Breathing fire into entrepreneurship

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This article was published 28/04/2016 (2917 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brett Wilson hasn’t been on Dragons’ Den for six years, but he knows he played a part in taking entrepreneurialism from the boardroom to the living room.

The Calgary-based business tycoon admits there’s a Hollywood element to the show, so it’s not always what it seems to be.

“I was asked to frown more, and there’s no question the Dragons were encouraged to be aggressive, aggressive to each other and aggressive to the people making the pitches. We weren’t told to be rude, that was in the nature of the some of the conversations. The goal was to bring in viewers, but the result is that we celebrate entrepreneurialism,” he said.

Not every budding entrepreneur gets the opportunity to pitch their idea to a group of millionaires on national television, but Wilson said that shouldn’t discourage them from giving up on their dream.

“Early-stage investing is almost always sweat equity and self-funding. From there you go to family, and from there you go to friends and then your neighbours. There’s a natural progression in getting your first business off the ground, there’s no one source,” he said.

Even though you might think your idea is a winner, there’s a process involved in determining if you’re right, he said.

“People often struggle coming to grips with the fact that not every idea is a marketable idea. Sometimes it solves a problem, but it’s not a problem anybody is willing to pay for. I’ll push back on early entrepreneurs on their market assessment and making sure they really understand how good the product is, whether it fits the needs of the market, and is that market willing to pay for that product or service?” he said.

Wilson said there’s no question social media are a mandatory element of any business today, but it can also be a minefield.

“Sometimes people get overly engaged with social media. The problem is they’re doing so to the distraction of the real world. People get so absorbed with posting about where they’re having coffee or how far they’ve run, but sometimes you can post too much. We know the world is connected through social media, so knowing how those tools work is the essence of the power of the tools,” he said.

‘People often struggle coming to grips with the fact that not every idea is a marketable idea’

Wilson invests across a wide variety of sectors, including energy, agriculture, real estate, sports and entertainment industries through his primary holding company, Prairie Merchant Corp. He is the chairman of Canoe Financial, a privately owned investment management firm focused on resources. He is also a part-owner of the Nashville Predators and English Derby Country FC soccer club.

Wilson was in town to address a National Bank Financial event hosted by investment adviser Rob Tetrault at the Niakwa Country Club.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca