Chatting with Brett Wilson, chairman of FirstEnergy Capital, CBC newest Dragon - Part 2

As promised, here is part 2 of my chat with Brett Wilson, chairman of FirstEnergy Capital, the newest investor in Dragons’ Den.

Before I show you the videos, I would like to point out my favourite quote by Brett was this one from last posting (emphasis mine, link added),

“I had the great privilege of working under Dan Sullivan, under Jim MacDonald, under David Wilson. People who went on to become icons of the industry were my training ground. That was my learning curve … was working under people where Integrity and a handshake meant everything. And so as a model, it meant a lot.”

Incidentally, Brett's discussion of integrity and ethics has reminded me of another wonderful Calgary businessman and leader, Mr. Dick Haskayne. His book "Northern Tigers: Building Ethical Canadian Corporate Champions (a memoir and a manifesto)" is a must read and a wonderful way to learn from the former CEO, president, or board chair/member of companies like Hudson’s Bay Oil and Gas, Interhome Energy Inc., TransAlta Corporation, TransCanada Corporation, MacMillan Bloedel, Weyerhaeuser, NOVA Corporation, Fording, Manulife, CIBC.

Oops, sorry for this long “incidentally”. (big smile)

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How rich is Brett?
Brett’s views in charity

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Dragons’ Den experiences
The qualities that Brett look for in entrepreneurs or deals

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Advices to entrepreneurs

Chatting with Brett Wilson, chairman of FirstEnergy Capital, CBC newest Dragon - Part 1

Last year, I had wonderful chats with five successful Canadian business people Arlene, Jim, Kevin, Laurence, Robert (”Dragons” to the fans of Dragons’ Den) and Dianne (host of DD).

This year, I had the great pleasure to chat with Brett Wilson, chairman of FirstEnergy Capital, the newest investor in Dragons’ Den. As a bonus to me, we chatted at Brett’s beautiful home (some pictures in this post).

The following are part of my video chats with Brett. Feel free to leave a comment or feedback. Enjoy.

I will be posting the other video chats next week. Stay tune.

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Engineering & Business school,
Early investment experiences

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Early work experiences & Business School
Consumer & Buyer behaviour

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Starting his business

Richard Florida @ Google & Banff

I was really lucky to watch a CBC National video report and “discovered” Richard Florida tonight. (smile) I am going to pay attention to Rich’s ideas and I have subscribed to his blog. Check out his latest book - “Who’s Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life.”

Here is a video of Rich interviewed by George on The Hour.

The following is an hour long video of Rich speaking at Google, NYC.

And if you are really keen and have nothing better to do (smile), then check out another hour long video of Rich speaking at Google, Headquater in CA (essentially the same speech but with a different set of Q&A starting at 48:45).

P.S. On a personal note, Rich reminds me of some of the great U of Toronto professors that I had. Great job in bringing Rich to Toronto. And I am looking forward to listening to Rich live at Banff World TV Festival.

P.P.S. Here is one of Rich’s recent blog post on Jane Jacobs.

P.P.P.S. I wonder if Rich gets some money from this BMW ad? (smile) By the way, I think I actually first read about Rich here in this UT magazine article.

Ted Turner on Charlie Rose

Very interesting and insightful chat between Ted Turner and Charlie Rose. [Hat tip: Byron]

Jim Prentice Speaks - with Fair Copyright Q & A

Yesterday, Industry Minister Jim Prentice came to Calgary to deliver the William A. Howard Lecture as presented by the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Law and Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. (more pictures here, Note: William A. Howard founded a law firm that was the predecessor of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP.)

In the following two video clips, Minister Jim Prentice talks about creating laws and government policies dealing with Green House Gas Emission and Global warming. Minister Prentice talks about the need for consultations with a wide range of affected parties in an open process to develop policies dealing with the two challenges. At the same time, it is sad to see the government of Canada seems to be unwilling and unable to consult with Canadians to gain their latest insights and opinions.

One is left to wonder, when it is convenient and the government agrees, the Conservative government is perfectly content in reusing Liberal’s almost 8 years old and misguided report conclusions for Copyright related issues.

“Minister Jim Prentice Speaks” Clip #1

“Minister Jim Prentice Speaks” Clip #2

The following are two Fair Copyright Q&A video clips.

Minister Jim Prentice Copyright Q&A clip #1

Minister Jim Prentice Copyright Q&A clip #2 (with 3 questions)

Special Thanks

Finally, I want to send a special thanks to Rob for informing the group about this event in the first place. Thanks Rob, it was nice meeting you yesterday and thanks for your question.

And thanks to every Fair Copyright for Canada Calgary Chapter members that were able to attend the talk yesterday even the weather in Calgary was just absolutely horrible (white out driving condition).

Healthiest dying man in America scuba diving

I just want to see how Prof. Randy Pausch is doing and then I saw these two pictures of him having fun scuba diving on Dec 1st and calling himself in the running for “healthiest dying man in America“. (note: I have previously blogged about his “Last Lecture” and “Time Management” videos and you can check them out.)

With the usual Randy’s sense of humour, he wrote,

When I asked my oncologist if I could go scuba diving, he thought for a while and said, “Medically, I can’t think of any reason you can’t …. but I have to admit, it’s not a question that comes up very often for metastatic pancreatic cancer patients!“

Now, if you are not living life to the fullest, then what the #$%@& are you wasting your life for? Do you think you will live life twice? Or are you thinking you can do it again?