If you're running a business right now, you're
playing a game where the rules keep changing.
Trade tensions, economic uncertainty, culture
wars, the world is rapidly changing around us.
And companies, especially independent and local
businesses, are having to adapt faster than ever.
That's why Mission Critical is evolving. We're
diving deep with the founders, CEOs, and entrepreneurs
who are navigating this chaos in real time. The
ones making the tough calls, pushing through
unpredictability, and proving that resilience
isn't just a buzzword, it's a survival skill.
How do you scale in an economy that feels like
it's on shaky ground? What happens when U .S.
policy shifts send shockwaves through Canadian
industries? And in a world where diversity, healthcare,
and economic resilience are becoming battlegrounds,
how do businesses double down instead of backing
down? These are the real conversations that matter
to business leaders right now. I'm Lance Chung
and this is Mission Critical. Let's get into
it. Hi Dax, how are you? I'm great. You're visiting
Toronto. How's, what brings you to town? Well,
we've got a new I've got a new book called echoes
from Eden that's that just came out two days
ago Congratulations to the tiff crowd. Yeah and
promoting it with with with NKPR at the it lounge
Which is a gifting lounge as well as indigo book
tour date Yeah, that happened last night. Yeah
Do you feel like a rock star just like going
on a book tour and like being able to? Spread
the gospel of your book and everything. I mean,
it's been really a lot of fun I mean we had an
amazing crowd in LA And then just like an even
better crowd here in Toronto with amazing questions
super engaged Folks that just want to hear that
things can still be done for the planet So the
book took, you know uh talks about a two -year
period from 2022 to 2024 when I uh stepped down
as a lightspeed CEO and became the chair and
could kind of pursue this dream of investing
in conservation and then going on the ground
to all these places and putting my putting my
life at risk yeah yeah in the amazon to start
with and uh and then you know every other crazy
place after and it's just i'm so glad we eric
and i wrote this book because it's just a time
capsule of something that was a super special
time It's fun to talk about. Okay, starting there
actually, because that kind of like touched on
a little preview of like everything that I wanted
to talk to you about. When you talk about like
life and death scenarios, what is your approach
to being outside of your comfort zone? And how
does that kind of how is that reflected in your
endeavors when it comes to writing your books
and your personal missions, but also your business?
Yeah. So I've learned a lot about You know, you
know my leadership style and also just being
leader at lightspeed now now that i'm back my
favorite period ever at lightspeed where we have
a lot of work to do but uh, you know being able
to do This for two years the conservation piece
and just actually be on the ground with What
feel like startups? I've realized that the through
line to everything that I really enjoy doing
is that entrepreneurial spirit, right? So whether
it's helping the restaurants and retail businesses
that Lightspeed supports, or being on the ground
with these conservations that are up against
impossible odds, like a restaurant is when they
open their doors, it all has that same startup
DNA, that kind of spirit. And of course, we were
a startup. at one point, and we're always doing
startup -y things inside the company. And then
there's all sorts of projects within Age of Union,
which is my environmental projects that are building
things from the ground up and trying new ideas.
So I think that's the through line for me is
starting something from zero with the odds against
you. And then getting out of your comfort zone
is just something you have to get used to if
you are an entrepreneur at heart. You've got
to have a comfort with risk. Of course, calculated
risk. And I think as you get more experienced
and more seasoned, you know how to calculate
the risks. Not put yourself really in danger.
Blend in with security, especially if you've
been going to the gym when you're in the middle
of Haiti. So it's how to create The best of those
moments to learn from because you're really you
really you when you're out of your comfort zone
That's when you learn the most. Yeah. Yeah, and
that is truly you're not gonna learn a lot in
your comfort zone and in your bubble Yeah, you
know, it's you're not gonna grow and that I feel
like that's truly the mindset of an entrepreneur
especially at a startup level where you're like
constantly trying to like solve problems that
are out there that you know, maybe there's not
as there maybe there are solutions but not the
solution that you're looking for and just trying
to find ways to create different paths and As
a result, that is going to involve putting yourself
into situations that might be out of your comfort
zone, even if it's in a professional setting
too, right? Yeah. Um, and embracing that mindset
of like exploring that, that like feeling of
like kind of not wanting to or feeling of just
like keeping things moving and trying to solve
problems and everything. I think you have to
take risks if you want to win against impossible
odds or, or change the game. So you are, you
know, one of those rare leaders where, you know,
you sit at really this intersection, a very unique
intersection that overlaps between business,
community, activism. So when people think about,
you know, Dax de Silva, what do you hope is kind
of the first thing that comes to mind as someone
that does the work that you do? Well, I think
that you know, many people know me from different
from different paths, right? So In Canada, I
think most people understand me as you know,
the founder of light speed But if I'm in environmental
circles or film circles where we've done documentaries,
there's a sort of a different understanding I
think there's some things that are the same.
I think I'm engaged. I'm on the ground I'm I
think an approachable person but a person that
loves to to lead and also create. So there's
there's commonality between the different versions.
But but yeah, there are there are sort of there's
there's sort of like a number of different different
versions. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Depending on where
you are and who you're. But they're one authentic
person. Right. I think that that we we do have.
I think throughout our lives, we water different
seeds that are all different part of us, you
know, and the same garden. Yeah, exactly. And
things come into season at different times. They
cross pollinate each other. And so that's like
all of the different pieces are authentically
me. And that's that's I think that's how you
kind of live the maximum. your maximum potential.
I won't say I'm there, but but I wouldn't be
happy. I think if if if I was only it could only
be one of those things. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah. You know, as you mentioned, Lightspeed
started off as a startup and as a scrappy startup
from Montreal. And it's obviously grown into.
a global platform that is also powering a whole
networking community of other businesses. When
you look back on that journey, what surprises
you the most about where that journey has taken
you along the way? I mean, the scale of it is
always always surprises me. You know, we're 3
,400 people. It's more than a billion in revenue.
When I started it, my only goal was to win an
Apple Design Award from Steve Jobs. I was like
a handcraft, like really detailed crafting pixels
for the first version of Lightspeed. I was such
a Mac nerd since I was 13 and a coder. And actually
I had no business background whatsoever and no
sense that I was ... leader at all I had to grow
into that because the team was like well what
are we doing all this for at some point so I
had to start figuring out how to tell them you
know and then communicate even more broadly than
that over time. So the scale of it is, you know,
sometimes it takes a bit of perspective. So when
I stepped back for two years, I came back appreciating
the company on a whole other level because I
think when you're inside something for a long
time, you don't see it properly. You see it from
inside the bubble. You see it for all the challenges
it has. You don't see it for how incredible it
is. And that's why um that's why I can enjoy
this like period of transformation uh like more
than I think I've ever enjoyed any other phase
of the company but what what is what I have always
what I missed in those two years about light
speed is just like the incredible level of the
people you get to work with yeah uh it's it's
it's extremely stimulating, you know? And so
for somebody with an entrepreneurial spirit,
you know, you kind of never want to have a minute
when you're bored, right? You never want, you
always want to have something very meaty to tackle.
And preferably a dozen things, you know, that
are worth tackling. And Lightspeed's got... You
know no shortage of like really fascinating opportunities.
Yeah, always in motion Yeah, always and I can
only imagine also just the number of businesses
and entrepreneurs that you're also powering like
the stories that are coming from there not like
externally from the company to it just the whole
ecosystem well, that's the light that's the thing
that I that we That we get to enjoy as light
speeders that we actually started really celebrating
as of our summit like we can go on the streets
Uh in uh, you know in in north america and or
and in europe for restaurants north america is
more retail Europe it's more restaurants. We
can go and we can see our our software being
used In some of like our favorite places in the
city, right? You can't do that. If you're enterprise
software You can't do that when you're working
in lots of different kinds of companies You can't
see your your software powering something really
cool. Yeah in action in action. Yeah, and so
we actually at our at our company summit we We
did like a lightspeed company map. So if you're
just on a street in Amsterdam, you can find all
the lightspeed customers on that street. You
can go and spend your money there. And you can
feel a sense of pride about, okay, I worked on
that, or I understand the workflow, or they're
having a struggle and I can maybe plug them into
something that could make them a better business
and make us a better company by maybe addressing
something that we didn't know. Sure, and you
can tangibly see the... The work that you you've
created actually be like people using the platform
and everything too Yeah, I mean I think you know
in a world where people are searching for the
meaning of the things that they do and work on
We're lucky because we are we we see how our
software powers community businesses that may
be up against, you know, big franchises, uh,
that have like enterprise software that's like
cost millions of dollars. So we're kind of democratizing,
you know, those kinds of tools, whether it's,
whether it's operations tools or AI tools or
all of that, like we bring it so that they have
a competitive advantage. And you, and you want
those businesses to thrive. You don't want them
all to be Replaced by Starbucks and like, you
know, yeah the big chains I always talk about
with my peers like I feel like the sign of like
a really healthy neighborhood and community ecosystem
is a number of like independent businesses that
you see and like it might not not every single
independent business will be your thing, but
you can always be happy about the You know a
new business that it's independent opening up
in your neighborhood because it's just adding
to the health of an ecosystem or and neighborhood
and all that money goes back into the community
and not into some foreign country, especially
as we're thinking as Canadians about where our
dollars end up going, you know, who does it end
up helping? And then the other question that
I get that's an interesting one is, okay, well,
you know, you're writing about conservation,
which is, you know, an environmental topic, you
know, it doesn't light speed fuel consumerism,
you know, like, well, I mean, if you're going
to shop, or you're going to eat out you should
eat at the businesses and shop at the businesses
that are putting money back into the community
that can make the sustainable local choices more
so than the multinational chains yeah right if
you're we all have to consume but those businesses
have that consciousness you know or they strive
for it or they're more connected to the local
consideration right so That is, for me, that's
the connection. That's what I see in those locally
owned businesses is that sensitivity and that
likelihood, especially now that there's more
patriotism in how businesses are stocking, where
they get their ingredients or supplies. They're
thinking about, okay, how does this help? our
country and the discovery of like other independent
businesses that are also part of that fabric
and part of that supply chain. You don't have
to rely on overseas and everything like that,
too. Right. And also the more you do locally,
the less it costs costs you in carbon. Yeah.
And also it's like we have we have we did a study
at Lightspeed about something called value spending.
And the younger you go in demographics, the more
where people spend their money is aligned to
some set of values, right? Well, and people are
just asking more questions. They're asking more
questions. Looking back on everything that you've
built in your career and your entrepreneurial
journey, how has your perspective on entrepreneurship
and leadership changed and evolved? If anything,
what do you think is the biggest difference between
those first few years and now? Think the biggest
observation that I've made This year having been
you know 20 years on and at lightspeed Is I think
at first you don't you might second -guess some
of your instincts? What you feel in your gut.
I think over time as you do you do more you trust
those instincts more you trust that wisdom that
you build up from having seen a lot uh and i
think you when when you don't trust your gut
you get yourself into trouble you know has it
gotten you into trouble yeah yeah yeah yeah it
it definitely has and i think that when you're
true to um when you're true to your values and
and your uh and you act and decide on that on
that truth uh Very rarely do you go in the wrong
direction? You know when you compromise and of
course as you're building a company you make
lots of different compromises because there's
other stakeholders that want other things and
you say I'm not gonna fight that battle or I'm
not you know, that's important to them I'll stay
in my lane on that one. You know, that's I don't
think that's a good if I if I look in in retrospect
Those are the compromises that we're now trying
to correct. You know what I mean? Like that's
that so I think that's that that's been the evolution
There's so many different evolutions that happen
as a leader in 20 years But that's the one where
having coming having come back with a very fresh
perspective Not compromising on that one. Yeah.
Yeah We talked a little bit about this already,
but how do you see small businesses really being
kind of the the source of really shaping Culture
in our community and and similarly like how does
something like a company like light speed help
to protect and empower? that that kind of Role
that small businesses play. Well small business
is local culture. It is local identity. It's
the look. It's the food. It's the it's the brands
that That make a place unique that make a city
unique if everything's the same everywhere then
no city is unique There is no there is no identity
in in a in a place. So That's what we do as a
business is we make sure that we fuel their ambitions
You know with the technology with the insights
they need that can be competitive with these
Multinationals, you know and these these big
chains. Otherwise, they don't have They don't
have the means to compete. They don't have the
means to be viable as businesses. And we know
that those businesses make such a big difference
in enriching a city and enriching a culture.
What do you find is the biggest pain point that
businesses are facing right now? What's the feedback
that you're getting? Well, I mean there's there's
the things that are uh that are immediately challenges
things like supply chain things like inflation,
uh, you know post covid there's uh a lack of
staffing, uh, there's There's all kinds of uh
things that are sort of very 2025 or 2024 in
in terms of their Uh, you know in terms of of
the moment But if you look big picture of what's
happened to retail and hospitality over the last
20 years, today, if you think about like 20 years
ago when Lightspeed started, if you were a retail
business owner, you had to find a good location.
And that was basically your marketing, right?
You find a good location. If it's on the right
street, people will walk in. You know and you
and and then the only other trick you had to
do is order the right stock And make sure that
there was enough and that was that was about
as much as you had to do, you know Very similar
with with a with a restaurant. It was like location
location location and have an appealing offering
And if you've got those two things, right you
could probably have a good business right today
Today you have to be an expert same person Today,
you have to be an expert at an incredible guest
experience that has amazing reviews that you
have to manage. You have to be amazing on social
media, right? On multiple platforms. You have
to pretty much like a media platform. Right.
And if you really want to be a great business,
you have to be. have a killer social media presence.
You have to have an online presence so that people
can order from you on ecom. You have to know
how that works. You have to know how online marketing
works. And then there's all sorts of logistical
complexity to running all of those channels simultaneously.
And it's orders of magnitude more ... Difficult
to have a business when those are sort of the
baseline For what you need to what you need to
have to be successful, you know So and I think
I'm forgetting a few things but business has
become way more complicated for a small business
owner You have to wear a lot of hats where they
wouldn't even dream to those things, you know
20 years ago and now you have to be an expert
in understanding analytics understanding insights
understanding how AI fits into it and And now
and you have to navigate a very difficult labor
market where nobody wants to work potentially
in without a whole bunch of different requirements.
Yeah, it's way harder to succeed. You know, so
what kind of advice do you give to people with
all that stacked up against them? Well, the only
way you can rationalize that, and I think that's
true of many industries that have gotten a lot
more complicated. Think about how much more complicated
it is to produce a TV show or a movie, given
all of the... Expectations from the audience,
you know like polish CGI like it's become orders
of magnitude more expensive The only way to offset
all of that is with technology You have to have
the technology has to race forward to take more
things off your plate So, you know where that's
like our mission is to make sure that that they
can like a retail business owner can focus on
the curation of their products So that they can
like understand like what is gonna attract people?
They got in they got into let's say selling bikes
as they're passionate about bikes They're not
passionate about inventory management or e -commerce
or social media necessarily If they could take
that off their plate, then they can focus on,
okay, what are the cool bike brands? Let's go
to the trade shows. Let's find out. Let's find
what's really hot. What are the profit makers?
And same with the restaurants. If somebody got
into hospitality because they're super passionate
about Spanish food, they should be working on
the next menu creation. The next cocktail creation
or the next mocktail creation. Yeah, that's popular
now. So it's not about all of the management,
right? So as much as technology can take that
away away from what's on their day to day, the
more they can focus on where they can actually
add value. And then, of course, the business
owner can actually interact with their staff
and interact with their with the people coming
to their store or restaurant. Then you get another
level of like loyalty to that place, right? You
can really feel like the business owner's presence
and feel that passion of that business owner.
But not if they're sitting behind, nobody got
into business to sit at the administration screen
of Lightspeed. They should be in their business.
If I think about some of my favorite... restaurants
or retail stores. It's truly the people that
are the places where I feel like I can recognize
the barista or the restaurant owners sitting
at the bar and is like, welcomes you and remembers
your order or you walk into a store and there's
someone from from a retail standpoint. It's like
I know exactly what this person likes. It is
like that sense of familiarity and like and like
hospitality, I guess. And expertise. Yeah. And
expertise for sure. Yeah. I mean, why do you
go into a retail store? That's like that that
sells bikes is because you've got people that
are passionate about it and are experts Yeah,
you know And if they're building you a recycled
bike out of multiple parts, like you're not gonna
be able to figure that out online Yeah, you're
gonna go in and it's gonna be an experience because
it's also entertainment. Yeah, go and get the
restaurant going into retail stores also It's
also a social thing that you do for entertainment.
It's a part of your thing that you can talk to
your friends about. 100%. I want to circle back
on kind of this culture and landscape around
technology as well, because I think that it's
a really interesting time for that. But before
that, you're also obviously very passionate about
Realms that exist beyond lightspeed as a business
when it comes to activism community stewardship.
How do you see your? Activism as linked to what
you've built with lightspeed. How do they connect
to each other? And work in tandem with each other
I Think for for me both lightspeed and the age
of union conservation projects and the and the
related film projects I mean, all those parts
inspire me, right? They inspire me as a leader.
They refuel me as a leader. Everything I do at
Lightspeed gives me excitement to do the Age
of Union stuff and vice versa. So that's a personal
thing. I think I learn a lot from the entrepreneurial
journeys on both sides from the people that are
working conservation or working in small business
or working inside Lightspeed and that cross -pollinates.
And I think that the, I think that is for me,
like the through line, that's the connector,
right? It's building something, doing the impossible,
iterating, feeling fast, that gets me excited.
What do you think is, you know, just building
on that, something unique that... business leaders
can learn from conservation leaders and also
vice versa. Like how can conservation leaders
also adopt a Entrepreneurial business mindset
or tech leader mindset and yes versa. Well, I
mean one thing that I learned About one thing
that I learned from going on the ground to the
conservation projects Reminded me of how much
I love being on the ground in the field with
lightspeed, right? So when I came back to lightspeed
full -time as the CEO, I was like, I'm not gonna
be removed from The operations are going to dig
into operations are going to dig in with customers.
Uh, more than I ever did in, in, in my previous
time there, because the value of it, what you
can learn in a day or what you can learn in,
in two weeks elevates your game. Like you can't
talk about something without understanding it,
but many business leaders do, you know, and I've
been, uh, at various points. Less understanding
about an area that I had a lot of opinions about
you know, like I don't think that's I don't I
think that can actually help That can also that
can help you waste a lot of time potentially.
Mmm, not help you waste a lot of time that can
waste you time Yeah, it can waste you cycles.
It can cost you in terms of your business, right?
So I think the more time you spend on the ground
in the field to get a true understanding, the
quicker you can come to the right and pointed
and effective and exciting solutions. Yeah. Go
down to the ground floor and just see what's
really happening in there. And that I think is
like really exemplified well in what the grassroots
conservationists are doing. They live it. And
what you can experience with nature is that when
you work with nature, It's always something that
exceeds your expectations And I think that when
you are on the ground and you work deep in a
company in the operations and with customers
You build something that is just way more competitive
way more Aligned with with need And that's like
that's when businesses really really start succeeding
It's like when you stop listening to customers
when you stop listening to your people is when
you start to go way off track Yeah, right. So
they're very similar I think being on the ground
is important and That persistence that dedication
like I find that common in terms of like what
people do when they're up against great odds
In conservation and in business. Yeah the parallels
between yeah How do you manage balancing both
the holes as leading like Multinational company
and platform as well as leading efforts within
the conservation space like that's a lot for
one person to manage Individually, so how do
you balance all that? Well, I mean since I've
come back to light speed the the projects are
now managed by Leonardo Caprio's foundation rewild
So that's one thing that I've done is move management
over there and and so I'm celebrating moments
where a book comes out about that period, but
I'm not in the field right now in the Amazon
or in Madagascar, right? Lightspeed's the top
priority, and so it's a different chapter for
me. It's a business -focused chapter, but I do
take a lot of inspiration from that period. In
this it's it's interesting because I think my
leadership was tested in totally new ways in
those two years Not just in the conservation
piece, but also in the in we got into filmmaking
We won an Emmy for Wildcat, you know, one of
the one of the environmental documentaries. Yeah
Congratulations. Thank you. It's I think it's
approaching an area that you don't know anything
about with humility And learning something from
scratch and then actually, you know having some
success in it that makes you realize okay apply
that to business maybe drop all the things you
think you know approach it with a fresh perspective
and uh and and see where that takes you you know
because i went into conservation not knowing
anything into film knowing even less uh and then
by the end you know uh my goal is to work with
Dr. Jane Goodall who wrote the forward to the
book and who I've traveled to the Amazon in Africa
with major and then and then working with Leonardo
Caprio and we're doing two films together and
now he's managing all my projects. So that's
like we managed to make a make a lot of progress
in two years in those fields. It just makes me
excited to to be able to do things with a fresh
perspective at the company. Yeah, you know not
do things the way we always did things at the
company like maybe take a fresh look at all of
the The opportunities it's a perfect match for
what we're doing right now at lightspeed, which
is a transformation. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Going back
to my previous note around just this landscape
and dialogue around technology in the business
community You know, obviously artificial intelligence
is like a huge discussion happening and changing
every day and you know Small businesses can wield
AI as well as large businesses in a way that
can be an absolute game changer, but there's
also the other side of the same coin. Given your
work in conservation and everything, do you think
about the environmental cost of AI's growing
influence around like... data centers, energy
use, water, and how we can reconcile its benefits
with the footprint that it's making on community.
The environmental costs of AI. I mean, I think
you could probably think about and compare it
to. early computers right if you remember like
the original mainframes or eniac or just like
things are probably they're older than the both
of us this is a massive room of things that sucked
up energy that probably weren't as weren't as
powerful as our calculator yeah you know so if
you think about we could have had equivalent
complaints about that but will we be here today
with an iphone that could probably that was probably
that's probably the equivalent of a trillion
of those If we hadn't gone through a period where
we got more and more efficient rapidly right
and and like and Micronized everything right?
Yeah, so I think that there needs to be a journey
like can people have a higher consciousness about
making that a goal I think so because I don't
think that does that doesn't seem to be the priority
of making it energy efficient other than it costs
a lot of money, so it will As a as if it's going
to be a viable business model. It has to have
lower energy costs lower water costs by default
water Yeah, especially when you consider like
the communities that the water is being well,
none of that's fair to yeah. Yeah, exactly Yeah,
um, it is a really interesting conversation that's
happening around this and everything is moving
so quickly Yeah, because of the speed of technology,
but i'd like to look back in 10 years and and
and and and uh and see how long It sucked up
a ton of water or used a lot of energy. Was that
a year or two years before we figured out how
to make it a lot more cost efficient? Just because
people are looking at the bottom line, not because
they're environmentalists per se, but just because
it's extremely costly to do what they're doing
right now. You mentioned at the beginning of
our chat, just talking to people who feel like
they want to make an impact, but don't know how.
And I think with the small business community,
it's such a powerful community. I mean, it makes
up the majority of the economy, but as individual
businesses and as individuals leading our own
businesses, even if it's a one person team, it
can feel like, especially in this world that
we're in today, there are a lot of problems that
feel just completely like even just abstract.
Like you don't, it's hard to even quantify it
or even figure out a starting point to figure
out how to make a difference or an impact. So
what would you say to other entrepreneurs who
want to really integrate a sense of activism
and impact into the DNA of their business and
just don't know where to start because they're
just so overwhelmed with everything, all the
noise around them? I mean, there's really strong
parallels there with conservation. You know,
I have a number of stories which I could share
with you about how Activism from ordinary people
got laws changed, you know, we did it We did
a we did a film that had only two screenings
It's a short film YouTube film our second short
film about dolphins dying on the coast of France
We didn't even know how to make a film. We did
a short documentary and a documentation of Sea
Shepherd France's Campaign so big in short big
Big trawlers were coming from Europe and Asia,
sucking up all the fish along the French coast.
Dolphins would go closer to the coast and get
caught in the French fishing fleet, which never
happened before. And we're dying like 10 ,000
a year and would wash up. Sea Shepherd France
took those, you know, this is just a small group
of people. Sea Shepherd France took those. those
dolphin bodies to the foot of the Eiffel Tower,
to the foot of the National Assembly. We released
a film. We played it at the Grand Rex in Paris
at only one screening, and then we screened it
here at TIFF. And there was so much embarrassment
in the part of the government that we got the
law changed. You know within six months so it
shows and that was not a very that was an effort
But it shows the power of individual action.
It shows that when you make something a priority
or you embarrass the government Or you know you
call upon business leaders You can make things
change. Yeah, you know and so can small businesses
but you need to have some organization and you
need to You know how to you need to know how
to get the communications out there and there
is a lot of a lot of ways now Right. Everybody's
got their own channel You can pick your channel.
It can be Instagram, it can be TikTok, it can
be YouTube, it can be, there's no shortage of
people having personal platforms. So there's
a lot that can be done. And I think it's just
maybe people getting over a sense of powerlessness
and maybe reference a couple of examples of how
people broke through the noise and made something
happen. I was talking to on a previous episode,
Jonathan Van Ness from Queer Eye and talking
about similar a similar topic about you know
How do you try to implement change when it just
feels like everything is there's so much chaos
and things feel out of your control And they
were talking about how They reference an example
of like someone that they grew up with Had a
huge influence. I think I think it was like a
teacher a community leader and without that person
they may not have been in a position that they
are in today because that person was able to
guide them and I think the the The bigger picture,
the bigger, the bigger message is that like sometimes
the biggest impact you can make is the one that
is like within arm's reach. And you don't even
know what kind of like ripple effect that that
can have afterwards. And you don't have to try
to tackle these huge problems. Cause sometimes
just, just trying to like work with something
that is within your grasp is the best way to
start. And it's, it's just, uh, yeah, it seems
to be true when you think about a lot of. A lot
of change that has happened historically as well
too and things that kind of grow into grassroots
movements. Yeah, you don't like for example You
know, we did like a couple of book dates, you
know There was a lot of people excited for by
a lot of ideas that were discussed in in those
group conversations You don't know how many people
are now inspired to like take action and something
that may not even be related You know, like there's
a lot of ripple effect, you know to the things
you put out there that you'll never know you'll
never know the The uh the paths that that people
went on and maybe just accumulates with a couple
things that they've heard on podcasts plus they
heard it from you plus they You know, so there's
there is that but I think that there's also something
to be said by uh said about standing up on something
that needs immediate attention and uh It can't
wait for a ripple effect, right? You you have
to you have to act one something has to start
the ripple too. Something has to yeah. Yeah.
Yeah um You know, you've got a new book out echoes
from Eden. Thank you for bringing this. It's
beautiful. Uh, I was admiring the weight of this
book. It is great. It's one of the first books.
Um, can you just tell me a little bit? I mean,
we've touched on this interview, but can you
tell me a little bit more about it and just kind
of the core messages and really like what you
hope people walk away from, uh, from, you know,
reading through it. So it documents the two -year
period, 2022 to 2024, where I invested $40 million
to 10 conservation projects and then decided
to go on the ground with all of them. And so
having not done anything like any of that, it's
a pretty big personal growth journey. It's the
first chapter. It was really well written in
the Globe and Mail. As you're going into this
story, Dax is pushing his van out of ditches
in the Amazon. Then he's going down a river that's
surrounded by caimans. Then he's sleeping under
bats. And that's the first chapter. I read it
and I'm like, wow, I'm surprised I'm still...
in one piece, because I can't even swim, right?
So it's not really the person you'd volunteer
to do all that. So I think it is. What I think
is the core message of this is the book's not
about me. Yeah, it's about my personal journey
It's about the heroes in the book. It's about
these people that are yeah, there's some a couple
biologists But there's a lot of ordinary individuals
that decided I'm not gonna let this forest fall
if I can do something about it I'm not gonna
let these species go extinct if I can fistfight
on the beach To save these leatherback turtles
that are being butchered as they're coming to
lay eggs. Yeah, you know like that there's there's
Whatever your personal mission is whether it's
a starting a small business or whether it's like
fighting for something In the you know in whatever
community you're in Those stories of personal
action and the power of the individual is like
a core part of that book. It's also The core
message we have a lot of gloom and doom on the
environment. Every one of those stories proves
that This is not the time to give up a lot can
be done Even destroyed environments can come
back because nature is more powerful than we
think and when we work with nature and ally with
nature It can be restored faster than you believe
And then for the pristine areas, we've got to
do everything to protect these last wild places,
you know So there's the environmental piece,
but there is I think most people that are looking
for an inspiring read are going to love the heroes
in this story. What's like a particular kind
of story of like resilience that really sticks
out to you from this experience? Doesn't have
to be your favorite, but something that sticks
out and you think will really resonate with people.
Yeah, I just touched on it. It was like, so it's
the chapter on Trinidad. So, you know, I don't
know if you know what if you ever seen a leatherback
turtle or no know what it is It's like it's the
size of a Kia, right? It's about it's almost
they can grow up to a ton We don't know that
much about them They disappear into the ocean
and the only time we ever see them is when the
mothers come up every five or six years to lay
eggs And they only start laying eggs at age 30,
right? Oh Yeah. And we don't know how long they
live. And we never see the males again. And so
Suzanne Lacan -Baptiste grew up on Matura Beach,
and she witnessed these mothers coming up on
the beach to lay eggs. But at a certain point,
young men started to decide that they were going
to take advantage of the nesting season and just
butcher these mothers, cut them up for meat and
steal all the eggs. And so it went from a you
know, a maternity ward to a graveyard. And she
was like, this is not going to happen. And she
fist fought these young men and fought for this
area and forced the government to protect it.
It was a very big battle. But you fast forward
to today and that whole community. now is it
is back to being a nursery and the whole town
and all of those young men are working to make
sure that these turtles make it. And it's become
an attraction for people that that that want
to take tours and learn and watch, you know,
watch, watch these mothers on this incredible,
you know, in this in these incredible moments.
And so that's again, that's one individual that
that is extraordinary, but not a scientist. you
know sure uh and she's just changed the trajectory
and has probably inspired so many young people
and a lot of young women like i mean when we
went down there uh with our group We saw all
these, all these, these, these young women and
girls watching and like thinking about their
future of what they want to do. Um, I there's,
you know, Jane, Dr. Jane Goodall, uh, wrote the
forward and wrote, and my, the last chapters
are journey into the Amazon to meet, uh, chief
Juma Shopeia, uh, and just learning and absorbing
what she's learned about changing the world.
Uh, and she went from a researcher that didn't
have a biology degree to being Legend, you know
that that travels 300 days a year To spread a
message that if she could reach one more person
and she just spoke in Toronto like two nights
ago Yeah, we had coffee the next day like that
is somebody who lives in absolute and pure service
For something bigger than than all of us. Yeah,
you know, yeah. So those are the those are there's
so much Inspiration to be taken from these from
these folks Whether they're famous or not famous
Yeah It's uh for me. It's it's about them. I
love that. I mean You know you so you've had
close encounters with gorillas caimans wild ecosystems,
uh And you didn't know how to swim during that
whole experience What do you think those moments
teach you about um Just like humanity's relationship
with nature overall, uh, we're disconnected I
think in our society You know, we have over time
disconnected from the, we've become further and
further from nature, but we've also disconnected
from our communities, you know, organized religion,
maybe for some good reasons. Like we've kind
of disconnected from a lot of things as we've
modernized. But now we, now we find ourselves
quite unanchored because we've disconnected from
nature and we've disconnected from spirituality.
Which is so ironic because we are in we have
so many means of connecting now more than ever
but Also, we are now more disconnected than ever
and we're lonely. Yeah, and we are more disconnected
from things As you say than ever right and so
how does one get reconnected to something that's
bigger? That's that's nature. That's spiritual.
I mean The answer is that nature and spirituality
are the same thing It's the oneness and interconnectedness
of things and so if you're feeling unanchored
Nature is a way back to feeling a part of that
you know, a part of something bigger. And then
fighting for nature is, I think, one of the highest
callings, in my opinion, because your concern
is not just for the immediate, you know, because
we're such an individualistic society. It's focusing
on other creatures, the health of the planet,
forests, waterways, all the things we rely on
that we forget are Dependence on right. We just
think that we're fine, right? Like that we can
build cities and like we'll be fine Well planets
dying around us and their cities running out
of water. Yeah future generations to things are
on fire Yeah, you know things are Canada one
part of Canada is on fire At every point in the
year now if you if you did a time -lapse of like
all the fires around the world This time period
would look like the whole planet's on fire So
we may think, you know, it's overwhelming to
see how much is on fire at any given time, but
globally things are roughly more on fire than
ever. It's not normal. I remember growing up
and like I grew up in Alberta and It's weird
because now it feels like fire like forest fire
season is like an actual annual season that you
just come to Accept because it just happens every
year whereas growing up like it was no not like
that And it was not every year that you would
expect that right and things change Yeah, but
this isn't the time to get depressed about the
environment. It's not the time to give up like
I I'm Really skeptical when I hear that some
like Tech bro thinks that they're gonna pull
carbon out of the atmosphere with some machine
when we know what works Nature works, you know,
and actually the Canadian government's gotten
wise to this the way we do agriculture the way
we do forestry the way we do a lot of things
Can be done to suck carbon out of the out of
the air Right. There's just like there's mangroves,
like there's so many things that we could be
doing that are nature based and all the conservation
as well. Right. All of this is the stuff that
can buy us five to 10 years and reduce. I mean,
force create rain. I mean, have we forgotten
that? I don't think maybe people don't know that.
You know, like I've been to parts of the Amazon
that have been destroyed and the rain stops.
You know, like, it's not just because it's in
that area that it rains automatically. It can
dry up if you cut things down. Right. And what
have we done? You know, like, we've replaced
forested areas with cities. But if you look at
a lot of forward -looking cities, they've got
trees everywhere, right? And we can do that.
Yeah, the foliage around the city, yeah. And
actually, Canadian cities are a lot better than
European cities where they haven't done a lot
of trees in the city. You, like, walk around
parts of Paris or in Germany, like, we have a
lot more going on and I think that in Canada
we can actually lead and make sure that we're
building a future that's not going to be on fire
and that's going to manage also water is a problem
too right like you can have flooding yeah and
that's those are things that feel like we are
like things are out of control or out of balance
yeah yeah You know, we've been talking about
your leadership in business as well as in Community
stewardship from like an environmental and conservation
standpoint, but you're also one of the few openly
queer tech CEOs Especially when light speed was
founded. How has that shaped your experience
as a leader? I Mean, I think it's just another
one of those authentic parts of me that that
like attracts a lot of people to the company
because Everybody feels like they can bring their
true self to work I mean the first four people
at the company including myself were from the
LGBTQ community and so our philosophy was always
we want We want everybody that joins to feel
like they have a fair shot at opportunity. That's
what DI means to us It's nothing more nothing
less, you know, it's not quotas It's not anything
more than if you work hard you have a fair shot
at opportunity and you see you see it in our
in the statistics of the company, the highest
ranking value on our employee surveys is that
like 87 to 90 % of people at light speed, no
matter what country feels they can bring their
authentic self to work. I mean, that was like
what I wanted for the company from day one is
that I could be, I could be myself, you know?
And you're not gonna be able to do the best work
of your life if you don't feel that way, right?
So I think that's... I think that's like the
core value of the company. If there is to be
one, like a core identity piece. And from there,
I think flows just incredible contributions from
Lightspeeders. What advice would you give to
younger queer individuals who are entering spaces
where they may not see themselves reflected or
see as many examples of people like them in senior
leadership? positions or decision making roles,
what advice do you give to them in terms of in
terms of, you know, not only just existing and
being able to do good work, but also opening
doors behind them as well? Yeah, I mean, there's
there's I don't have a lot of experience with.
I've never worked in any other companies I'm
not sure that I have a lot of like advice grounded
in experience But I think you have to fight for
who you are and and set an example And also open
doors behind you as you said like that's that's
how change happens And I think you should you
know for a lot of companies have turned their
back on on You know Since there's been a rightward
swing down south. They've turned their back on
DI programs are no longer relevant. Well, I mean
the diversity in society hasn't changed and And
that's still you know, that is still an important
value for Almost every demographic and especially
the younger demographics And so the world will
change and companies that don't value The beauty
of of of our diversity are going to suffer, you
know, like they won't attract the best people
They won't they won't get the most creativity
And genius out of their people, you know, if
they can't be authentic then you're only hiring
a part of the person You know, it's just it's
it's those companies will will have They will
have less of they'll have less engagement and
I think they'll be less successful Yeah, especially
if yeah if people can't feel like they can bring
them full their full selves to yeah to work So
we've covered a lot in our interview, but I kind
of want to just end it with asking just you know
Between everything that you're working on What
would you say ultimately is like your mission
with the work that you're doing and how does
it all connect it together? I think there's sort
of immediate things that I want to do for the
company. I think the company's at an incredible
moment where there's so many areas where if we
reveal our true potential, we'll unlock a ton
of value. And that's an exciting path for the
company, but it's also like an extension of this.
growth path that I'm personally on, right? And
that growth path goes through the early days
of Lightspeed, it goes into these conservation
journeys, into these film journeys, and now back
to the company. And so what I want for myself
is to be able to see a lot of the seeds that
I've kind of planted over the years, like really
be everything that they can be. Uh, I love that
I was able to capture this period of time, uh,
doing the conservation journey in echoes from
Eden. Uh, because like we discussed. People want
inspiration. They want to know, uh, about what
they can do as individuals. And I think we've
connected it well. Like it's those individuals
in small business. It's those individuals in
conservation. It's those individuals in activism,
you know, That's what my personal mission is,
is like, yes, it's the startup DNA, but it's
like the power of the power of the individual.
It's the power of, uh, of, of taking initiative
and making things happen. Right. Yeah. Yeah.
Well, it's a beautiful Eden that you're growing.
So thank you so much for everything that you're
doing and just empowering so many people in a
really challenging time right now. So, uh, really
appreciate your time chatting with us today.
A lot of fun. Thanks so much. That's a wrap on
this episode of Mission Critical. If today's
conversation gave you something to think about,
do me a favor. Subscribe, leave a review, and
share it with someone who needs to hear it. Big
ideas are meant to be shared, and the best insights
only matter if they're put into action. Until
next time, stay sharp, stay curious, and go and
make something happen. I'm Lance Chung, and this
is Mission Critical.