Everything I Needed to Know About Business...I Learned from a Canadian 2nd Edition

365 Pages·2009·1.21 MB·English

by  Leonard Brody

EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO
KNOW ABOUT BUSINESS...
I LEARNED FROM
A CANADIAN
Leonard Brody and David Raffa
SeconD eDition
Copyright © 2009 by Leonard Brody and David Raffa
All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be
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Care has been taken to trace ownership of copyright material contained in this book.
The publisher will gladly receive any information that will enable them to rectify any
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data
Brody, Leonard
Everything I needed to know about business…I learned
from a Canadian / Leonard Brody, David Raffa. — 2nd ed.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-470-15975-0
1. Success in business. 2. Management. 3. Success in
business—Canada. 4. Management—Canada. 5. Entrepreneurship—
Canada. 6. Businesspeople—Canada—Biography. I. Raffa, David
II. Title.
HF5386.B842 2008 658.4 C2008-906495-X
Production Credits
Cover design: Graham Dobson
Interior text design: Natalia Burobina
Printer: Tri-Graphic Printing
John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.
6045 Freemont Blvd.
Mississauga, Ontario
L5R 4J3
Printed in Canada
1 2 3 4 5 TRI 13 12 11 10 09
As I write this flying 37,000 feet in the air somewhere over Thunder Bay, I am
smirking as I remember my promise to my Editor to keep this short…..sorry Karen.
I dedicate this book to the teachers in my life who have always pushed me to
be a better student:
To my mother Esther for showing me what it truly means to be an entrepreneur.
To my father Irwin for teaching me the fine art of resiliency.
To my sister Lisa for her fortitude and courage.
To my niece Natalie for finally showing me the meaning of the word ‘love’.
To my grandparents, Yona-Moshe, Manya & Lajos for watching over me and
making me desperately want to be a better person in preparation for that spe-
cial day when I get the chance to meet them.
To my step brother & sister Noel and Moira for reminding me that family is
more than blood.
To my cousins Randy, Cara, Shauna, Mark, Brian, Marilyn, Didi, Wendy,
Leslie, Karen and Marla for showing me what it means to cherish and forgive
your parents.
To my Aunty Cecile & Uncle Aaron for giving me the gift of a Jewish educa-
tion when it truly wasn’t in my reach.
To my brothers from another mother: Morty, Harry, Lance, Ben, Nathan,
Yuck, Phil and Mitch for constantly reminding me how truly meaningless this
all is and that hanging out is really all that matters.
To the cities of Tokmak, Odessa, Melitopol & Tel-Aviv for the gift of knowing
where I came from and for the stark reminder of just how lucky I am to be a
Canadian.
Finally and sadly, I dedicate this book to the memory of:
My Aunty Betty Shapiro, you were always like a mother to me. You are so
missed.
My cousin Israel Asper, thank you for believing in me. I carry your words
with me everyday.

Leonard Brody
I would like to dedicate this book to the women in my life.
To the loving memory of my mother, Anne Raffa, who taught me so many valu-
able lessons, which I carry with me to this day, and who encouraged me to go
above and beyond. I miss you Mom.
To my wife, Louise, my best friend and soul mate. Mama Gator, you continue to
inspire me, thrill me, surprise me, love me and support me. Without you, none
of it would have been possible, and none of it would matter. I so look forward
to our continuing our excellent adventure together.
To my three incredible, spirited, adventurous daughters, Lindsay, Rachel and
Carmen. You are the greatest gifts I have ever received. Go do crazy things that
inspire you, excite you, thrill you and scare you. You girls rock.
You are the fuel that feeds my fire.
David J. Raffa
Contents
Foreword vii
Introduction 1
PaRt One: FiRst PeRiOD: LeaRninG tO sKate 7
Chapter 1: Within These Walls: Place, Harmony and Organizational
Design — Moshe Safdie, Architect, Moshe Safdie and Associates 9
Chapter 2: Strength and Endurance: Family Business and the Napoleonic
Art of Victory — Ben Weider, Co-Founder, Health and Fitness 25
Chapter 3: Bliss Girl: Bootstrapping Rhinestones into Diamonds —
Marcia Kilgore, Founder, Bliss Spa 43
Chapter 4: Success Toolbox: How Mindset and Outlook Can Impact
Performance — John Assaraf, Founder, OneCoach 59
Chapter 5: What’s Next with Debbie Landa, Founder of DealMaker Media 75
PaRt twO: seCOnD PeRiOD: the BRanD 79
Chapter 6: Brand Era: Creating and Delivering the “Big Idea” —
Brian Fetherstonhaugh, CEO, OgilvyOne Worldwide 81
Chapter 7: Pitching Up the Wazoo: Managing Communications in
the New Media Millennium — Bonnie Fuller, Editorial Director,
American Media, Inc. 99
Chapter 8: On Underwear and Seduction: The End of Selling in a World
That has Everything — Nick Graham, Founder, Joe Boxer 117
Chapter 9: Your Host: The Complexity of Being Known for One Thing —
Isadore Sharpe, Founder, Four Seasons Hotels 133
Chapter 10: What’s Next with Stewart Butterfield, Founder, Flickr 149
PaRt thRee: thiRD PeRiOD: the eLusiveness OF
ChanGe anD time 153
Chapter 11: Magnificent Obsession: How the Relentless Pursuit of
Vision Can Change the World — Geoffrey Ballard, Founder, Ballard
Power Systems 155
vi Contents
Chapter 12: While the World Was Stacking: Convergence —
Success and Exploration in the Second period — Leonard Asper, CEO,
CanWest Global Communications 173
Chapter 13: Moving an Elephant with a Mouse: Changing the
Unchangeable — Rob McEwen, Chairman & Founder, Gold Corp 191
Chapter 14: Speed Thrills: Growth from Zero to a Billion,
Craig Dobbin — Founder, CHC 209
Chapter 15: How to Sell Your Company Without Really Trying — And Do
It In One Week — Leslie Dan Chairman and Founder, Novopharm 227
Chapter 16: Technology Revolution: How the Net Generation Is
Changing the World, and Why Businesses Need to Pay Attention —
Don Tapscott, Author, Grown Up Digital, Wikinomics 243
Chapter 17: What’s Next with Garrett Camp, Founder, StumbleUpon 259
PaRt FOuR: OveRtime: vaLues, CuLtuRe anD what
YOu stanD FOR 263
Chapter 18: Do’h!: Five Lessons Homer Simpson Taught Me about
Teamwork — Joel Cohen, Producer, The Simpsons 265
Chapter 19: Managing the Perfect Storm: Leadership when the Chips Are
Down — Paul Tellier, former CEO, CN Rail and Bombardier 281
Chapter 20: The Grandeur of Simplicity: Have Fun, Make Money
and Grow — Jim Pattison, CEO, Jim Pattison Group 297
Chapter 21: Declaration of Independence: The Value of Values — Terry
McBride, CEO, Nettwerk Music Productions 311
Chapter 22: Teach Them to Fish: The Critical and Timely Rise of Social
Entrepreneurship — Jeff Skoll, First Employee and President, eBay 327
Chapter 23: Taking a Stand: The Risk of Speaking Out — Graydon
Carter, Editor in Chief, Vanity Fair 343
Chapter 24: What’s next with Craig Kielburger, Founder, Free
the Children 357
Afterword by Guy Kawasaki 363
Index 365
About the Authors 374
Foreword
BY ANGUS REID
i’ve spent a good part of the last thirty years engaged in that
quintessentially Canadian passion: trying to figure out what makes us
unique as Canadians, especially in relation to our cousins in the USA.
Oh, I’ve looked at a lot of surveys, polls and statistics that more or
less conform with the established CBC definition of Canadians as a
caring, community-minded people who, so far at least, put programs
like health care ahead of tax cuts. And I’ve seen some questionable
characterizations of Canadian culture when it comes to social issues—
contrary to some thinking, we’re not all social welfare cases who want
the government to intervene in every aspect of our lives. But if there’s
one stereotype about Canadians that’s dead wrong, it’s that we’re a
bunch of economic morons who approach the bustling world economy
with the acumen of someone who recently fell off a turnip truck.
When I was asked to write the foreword to this book on Canadian
entrepreneurs, I jumped at the opportunity for two reasons—one po-
litical and the other personal. With respect to the first, my motivation
was to challenge several myths about the source of Canada’s economic
success. We don’t put nearly enough emphasis on the importance of
entrepreneurship as a fundamental driver of the Canadian economy.
A lot of words have been used over the years to describe Canadians’
national character but here’s one I’ll bet you haven’t heard very of-
ten: enterprising. That’s right. Canadians are entrepreneurial, business-
minded, resourceful, venturesome—in short, we’ve become a nation of
hustlers. And as stories like those presented in this book attest, it turns
out we’re pretty good at it.
Before I examine the broader issue of entrepreneurship in Canada,
a brief note is in order on my personal interest in this subject and my
second reason for writing this foreword. Maybe it’s just the company I
keep, but I seem to be increasingly surrounded by friends and relatives
starting new ventures or at least beginning to tilt their creativity and
energy in the direction of new opportunities. Forget about the Survivor
series on TV or even Donald Trump’s popular Apprentice program; the
biggest entertainment in my house (at least for me!) is the many hours
spent listening and learning about the latest small business capers of
viii Foreword
my son Andrew (market research software for the Internet), son-in-law
Grant (small ticket leasing), brother Mark (cell phones and business
equipment) or any of several budding entrepreneurs who care to
darken my door.
There’s no adrenaline rush quite like starting your own business.
And nothing is more likely to give you long sleepless nights or turn
you into a chronic user of Tums. I’ve had plenty of personal experience
in all these departments. In 1979, I made a life-changing decision that
I’ve never regretted. I took a big gamble and left my privileged (and
tenured) position as a university professor to start my own market re-
search and polling company. And I did this in Winnipeg, probably the
toughest market in the country to sell those services (because everyone
knows each other in Winnipeg and doesn’t need a poll to figure out
what the community is thinking!).
I didn’t know what a balance sheet was, thought the smiling guy
in the corner office at my bank was actually my friend (his name really
was Mr. Coffin!) and believed that the best way to bring partners and
senior colleagues into my business was to have a lawyer do the negotia-
tion. I survived a couple dozen cash flow crises, had my share of per-
sonnel problems and dealt with attacks (mostly unfair, but sometimes
deserved) from competitors and the odd journalist.
But with a lot of hard work, a bit of luck and some fortunate tim-
ing, I was able to grow this business from nearly zilch in year one to
about $50 million in sales twenty years later. By 1999, the Angus Reid
Group had become the largest research company in Canada with of-
fices across North America and an annual growth rate of 30 percent.
We had a portfolio of blue chip clients and contracts with the likes of
London’s The Economist and Atlanta-based CNN. Not bad for a com-
pany that was started above a 7-11 in Winnipeg by a kid with a degree
in sociology.
It turns out that in 1979 I wasn’t the only Canadian starting his
own business. Indeed, according to Stats Canada, the country as a
whole was experiencing the start of a revolution of sorts—beginning
around the time that I was shifting from the ivory towers of academia
to the private sector.
Throughout most of the 1960s and ’70s, the Canadian and Ameri-
can labour forces were very similar, with about ten percent of workers
in each country self-employed. But starting in 1979 and gaining mo-
mentum as the new millennium approached, self-employment levels
in Canada zoomed ahead of those in the USA. Through the 1990s,
Foreword ix
self-employment growth was responsible for an astounding 80 percent
of all new jobs in Canada compared with the US, where self-employ-
ment growth hardly made any difference to net new jobs. When the
dust started to settle in 2000, US self-employment levels were still at
about ten percent of all jobs while in Canada these levels had practi-
cally doubled to almost 20 percent. Almost one in five Canadian work-
ers were self-employed and, in some provinces, such as BC, this figure
approached 25 percent.
Based on these figures one might be excused for assuming that
matters like small business, entrepreneurship and new ventures
would be at the top of the government’s economic agenda. But think
again. Until recently, small business was combined with tourism in
most provinces as an area of ministerial responsibility.
During the 1990s Canada was engaged in what Paul Martin, then
finance minister and later our Prime Minister, called a battle for eco-
nomic survival. But who really won this battle? Looking back almost
a decade some would have us believe that tough economic medicine
deserves much of the credit. But what about the literally hundreds of
thousands of Canadians who started new ventures after jumping (or
being pushed) from the towers of the Canadian business establish-
ment? Where’s their monument?
During the first decade of the twenty-first century, the Canadian
economy has been remarkably resilient. Our captains of industry and
politicians of all stripes have been eager to claim credit for Canada’s
recent economic successes; but for me, the real story has to do with
all those who started new ventures, especially during the 1990s. For
those who care to connect the dots it should come as no surprise that
a workforce made up of increasing numbers of self-employed is also a
workforce where people work harder and smarter in the face of adver-
sity and change and aren’t likely to lay themselves off.
If Canada’s entrepreneurial revolution has played such a key role in
producing a vibrant economy, it follows that public policy must focus
on how to nurture and sustain it. Doing so will require attention on
two fronts: firstly, recognizing and reinforcing those elements of our
society that have helped produce this remarkable transformation; and,
secondly, identifying ways to facilitate the further growth and develop-
ment of our home-grown enterprises.
The reasons for the fairly recent, yet remarkable differences
between Canada and the US in the area of self-employment are
matters of vigorous debate. But at least two of the unique features of