 --> 00:17:36.779 staffing, uh, there's There's all kinds of uh 00:17:36.779 --> 00:17:40.440 things that are sort of very 2025 or 2024 in 00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:44.839 in terms of their Uh, you know in terms of of 00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:48.900 the moment But if you look big picture of what's 00:17:48.900 --> 00:17:51.019 happened to retail and hospitality over the last 00:17:51.019 --> 00:17:55.500 20 years, today, if you think about like 20 years 00:17:55.500 --> 00:17:59.160 ago when Lightspeed started, if you were a retail 00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:01.839 business owner, you had to find a good location. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:06.279 And that was basically your marketing, right? 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:07.940 You find a good location. If it's on the right 00:18:07.940 --> 00:18:11.640 street, people will walk in. You know and you 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:13.380 and and then the only other trick you had to 00:18:13.380 --> 00:18:16.559 do is order the right stock And make sure that 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:19.400 there was enough and that was that was about 00:18:19.400 --> 00:18:23.240 as much as you had to do, you know Very similar 00:18:23.240 --> 00:18:26.160 with with a with a restaurant. It was like location 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:29.119 location location and have an appealing offering 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:32.220 And if you've got those two things, right you 00:18:32.220 --> 00:18:34.519 could probably have a good business right today 00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:39.539 Today you have to be an expert same person Today, 00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:42.099 you have to be an expert at an incredible guest 00:18:42.099 --> 00:18:45.339 experience that has amazing reviews that you 00:18:45.339 --> 00:18:47.859 have to manage. You have to be amazing on social 00:18:47.859 --> 00:18:51.339 media, right? On multiple platforms. You have 00:18:51.339 --> 00:18:53.180 to pretty much like a media platform. Right. 00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:55.079 And if you really want to be a great business, 00:18:55.140 --> 00:18:58.079 you have to be. have a killer social media presence. 00:18:58.380 --> 00:19:01.279 You have to have an online presence so that people 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:04.099 can order from you on ecom. You have to know 00:19:04.099 --> 00:19:08.019 how that works. You have to know how online marketing 00:19:08.019 --> 00:19:13.880 works. And then there's all sorts of logistical 00:19:13.880 --> 00:19:17.660 complexity to running all of those channels simultaneously. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:23.890 And it's orders of magnitude more ... Difficult 00:19:23.890 --> 00:19:26.269 to have a business when those are sort of the 00:19:26.269 --> 00:19:29.230 baseline For what you need to what you need to 00:19:29.230 --> 00:19:31.970 have to be successful, you know So and I think 00:19:31.970 --> 00:19:34.309 I'm forgetting a few things but business has 00:19:34.309 --> 00:19:37.549 become way more complicated for a small business 00:19:37.549 --> 00:19:40.309 owner You have to wear a lot of hats where they 00:19:40.309 --> 00:19:42.369 wouldn't even dream to those things, you know 00:19:42.369 --> 00:19:44.089 20 years ago and now you have to be an expert 00:19:44.089 --> 00:19:47.509 in understanding analytics understanding insights 00:19:47.509 --> 00:19:51.740 understanding how AI fits into it and And now 00:19:51.740 --> 00:19:53.680 and you have to navigate a very difficult labor 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:57.400 market where nobody wants to work potentially 00:19:57.400 --> 00:20:00.819 in without a whole bunch of different requirements. 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:04.119 Yeah, it's way harder to succeed. You know, so 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:08.559 what kind of advice do you give to people with 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:11.730 all that stacked up against them? Well, the only 00:20:11.730 --> 00:20:14.089 way you can rationalize that, and I think that's 00:20:14.089 --> 00:20:16.509 true of many industries that have gotten a lot 00:20:16.509 --> 00:20:19.049 more complicated. Think about how much more complicated 00:20:19.049 --> 00:20:23.170 it is to produce a TV show or a movie, given 00:20:23.170 --> 00:20:26.359 all of the... Expectations from the audience, 00:20:26.700 --> 00:20:30.359 you know like polish CGI like it's become orders 00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:33.339 of magnitude more expensive The only way to offset 00:20:33.339 --> 00:20:36.000 all of that is with technology You have to have 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:38.839 the technology has to race forward to take more 00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:41.759 things off your plate So, you know where that's 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:44.720 like our mission is to make sure that that they 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:47.660 can like a retail business owner can focus on 00:20:47.660 --> 00:20:50.440 the curation of their products So that they can 00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:53.019 like understand like what is gonna attract people? 00:20:53.440 --> 00:20:56.440 They got in they got into let's say selling bikes 00:20:56.440 --> 00:20:58.839 as they're passionate about bikes They're not 00:20:58.839 --> 00:21:01.700 passionate about inventory management or e -commerce 00:21:01.700 --> 00:21:04.890 or social media necessarily If they could take 00:21:04.890 --> 00:21:07.150 that off their plate, then they can focus on, 00:21:07.329 --> 00:21:09.150 okay, what are the cool bike brands? Let's go 00:21:09.150 --> 00:21:11.190 to the trade shows. Let's find out. Let's find 00:21:11.190 --> 00:21:15.869 what's really hot. What are the profit makers? 00:21:16.369 --> 00:21:18.470 And same with the restaurants. If somebody got 00:21:18.470 --> 00:21:22.789 into hospitality because they're super passionate 00:21:22.789 --> 00:21:25.930 about Spanish food, they should be working on 00:21:25.930 --> 00:21:29.059 the next menu creation. The next cocktail creation 00:21:29.059 --> 00:21:31.460 or the next mocktail creation. Yeah, that's popular 00:21:31.460 --> 00:21:34.420 now. So it's not about all of the management, 00:21:34.420 --> 00:21:37.400 right? So as much as technology can take that 00:21:37.400 --> 00:21:40.660 away away from what's on their day to day, the 00:21:40.660 --> 00:21:42.799 more they can focus on where they can actually 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:45.279 add value. And then, of course, the business 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:47.440 owner can actually interact with their staff 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:49.259 and interact with their with the people coming 00:21:49.259 --> 00:21:51.900 to their store or restaurant. Then you get another 00:21:51.900 --> 00:21:55.680 level of like loyalty to that place, right? You 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:58.430 can really feel like the business owner's presence 00:21:58.430 --> 00:22:01.809 and feel that passion of that business owner. 00:22:01.930 --> 00:22:04.690 But not if they're sitting behind, nobody got 00:22:04.690 --> 00:22:07.329 into business to sit at the administration screen 00:22:07.329 --> 00:22:11.150 of Lightspeed. They should be in their business. 00:22:11.470 --> 00:22:14.319 If I think about some of my favorite... restaurants 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:17.240 or retail stores. It's truly the people that 00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:20.319 are the places where I feel like I can recognize 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:23.460 the barista or the restaurant owners sitting 00:22:23.460 --> 00:22:25.940 at the bar and is like, welcomes you and remembers 00:22:25.940 --> 00:22:29.220 your order or you walk into a store and there's 00:22:29.220 --> 00:22:31.559 someone from from a retail standpoint. It's like 00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:34.039 I know exactly what this person likes. It is 00:22:34.039 --> 00:22:37.380 like that sense of familiarity and like and like 00:22:37.380 --> 00:22:40.400 hospitality, I guess. And expertise. Yeah. And 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:42.420 expertise for sure. Yeah. I mean, why do you 00:22:42.420 --> 00:22:44.660 go into a retail store? That's like that that 00:22:44.660 --> 00:22:46.400 sells bikes is because you've got people that 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:48.200 are passionate about it and are experts Yeah, 00:22:48.420 --> 00:22:51.420 you know And if they're building you a recycled 00:22:51.420 --> 00:22:53.519 bike out of multiple parts, like you're not gonna 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:55.660 be able to figure that out online Yeah, you're 00:22:55.660 --> 00:22:57.420 gonna go in and it's gonna be an experience because 00:22:57.420 --> 00:23:00.079 it's also entertainment. Yeah, go and get the 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:02.619 restaurant going into retail stores also It's 00:23:02.619 --> 00:23:05.339 also a social thing that you do for entertainment. 00:23:05.799 --> 00:23:08.119 It's a part of your thing that you can talk to 00:23:08.119 --> 00:23:11.619 your friends about. 100%. I want to circle back 00:23:11.619 --> 00:23:15.980 on kind of this culture and landscape around 00:23:15.980 --> 00:23:18.099 technology as well, because I think that it's 00:23:18.099 --> 00:23:21.240 a really interesting time for that. But before 00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:24.019 that, you're also obviously very passionate about 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:27.599 Realms that exist beyond lightspeed as a business 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:30.579 when it comes to activism community stewardship. 00:23:30.740 --> 00:23:35.519 How do you see your? Activism as linked to what 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:37.779 you've built with lightspeed. How do they connect 00:23:37.779 --> 00:23:42.700 to each other? And work in tandem with each other 00:23:42.700 --> 00:23:48.160 I Think for for me both lightspeed and the age 00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:50.180 of union conservation projects and the and the 00:23:50.180 --> 00:23:53.650 related film projects I mean, all those parts 00:23:53.650 --> 00:23:55.950 inspire me, right? They inspire me as a leader. 00:23:56.069 --> 00:23:58.390 They refuel me as a leader. Everything I do at 00:23:58.390 --> 00:24:00.890 Lightspeed gives me excitement to do the Age 00:24:00.890 --> 00:24:04.349 of Union stuff and vice versa. So that's a personal 00:24:04.349 --> 00:24:08.710 thing. I think I learn a lot from the entrepreneurial 00:24:08.710 --> 00:24:11.990 journeys on both sides from the people that are 00:24:11.990 --> 00:24:14.849 working conservation or working in small business 00:24:14.849 --> 00:24:18.369 or working inside Lightspeed and that cross -pollinates. 00:24:19.559 --> 00:24:25.660 And I think that the, I think that is for me, 00:24:25.660 --> 00:24:29.119 like the through line, that's the connector, 00:24:29.460 --> 00:24:32.599 right? It's building something, doing the impossible, 00:24:33.460 --> 00:24:37.799 iterating, feeling fast, that gets me excited. 00:24:38.359 --> 00:24:40.039 What do you think is, you know, just building 00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:44.579 on that, something unique that... business leaders 00:24:44.579 --> 00:24:47.599 can learn from conservation leaders and also 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:49.400 vice versa. Like how can conservation leaders 00:24:49.400 --> 00:24:53.359 also adopt a Entrepreneurial business mindset 00:24:53.359 --> 00:24:56.460 or tech leader mindset and yes versa. Well, I 00:24:56.460 --> 00:24:59.380 mean one thing that I learned About one thing 00:24:59.380 --> 00:25:02.339 that I learned from going on the ground to the 00:25:02.339 --> 00:25:05.380 conservation projects Reminded me of how much 00:25:05.380 --> 00:25:07.700 I love being on the ground in the field with 00:25:07.700 --> 00:25:10.440 lightspeed, right? So when I came back to lightspeed 00:25:10.440 --> 00:25:12.660 full -time as the CEO, I was like, I'm not gonna 00:25:12.660 --> 00:25:15.440 be removed from The operations are going to dig 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:17.819 into operations are going to dig in with customers. 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:21.359 Uh, more than I ever did in, in, in my previous 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:23.940 time there, because the value of it, what you 00:25:23.940 --> 00:25:26.519 can learn in a day or what you can learn in, 00:25:26.519 --> 00:25:30.460 in two weeks elevates your game. Like you can't 00:25:30.460 --> 00:25:33.000 talk about something without understanding it, 00:25:33.059 --> 00:25:36.299 but many business leaders do, you know, and I've 00:25:36.299 --> 00:25:39.589 been, uh, at various points. Less understanding 00:25:39.589 --> 00:25:41.670 about an area that I had a lot of opinions about 00:25:41.670 --> 00:25:44.170 you know, like I don't think that's I don't I 00:25:44.170 --> 00:25:47.029 think that can actually help That can also that 00:25:47.029 --> 00:25:49.009 can help you waste a lot of time potentially. 00:25:49.269 --> 00:25:51.390 Mmm, not help you waste a lot of time that can 00:25:51.390 --> 00:25:53.789 waste you time Yeah, it can waste you cycles. 00:25:53.789 --> 00:25:57.789 It can cost you in terms of your business, right? 00:25:57.990 --> 00:26:00.839 So I think the more time you spend on the ground 00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:03.740 in the field to get a true understanding, the 00:26:03.740 --> 00:26:07.000 quicker you can come to the right and pointed 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:10.039 and effective and exciting solutions. Yeah. Go 00:26:10.039 --> 00:26:12.140 down to the ground floor and just see what's 00:26:12.140 --> 00:26:14.240 really happening in there. And that I think is 00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:17.680 like really exemplified well in what the grassroots 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:21.220 conservationists are doing. They live it. And 00:26:21.220 --> 00:26:25.240 what you can experience with nature is that when 00:26:25.240 --> 00:26:30.220 you work with nature, It's always something that 00:26:30.220 --> 00:26:32.240 exceeds your expectations And I think that when 00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:34.920 you are on the ground and you work deep in a 00:26:34.920 --> 00:26:37.279 company in the operations and with customers 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:41.259 You build something that is just way more competitive 00:26:41.259 --> 00:26:46.599 way more Aligned with with need And that's like 00:26:46.599 --> 00:26:48.799 that's when businesses really really start succeeding 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:50.480 It's like when you stop listening to customers 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:52.539 when you stop listening to your people is when 00:26:52.539 --> 00:26:54.819 you start to go way off track Yeah, right. So 00:26:54.819 --> 00:26:57.839 they're very similar I think being on the ground 00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:03.559 is important and That persistence that dedication 00:27:03.559 --> 00:27:06.759 like I find that common in terms of like what 00:27:06.759 --> 00:27:09.720 people do when they're up against great odds 00:27:09.720 --> 00:27:13.420 In conservation and in business. Yeah the parallels 00:27:13.420 --> 00:27:18.559 between yeah How do you manage balancing both 00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:21.750 the holes as leading like Multinational company 00:27:21.750 --> 00:27:24.890 and platform as well as leading efforts within 00:27:24.890 --> 00:27:27.630 the conservation space like that's a lot for 00:27:27.630 --> 00:27:30.250 one person to manage Individually, so how do 00:27:30.250 --> 00:27:32.190 you balance all that? Well, I mean since I've 00:27:32.190 --> 00:27:34.190 come back to light speed the the projects are 00:27:34.190 --> 00:27:37.130 now managed by Leonardo Caprio's foundation rewild 00:27:37.130 --> 00:27:40.069 So that's one thing that I've done is move management 00:27:40.069 --> 00:27:45.660 over there and and so I'm celebrating moments 00:27:45.660 --> 00:27:47.759 where a book comes out about that period, but 00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:50.500 I'm not in the field right now in the Amazon 00:27:50.500 --> 00:27:53.460 or in Madagascar, right? Lightspeed's the top 00:27:53.460 --> 00:27:59.019 priority, and so it's a different chapter for 00:27:59.019 --> 00:28:03.880 me. It's a business -focused chapter, but I do 00:28:03.880 --> 00:28:08.119 take a lot of inspiration from that period. In 00:28:08.119 --> 00:28:10.859 this it's it's interesting because I think my 00:28:10.859 --> 00:28:14.200 leadership was tested in totally new ways in 00:28:14.200 --> 00:28:17.099 those two years Not just in the conservation 00:28:17.099 --> 00:28:20.420 piece, but also in the in we got into filmmaking 00:28:20.420 --> 00:28:23.279 We won an Emmy for Wildcat, you know, one of 00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:25.279 the one of the environmental documentaries. Yeah 00:28:25.279 --> 00:28:27.839 Congratulations. Thank you. It's I think it's 00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:29.859 approaching an area that you don't know anything 00:28:29.859 --> 00:28:33.420 about with humility And learning something from 00:28:33.420 --> 00:28:36.559 scratch and then actually, you know having some 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:41.099 success in it that makes you realize okay apply 00:28:41.099 --> 00:28:45.000 that to business maybe drop all the things you 00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:47.599 think you know approach it with a fresh perspective 00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:51.859 and uh and and see where that takes you you know 00:28:51.859 --> 00:28:54.319 because i went into conservation not knowing 00:28:54.319 --> 00:28:57.579 anything into film knowing even less uh and then 00:28:57.579 --> 00:29:00.039 by the end you know uh my goal is to work with 00:29:00.059 --> 00:29:02.240 Dr. Jane Goodall who wrote the forward to the 00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:04.940 book and who I've traveled to the Amazon in Africa 00:29:04.940 --> 00:29:08.000 with major and then and then working with Leonardo 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:10.380 Caprio and we're doing two films together and 00:29:10.380 --> 00:29:12.900 now he's managing all my projects. So that's 00:29:12.900 --> 00:29:17.039 like we managed to make a make a lot of progress 00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:19.640 in two years in those fields. It just makes me 00:29:19.640 --> 00:29:23.920 excited to to be able to do things with a fresh 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:26.920 perspective at the company. Yeah, you know not 00:29:26.920 --> 00:29:29.819 do things the way we always did things at the 00:29:29.819 --> 00:29:32.359 company like maybe take a fresh look at all of 00:29:32.359 --> 00:29:35.140 the The opportunities it's a perfect match for 00:29:35.140 --> 00:29:36.779 what we're doing right now at lightspeed, which 00:29:36.779 --> 00:29:41.079 is a transformation. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Going back 00:29:41.079 --> 00:29:44.059 to my previous note around just this landscape 00:29:44.059 --> 00:29:46.279 and dialogue around technology in the business 00:29:46.279 --> 00:29:48.259 community You know, obviously artificial intelligence 00:29:48.259 --> 00:29:52.180 is like a huge discussion happening and changing 00:29:52.180 --> 00:29:57.400 every day and you know Small businesses can wield 00:29:57.400 --> 00:30:00.440 AI as well as large businesses in a way that 00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:04.160 can be an absolute game changer, but there's 00:30:04.160 --> 00:30:11.640 also the other side of the same coin. Given your 00:30:11.640 --> 00:30:14.680 work in conservation and everything, do you think 00:30:14.680 --> 00:30:18.559 about the environmental cost of AI's growing 00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:22.210 influence around like... data centers, energy 00:30:22.210 --> 00:30:26.089 use, water, and how we can reconcile its benefits 00:30:26.089 --> 00:30:29.809 with the footprint that it's making on community. 00:30:32.230 --> 00:30:35.049 The environmental costs of AI. I mean, I think 00:30:35.049 --> 00:30:37.390 you could probably think about and compare it 00:30:37.390 --> 00:30:41.019 to. early computers right if you remember like 00:30:41.019 --> 00:30:43.460 the original mainframes or eniac or just like 00:30:43.460 --> 00:30:45.259 things are probably they're older than the both 00:30:45.259 --> 00:30:48.559 of us this is a massive room of things that sucked 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:51.299 up energy that probably weren't as weren't as 00:30:51.299 --> 00:30:54.339 powerful as our calculator yeah you know so if 00:30:54.339 --> 00:30:57.140 you think about we could have had equivalent 00:30:57.140 --> 00:31:00.619 complaints about that but will we be here today 00:31:00.619 --> 00:31:02.980 with an iphone that could probably that was probably 00:31:02.980 --> 00:31:04.759 that's probably the equivalent of a trillion 00:31:04.759 --> 00:31:08.019 of those If we hadn't gone through a period where 00:31:08.019 --> 00:31:10.720 we got more and more efficient rapidly right 00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:13.559 and and like and Micronized everything right? 00:31:13.799 --> 00:31:15.700 Yeah, so I think that there needs to be a journey 00:31:15.700 --> 00:31:18.500 like can people have a higher consciousness about 00:31:18.500 --> 00:31:21.160 making that a goal I think so because I don't 00:31:21.160 --> 00:31:23.359 think that does that doesn't seem to be the priority 00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:26.279 of making it energy efficient other than it costs 00:31:26.279 --> 00:31:30.099 a lot of money, so it will As a as if it's going 00:31:30.099 --> 00:31:32.599 to be a viable business model. It has to have 00:31:32.599 --> 00:31:35.500 lower energy costs lower water costs by default 00:31:35.500 --> 00:31:37.500 water Yeah, especially when you consider like 00:31:37.500 --> 00:31:39.660 the communities that the water is being well, 00:31:39.660 --> 00:31:42.480 none of that's fair to yeah. Yeah, exactly Yeah, 00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:45.059 um, it is a really interesting conversation that's 00:31:45.059 --> 00:31:46.519 happening around this and everything is moving 00:31:46.519 --> 00:31:49.980 so quickly Yeah, because of the speed of technology, 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:52.440 but i'd like to look back in 10 years and and 00:31:52.440 --> 00:31:57.049 and and and uh and see how long It sucked up 00:31:57.049 --> 00:31:59.589 a ton of water or used a lot of energy. Was that 00:31:59.589 --> 00:32:02.269 a year or two years before we figured out how 00:32:02.269 --> 00:32:04.529 to make it a lot more cost efficient? Just because 00:32:04.529 --> 00:32:07.849 people are looking at the bottom line, not because 00:32:07.849 --> 00:32:11.470 they're environmentalists per se, but just because 00:32:11.470 --> 00:32:13.210 it's extremely costly to do what they're doing 00:32:13.210 --> 00:32:16.650 right now. You mentioned at the beginning of 00:32:16.650 --> 00:32:20.130 our chat, just talking to people who feel like 00:32:20.130 --> 00:32:24.190 they want to make an impact, but don't know how. 00:32:24.359 --> 00:32:26.720 And I think with the small business community, 00:32:27.700 --> 00:32:29.779 it's such a powerful community. I mean, it makes 00:32:29.779 --> 00:32:32.400 up the majority of the economy, but as individual 00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:35.599 businesses and as individuals leading our own 00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:38.079 businesses, even if it's a one person team, it 00:32:38.079 --> 00:32:39.680 can feel like, especially in this world that 00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:43.059 we're in today, there are a lot of problems that 00:32:43.059 --> 00:32:46.160 feel just completely like even just abstract. 00:32:46.359 --> 00:32:48.519 Like you don't, it's hard to even quantify it 00:32:48.519 --> 00:32:50.400 or even figure out a starting point to figure 00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:53.519 out how to make a difference or an impact. So 00:32:53.519 --> 00:32:55.960 what would you say to other entrepreneurs who 00:32:55.960 --> 00:32:58.920 want to really integrate a sense of activism 00:32:58.920 --> 00:33:02.799 and impact into the DNA of their business and 00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:05.259 just don't know where to start because they're 00:33:05.259 --> 00:33:07.920 just so overwhelmed with everything, all the 00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:11.400 noise around them? I mean, there's really strong 00:33:11.400 --> 00:33:13.700 parallels there with conservation. You know, 00:33:13.740 --> 00:33:15.880 I have a number of stories which I could share 00:33:15.880 --> 00:33:22.000 with you about how Activism from ordinary people 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:24.460 got laws changed, you know, we did it We did 00:33:24.460 --> 00:33:27.480 a we did a film that had only two screenings 00:33:27.480 --> 00:33:30.740 It's a short film YouTube film our second short 00:33:30.740 --> 00:33:34.019 film about dolphins dying on the coast of France 00:33:34.019 --> 00:33:36.039 We didn't even know how to make a film. We did 00:33:36.039 --> 00:33:39.759 a short documentary and a documentation of Sea 00:33:39.759 --> 00:33:44.599 Shepherd France's Campaign so big in short big 00:33:44.700 --> 00:33:47.180 Big trawlers were coming from Europe and Asia, 00:33:47.500 --> 00:33:49.519 sucking up all the fish along the French coast. 00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:53.759 Dolphins would go closer to the coast and get 00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:55.819 caught in the French fishing fleet, which never 00:33:55.819 --> 00:33:58.579 happened before. And we're dying like 10 ,000 00:33:58.579 --> 00:34:01.859 a year and would wash up. Sea Shepherd France 00:34:01.859 --> 00:34:04.299 took those, you know, this is just a small group 00:34:04.299 --> 00:34:07.259 of people. Sea Shepherd France took those. those 00:34:07.259 --> 00:34:09.360 dolphin bodies to the foot of the Eiffel Tower, 00:34:09.739 --> 00:34:12.340 to the foot of the National Assembly. We released 00:34:12.340 --> 00:34:14.960 a film. We played it at the Grand Rex in Paris 00:34:14.960 --> 00:34:16.880 at only one screening, and then we screened it 00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:20.280 here at TIFF. And there was so much embarrassment 00:34:20.280 --> 00:34:22.639 in the part of the government that we got the 00:34:22.639 --> 00:34:26.719 law changed. You know within six months so it 00:34:26.719 --> 00:34:30.000 shows and that was not a very that was an effort 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:32.300 But it shows the power of individual action. 00:34:32.300 --> 00:34:35.139 It shows that when you make something a priority 00:34:35.139 --> 00:34:38.579 or you embarrass the government Or you know you 00:34:38.579 --> 00:34:42.280 call upon business leaders You can make things 00:34:42.280 --> 00:34:45.380 change. Yeah, you know and so can small businesses 00:34:45.380 --> 00:34:48.340 but you need to have some organization and you 00:34:48.340 --> 00:34:52.519 need to You know how to you need to know how 00:34:52.519 --> 00:34:54.860 to get the communications out there and there 00:34:54.860 --> 00:34:57.739 is a lot of a lot of ways now Right. Everybody's 00:34:57.739 --> 00:34:59.719 got their own channel You can pick your channel. 00:35:00.280 --> 00:35:01.780 It can be Instagram, it can be TikTok, it can 00:35:01.780 --> 00:35:05.400 be YouTube, it can be, there's no shortage of 00:35:05.400 --> 00:35:07.980 people having personal platforms. So there's 00:35:07.980 --> 00:35:10.280 a lot that can be done. And I think it's just 00:35:10.280 --> 00:35:13.559 maybe people getting over a sense of powerlessness 00:35:13.559 --> 00:35:17.360 and maybe reference a couple of examples of how 00:35:17.360 --> 00:35:20.139 people broke through the noise and made something 00:35:20.139 --> 00:35:24.920 happen. I was talking to on a previous episode, 00:35:26.059 --> 00:35:29.460 Jonathan Van Ness from Queer Eye and talking 00:35:29.460 --> 00:35:32.920 about similar a similar topic about you know 00:35:32.920 --> 00:35:36.219 How do you try to implement change when it just 00:35:36.219 --> 00:35:38.719 feels like everything is there's so much chaos 00:35:38.719 --> 00:35:42.219 and things feel out of your control And they 00:35:42.219 --> 00:35:45.989 were talking about how They reference an example 00:35:45.989 --> 00:35:50.230 of like someone that they grew up with Had a 00:35:50.230 --> 00:35:51.690 huge influence. I think I think it was like a 00:35:51.690 --> 00:35:54.190 teacher a community leader and without that person 00:35:54.190 --> 00:35:57.030 they may not have been in a position that they 00:35:57.030 --> 00:35:59.909 are in today because that person was able to 00:35:59.909 --> 00:36:03.480 guide them and I think the the The bigger picture, 00:36:03.539 --> 00:36:07.019 the bigger, the bigger message is that like sometimes 00:36:07.019 --> 00:36:09.960 the biggest impact you can make is the one that 00:36:09.960 --> 00:36:11.840 is like within arm's reach. And you don't even 00:36:11.840 --> 00:36:13.400 know what kind of like ripple effect that that 00:36:13.400 --> 00:36:16.639 can have afterwards. And you don't have to try 00:36:16.639 --> 00:36:20.719 to tackle these huge problems. Cause sometimes 00:36:20.719 --> 00:36:23.659 just, just trying to like work with something 00:36:23.659 --> 00:36:26.039 that is within your grasp is the best way to 00:36:26.039 --> 00:36:28.840 start. And it's, it's just, uh, yeah, it seems 00:36:28.840 --> 00:36:31.980 to be true when you think about a lot of. A lot 00:36:31.980 --> 00:36:33.639 of change that has happened historically as well 00:36:33.639 --> 00:36:36.440 too and things that kind of grow into grassroots 00:36:36.440 --> 00:36:40.099 movements. Yeah, you don't like for example You 00:36:40.099 --> 00:36:42.219 know, we did like a couple of book dates, you 00:36:42.219 --> 00:36:44.320 know There was a lot of people excited for by 00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:47.179 a lot of ideas that were discussed in in those 00:36:47.179 --> 00:36:49.500 group conversations You don't know how many people 00:36:49.500 --> 00:36:51.639 are now inspired to like take action and something 00:36:51.639 --> 00:36:54.159 that may not even be related You know, like there's 00:36:54.159 --> 00:36:56.099 a lot of ripple effect, you know to the things 00:36:56.099 --> 00:36:58.619 you put out there that you'll never know you'll 00:36:58.619 --> 00:37:01.719 never know the The uh the paths that that people 00:37:01.719 --> 00:37:04.000 went on and maybe just accumulates with a couple 00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:06.099 things that they've heard on podcasts plus they 00:37:06.099 --> 00:37:08.780 heard it from you plus they You know, so there's 00:37:08.780 --> 00:37:11.199 there is that but I think that there's also something 00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:15.860 to be said by uh said about standing up on something 00:37:15.860 --> 00:37:20.619 that needs immediate attention and uh It can't 00:37:20.619 --> 00:37:23.079 wait for a ripple effect, right? You you have 00:37:23.079 --> 00:37:25.159 to you have to act one something has to start 00:37:25.159 --> 00:37:27.199 the ripple too. Something has to yeah. Yeah. 00:37:27.480 --> 00:37:30.750 Yeah um You know, you've got a new book out echoes 00:37:30.750 --> 00:37:32.610 from Eden. Thank you for bringing this. It's 00:37:32.610 --> 00:37:35.469 beautiful. Uh, I was admiring the weight of this 00:37:35.469 --> 00:37:37.690 book. It is great. It's one of the first books. 00:37:39.469 --> 00:37:41.469 Um, can you just tell me a little bit? I mean, 00:37:41.550 --> 00:37:43.210 we've touched on this interview, but can you 00:37:43.210 --> 00:37:44.750 tell me a little bit more about it and just kind 00:37:44.750 --> 00:37:48.030 of the core messages and really like what you 00:37:48.030 --> 00:37:50.889 hope people walk away from, uh, from, you know, 00:37:51.110 --> 00:37:55.050 reading through it. So it documents the two -year 00:37:55.050 --> 00:37:58.309 period, 2022 to 2024, where I invested $40 million 00:37:58.309 --> 00:38:00.570 to 10 conservation projects and then decided 00:38:00.570 --> 00:38:03.809 to go on the ground with all of them. And so 00:38:03.809 --> 00:38:08.869 having not done anything like any of that, it's 00:38:08.869 --> 00:38:12.010 a pretty big personal growth journey. It's the 00:38:12.010 --> 00:38:13.869 first chapter. It was really well written in 00:38:13.869 --> 00:38:18.920 the Globe and Mail. As you're going into this 00:38:18.920 --> 00:38:23.320 story, Dax is pushing his van out of ditches 00:38:23.320 --> 00:38:26.539 in the Amazon. Then he's going down a river that's 00:38:26.539 --> 00:38:29.300 surrounded by caimans. Then he's sleeping under 00:38:29.300 --> 00:38:34.880 bats. And that's the first chapter. I read it 00:38:34.880 --> 00:38:38.079 and I'm like, wow, I'm surprised I'm still... 00:38:38.730 --> 00:38:42.809 in one piece, because I can't even swim, right? 00:38:44.010 --> 00:38:47.250 So it's not really the person you'd volunteer 00:38:47.250 --> 00:38:53.280 to do all that. So I think it is. What I think 00:38:53.280 --> 00:38:56.300 is the core message of this is the book's not 00:38:56.300 --> 00:38:58.059 about me. Yeah, it's about my personal journey 00:38:58.059 --> 00:39:00.420 It's about the heroes in the book. It's about 00:39:00.420 --> 00:39:02.739 these people that are yeah, there's some a couple 00:39:02.739 --> 00:39:05.280 biologists But there's a lot of ordinary individuals 00:39:05.280 --> 00:39:08.079 that decided I'm not gonna let this forest fall 00:39:08.079 --> 00:39:10.659 if I can do something about it I'm not gonna 00:39:10.659 --> 00:39:13.000 let these species go extinct if I can fistfight 00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:15.460 on the beach To save these leatherback turtles 00:39:15.460 --> 00:39:17.539 that are being butchered as they're coming to 00:39:17.539 --> 00:39:20.860 lay eggs. Yeah, you know like that there's there's 00:39:21.119 --> 00:39:23.780 Whatever your personal mission is whether it's 00:39:23.780 --> 00:39:26.039 a starting a small business or whether it's like 00:39:26.039 --> 00:39:29.059 fighting for something In the you know in whatever 00:39:29.059 --> 00:39:32.760 community you're in Those stories of personal 00:39:32.760 --> 00:39:37.099 action and the power of the individual is like 00:39:37.099 --> 00:39:40.619 a core part of that book. It's also The core 00:39:40.619 --> 00:39:43.699 message we have a lot of gloom and doom on the 00:39:43.699 --> 00:39:46.619 environment. Every one of those stories proves 00:39:46.619 --> 00:39:50.639 that This is not the time to give up a lot can 00:39:50.639 --> 00:39:55.099 be done Even destroyed environments can come 00:39:55.099 --> 00:39:57.539 back because nature is more powerful than we 00:39:57.539 --> 00:40:00.159 think and when we work with nature and ally with 00:40:00.159 --> 00:40:03.039 nature It can be restored faster than you believe 00:40:03.039 --> 00:40:06.000 And then for the pristine areas, we've got to 00:40:06.000 --> 00:40:08.099 do everything to protect these last wild places, 00:40:08.099 --> 00:40:10.559 you know So there's the environmental piece, 00:40:10.579 --> 00:40:13.980 but there is I think most people that are looking 00:40:13.980 --> 00:40:17.900 for an inspiring read are going to love the heroes 00:40:17.900 --> 00:40:20.880 in this story. What's like a particular kind 00:40:20.880 --> 00:40:24.760 of story of like resilience that really sticks 00:40:24.760 --> 00:40:26.119 out to you from this experience? Doesn't have 00:40:26.119 --> 00:40:27.719 to be your favorite, but something that sticks 00:40:27.719 --> 00:40:30.679 out and you think will really resonate with people. 00:40:31.800 --> 00:40:34.320 Yeah, I just touched on it. It was like, so it's 00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:40.460 the chapter on Trinidad. So, you know, I don't 00:40:40.460 --> 00:40:42.460 know if you know what if you ever seen a leatherback 00:40:42.460 --> 00:40:44.559 turtle or no know what it is It's like it's the 00:40:44.559 --> 00:40:46.699 size of a Kia, right? It's about it's almost 00:40:46.699 --> 00:40:49.559 they can grow up to a ton We don't know that 00:40:49.559 --> 00:40:52.039 much about them They disappear into the ocean 00:40:52.039 --> 00:40:53.960 and the only time we ever see them is when the 00:40:53.960 --> 00:40:57.039 mothers come up every five or six years to lay 00:40:57.039 --> 00:41:00.400 eggs And they only start laying eggs at age 30, 00:41:00.599 --> 00:41:03.670 right? Oh Yeah. And we don't know how long they 00:41:03.670 --> 00:41:07.650 live. And we never see the males again. And so 00:41:07.650 --> 00:41:10.550 Suzanne Lacan -Baptiste grew up on Matura Beach, 00:41:10.909 --> 00:41:13.969 and she witnessed these mothers coming up on 00:41:13.969 --> 00:41:16.969 the beach to lay eggs. But at a certain point, 00:41:17.269 --> 00:41:20.190 young men started to decide that they were going 00:41:20.190 --> 00:41:23.130 to take advantage of the nesting season and just 00:41:23.130 --> 00:41:26.289 butcher these mothers, cut them up for meat and 00:41:26.289 --> 00:41:29.889 steal all the eggs. And so it went from a you 00:41:29.889 --> 00:41:33.750 know, a maternity ward to a graveyard. And she 00:41:33.750 --> 00:41:38.050 was like, this is not going to happen. And she 00:41:38.050 --> 00:41:41.869 fist fought these young men and fought for this 00:41:41.869 --> 00:41:45.309 area and forced the government to protect it. 00:41:45.309 --> 00:41:48.269 It was a very big battle. But you fast forward 00:41:48.269 --> 00:41:52.210 to today and that whole community. now is it 00:41:52.210 --> 00:41:55.010 is back to being a nursery and the whole town 00:41:55.010 --> 00:41:58.909 and all of those young men are working to make 00:41:58.909 --> 00:42:01.010 sure that these turtles make it. And it's become 00:42:01.010 --> 00:42:03.510 an attraction for people that that that want 00:42:03.510 --> 00:42:05.769 to take tours and learn and watch, you know, 00:42:05.809 --> 00:42:09.289 watch, watch these mothers on this incredible, 00:42:09.289 --> 00:42:11.329 you know, in this in these incredible moments. 00:42:11.809 --> 00:42:15.369 And so that's again, that's one individual that 00:42:15.369 --> 00:42:20.679 that is extraordinary, but not a scientist. you 00:42:20.679 --> 00:42:23.760 know sure uh and she's just changed the trajectory 00:42:23.760 --> 00:42:26.780 and has probably inspired so many young people 00:42:26.780 --> 00:42:28.559 and a lot of young women like i mean when we 00:42:28.559 --> 00:42:31.760 went down there uh with our group We saw all 00:42:31.760 --> 00:42:34.000 these, all these, these, these young women and 00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:36.400 girls watching and like thinking about their 00:42:36.400 --> 00:42:39.300 future of what they want to do. Um, I there's, 00:42:39.400 --> 00:42:41.679 you know, Jane, Dr. Jane Goodall, uh, wrote the 00:42:41.679 --> 00:42:44.000 forward and wrote, and my, the last chapters 00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:46.679 are journey into the Amazon to meet, uh, chief 00:42:46.679 --> 00:42:49.940 Juma Shopeia, uh, and just learning and absorbing 00:42:49.940 --> 00:42:53.079 what she's learned about changing the world. 00:42:53.139 --> 00:42:56.000 Uh, and she went from a researcher that didn't 00:42:56.000 --> 00:43:00.119 have a biology degree to being Legend, you know 00:43:00.119 --> 00:43:04.099 that that travels 300 days a year To spread a 00:43:04.099 --> 00:43:06.320 message that if she could reach one more person 00:43:06.320 --> 00:43:08.019 and she just spoke in Toronto like two nights 00:43:08.019 --> 00:43:10.780 ago Yeah, we had coffee the next day like that 00:43:10.780 --> 00:43:13.840 is somebody who lives in absolute and pure service 00:43:13.840 --> 00:43:17.400 For something bigger than than all of us. Yeah, 00:43:17.400 --> 00:43:19.880 you know, yeah. So those are the those are there's 00:43:19.880 --> 00:43:22.739 so much Inspiration to be taken from these from 00:43:22.739 --> 00:43:25.940 these folks Whether they're famous or not famous 00:43:25.940 --> 00:43:30.239 Yeah It's uh for me. It's it's about them. I 00:43:30.239 --> 00:43:34.260 love that. I mean You know you so you've had 00:43:34.260 --> 00:43:39.119 close encounters with gorillas caimans wild ecosystems, 00:43:39.119 --> 00:43:42.880 uh And you didn't know how to swim during that 00:43:42.880 --> 00:43:46.280 whole experience What do you think those moments 00:43:46.280 --> 00:43:50.960 teach you about um Just like humanity's relationship 00:43:50.960 --> 00:43:54.699 with nature overall, uh, we're disconnected I 00:43:54.699 --> 00:43:59.559 think in our society You know, we have over time 00:43:59.559 --> 00:44:04.719 disconnected from the, we've become further and 00:44:04.719 --> 00:44:06.719 further from nature, but we've also disconnected 00:44:06.719 --> 00:44:11.380 from our communities, you know, organized religion, 00:44:11.440 --> 00:44:13.719 maybe for some good reasons. Like we've kind 00:44:13.719 --> 00:44:16.539 of disconnected from a lot of things as we've 00:44:16.539 --> 00:44:19.280 modernized. But now we, now we find ourselves 00:44:19.280 --> 00:44:22.500 quite unanchored because we've disconnected from 00:44:22.500 --> 00:44:25.000 nature and we've disconnected from spirituality. 00:44:25.340 --> 00:44:29.239 Which is so ironic because we are in we have 00:44:29.239 --> 00:44:32.119 so many means of connecting now more than ever 00:44:32.119 --> 00:44:35.480 but Also, we are now more disconnected than ever 00:44:35.480 --> 00:44:39.420 and we're lonely. Yeah, and we are more disconnected 00:44:39.420 --> 00:44:43.079 from things As you say than ever right and so 00:44:43.079 --> 00:44:46.739 how does one get reconnected to something that's 00:44:46.739 --> 00:44:50.400 bigger? That's that's nature. That's spiritual. 00:44:50.440 --> 00:44:53.989 I mean The answer is that nature and spirituality 00:44:53.989 --> 00:44:57.170 are the same thing It's the oneness and interconnectedness 00:44:57.170 --> 00:45:00.670 of things and so if you're feeling unanchored 00:45:00.670 --> 00:45:04.750 Nature is a way back to feeling a part of that 00:45:04.880 --> 00:45:07.440 you know, a part of something bigger. And then 00:45:07.440 --> 00:45:10.280 fighting for nature is, I think, one of the highest 00:45:10.280 --> 00:45:14.019 callings, in my opinion, because your concern 00:45:14.019 --> 00:45:16.400 is not just for the immediate, you know, because 00:45:16.400 --> 00:45:20.280 we're such an individualistic society. It's focusing 00:45:20.280 --> 00:45:24.280 on other creatures, the health of the planet, 00:45:24.960 --> 00:45:28.480 forests, waterways, all the things we rely on 00:45:28.480 --> 00:45:32.489 that we forget are Dependence on right. We just 00:45:32.489 --> 00:45:34.230 think that we're fine, right? Like that we can 00:45:34.230 --> 00:45:36.630 build cities and like we'll be fine Well planets 00:45:36.630 --> 00:45:39.309 dying around us and their cities running out 00:45:39.309 --> 00:45:41.789 of water. Yeah future generations to things are 00:45:41.789 --> 00:45:45.010 on fire Yeah, you know things are Canada one 00:45:45.010 --> 00:45:48.130 part of Canada is on fire At every point in the 00:45:48.130 --> 00:45:51.429 year now if you if you did a time -lapse of like 00:45:51.429 --> 00:45:54.190 all the fires around the world This time period 00:45:54.190 --> 00:45:56.960 would look like the whole planet's on fire So 00:45:56.960 --> 00:45:59.659 we may think, you know, it's overwhelming to 00:45:59.659 --> 00:46:04.019 see how much is on fire at any given time, but 00:46:04.019 --> 00:46:08.019 globally things are roughly more on fire than 00:46:08.019 --> 00:46:10.940 ever. It's not normal. I remember growing up 00:46:10.940 --> 00:46:16.500 and like I grew up in Alberta and It's weird 00:46:16.500 --> 00:46:20.199 because now it feels like fire like forest fire 00:46:20.199 --> 00:46:22.719 season is like an actual annual season that you 00:46:22.719 --> 00:46:25.519 just come to Accept because it just happens every 00:46:25.519 --> 00:46:28.500 year whereas growing up like it was no not like 00:46:28.500 --> 00:46:30.960 that And it was not every year that you would 00:46:30.960 --> 00:46:34.280 expect that right and things change Yeah, but 00:46:34.280 --> 00:46:37.239 this isn't the time to get depressed about the 00:46:37.239 --> 00:46:39.860 environment. It's not the time to give up like 00:46:39.860 --> 00:46:44.059 I I'm Really skeptical when I hear that some 00:46:44.059 --> 00:46:46.780 like Tech bro thinks that they're gonna pull 00:46:46.780 --> 00:46:49.599 carbon out of the atmosphere with some machine 00:46:49.599 --> 00:46:53.280 when we know what works Nature works, you know, 00:46:53.300 --> 00:46:55.039 and actually the Canadian government's gotten 00:46:55.039 --> 00:46:57.139 wise to this the way we do agriculture the way 00:46:57.139 --> 00:47:00.179 we do forestry the way we do a lot of things 00:47:00.179 --> 00:47:03.920 Can be done to suck carbon out of the out of 00:47:03.920 --> 00:47:06.489 the air Right. There's just like there's mangroves, 00:47:06.530 --> 00:47:07.989 like there's so many things that we could be 00:47:07.989 --> 00:47:10.289 doing that are nature based and all the conservation 00:47:10.289 --> 00:47:13.269 as well. Right. All of this is the stuff that 00:47:13.269 --> 00:47:16.449 can buy us five to 10 years and reduce. I mean, 00:47:16.650 --> 00:47:18.789 force create rain. I mean, have we forgotten 00:47:18.789 --> 00:47:21.489 that? I don't think maybe people don't know that. 00:47:21.489 --> 00:47:23.329 You know, like I've been to parts of the Amazon 00:47:23.329 --> 00:47:25.349 that have been destroyed and the rain stops. 00:47:25.800 --> 00:47:27.940 You know, like, it's not just because it's in 00:47:27.940 --> 00:47:30.440 that area that it rains automatically. It can 00:47:30.440 --> 00:47:33.280 dry up if you cut things down. Right. And what 00:47:33.280 --> 00:47:35.639 have we done? You know, like, we've replaced 00:47:35.639 --> 00:47:38.420 forested areas with cities. But if you look at 00:47:38.420 --> 00:47:40.780 a lot of forward -looking cities, they've got 00:47:40.780 --> 00:47:42.659 trees everywhere, right? And we can do that. 00:47:42.659 --> 00:47:44.460 Yeah, the foliage around the city, yeah. And 00:47:44.460 --> 00:47:46.400 actually, Canadian cities are a lot better than 00:47:46.400 --> 00:47:48.760 European cities where they haven't done a lot 00:47:48.760 --> 00:47:51.320 of trees in the city. You, like, walk around 00:47:51.320 --> 00:47:54.769 parts of Paris or in Germany, like, we have a 00:47:54.769 --> 00:47:56.849 lot more going on and I think that in Canada 00:47:56.849 --> 00:48:02.090 we can actually lead and make sure that we're 00:48:02.090 --> 00:48:07.190 building a future that's not going to be on fire 00:48:07.190 --> 00:48:09.670 and that's going to manage also water is a problem 00:48:09.670 --> 00:48:11.889 too right like you can have flooding yeah and 00:48:11.889 --> 00:48:14.610 that's those are things that feel like we are 00:48:14.610 --> 00:48:16.730 like things are out of control or out of balance 00:48:16.730 --> 00:48:21.179 yeah yeah You know, we've been talking about 00:48:21.179 --> 00:48:27.179 your leadership in business as well as in Community 00:48:27.179 --> 00:48:29.300 stewardship from like an environmental and conservation 00:48:29.300 --> 00:48:32.079 standpoint, but you're also one of the few openly 00:48:32.079 --> 00:48:35.500 queer tech CEOs Especially when light speed was 00:48:35.500 --> 00:48:39.239 founded. How has that shaped your experience 00:48:39.239 --> 00:48:44.559 as a leader? I Mean, I think it's just another 00:48:44.559 --> 00:48:47.619 one of those authentic parts of me that that 00:48:47.619 --> 00:48:49.989 like attracts a lot of people to the company 00:48:49.989 --> 00:48:53.289 because Everybody feels like they can bring their 00:48:53.289 --> 00:48:55.849 true self to work I mean the first four people 00:48:55.849 --> 00:48:58.150 at the company including myself were from the 00:48:58.150 --> 00:49:01.510 LGBTQ community and so our philosophy was always 00:49:01.510 --> 00:49:04.670 we want We want everybody that joins to feel 00:49:04.670 --> 00:49:06.949 like they have a fair shot at opportunity. That's 00:49:06.949 --> 00:49:08.929 what DI means to us It's nothing more nothing 00:49:08.929 --> 00:49:11.610 less, you know, it's not quotas It's not anything 00:49:11.610 --> 00:49:14.530 more than if you work hard you have a fair shot 00:49:14.530 --> 00:49:17.809 at opportunity and you see you see it in our 00:49:17.789 --> 00:49:20.570 in the statistics of the company, the highest 00:49:20.570 --> 00:49:24.250 ranking value on our employee surveys is that 00:49:24.250 --> 00:49:28.329 like 87 to 90 % of people at light speed, no 00:49:28.329 --> 00:49:30.610 matter what country feels they can bring their 00:49:30.610 --> 00:49:32.409 authentic self to work. I mean, that was like 00:49:32.409 --> 00:49:35.269 what I wanted for the company from day one is 00:49:35.269 --> 00:49:38.010 that I could be, I could be myself, you know? 00:49:38.630 --> 00:49:40.829 And you're not gonna be able to do the best work 00:49:40.829 --> 00:49:43.329 of your life if you don't feel that way, right? 00:49:43.389 --> 00:49:46.719 So I think that's... I think that's like the 00:49:46.719 --> 00:49:50.139 core value of the company. If there is to be 00:49:50.139 --> 00:49:54.519 one, like a core identity piece. And from there, 00:49:54.639 --> 00:49:58.420 I think flows just incredible contributions from 00:49:58.420 --> 00:50:02.619 Lightspeeders. What advice would you give to 00:50:02.619 --> 00:50:06.159 younger queer individuals who are entering spaces 00:50:06.159 --> 00:50:08.719 where they may not see themselves reflected or 00:50:08.719 --> 00:50:12.599 see as many examples of people like them in senior 00:50:12.599 --> 00:50:16.559 leadership? positions or decision making roles, 00:50:16.760 --> 00:50:20.800 what advice do you give to them in terms of in 00:50:20.800 --> 00:50:23.760 terms of, you know, not only just existing and 00:50:23.760 --> 00:50:27.000 being able to do good work, but also opening 00:50:27.000 --> 00:50:31.159 doors behind them as well? Yeah, I mean, there's 00:50:31.159 --> 00:50:33.420 there's I don't have a lot of experience with. 00:50:34.190 --> 00:50:37.550 I've never worked in any other companies I'm 00:50:37.550 --> 00:50:39.570 not sure that I have a lot of like advice grounded 00:50:39.570 --> 00:50:42.210 in experience But I think you have to fight for 00:50:42.210 --> 00:50:47.469 who you are and and set an example And also open 00:50:47.469 --> 00:50:50.030 doors behind you as you said like that's that's 00:50:50.030 --> 00:50:53.289 how change happens And I think you should you 00:50:53.289 --> 00:50:55.389 know for a lot of companies have turned their 00:50:55.389 --> 00:51:00.420 back on on You know Since there's been a rightward 00:51:00.420 --> 00:51:02.579 swing down south. They've turned their back on 00:51:02.579 --> 00:51:05.019 DI programs are no longer relevant. Well, I mean 00:51:05.019 --> 00:51:09.199 the diversity in society hasn't changed and And 00:51:09.199 --> 00:51:12.400 that's still you know, that is still an important 00:51:12.400 --> 00:51:16.679 value for Almost every demographic and especially 00:51:16.679 --> 00:51:20.860 the younger demographics And so the world will 00:51:20.860 --> 00:51:28.400 change and companies that don't value The beauty 00:51:28.400 --> 00:51:33.119 of of of our diversity are going to suffer, you 00:51:33.119 --> 00:51:34.900 know, like they won't attract the best people 00:51:34.900 --> 00:51:37.199 They won't they won't get the most creativity 00:51:37.199 --> 00:51:40.239 And genius out of their people, you know, if 00:51:40.239 --> 00:51:42.639 they can't be authentic then you're only hiring 00:51:42.639 --> 00:51:45.599 a part of the person You know, it's just it's 00:51:45.599 --> 00:51:52.079 it's those companies will will have They will 00:51:52.079 --> 00:51:55.699 have less of they'll have less engagement and 00:51:55.699 --> 00:51:57.739 I think they'll be less successful Yeah, especially 00:51:57.739 --> 00:51:59.659 if yeah if people can't feel like they can bring 00:51:59.659 --> 00:52:03.619 them full their full selves to yeah to work So 00:52:03.619 --> 00:52:05.960 we've covered a lot in our interview, but I kind 00:52:05.960 --> 00:52:09.539 of want to just end it with asking just you know 00:52:09.539 --> 00:52:11.539 Between everything that you're working on What 00:52:11.539 --> 00:52:14.239 would you say ultimately is like your mission 00:52:14.239 --> 00:52:16.199 with the work that you're doing and how does 00:52:16.199 --> 00:52:25.360 it all connect it together? I think there's sort 00:52:25.360 --> 00:52:30.139 of immediate things that I want to do for the 00:52:30.139 --> 00:52:32.860 company. I think the company's at an incredible 00:52:32.860 --> 00:52:36.579 moment where there's so many areas where if we 00:52:36.579 --> 00:52:38.739 reveal our true potential, we'll unlock a ton 00:52:38.739 --> 00:52:42.760 of value. And that's an exciting path for the 00:52:42.760 --> 00:52:45.380 company, but it's also like an extension of this. 00:52:45.469 --> 00:52:48.909 growth path that I'm personally on, right? And 00:52:48.909 --> 00:52:50.789 that growth path goes through the early days 00:52:50.789 --> 00:52:53.349 of Lightspeed, it goes into these conservation 00:52:53.349 --> 00:52:55.150 journeys, into these film journeys, and now back 00:52:55.150 --> 00:52:59.489 to the company. And so what I want for myself 00:52:59.489 --> 00:53:01.750 is to be able to see a lot of the seeds that 00:53:01.750 --> 00:53:04.849 I've kind of planted over the years, like really 00:53:04.849 --> 00:53:09.650 be everything that they can be. Uh, I love that 00:53:09.650 --> 00:53:13.210 I was able to capture this period of time, uh, 00:53:13.289 --> 00:53:15.769 doing the conservation journey in echoes from 00:53:15.769 --> 00:53:22.250 Eden. Uh, because like we discussed. People want 00:53:22.250 --> 00:53:25.489 inspiration. They want to know, uh, about what 00:53:25.489 --> 00:53:28.130 they can do as individuals. And I think we've 00:53:28.130 --> 00:53:30.789 connected it well. Like it's those individuals 00:53:30.789 --> 00:53:33.070 in small business. It's those individuals in 00:53:33.070 --> 00:53:35.550 conservation. It's those individuals in activism, 00:53:35.550 --> 00:53:39.159 you know, That's what my personal mission is, 00:53:39.380 --> 00:53:41.300 is like, yes, it's the startup DNA, but it's 00:53:41.300 --> 00:53:43.739 like the power of the power of the individual. 00:53:43.900 --> 00:53:46.900 It's the power of, uh, of, of taking initiative 00:53:46.900 --> 00:53:49.920 and making things happen. Right. Yeah. Yeah. 00:53:50.179 --> 00:53:53.900 Well, it's a beautiful Eden that you're growing. 00:53:54.139 --> 00:53:56.400 So thank you so much for everything that you're 00:53:56.400 --> 00:54:00.360 doing and just empowering so many people in a 00:54:00.360 --> 00:54:02.699 really challenging time right now. So, uh, really 00:54:02.699 --> 00:54:05.159 appreciate your time chatting with us today. 00:54:05.179 --> 00:54:07.929 A lot of fun. Thanks so much. That's a wrap on 00:54:07.929 --> 00:54:10.329 this episode of Mission Critical. If today's 00:54:10.329 --> 00:54:11.989 conversation gave you something to think about, 00:54:12.110 --> 00:54:14.889 do me a favor. Subscribe, leave a review, and 00:54:14.889 --> 00:54:17.429 share it with someone who needs to hear it. Big 00:54:17.429 --> 00:54:19.789 ideas are meant to be shared, and the best insights 00:54:19.789 --> 00:54:22.389 only matter if they're put into action. Until 00:54:22.389 --> 00:54:25.110 next time, stay sharp, stay curious, and go and 00:54:25.110 --> 00:54:27.909 make something happen. I'm Lance Chung, and this 00:54:27.909 --> 00:54:28.730 is Mission Critical.