July 7, 2025 • 42 mins
On the season finale of the Sell Me This Podcast, host Keith Daser talks with Ian Macdonald, Business and Innovation Leader at KPMG Canada. In this wide-ranging conversation, they explore the intersection of innovation, risk, and why Calgary is emerging as one of Canada’s most dynamic tech hubs.
Ian shares why he believes imagination and curiosity are often overlooked in business, and how those traits have shaped his approach to leadership and strategy. He also discusses KPMG’s long-term commitment to the startup ecosystem, and why offering real support without an immediate sales agenda has built lasting credibility.
It’s a thoughtful look at how large enterprises can fuel meaningful innovation and what it takes to build trust in fast-changing markets. A strong close to the season with insights from one of the country’s top innovation voices.
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If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
https://www.deliverdigital.ca/?utm_source=videodescription&utm_id=youtube
Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress.
This episode of the Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires.
Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com
Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress.
If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
www.deliverdigital.ca
This episode of Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires.
Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
On the season finale of Sell Me this Podcast, we're
joined by Ian McDonald, businessand innovation leader at KPMG
and one of the mostwell-connected figures in the
Calgary tech ecosystem.
From space photos to customstampede boots, ian brings his
full self to a conversation oninnovation, risk and why Calgary
is quietly becoming Canada'sfastest growing tech hub.
(00:27):
We dive in to why he believesimagination and curiosity are
the most underrated businesstools available today and how
KPMG is playing the long game bysupporting startups without
selling them.
If you've ever wondered how tobuild a better tech ecosystem or
how to move your company fromstuck to scaling, this episode
is your blueprint.
Let's dive in.
Ian, welcome to another episodeof Sell Me this Podcast.
(00:49):
We are super excited to haveyou here today.
I know we talked about thisbriefly before the show, but you
have the honor I guess I havethe honor of having you as our
last guest of the season.
So this is our season finale ofseason one Season finale.
Thank you so much for joiningus today.
Thank you so much, keith, ustoday.
(01:10):
Thank you so much, keith.
Really pleasure to be here.
We have a tradition with ourguests where, before each
episode, we get to pick artworkyeah, on the screen.
Behind us is a samsung frame tv.
It's a little bit of a freudiantest around what everyone picks
.
You picked this piece.
You want to tell us a littlebit about it.
Yeah, I love this piece it'sknown as earth rise.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
So this is the first image taken where you can see
the entire Earth and I just Ilove that idea.
I'm a big space and sciencenerd.
I'd love to go to outer spaceone day.
It's been a dream since I was alittle kid the idea of looking
back on the Earth to everythingthat ever was in history and
every person and everything thatwas ever written all existed
right there on that blue dot.
I just think it's a fascinatingphoto to look back and
(01:44):
self-reflect.
So yeah, this is a very famousphoto called Earthrise.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
I love it, and so this is probably a question
you've never been asked on apodcast.
But do you think you actuallydo?
You think in your lifetimeyou're going to have the
opportunity to go to space?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I do.
Yeah, I think the affordabilityis coming down a lot more than
when I was a kid I applied toVirgin Galactic to work there.
The idea was that I thought ifI could get a friends and family
discount on a ticket.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
It makes it a little more palatable.
It makes it a little morepalatable.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
But no, I do think in my time there's going to be an
opportunity to go to space.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
That is super incredible.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Would you go to space oh?
Speaker 1 (02:13):
100%.
Yeah, I feel like there's somepeople that are definitely in
the camp of this soundsterrifying, and I'm one of those
people that thrives in theunknown and even the opportunity
.
I don't know if you everwatched some of those shows, but
if you had the chance to gocolonize Mars or live there for
a couple years or something, I'dbe 100% on board with that?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yeah, it's just.
The flight to Mars is maybe thechallenge, but getting there,
once you're there, I think it'dbe fascinating.
By the way, star Trek or StarWars, but getting there once
you're there, I think it'd befascinating, by the way, star
Trek or Star Wars.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
What would you pick between the two?
Oh, that's an easy choice, itis.
I'm camp Star Wars 100%.
What about you?
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah, it's actually a tough one because I grew up
watching Star Trek.
Every day after school I comehome it's TNG, so that was a lot
.
But I do love the Star Warsuniverse.
I'm not really picking eithergap.
I don't want to alienate you.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So tell me a little bit about yourself.
So obviously you're a staple inthe Calgary community.
You seem to know everyone.
But tell me a little bit aboutyourself, about the work that
you do with KPMG and the journeythat's brought you to where you
are today.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Thank you, you're very kind.
I don't take the flattery verywell.
Ian McDonald, businessinnovation leader with KPMG.
I lead our high growth venturespractice and we're based out of
the Platform Innovation Centerand our office in Bow Valley
Square our head office there.
So the role that I'm in isquite unique and I get a lot of
people asking me so what do youdo?
And so it's not something thatI really boast about and share
often, but when I get asked thequestion, I share.
(03:41):
These three main things One iscommunity support how do I get
involved in the ecosystem andsupport, how do I bring KPMG
into that space and reallysupport early stage companies
and scaling tech companies?
And that's the goal is to notsell services to those companies
.
It's really just help, provideadvice and guidance, make
introductions and just help themon their way so that when they
(04:02):
become a scaling, high growthcompany and they're one of the
big companies that are in townright now, that there's an
opportunity to work with youdown the road.
The second part is creatingcollisions, making introductions
between, let's say, a cleantech startup and an oil and gas
clients of ours.
If we can make thoseintroductions and help them,
that might lead to a pilotproject, it might lead to an
acquisition down the road.
Who knows what it leads to, butjust creating those connections
(04:25):
is really important andvaluable.
And then the third part wouldbe business development.
Once a company is at a certainstage in their growth they're a
high-growth company, they'rescaling, they're going
international, whatever it maybe that's an opportunity for us
to support them with ourtailored services.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
That makes a lot of sense and so you've grown a
really interesting conversationthat's happening here in Calgary
and you've been part of thatecosystem, especially with
investments like the PlatformCenter.
What role are you seeing theCalgary ecosystem start to play
from a technology standpointwhen you look at what's
happening, a from a largertechnology standpoint, but also
(04:59):
from a Canadian technologyperspective?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
I think there's been a lot of evolution in the
ecosystem over the last numberof years, from one that is
fostering young, early stagecompanies to now we have some
incredible unicorn companies, or, as we like to say in Canada,
narwhals.
There's an attraction now tobringing companies to the
province and to the city.
We're on the map for a lot ofreasons.
(05:23):
One namely I'll bring up arecent report, the CBRE's report
from 2019 to 2023,.
We were found to be the fastestgrowing tech hub in North
America and so, to put that inperspective, that's a 78% growth
, 26,000 net new jobs for atotal of 60,000 tech jobs in the
city.
So that outpaced Vancouver,toronto, new York, silicon
(05:43):
Valley.
It's amazing to see that growththat we've had in the tech
talent itself.
So from that we've got a reallygreat foundation that's been
built a lot of amazingorganizations that are out there
supporting early stage startupsand getting them on their feet.
And now we're into this nextstage of evolution, this
supporting scaling companies andseeing their growth and
attracting companiesinternationally to come to
(06:05):
Calgary and Alberta and acrossthe prairies.
So I think that's a reallyexciting next step in our
evolution.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
What makes Calgary so special, then?
Because that's high praise.
Those are huge, globallyrenowned cities, and to have
Calgary sitting right beside orahead of those in some of those
key metrics is phenomenal.
So what about Calgary is sospecial?
That's drawing these folks in.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
There's a couple of factors, in no particular order.
So the talent side is one, theyoung entrepreneurs that are out
there that are wanting to buildbusinesses.
Sorry, young and old.
I should make that clear thereare folks at all ages that are
starting businesses.
I would say, when I say young,though, I think of that drive
and that enthusiasm and energyto start a business.
So the pioneers, the peoplethat built this province and the
(06:48):
prairies so we have, that'sfueling it.
So the talent, the foundersthat go out and say I want to
start and build something new,that's a big factor.
We have the facilitators, theorganizations that are helping
foster and support that, fromPlatform Calgary, alberta,
catalyzer, plug and Play, 500Global.
The list goes on.
There's lots of organizationsthat are out there Introgen,
(07:09):
thin Air Labs.
Again the whole podcast isdedicated to talking about
people and ecosystem mapping.
So there's that support that wesee in the facilitation and
helping support founders.
The funding that's a big factor.
So from government funding youcan look at the Opportunity
Calgary Investment Fund throughthe city and Calgary Economic
Development, Alberta Innovates,Alberta Enterprise Corporation,
(07:31):
Prairies, Economic Development,Canada the funding is a big part
.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
And the venture capital, the family and friends
that cut that first check into astartup company, the funding is
a really big factor that fuelsthat growth of the company and
so funding is a reallyinteresting conversation because
I feel like in Alberta andCalgary specifically, the powers
that be have done a reallystrong job in creating some of
those supports that have proppedup some of these early stage
(07:55):
organizations, and I know thatthere was big announcements
recently around some of the OSAfund et cetera.
On the private capital side ofthings, I feel like there's
still momentum to be had thereand that'll be my euphemism of
the day momentum to be had.
But what's your perspective interms of that capital
environment in Alberta andCalgary?
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah, I think there's just more opportunity to invest
.
There's more opportunity tocreate awareness for family
offices, high net worthindividuals.
But let's not forget about thecorporate community as well, too
the corporate venture capitalopportunity.
There's a number of companieswith a lot of free cash flow and
money to invest and there'slots of dry powder and money
sitting on the sidelines.
This is a perfect moment in ourtime and our history to invest
(08:33):
in the companies that are here,and I've got to give a shout out
for our local tech companiesand supporting local.
When you go to the grocery storeright now, you'll see Maple
Leafs everywhere.
Right, it's buy Canadian,support Canadian.
But if you go onto the appstore, do you see a Maple Leaf
that says this is a Canadian app.
This is a Canadian tech companyor a software platform.
If you're a local company intown and you're looking to do a
(08:54):
software implementation, do youknow that's a local company that
could use some support?
I like to use some names asexamples a ticketing company
like ShowPass.
They're competing with some ofthe big giants out there and
they're an amazing platform thatcan be used.
I'd love to see going to anevent in Calgary where I'm using
ShowPass as an example, or ifI'm going to a local retailer
(09:15):
and I'm using the paymentprovider is Hellsome another
great local company to talkabout.
So that's where I think we needto do a better job of really
highlighting, focusing on andsupporting those local tech
companies to give them thatextra boost they need.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
And I totally agree with you and I love that analogy
that you're sharing aroundgrocery shopping.
Everyone's probably familiarright now with the little maple
leaf.
It's changed buying patterns.
You'll see the pile of tomatoesthat are Canadian-grown beside
the empty bin of tomatoes versusthe pile of tomatoes from
somewhere else that haven'tquite gone yet.
Is there a labeling?
What's the solution to that?
(09:49):
Or is it just more awareness?
Because I feel one thing that Ihear all the time is Canadians
sometimes and it might be ourCanadian-ness we do a really bad
job of kind of telling our ownstories and we compared to some
of our neighbors where we justaren't as self-promoting, and
maybe for better or for worse,Is that a problem you think we
(10:10):
have or is that?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
I think there's a couple of things in your
question there, the marketingbrain side of my brain kicks in
and starts to think about how dowe do a better job of promoting
?
And that's on the companiesthemselves.
But again, some of thosecompanies have figured out that
going right to the States andselling where there's less risk
aversion and an opportunity toget into a market that's faster
to adopt is a great place to go.
(10:32):
And then try it out in the U Sand great at works and bring it
to Canada and that's still agreat too.
You go where your customers andbuyers are.
There is a sentiment about ourrisk aversion.
We're first to be secondsometimes, and there is a
sentiment that I've heardmentioned a couple of times how
good could it be if it was builtin Calgary?
And I'm like I'm blown away byhearing yeah, that's a really
(10:54):
surprising comment to hear, andso they look, for they haven't
established or built up enoughof a presence or gotten bigger
clients or whatever it may be.
How do we know that it's beenvalidated and it's been tested?
And I think that's a reallydangerous comment to make.
And there's really some amazingcompanies that are here working
very hard and we've got to givethem a really hard look at an
opportunity to work with them,to give them business.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
That comment made me step back for a second and it
doesn't.
I'm not even quite sure how torespond to that, but I think
that one thing you did mentionwhere it is really alarming and
I've heard this story beforewhere companies are having to go
external, outside of Calgary,outside of Alberta, outside of
Canada, to get their firstcustomers.
What about the corporateenvironment in some of these
(11:37):
other places like the States ismaking it more appealing for
these companies to go get theirfirst customers out there?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yeah, I think just that speed to market.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
There's an opportunity for companies that
are going to move very quicklyand they're going to adopt, and
I think that it comes back tothat ecosystem as well, because
one of the things that I'vereally observed as well is
there's such an incredibleecosystem around the startup
community, around the innovationcommunity, around all these
people that are reallychallenging the status quo.
But there's also this kind ofpart B and I come from that
(12:09):
world which is the more we'llsay corporate technology side of
things, which still plays itsafe, which is a little more
risk averse and, I think, iscreating some of those
challenges in terms of thoseinitial adoption points.
What recommendations would youhave and what observations would
you have around how we canfoster more of that corporate to
(12:31):
innovation communitycollaboration and how can we
kind of pour some gasoline onthe fire in a positive way to
create a spark there?
Yeah, before I answer thatquestion, I positive way to
create a spark there.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Yeah, before I answer that question, I do have to ask
, because there might be afirst-time listener on this
podcast today.
Tell me Deliver Digital.
Tell me about what you do.
Tell me the work you do.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
So thank you for I guess it took till the end of
the season to finally turn themicrophone around but Deliver
Digital.
We help businesses with howthey make technology decisions,
and so our story has evolved,like a lot of companies, over
the last two years since we werefounded.
But really we help small andmedium businesses with how they
make decisions around technology, and the big observation that
(13:11):
we've had is that there's alittle bit of a power imbalance.
A lot of these enterpriseorganizations will have the
cream of the crop.
They'll have IT teams of tensor hundreds of people
(13:42):
no-transcript some of thesereally important to our business
decisions and so the role thatwe play is we'll sit alongside
these leaders, whether they'reselecting new technology,
whether they're evaluating theplatforms they currently have,
whether they're looking for waysto incorporate AI or new
(14:04):
security practices or driveinnovation into their businesses
, and help them with a frameworkthat makes those decisions and
helps them evaluate a pathforward, so they get unstuck.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Awesome.
And what are you hearing for?
Is it risk aversion?
Is it a hesitancy on supportinglocal?
What do you hear when you speakwith these companies?
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I hear paralysis.
So the thing that I've observedfrom a lot of the leaders we're
talking to is they're superexcited about technology.
You can't turn on the news, youcan't go to a barbecue, you
can't be sitting on thesidelines of a rink at your
kid's hockey game withouthearing that you need to be
using technology in yourbusiness, but the problem that
happens is that companies haveno clue where to start, and so
(14:43):
there's just so much noise now,and even if you think about some
of the challenges that havebeen created from AI, some of
the challenges that have beencreated from some of these, like
automated marketing and etcetera, et cetera, there's so
much noise coming at thesebuyers that they just simply opt
out or they get paralyzed, andso I think that the overwhelming
sentiment that I'm hearing isthat I know I need to do
(15:03):
something, like everyone istelling me that if I don't
implement AI under a business,we'll be out of business in five
years.
But where do I even start?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
So the risk of not starting at all, though, is
facing irrelevancy, businessloss, all of those factors.
So starting, though, is thebiggest first step.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah, and I'm sure you could even apply that to
other frameworks in personallife, right, where, if sometimes
the decision becomes so bigthat the hard part becomes
making the decision, and so theability to have someone that has
been through it before sitbeside you and help guide you
through that is becoming moreand more important.
Yeah, absolutely.
I'll jump on your grocery storeanalogy, because I just had the
(15:42):
opportunity to do a talk atMesh and we shared this analogy
of going to a grocery store.
Everyone's been groceryshopping, everyone has looked
for the Canadian flag on there.
If you were going to the grocerystore and you all of a sudden,
on the way there, hear thisradio ad that these 14
ingredients that you get are nowtoxic, if you eat these or
ingest these, you and everyoneyou're cooking for will perish.
(16:02):
The way you go to a grocerystore changes, and if you go
into the grocery store, you'restarting to look at every label,
you're starting to examineeverything, and all those
decisions become superoverwhelming.
And then if you add, all of asudden, every single product in
the store now has a salespersonthat's trying to capitalize on
this, that you know, the fivedifferent types of loaves of
bread you buy all have a personstanding beside them telling you
(16:23):
why the bread is awesome.
You're just gonna like ordertakeout every night.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, like you're just not participating in the
grocery store anymore.
My wife and I use an app.
When we go to the grocery storewe actually scan every barcode
oh, that's yeah yeah, so we lookinto that for the score and the
ranking and what are theingredients and okay, I guess
we're not having that productanymore because we've just
learned something new.
So yeah, we're very informationdriven when it comes to buying
products and then supportinglocal on top of that too.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
That's amazing, but I feel like you're the first
person to turn around thequestions on me.
That's okay.
But so, from that standpointthen, what are you hearing?
So that's what I'm hearing frommy vantage point, which is
working with a lot of theseleaders the analysis paralysis.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
that's definitely a factor.
The speed in which technologyis developing and evolving is so
fast that it's I get it, I cansee how it can be very difficult
to say if we just wait anothermonth or another quarter,
there's going to be some new.
Ai technology that's going tobe developed.
And so, if we've subscribed tothis software, if we've
implemented this technology, howdo we adapt and adopt?
Speaker 1 (17:21):
And now we've got vibe coding, which by the time
this podcast is released,everyone's going to know what
vibe coding is.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
But no, I was sitting down with my wife talking about
okay, if you could create anyapp, what would you want to
create?
And she goes okay, I'd love totake photos of all the clothes
in my closet and I'd love, inthe morning when I wake up, it
could just give me a coupleoptions that I could wear.
And I said, okay, maybe wecould add in a weather component
so it would know the weather,and maybe it integrates with
your calendar and it knowsyou're going to be in an
important meeting today, so it'sgoing to give a more
(17:48):
professional outfit for you andsuddenly using a particular
platform and I'm building it,I'm just speaking to it and it's
developing right there live.
So it's fascinating to see that.
But I think, even thoughtechnology is moving so quickly,
that inability to make adecision and start just go from
zero to one another tech termgoing zeros and ones.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
It's a great book, but yeah, a great book too.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
So I think you do have to get in and get involved
and get your team in yourcompany.
More tech literate educationawareness, talking about what's
out there and what are theopportunities to help leverage
technology in your company.
More tech literate educationawareness, talking about what's
out there and what are theopportunities to help leverage
technology in your job yeah,First of all, I would buy that
app.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
So sign me up.
I feel like that's aconversation that I have where
I'm the person that gets franticabout it.
Though I look at the, do I havea podcast?
Do I have a meeting?
What do I wear today?
And I spend far too much timethinking about that.
So please sign me up.
But that idea of education is areally important one, Because I
think that things are moving soquickly that if I'm a leader in
(18:47):
the space, how do I keep up?
What are the programs?
And, once again, in thatanalysis, paralysis I can Google
or type into ChatGPT or however.
I'm getting information thesedays AI training and I get 400
different options, and so Ithink that we're going to
probably get a little bittheoretical here.
But the idea of trust as wellwhat do I know what's good
(19:08):
information and what do I knowwhat's bad information?
And that idea of evaluation isbecoming really challenging.
So how are you seeing that kindof come through?
And even some of the ventureseither you're supporting or the
ecosystem that you're part of,Does that topic of trust come up
a lot?
Speaker 2 (19:22):
It does and when we see that validation of knowing
so, to the comment I madeearlier about companies that are
looking for that validation andthey want to know that someone
very respectful and successfulhas used that technology and
that's what they're implementingbecause they're looking for
that qualification.
They're looking for that casestudy to say, all right, who did
(19:44):
you use, where did you work andhow was it successful?
To help them understand whattheir ROI could be, to make sure
that they're making the rightdecision, to know that this is a
trusted product that's in thecommunity that they can work
with.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
So I think that becomes a factor, that level of
trust and knowing throughaffinity who else is working and
using that particulartechnology.
Yeah, in Calgary very much sois sometimes in city too.
Who's done this first, and I'msure you've heard that narrative
before.
Especially in some largeenterprise, they're very quick
to adopt something, but there'sa challenge of who adopts it
first.
Yeah, yeah, and so I think thatidea of trust definitely builds
(20:20):
on that.
What are some of the otherchallenges or roadblocks that
you see as companies are lookingto kind of bring some of those
platforms to market in thatcorporate space here in Calgary?
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Yeah, that's a great question Getting those
introductions.
It starts with makingconnections and part of my role
is to help facilitate that.
It starts with makingconnections and part of my role
is to help facilitate that.
It's just to say, if I'mspeaking with one of our larger
clients and understanding whatsome of their problems and pain
points are is trying to find away to connect a dot to someone
else, and that could be acorporate venture capital arm
(20:58):
that's looking to invest becausethere's a strategic opportunity
that could help solve abusiness problem for them.
You can look at a largeconstruction company, a
development company, and say,okay, what's that?
Prop tech contact, a contactconstruction technology solution
that could be useful for us.
So I think helping out withintroductions and understanding
the customer's pain points andwhat they're going through is
really important because, at theend of the day, if we're not
solving the problem, then whatare we doing?
So I like to take a morecustomer centric approach.
(21:19):
Whether it's with a startup ora scale-up company or a large
client.
It's just understanding wheretheir pain points are.
What are you going through,what are you dealing with and
then, all right, so what are thesolutions that are available
and how can we make thoseintroductions?
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Do you think that's the skill set or that's the gap
that's in my center right now?
Is that kind of that listeningand that understanding of what
that attachment context is?
It's not about the productnecessarily.
It's about the paint, and Ithink we've had this discussion
before where people sometimesfall in love with the product,
not the problem they're solving.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Yeah, yeah, and I'm in a really unique position
where I'm not looking to sellany particular product Just.
Switzerland.
I'm in Switzerland in this I'veused that example before I'm
not in any particular serviceline within KPMG.
I want to support all of themequally, so that's why I want to
take that really client andcustomer centric approach.
What is it that you are dealingwith?
(22:07):
What is your immediate painpoint and what's the solution?
There might be a solution thatwe could provide, but we'll make
referrals to otherorganizations that are out there
to say what?
At your stage, you're a littlebit earlier stage or this is a
specialty that I think one ofour folks that we know in the
community that we work with.
We would make that introductionand say this would probably be
best for you to work togetherthere, and so having a referral
(22:28):
network and a group to say let'sget you to the right person is
really important.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
So I want to talk about KPMG a little bit and I
think your role specifically,because I feel like the role
that you have is very unique.
It is and I think that, even asyou describe what you did at
the beginning of our episode,it's okay.
Now I probably understand atiny bit more exactly what you
do on a day-to-day basis, but ittakes a special organization to
play the long game like that,Because I think we can say that
your role is not about how do Iturn a ranch tomorrow.
(22:56):
It's how do we invest in thecommunity so that in 5, 10, 15
years that you've built up acommunity, all ships rise at the
same time.
Is that a unique role in theecosystem?
Are you seeing other thingslike that, or is that a unique
position that KPMG is taking?
Speaker 2 (23:12):
It is a unique role.
I'm not familiar with any otherthat's quite like it in the
country.
There could be elsewhere in theworld.
The long play that you said isexactly right.
It is a long-term investment.
It is a focus on supporting ourdiversification of our economy.
We have an incredibleleadership team at our office
that believes in the future ofCalgary and the province and
(23:34):
when we look at, let's say,junior oil and gas and building
up relationships with thoseindividuals that have grown
massive companies now and havebeen incredibly successful, we
were there in the beginning.
We were forging thoserelationships and working and
supporting early days, which ledto something very big, and so
our team feels that there'ssomething very similar happening
in the tech ecosystem, that weare in those junior oil and gas
(23:55):
days in the tech sector that wewant to be a part of and we want
to support.
So I am very fortunate to be inthe role that I'm in and
luckily it fits with mypersonality and my skill set.
And I said earlier, half mybrain's a marketing side and the
other half is a sales andbusiness development side, and
the term I've used for manyyears in my previous life was
marketing is bringing those twotogether.
(24:15):
When sales and marketing worktogether really well, it can be
very effective.
I've never heard that term.
I might steal it it's marketing.
Please do yes marketing.
So just before KPNG, I was at atech startup for two years
growing and scaling that acrossthe prairies, and before that,
just over 13 years in realestate and community development
across Western Canada.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
And so community marketing and marketing, that's
all part of your DNA.
That's it, yeah communities.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I've literally developed, sold, marketed actual
communities that people havelived in, and now we have the
community at large, the tech andinnovation community.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
I feel like there's a tagline, it's like from
physical communities to I don'tknow.
Your marketing brain probablydoes that one better.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
From the physical to the meta.
Oh, my goodness, there we go.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Trademarked, yeah goodness, there we go, trademark
.
But to build that kind ofinnovation, your role in essence
is an innovation within KPMG tosay, okay, we see this
opportunity, we're going to peelthis orange a little bit
different.
How does that innovation fabric?
Because KPMG is not a smallorganization right, it's a
fairly large startup.
There we go.
There's your euphemism check.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
I feel like I'm actually a startup within the
organization.
Because it's so novel Workingwith this community because,
again, we're not sellingservices to startups.
That's not the goal.
The goal is to build arelationship, connect them, help
them grow so that when theybecome and I can't mention the
names- but, the very largecompanies that we do work with
(25:37):
in the country that we'vedeveloped that support, and
there's certain companies thatwe've been there from their very
first pitch and they've exitedor they've IPO'd.
So I think that's thatopportunity that we want to
nurture and work with.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
But it's a special opportunity that you have.
But how do you remainautonomous in a large
organization and how does thatculture get created?
A large organization, and howdoes that culture get created If
I'm a large oil and gas companyin Calgary?
Let's pick something that'stopical and I'm looking to
replicate some of the success ofcreating something innovative
within my own organization thatisn't slowed down by our we'll
(26:10):
call it bureaucracy, by thelarge organization.
What are the tips that youwould have that have helped
create your ecosystem withinKPMG to allow you some of the
autonomy and some of theflexibility to do the things you
need to do to be innovative andcreative?
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Innovative and creative.
Those are the two big points,and I'm just thinking of sitting
down, being client-centric,coming up with, and you've got
to have an understanding ofwhat's out there.
You have to know who's outthere, who's doing what.
Why do I attend all the eventsand conferences and post on
LinkedIn?
The way I do is I'm constantlyresearching who are the
companies, who are the sectors,where's the growth and
(26:47):
opportunity, so that I can makethose introductions and bring
those up in conversation.
And then being creative aboutthings too, and just trying to
connect the dots.
I'm constantly going oh there'ssomeone here that I think would
be really great to help solvethat problem.
I wish I could turn that intomy own AI and just get that into
a computer and help leveragethat, but at the moment a lot of
it is sitting up here.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Yeah, at least you have the right initial for it.
Get it artificially in there,it could work.
So we have a mutual friend whohas also been on the podcast
Lindsey.
Smiley who shared an analogythat I love.
But do you think that's what'sbeing created with your role in
(27:27):
the group that you're running,which is you have this tanker,
which is KPMG, and the abilityto deploy these little
speedboats?
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Is that kind of the structure that you think works,
and we also should mention thatwe were on a panel together at
the Calgary Chamber, I moderateda panel.
The funniest, the fun and funnypanel.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
The fun and funny.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
It was meant to be some good jokes there, and we
did crack a number of dad jokes.
It's interesting I normallyalways have my key cards on the
side of me to gain access to thebuilding.
So I have two office locations,one in Bow Valley Square and
one at Platform, Calgary, and ifI could pull up the key cards,
it would be the perfect time todo that.
I have a sticker on each oneand for the KPMG card, I have a
(28:05):
giant ship.
I have a giant ship.
I have a giant ship, and why?
Because we're a largeorganization.
There's safety and security inknowing that it's a large
organization, but speedobviously is a different factor
in a large organization to asmaller one.
And then on the other key card,I have a rocket ship to be that
reminder of.
Yeah, I'm involved in acommunity where there's
companies that are moving fastbut they're also potentially
(28:26):
dangerous.
Right, they might not last, andI was at a company that the
same thing happened, where itdidn't quite make it, but it was
a great learning opportunity.
So that tanker and speedboat Ilive that every single day.
And when I think of thatconcept I also think of when
people talk about disrupting anindustry.
That's a word that I have takenout of my vocabulary.
(28:47):
An industry that's a word thatI have taken out of my
vocabulary.
I don't like using the worddisruption, because I believe
what companies should be lookingto do is innovating and working
with industries not saying, hey, we want to do this and totally
disrupt it.
The odds of that happening isreally low.
Buy a lottery ticket.
You probably got a better oddsof becoming the next Uber or
Airbnb.
So instead, look to the industrythat you're wanting to innovate
(29:11):
with, because those companiesmight be the ones that could be
your exit.
They could acquire you.
That's a pilot opportunity.
That's an opportunity to learn,Whether you're in construction
or legal or wherever.
The idea should be aboutcollaborating and innovating
together, because that's what'sgoing to get the best result in
the end.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
And I love that you shared that idea of
collaborating as well, because Ifeel like there's so many
people that feel like they needto do these things in a secret,
dark cave and unleash them asthey're perfect and the ability
to work with industry hand inhand, the ability to work with a
community to develop in publicalmost.
I feel sometimes and maybe thisis from a legal standpoint it's
a terrible advice, but I feellike building as a community is
(29:56):
so much more fun and so muchmore rewarding and better than
trying to do something off tothe side all by yourself.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Yeah, I agree, and it doesn't have to be everything's
open source, but collaboratingwith industry working together,
there's just a lot ofopportunity to work together and
solve those problems.
I also look in organizations forentrepreneurship opportunities
for and in some ways I'm a bitof an entrepreneur within the
organization it's great tofoster an innovation culture, to
(30:20):
have people think creativelyand come up with ideas.
And if you're going to fail,fast, but at least you tried.
Because again, if you don't gothat zero to one, you won't know
you won't advance.
And if you're going to fail,fast, but at least you tried.
Because again, if you don't gothat zero to one, you won't know
you won't advance.
And if you get it wrong, that'sokay.
Learn from that Pivot, movequickly and on to the next thing
.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
There's a really interesting podcast episode with
I don't know if you're familiarwith Dr Astro Tellerhot Lab and
he shares this reallyinteresting story around.
If you're trying to build a andI'm going to butcher this as
well but if you're trying tobuild a Cirque du Soleil act,
where there's a monkey jugglingon top of a giant 80 foot tower,
everyone always focuses onbuilding that 80 foot tower
(31:03):
first, and then they get ninemonths down the road and they've
built this magnificent towerand then it's okay, now we need
to train a monkey how to juggle,and they save the hard stuff at
the end to not fail fastbecause they want to be able to
show progress.
Is that one of the fabricswhere you're seeing either
whether it be corporateentrepreneurship programs,
whether it be startup founders,et cetera the ability to fail
(31:24):
fast and learn if the monkey canjuggle first?
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Yeah, and you have a safe space to do that, you have
a space that you can, yeah, failquickly and learn from that.
It's funny.
We've got space in thebackground here, but there's
examples with NASA where they'vebuilt the technology but not
the software and they've shippedit and then, by the way, we're
going to upload that softwareover time because, yeah, we
weren't there yet with thetechnology, but we knew we would
be in the future.
(31:47):
That's a great analogy for theidea that companies can start
developing and putting thatinnovation first mindset into
employees.
And yeah, we might not havethat technology here today, but
we're working towards that.
And again, we talked about StarTrek, Star Wars.
It's just, it's having animagination and creativity and
foresight into believing thatthis is going to come down the
(32:10):
road.
So I'm a big fan of those typesof thinking.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
So as and I'm just making the giant leap here that
I feel like we're both a littlebit of sci-fi nerds at heart,
we're entering an era whereimagination becomes a little bit
of the secret sauce.
Oh, I love that you're talkingabout this Creativity,
imagination.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
This is so critical.
Let's build on that too,because the phrase knowledge is
power it's so wrong.
Applied knowledge is power,right, the application of that.
So there's so much knowledgeand information that exists, so
how do we apply it?
And that's where we bring inthat imagination and creativity
and how we're going to applythat.
Asking my wife what would youdo if you built an app?
(32:49):
What would that look like?
And suddenly there's somethingnet new that we've created.
What's a problem or issue thatyou're dealing with, that your
clients are dealing with?
And let's get creative aboutsolving that.
And, yeah, do the really crazywild future thought and then
start to backtrack from thereand go okay, what are the steps
that would take in order to getto that?
What would be that solution?
Speaker 1 (33:09):
I agree completely, like we are in an era right now
where the how actually isn'tthat hard.
The hard part right the.
You built, you had yourclothing app and you put it into
one of the one of the platforms.
It's like I was going to startnaming them, and I feel like we
could have an episode on thattoo, that's true, but the
technology isn't the hard partanymore.
It's the creativity, it's thepeople, it's the story, and I
(33:30):
feel like that is incrediblyexciting and unlocking, because
the guardrails are off and wecan do some really cool things.
I feel like there's also somereally scary things that happen,
and I won't turn this into theepisode of what's hiding around
the corner.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
That's true although for the season finale episode,
maybe you want a bit of a hookfor the next season.
Maybe we need a cliffhangermoment.
Maybe we need a cliffhanger,cliffhanger moment, yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
And then we can have you back in season two and we
can just leave people hangingacross the summer.
If there's one thing thatpeople need to take away from
this episode and there's twopersonas that I want to focus on
the first is, if I'm a businessleader, I'm that feeling that I
know I need to use technology.
I know that it's important.
I have no clue where to getstarted From your perspective,
(34:13):
like, very practically, what aresome of the first things that I
could do to start to either getcomfortable around it, to start
to make meaningful progress,just so I can start to put
myself in a headspace to moveforward?
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Two things I'm going to give you two things.
The first is something myfather said at our wedding he
quoted Ted Lasso, who quotedWalt Whitman Be curious, not
judgmental.
Be curious.
Curiosity, I think, is reallycritical right now.
Be curious about what's outthere, Don't be afraid of it.
(34:45):
Now, a good amount of fear isimportant, Treating things with
some skepticism andunderstanding things.
Questioning is always reallyimportant, but just be curious
about what is out there to helpsolve your problems.
And the second is creativity.
I think that is such a criticalpart.
It's something that I love.
It's one of my skills that Ireally enjoy being creative
(35:06):
about problem solving In yourorganization.
If you're a leader of people,foster that creativity with your
team members.
Have them think outside the box.
Have them be creative about.
If we could solve this problemin any way you want, how would
it be?
And having diverse teams inyour organization are really
important to have diversity ofthought.
(35:26):
Someone could be coming from adifferent culture or background
or history and they might have asolution to a problem because
of that diversity of thought.
So that creativity just adds.
You just get more creative in ateam when you have more people
that are thinking creativelyDoes that calculus change when
you think about an enterpriseleader?
Speaker 1 (35:44):
So if you think business leader for a mid-sized
organization to CMO of largeinsert oil and gas company, does
that calculus change or arethose two ingredients the same
thing that they're going to needto be able to move their
organization?
Speaker 2 (36:00):
forward.
I think you want to leveragethe people that are around you,
whether they're from outside theorganization or within.
But I think you want to makesure you're surrounding yourself
with those attributes in peopleto be curious and to be
creative, so that pressure forone person to be everything to
everyone, that doesn't alwayshappen, that's not the case.
Someone who's maybe moreanalytical might not feel as
(36:20):
creative.
But surround yourself withpeople that are thinking that
way.
That can add to theconversation and you're not
surrounding yourself with justhearing that echo chamber and
hearing the same thing over andover.
So have diversity in the peoplethat are around you so you can
get an outsider's perspective.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
I love it?
And what about from a startupperspective?
So if I'm someone that has agreat idea, if I want to get
started with building out thatidea, or building out my own
company, or get started on thatentrepreneurial journey, what
words of wisdom would you havefor them?
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Know that it's going to be challenging, that it is
not going to be the headlinesand an easy ride.
There are going to bechallenges along the way and
it's if you're on social mediaand you just see the nice photos
of someone on a vacation orlifestyle, great, it isn't
actually like that.
So just know that you're goingto be in for a ride and that the
(37:11):
most important quality foranyone that's in that is going
to be grit and perseverance isgetting through it.
So look to organizations andsupport groups that are out
there mentors, advisors, peoplethat are trusted.
I want to shout out to theVenture Mentoring Services of
Alberta and many other groupsthat are out there that can help
.
(37:33):
Earlier I was listingAccelerator and Incubator
Program.
Cdl Rockies is anotherorganization.
So there's lots of folks outthere that want to help and
support you, and that's part ofthe thing that I love most about
being here in Calgary when Imoved from BC to here.
I was born and raised in theOkanagan.
I just love the people here.
I thought they were just sohelpful and I knew it by being
on a bus or a train.
People were talking to oneanother and very open and oh,
let me connect you with thisperson, that person.
(37:54):
So I think that's important isto be around people that want to
help, support you, and it takesa village.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
Yeah, I actually didn't know that you grew up in
the Okanagan, because I alsogrew up in the Okanagan.
Oh, did you really?
Speaker 2 (38:03):
Yeah, Okay yeah.
Mount Bushiri.
You were in Mount Bushiri.
I grew up in Lakeview Heights.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
Oh, there you go yeah , so I was just down the road.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
McCartney Road actually was.
Oh my goodness, yeah, so I wasborn in Pentixson, grew up in
Kelowna and then livedthroughout the Okanagan, all the
way into Lake CountryPractically neighbors yeah,
practically neighbors.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
I feel like I could ask you 100 more questions and I
know that we're starting tocome up on time here.
But from a Calgary perspective,what are the things that you
see coming ahead for us, for theCalgary ecosystem?
I know it's an incrediblyexciting time.
What are some of the boldpredictions you have about
Calgary and our technologycommunity?
Speaker 2 (38:48):
That we're going to see that next evolution of those
many startups that are outthere scaling and growing their
business and going internationaland attracting more attention
and focus on the city.
So, outside investors, venturecapital, more private equity
investment into the city, Ithink we're going to see more
family offices and high networth individuals getting more
involved in investing in ourcity in progress.
I'm excited for data centers.
That's going to be reallyfascinating for the province.
(39:09):
I think we could have a reallyunique opportunity and a
competitive advantage for accessto compute, reducing latency
and price potentially too.
We'll see where policy comes infor opportunities to help
support these companies, becausecompute is going to be a big
thing in the future.
So, yeah, maybe that could be abig attractor for a tech
company elsewhere in the worldto say, hey, this is the best
(39:29):
place in the world for you tostart and grow your business
here in Alberta.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Amazing If you were to wave a magic wand and have
one thing come true the oldmagic wand question if you were
to have one thing come truearound the Alberta tech
ecosystem.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
I think my biggest thing is I would just love for
everyone in the city to knowmore about the companies that
are here.
I just think that's the bigthing and just getting back to
marketing brain and justpromoting and thinking about
that.
And yes, on the sales side too,I'd love them to work with one
another and subscribe to thosesoftwares and to implement them.
(40:04):
I just think awareness isreally key.
Get to know those companies.
If you're tapping your card atthe grocery store or you're
looking to implement atechnology in your company, get
to know what's out there, justin our own backyard.
So that would be.
My big thing is I want peopleto know more about the companies
that are here.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
I love it and.
I'll have to give a shout outto Tyler big billboard.
So I feel like I might'veripped off that question.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
So thank you, Tyler.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Final question of the day, and this is the real hard
hitter.
This episode is releasing ourseason finale on July 7th yes,
our first day of Stampede.
Yes, words of wisdom for peoplethat are embarking on Stampede
today.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
Oh, yeah, so this is one that I learned very late in
the game.
When I moved to Calgary, Ibought a pair of used cowboy
boots in Vancouver at a thriftstore.
Big mistake and I wore them foryears and I begrudgingly walked
through Stampede in very sorefeet.
It was only recently that Ipurchased a pair of custom-made
(41:03):
cowboy boots.
They are definitely worth theinvestment, so I'm very happy
with my custom cowboy boots forStampede.
I think proper footwear isreally critical for Stampede
there you go.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
That's a very sensible recommendation.
It's a sensible answer.
Yeah, absolutely Amazing.
Thank you so much for joiningus today, Ian.
If someone wanted to learn more, if they heard what you said
today and they wanted to pickyour brain or ask you questions,
what's the best way for them toget in touch with you with KPMG
?
Yeah, I think you probably knowthe answer I'm going to say is
LinkedIn.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
Feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn.
I'm pretty active on there.
If you're also looking to justfollow for news and information
and sharing great stories ofcompanies that are out there,
please feel free to follow andconnect with me on LinkedIn.
And, keith, I just got to sayyou have one of the best voices
for podcasts.
For anyone that's out therelistening, you've probably got
to admit that this has just beena great sounding podcast as
(41:51):
well, so hopefully there's beena lot of information too.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
The questions were terrible, but the audience was
fantastic.
No, disagree, the questions arefantastic, so thank you Amazing
.
Thank you so much and reallyappreciate having you on, ian.
Thanks so much, keith.
Thank you, cheers.
On the season finale of Sell Me this Podcast, we're
joined by Ian McDonald, businessand innovation leader at KPMG
and one of the mostwell-connected figures in the
Calgary tech ecosystem.
From space photos to customstampede boots, ian brings his
full self to a conversation oninnovation, risk and why Calgary
is quietly becoming Canada'sfastest growing tech hub.
(00:27):
We dive in to why he believesimagination and curiosity are
the most underrated businesstools available today and how
KPMG is playing the long game bysupporting startups without
selling them.
If you've ever wondered how tobuild a better tech ecosystem or
how to move your company fromstuck to scaling, this episode
is your blueprint.
Let's dive in.
Ian, welcome to another episodeof Sell Me this Podcast.
(00:49):
We are super excited to haveyou here today.
I know we talked about thisbriefly before the show, but you
have the honor I guess I havethe honor of having you as our
last guest of the season.
So this is our season finale ofseason one Season finale.
Thank you so much for joiningus today.
Thank you so much, keith, ustoday.
(01:10):
Thank you so much, keith.
Really pleasure to be here.
We have a tradition with ourguests where, before each
episode, we get to pick artworkyeah, on the screen.
Behind us is a samsung frame tv.
It's a little bit of a freudiantest around what everyone picks
.
You picked this piece.
You want to tell us a littlebit about it.
Yeah, I love this piece it'sknown as earth rise.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
So this is the first image taken where you can see
the entire Earth and I just Ilove that idea.
I'm a big space and sciencenerd.
I'd love to go to outer spaceone day.
It's been a dream since I was alittle kid the idea of looking
back on the Earth to everythingthat ever was in history and
every person and everything thatwas ever written all existed
right there on that blue dot.
I just think it's a fascinatingphoto to look back and
(01:44):
self-reflect.
So yeah, this is a very famousphoto called Earthrise.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
I love it, and so this is probably a question
you've never been asked on apodcast.
But do you think you actuallydo?
You think in your lifetimeyou're going to have the
opportunity to go to space?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I do.
Yeah, I think the affordabilityis coming down a lot more than
when I was a kid I applied toVirgin Galactic to work there.
The idea was that I thought ifI could get a friends and family
discount on a ticket.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
It makes it a little more palatable.
It makes it a little morepalatable.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
But no, I do think in my time there's going to be an
opportunity to go to space.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
That is super incredible.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Would you go to space oh?
Speaker 1 (02:13):
100%.
Yeah, I feel like there's somepeople that are definitely in
the camp of this soundsterrifying, and I'm one of those
people that thrives in theunknown and even the opportunity
.
I don't know if you everwatched some of those shows, but
if you had the chance to gocolonize Mars or live there for
a couple years or something, I'dbe 100% on board with that?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yeah, it's just.
The flight to Mars is maybe thechallenge, but getting there,
once you're there, I think it'dbe fascinating.
By the way, star Trek or StarWars, but getting there once
you're there, I think it'd befascinating, by the way, star
Trek or Star Wars.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
What would you pick between the two?
Oh, that's an easy choice, itis.
I'm camp Star Wars 100%.
What about you?
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah, it's actually a tough one because I grew up
watching Star Trek.
Every day after school I comehome it's TNG, so that was a lot
.
But I do love the Star Warsuniverse.
I'm not really picking eithergap.
I don't want to alienate you.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So tell me a little bit about yourself.
So obviously you're a staple inthe Calgary community.
You seem to know everyone.
But tell me a little bit aboutyourself, about the work that
you do with KPMG and the journeythat's brought you to where you
are today.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Thank you, you're very kind.
I don't take the flattery verywell.
Ian McDonald, businessinnovation leader with KPMG.
I lead our high growth venturespractice and we're based out of
the Platform Innovation Centerand our office in Bow Valley
Square our head office there.
So the role that I'm in isquite unique and I get a lot of
people asking me so what do youdo?
And so it's not something thatI really boast about and share
often, but when I get asked thequestion, I share.
(03:41):
These three main things One iscommunity support how do I get
involved in the ecosystem andsupport, how do I bring KPMG
into that space and reallysupport early stage companies
and scaling tech companies?
And that's the goal is to notsell services to those companies
.
It's really just help, provideadvice and guidance, make
introductions and just help themon their way so that when they
(04:02):
become a scaling, high growthcompany and they're one of the
big companies that are in townright now, that there's an
opportunity to work with youdown the road.
The second part is creatingcollisions, making introductions
between, let's say, a cleantech startup and an oil and gas
clients of ours.
If we can make thoseintroductions and help them,
that might lead to a pilotproject, it might lead to an
acquisition down the road.
Who knows what it leads to, butjust creating those connections
(04:25):
is really important andvaluable.
And then the third part wouldbe business development.
Once a company is at a certainstage in their growth they're a
high-growth company, they'rescaling, they're going
international, whatever it maybe that's an opportunity for us
to support them with ourtailored services.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
That makes a lot of sense and so you've grown a
really interesting conversationthat's happening here in Calgary
and you've been part of thatecosystem, especially with
investments like the PlatformCenter.
What role are you seeing theCalgary ecosystem start to play
from a technology standpointwhen you look at what's
happening, a from a largertechnology standpoint, but also
(04:59):
from a Canadian technologyperspective?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
I think there's been a lot of evolution in the
ecosystem over the last numberof years, from one that is
fostering young, early stagecompanies to now we have some
incredible unicorn companies, or, as we like to say in Canada,
narwhals.
There's an attraction now tobringing companies to the
province and to the city.
We're on the map for a lot ofreasons.
(05:23):
One namely I'll bring up arecent report, the CBRE's report
from 2019 to 2023,.
We were found to be the fastestgrowing tech hub in North
America and so, to put that inperspective, that's a 78% growth
, 26,000 net new jobs for atotal of 60,000 tech jobs in the
city.
So that outpaced Vancouver,toronto, new York, silicon
(05:43):
Valley.
It's amazing to see that growththat we've had in the tech
talent itself.
So from that we've got a reallygreat foundation that's been
built a lot of amazingorganizations that are out there
supporting early stage startupsand getting them on their feet.
And now we're into this nextstage of evolution, this
supporting scaling companies andseeing their growth and
attracting companiesinternationally to come to
(06:05):
Calgary and Alberta and acrossthe prairies.
So I think that's a reallyexciting next step in our
evolution.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
What makes Calgary so special, then?
Because that's high praise.
Those are huge, globallyrenowned cities, and to have
Calgary sitting right beside orahead of those in some of those
key metrics is phenomenal.
So what about Calgary is sospecial?
That's drawing these folks in.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
There's a couple of factors, in no particular order.
So the talent side is one, theyoung entrepreneurs that are out
there that are wanting to buildbusinesses.
Sorry, young and old.
I should make that clear thereare folks at all ages that are
starting businesses.
I would say, when I say young,though, I think of that drive
and that enthusiasm and energyto start a business.
So the pioneers, the peoplethat built this province and the
(06:48):
prairies so we have, that'sfueling it.
So the talent, the foundersthat go out and say I want to
start and build something new,that's a big factor.
We have the facilitators, theorganizations that are helping
foster and support that, fromPlatform Calgary, alberta,
catalyzer, plug and Play, 500Global.
The list goes on.
There's lots of organizationsthat are out there Introgen,
(07:09):
thin Air Labs.
Again the whole podcast isdedicated to talking about
people and ecosystem mapping.
So there's that support that wesee in the facilitation and
helping support founders.
The funding that's a big factor.
So from government funding youcan look at the Opportunity
Calgary Investment Fund throughthe city and Calgary Economic
Development, Alberta Innovates,Alberta Enterprise Corporation,
(07:31):
Prairies, Economic Development,Canada the funding is a big part
.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
And the venture capital, the family and friends
that cut that first check into astartup company, the funding is
a really big factor that fuelsthat growth of the company and
so funding is a reallyinteresting conversation because
I feel like in Alberta andCalgary specifically, the powers
that be have done a reallystrong job in creating some of
those supports that have proppedup some of these early stage
(07:55):
organizations, and I know thatthere was big announcements
recently around some of the OSAfund et cetera.
On the private capital side ofthings, I feel like there's
still momentum to be had thereand that'll be my euphemism of
the day momentum to be had.
But what's your perspective interms of that capital
environment in Alberta andCalgary?
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah, I think there's just more opportunity to invest
.
There's more opportunity tocreate awareness for family
offices, high net worthindividuals.
But let's not forget about thecorporate community as well, too
the corporate venture capitalopportunity.
There's a number of companieswith a lot of free cash flow and
money to invest and there'slots of dry powder and money
sitting on the sidelines.
This is a perfect moment in ourtime and our history to invest
(08:33):
in the companies that are here,and I've got to give a shout out
for our local tech companiesand supporting local.
When you go to the grocery storeright now, you'll see Maple
Leafs everywhere.
Right, it's buy Canadian,support Canadian.
But if you go onto the appstore, do you see a Maple Leaf
that says this is a Canadian app.
This is a Canadian tech companyor a software platform.
If you're a local company intown and you're looking to do a
(08:54):
software implementation, do youknow that's a local company that
could use some support?
I like to use some names asexamples a ticketing company
like ShowPass.
They're competing with some ofthe big giants out there and
they're an amazing platform thatcan be used.
I'd love to see going to anevent in Calgary where I'm using
ShowPass as an example, or ifI'm going to a local retailer
(09:15):
and I'm using the paymentprovider is Hellsome another
great local company to talkabout.
So that's where I think we needto do a better job of really
highlighting, focusing on andsupporting those local tech
companies to give them thatextra boost they need.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
And I totally agree with you and I love that analogy
that you're sharing aroundgrocery shopping.
Everyone's probably familiarright now with the little maple
leaf.
It's changed buying patterns.
You'll see the pile of tomatoesthat are Canadian-grown beside
the empty bin of tomatoes versusthe pile of tomatoes from
somewhere else that haven'tquite gone yet.
Is there a labeling?
What's the solution to that?
(09:49):
Or is it just more awareness?
Because I feel one thing that Ihear all the time is Canadians
sometimes and it might be ourCanadian-ness we do a really bad
job of kind of telling our ownstories and we compared to some
of our neighbors where we justaren't as self-promoting, and
maybe for better or for worse,Is that a problem you think we
(10:10):
have or is that?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
I think there's a couple of things in your
question there, the marketingbrain side of my brain kicks in
and starts to think about how dowe do a better job of promoting
?
And that's on the companiesthemselves.
But again, some of thosecompanies have figured out that
going right to the States andselling where there's less risk
aversion and an opportunity toget into a market that's faster
to adopt is a great place to go.
(10:32):
And then try it out in the U Sand great at works and bring it
to Canada and that's still agreat too.
You go where your customers andbuyers are.
There is a sentiment about ourrisk aversion.
We're first to be secondsometimes, and there is a
sentiment that I've heardmentioned a couple of times how
good could it be if it was builtin Calgary?
And I'm like I'm blown away byhearing yeah, that's a really
(10:54):
surprising comment to hear, andso they look, for they haven't
established or built up enoughof a presence or gotten bigger
clients or whatever it may be.
How do we know that it's beenvalidated and it's been tested?
And I think that's a reallydangerous comment to make.
And there's really some amazingcompanies that are here working
very hard and we've got to givethem a really hard look at an
opportunity to work with them,to give them business.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
That comment made me step back for a second and it
doesn't.
I'm not even quite sure how torespond to that, but I think
that one thing you did mentionwhere it is really alarming and
I've heard this story beforewhere companies are having to go
external, outside of Calgary,outside of Alberta, outside of
Canada, to get their firstcustomers.
What about the corporateenvironment in some of these
(11:37):
other places like the States ismaking it more appealing for
these companies to go get theirfirst customers out there?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yeah, I think just that speed to market.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
There's an opportunity for companies that
are going to move very quicklyand they're going to adopt, and
I think that it comes back tothat ecosystem as well, because
one of the things that I'vereally observed as well is
there's such an incredibleecosystem around the startup
community, around the innovationcommunity, around all these
people that are reallychallenging the status quo.
But there's also this kind ofpart B and I come from that
(12:09):
world which is the more we'llsay corporate technology side of
things, which still plays itsafe, which is a little more
risk averse and, I think, iscreating some of those
challenges in terms of thoseinitial adoption points.
What recommendations would youhave and what observations would
you have around how we canfoster more of that corporate to
(12:31):
innovation communitycollaboration and how can we
kind of pour some gasoline onthe fire in a positive way to
create a spark there?
Yeah, before I answer thatquestion, I positive way to
create a spark there.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Yeah, before I answer that question, I do have to ask
, because there might be afirst-time listener on this
podcast today.
Tell me Deliver Digital.
Tell me about what you do.
Tell me the work you do.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
So thank you for I guess it took till the end of
the season to finally turn themicrophone around but Deliver
Digital.
We help businesses with howthey make technology decisions,
and so our story has evolved,like a lot of companies, over
the last two years since we werefounded.
But really we help small andmedium businesses with how they
make decisions around technology, and the big observation that
(13:11):
we've had is that there's alittle bit of a power imbalance.
A lot of these enterpriseorganizations will have the
cream of the crop.
They'll have IT teams of tensor hundreds of people
(13:42):
no-transcript some of thesereally important to our business
decisions and so the role thatwe play is we'll sit alongside
these leaders, whether they'reselecting new technology,
whether they're evaluating theplatforms they currently have,
whether they're looking for waysto incorporate AI or new
(14:04):
security practices or driveinnovation into their businesses
, and help them with a frameworkthat makes those decisions and
helps them evaluate a pathforward, so they get unstuck.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Awesome.
And what are you hearing for?
Is it risk aversion?
Is it a hesitancy on supportinglocal?
What do you hear when you speakwith these companies?
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I hear paralysis.
So the thing that I've observedfrom a lot of the leaders we're
talking to is they're superexcited about technology.
You can't turn on the news, youcan't go to a barbecue, you
can't be sitting on thesidelines of a rink at your
kid's hockey game withouthearing that you need to be
using technology in yourbusiness, but the problem that
happens is that companies haveno clue where to start, and so
(14:43):
there's just so much noise now,and even if you think about some
of the challenges that havebeen created from AI, some of
the challenges that have beencreated from some of these, like
automated marketing and etcetera, et cetera, there's so
much noise coming at thesebuyers that they just simply opt
out or they get paralyzed, andso I think that the overwhelming
sentiment that I'm hearing isthat I know I need to do
(15:03):
something, like everyone istelling me that if I don't
implement AI under a business,we'll be out of business in five
years.
But where do I even start?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
So the risk of not starting at all, though, is
facing irrelevancy, businessloss, all of those factors.
So starting, though, is thebiggest first step.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah, and I'm sure you could even apply that to
other frameworks in personallife, right, where, if sometimes
the decision becomes so bigthat the hard part becomes
making the decision, and so theability to have someone that has
been through it before sitbeside you and help guide you
through that is becoming moreand more important.
Yeah, absolutely.
I'll jump on your grocery storeanalogy, because I just had the
(15:42):
opportunity to do a talk atMesh and we shared this analogy
of going to a grocery store.
Everyone's been groceryshopping, everyone has looked
for the Canadian flag on there.
If you were going to the grocerystore and you all of a sudden,
on the way there, hear thisradio ad that these 14
ingredients that you get are nowtoxic, if you eat these or
ingest these, you and everyoneyou're cooking for will perish.
(16:02):
The way you go to a grocerystore changes, and if you go
into the grocery store, you'restarting to look at every label,
you're starting to examineeverything, and all those
decisions become superoverwhelming.
And then if you add, all of asudden, every single product in
the store now has a salespersonthat's trying to capitalize on
this, that you know, the fivedifferent types of loaves of
bread you buy all have a personstanding beside them telling you
(16:23):
why the bread is awesome.
You're just gonna like ordertakeout every night.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, like you're just not participating in the
grocery store anymore.
My wife and I use an app.
When we go to the grocery storewe actually scan every barcode
oh, that's yeah yeah, so we lookinto that for the score and the
ranking and what are theingredients and okay, I guess
we're not having that productanymore because we've just
learned something new.
So yeah, we're very informationdriven when it comes to buying
products and then supportinglocal on top of that too.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
That's amazing, but I feel like you're the first
person to turn around thequestions on me.
That's okay.
But so, from that standpointthen, what are you hearing?
So that's what I'm hearing frommy vantage point, which is
working with a lot of theseleaders the analysis paralysis.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
that's definitely a factor.
The speed in which technologyis developing and evolving is so
fast that it's I get it, I cansee how it can be very difficult
to say if we just wait anothermonth or another quarter,
there's going to be some new.
Ai technology that's going tobe developed.
And so, if we've subscribed tothis software, if we've
implemented this technology, howdo we adapt and adopt?
Speaker 1 (17:21):
And now we've got vibe coding, which by the time
this podcast is released,everyone's going to know what
vibe coding is.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
But no, I was sitting down with my wife talking about
okay, if you could create anyapp, what would you want to
create?
And she goes okay, I'd love totake photos of all the clothes
in my closet and I'd love, inthe morning when I wake up, it
could just give me a coupleoptions that I could wear.
And I said, okay, maybe wecould add in a weather component
so it would know the weather,and maybe it integrates with
your calendar and it knowsyou're going to be in an
important meeting today, so it'sgoing to give a more
(17:48):
professional outfit for you andsuddenly using a particular
platform and I'm building it,I'm just speaking to it and it's
developing right there live.
So it's fascinating to see that.
But I think, even thoughtechnology is moving so quickly,
that inability to make adecision and start just go from
zero to one another tech termgoing zeros and ones.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
It's a great book, but yeah, a great book too.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
So I think you do have to get in and get involved
and get your team in yourcompany.
More tech literate educationawareness, talking about what's
out there and what are theopportunities to help leverage
technology in your company.
More tech literate educationawareness, talking about what's
out there and what are theopportunities to help leverage
technology in your job yeah,First of all, I would buy that
app.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
So sign me up.
I feel like that's aconversation that I have where
I'm the person that gets franticabout it.
Though I look at the, do I havea podcast?
Do I have a meeting?
What do I wear today?
And I spend far too much timethinking about that.
So please sign me up.
But that idea of education is areally important one, Because I
think that things are moving soquickly that if I'm a leader in
(18:47):
the space, how do I keep up?
What are the programs?
And, once again, in thatanalysis, paralysis I can Google
or type into ChatGPT or however.
I'm getting information thesedays AI training and I get 400
different options, and so Ithink that we're going to
probably get a little bittheoretical here.
But the idea of trust as wellwhat do I know what's good
(19:08):
information and what do I knowwhat's bad information?
And that idea of evaluation isbecoming really challenging.
So how are you seeing that kindof come through?
And even some of the ventureseither you're supporting or the
ecosystem that you're part of,Does that topic of trust come up
a lot?
Speaker 2 (19:22):
It does and when we see that validation of knowing
so, to the comment I madeearlier about companies that are
looking for that validation andthey want to know that someone
very respectful and successfulhas used that technology and
that's what they're implementingbecause they're looking for
that qualification.
They're looking for that casestudy to say, all right, who did
(19:44):
you use, where did you work andhow was it successful?
To help them understand whattheir ROI could be, to make sure
that they're making the rightdecision, to know that this is a
trusted product that's in thecommunity that they can work
with.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
So I think that becomes a factor, that level of
trust and knowing throughaffinity who else is working and
using that particulartechnology.
Yeah, in Calgary very much sois sometimes in city too.
Who's done this first, and I'msure you've heard that narrative
before.
Especially in some largeenterprise, they're very quick
to adopt something, but there'sa challenge of who adopts it
first.
Yeah, yeah, and so I think thatidea of trust definitely builds
(20:20):
on that.
What are some of the otherchallenges or roadblocks that
you see as companies are lookingto kind of bring some of those
platforms to market in thatcorporate space here in Calgary?
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Yeah, that's a great question Getting those
introductions.
It starts with makingconnections and part of my role
is to help facilitate that.
It starts with makingconnections and part of my role
is to help facilitate that.
It's just to say, if I'mspeaking with one of our larger
clients and understanding whatsome of their problems and pain
points are is trying to find away to connect a dot to someone
else, and that could be acorporate venture capital arm
(20:58):
that's looking to invest becausethere's a strategic opportunity
that could help solve abusiness problem for them.
You can look at a largeconstruction company, a
development company, and say,okay, what's that?
Prop tech contact, a contactconstruction technology solution
that could be useful for us.
So I think helping out withintroductions and understanding
the customer's pain points andwhat they're going through is
really important because, at theend of the day, if we're not
solving the problem, then whatare we doing?
So I like to take a morecustomer centric approach.
(21:19):
Whether it's with a startup ora scale-up company or a large
client.
It's just understanding wheretheir pain points are.
What are you going through,what are you dealing with and
then, all right, so what are thesolutions that are available
and how can we make thoseintroductions?
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Do you think that's the skill set or that's the gap
that's in my center right now?
Is that kind of that listeningand that understanding of what
that attachment context is?
It's not about the productnecessarily.
It's about the paint, and Ithink we've had this discussion
before where people sometimesfall in love with the product,
not the problem they're solving.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Yeah, yeah, and I'm in a really unique position
where I'm not looking to sellany particular product Just.
Switzerland.
I'm in Switzerland in this I'veused that example before I'm
not in any particular serviceline within KPMG.
I want to support all of themequally, so that's why I want to
take that really client andcustomer centric approach.
What is it that you are dealingwith?
(22:07):
What is your immediate painpoint and what's the solution?
There might be a solution thatwe could provide, but we'll make
referrals to otherorganizations that are out there
to say what?
At your stage, you're a littlebit earlier stage or this is a
specialty that I think one ofour folks that we know in the
community that we work with.
We would make that introductionand say this would probably be
best for you to work togetherthere, and so having a referral
(22:28):
network and a group to say let'sget you to the right person is
really important.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
So I want to talk about KPMG a little bit and I
think your role specifically,because I feel like the role
that you have is very unique.
It is and I think that, even asyou describe what you did at
the beginning of our episode,it's okay.
Now I probably understand atiny bit more exactly what you
do on a day-to-day basis, but ittakes a special organization to
play the long game like that,Because I think we can say that
your role is not about how do Iturn a ranch tomorrow.
(22:56):
It's how do we invest in thecommunity so that in 5, 10, 15
years that you've built up acommunity, all ships rise at the
same time.
Is that a unique role in theecosystem?
Are you seeing other thingslike that, or is that a unique
position that KPMG is taking?
Speaker 2 (23:12):
It is a unique role.
I'm not familiar with any otherthat's quite like it in the
country.
There could be elsewhere in theworld.
The long play that you said isexactly right.
It is a long-term investment.
It is a focus on supporting ourdiversification of our economy.
We have an incredibleleadership team at our office
that believes in the future ofCalgary and the province and
(23:34):
when we look at, let's say,junior oil and gas and building
up relationships with thoseindividuals that have grown
massive companies now and havebeen incredibly successful, we
were there in the beginning.
We were forging thoserelationships and working and
supporting early days, which ledto something very big, and so
our team feels that there'ssomething very similar happening
in the tech ecosystem, that weare in those junior oil and gas
(23:55):
days in the tech sector that wewant to be a part of and we want
to support.
So I am very fortunate to be inthe role that I'm in and
luckily it fits with mypersonality and my skill set.
And I said earlier, half mybrain's a marketing side and the
other half is a sales andbusiness development side, and
the term I've used for manyyears in my previous life was
marketing is bringing those twotogether.
(24:15):
When sales and marketing worktogether really well, it can be
very effective.
I've never heard that term.
I might steal it it's marketing.
Please do yes marketing.
So just before KPNG, I was at atech startup for two years
growing and scaling that acrossthe prairies, and before that,
just over 13 years in realestate and community development
across Western Canada.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
And so community marketing and marketing, that's
all part of your DNA.
That's it, yeah communities.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I've literally developed, sold, marketed actual
communities that people havelived in, and now we have the
community at large, the tech andinnovation community.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
I feel like there's a tagline, it's like from
physical communities to I don'tknow.
Your marketing brain probablydoes that one better.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
From the physical to the meta.
Oh, my goodness, there we go.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Trademarked, yeah goodness, there we go, trademark
.
But to build that kind ofinnovation, your role in essence
is an innovation within KPMG tosay, okay, we see this
opportunity, we're going to peelthis orange a little bit
different.
How does that innovation fabric?
Because KPMG is not a smallorganization right, it's a
fairly large startup.
There we go.
There's your euphemism check.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
I feel like I'm actually a startup within the
organization.
Because it's so novel Workingwith this community because,
again, we're not sellingservices to startups.
That's not the goal.
The goal is to build arelationship, connect them, help
them grow so that when theybecome and I can't mention the
names- but, the very largecompanies that we do work with
(25:37):
in the country that we'vedeveloped that support, and
there's certain companies thatwe've been there from their very
first pitch and they've exitedor they've IPO'd.
So I think that's thatopportunity that we want to
nurture and work with.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
But it's a special opportunity that you have.
But how do you remainautonomous in a large
organization and how does thatculture get created?
A large organization, and howdoes that culture get created If
I'm a large oil and gas companyin Calgary?
Let's pick something that'stopical and I'm looking to
replicate some of the success ofcreating something innovative
within my own organization thatisn't slowed down by our we'll
(26:10):
call it bureaucracy, by thelarge organization.
What are the tips that youwould have that have helped
create your ecosystem withinKPMG to allow you some of the
autonomy and some of theflexibility to do the things you
need to do to be innovative andcreative?
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Innovative and creative.
Those are the two big points,and I'm just thinking of sitting
down, being client-centric,coming up with, and you've got
to have an understanding ofwhat's out there.
You have to know who's outthere, who's doing what.
Why do I attend all the eventsand conferences and post on
LinkedIn?
The way I do is I'm constantlyresearching who are the
companies, who are the sectors,where's the growth and
(26:47):
opportunity, so that I can makethose introductions and bring
those up in conversation.
And then being creative aboutthings too, and just trying to
connect the dots.
I'm constantly going oh there'ssomeone here that I think would
be really great to help solvethat problem.
I wish I could turn that intomy own AI and just get that into
a computer and help leveragethat, but at the moment a lot of
it is sitting up here.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Yeah, at least you have the right initial for it.
Get it artificially in there,it could work.
So we have a mutual friend whohas also been on the podcast
Lindsey.
Smiley who shared an analogythat I love.
But do you think that's what'sbeing created with your role in
(27:27):
the group that you're running,which is you have this tanker,
which is KPMG, and the abilityto deploy these little
speedboats?
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Is that kind of the structure that you think works,
and we also should mention thatwe were on a panel together at
the Calgary Chamber, I moderateda panel.
The funniest, the fun and funnypanel.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
The fun and funny.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
It was meant to be some good jokes there, and we
did crack a number of dad jokes.
It's interesting I normallyalways have my key cards on the
side of me to gain access to thebuilding.
So I have two office locations,one in Bow Valley Square and
one at Platform, Calgary, and ifI could pull up the key cards,
it would be the perfect time todo that.
I have a sticker on each oneand for the KPMG card, I have a
(28:05):
giant ship.
I have a giant ship.
I have a giant ship, and why?
Because we're a largeorganization.
There's safety and security inknowing that it's a large
organization, but speedobviously is a different factor
in a large organization to asmaller one.
And then on the other key card,I have a rocket ship to be that
reminder of.
Yeah, I'm involved in acommunity where there's
companies that are moving fastbut they're also potentially
(28:26):
dangerous.
Right, they might not last, andI was at a company that the
same thing happened, where itdidn't quite make it, but it was
a great learning opportunity.
So that tanker and speedboat Ilive that every single day.
And when I think of thatconcept I also think of when
people talk about disrupting anindustry.
That's a word that I have takenout of my vocabulary.
(28:47):
An industry that's a word thatI have taken out of my
vocabulary.
I don't like using the worddisruption, because I believe
what companies should be lookingto do is innovating and working
with industries not saying, hey, we want to do this and totally
disrupt it.
The odds of that happening isreally low.
Buy a lottery ticket.
You probably got a better oddsof becoming the next Uber or
Airbnb.
So instead, look to the industrythat you're wanting to innovate
(29:11):
with, because those companiesmight be the ones that could be
your exit.
They could acquire you.
That's a pilot opportunity.
That's an opportunity to learn,Whether you're in construction
or legal or wherever.
The idea should be aboutcollaborating and innovating
together, because that's what'sgoing to get the best result in
the end.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
And I love that you shared that idea of
collaborating as well, because Ifeel like there's so many
people that feel like they needto do these things in a secret,
dark cave and unleash them asthey're perfect and the ability
to work with industry hand inhand, the ability to work with a
community to develop in publicalmost.
I feel sometimes and maybe thisis from a legal standpoint it's
a terrible advice, but I feellike building as a community is
(29:56):
so much more fun and so muchmore rewarding and better than
trying to do something off tothe side all by yourself.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Yeah, I agree, and it doesn't have to be everything's
open source, but collaboratingwith industry working together,
there's just a lot ofopportunity to work together and
solve those problems.
I also look in organizations forentrepreneurship opportunities
for and in some ways I'm a bitof an entrepreneur within the
organization it's great tofoster an innovation culture, to
(30:20):
have people think creativelyand come up with ideas.
And if you're going to fail,fast, but at least you tried.
Because again, if you don't gothat zero to one, you won't know
you won't advance.
And if you're going to fail,fast, but at least you tried.
Because again, if you don't gothat zero to one, you won't know
you won't advance.
And if you get it wrong, that'sokay.
Learn from that Pivot, movequickly and on to the next thing
.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
There's a really interesting podcast episode with
I don't know if you're familiarwith Dr Astro Tellerhot Lab and
he shares this reallyinteresting story around.
If you're trying to build a andI'm going to butcher this as
well but if you're trying tobuild a Cirque du Soleil act,
where there's a monkey jugglingon top of a giant 80 foot tower,
everyone always focuses onbuilding that 80 foot tower
(31:03):
first, and then they get ninemonths down the road and they've
built this magnificent towerand then it's okay, now we need
to train a monkey how to juggle,and they save the hard stuff at
the end to not fail fastbecause they want to be able to
show progress.
Is that one of the fabricswhere you're seeing either
whether it be corporateentrepreneurship programs,
whether it be startup founders,et cetera the ability to fail
(31:24):
fast and learn if the monkey canjuggle first?
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Yeah, and you have a safe space to do that, you have
a space that you can, yeah, failquickly and learn from that.
It's funny.
We've got space in thebackground here, but there's
examples with NASA where they'vebuilt the technology but not
the software and they've shippedit and then, by the way, we're
going to upload that softwareover time because, yeah, we
weren't there yet with thetechnology, but we knew we would
be in the future.
(31:47):
That's a great analogy for theidea that companies can start
developing and putting thatinnovation first mindset into
employees.
And yeah, we might not havethat technology here today, but
we're working towards that.
And again, we talked about StarTrek, Star Wars.
It's just, it's having animagination and creativity and
foresight into believing thatthis is going to come down the
(32:10):
road.
So I'm a big fan of those typesof thinking.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
So as and I'm just making the giant leap here that
I feel like we're both a littlebit of sci-fi nerds at heart,
we're entering an era whereimagination becomes a little bit
of the secret sauce.
Oh, I love that you're talkingabout this Creativity,
imagination.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
This is so critical.
Let's build on that too,because the phrase knowledge is
power it's so wrong.
Applied knowledge is power,right, the application of that.
So there's so much knowledgeand information that exists, so
how do we apply it?
And that's where we bring inthat imagination and creativity
and how we're going to applythat.
Asking my wife what would youdo if you built an app?
(32:49):
What would that look like?
And suddenly there's somethingnet new that we've created.
What's a problem or issue thatyou're dealing with, that your
clients are dealing with?
And let's get creative aboutsolving that.
And, yeah, do the really crazywild future thought and then
start to backtrack from thereand go okay, what are the steps
that would take in order to getto that?
What would be that solution?
Speaker 1 (33:09):
I agree completely, like we are in an era right now
where the how actually isn'tthat hard.
The hard part right the.
You built, you had yourclothing app and you put it into
one of the one of the platforms.
It's like I was going to startnaming them, and I feel like we
could have an episode on thattoo, that's true, but the
technology isn't the hard partanymore.
It's the creativity, it's thepeople, it's the story, and I
(33:30):
feel like that is incrediblyexciting and unlocking, because
the guardrails are off and wecan do some really cool things.
I feel like there's also somereally scary things that happen,
and I won't turn this into theepisode of what's hiding around
the corner.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
That's true although for the season finale episode,
maybe you want a bit of a hookfor the next season.
Maybe we need a cliffhangermoment.
Maybe we need a cliffhanger,cliffhanger moment, yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
And then we can have you back in season two and we
can just leave people hangingacross the summer.
If there's one thing thatpeople need to take away from
this episode and there's twopersonas that I want to focus on
the first is, if I'm a businessleader, I'm that feeling that I
know I need to use technology.
I know that it's important.
I have no clue where to getstarted From your perspective,
(34:13):
like, very practically, what aresome of the first things that I
could do to start to either getcomfortable around it, to start
to make meaningful progress,just so I can start to put
myself in a headspace to moveforward?
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Two things I'm going to give you two things.
The first is something myfather said at our wedding he
quoted Ted Lasso, who quotedWalt Whitman Be curious, not
judgmental.
Be curious.
Curiosity, I think, is reallycritical right now.
Be curious about what's outthere, Don't be afraid of it.
(34:45):
Now, a good amount of fear isimportant, Treating things with
some skepticism andunderstanding things.
Questioning is always reallyimportant, but just be curious
about what is out there to helpsolve your problems.
And the second is creativity.
I think that is such a criticalpart.
It's something that I love.
It's one of my skills that Ireally enjoy being creative
(35:06):
about problem solving In yourorganization.
If you're a leader of people,foster that creativity with your
team members.
Have them think outside the box.
Have them be creative about.
If we could solve this problemin any way you want, how would
it be?
And having diverse teams inyour organization are really
important to have diversity ofthought.
(35:26):
Someone could be coming from adifferent culture or background
or history and they might have asolution to a problem because
of that diversity of thought.
So that creativity just adds.
You just get more creative in ateam when you have more people
that are thinking creativelyDoes that calculus change when
you think about an enterpriseleader?
Speaker 1 (35:44):
So if you think business leader for a mid-sized
organization to CMO of largeinsert oil and gas company, does
that calculus change or arethose two ingredients the same
thing that they're going to needto be able to move their
organization?
Speaker 2 (36:00):
forward.
I think you want to leveragethe people that are around you,
whether they're from outside theorganization or within.
But I think you want to makesure you're surrounding yourself
with those attributes in peopleto be curious and to be
creative, so that pressure forone person to be everything to
everyone, that doesn't alwayshappen, that's not the case.
Someone who's maybe moreanalytical might not feel as
(36:20):
creative.
But surround yourself withpeople that are thinking that
way.
That can add to theconversation and you're not
surrounding yourself with justhearing that echo chamber and
hearing the same thing over andover.
So have diversity in the peoplethat are around you so you can
get an outsider's perspective.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
I love it?
And what about from a startupperspective?
So if I'm someone that has agreat idea, if I want to get
started with building out thatidea, or building out my own
company, or get started on thatentrepreneurial journey, what
words of wisdom would you havefor them?
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Know that it's going to be challenging, that it is
not going to be the headlinesand an easy ride.
There are going to bechallenges along the way and
it's if you're on social mediaand you just see the nice photos
of someone on a vacation orlifestyle, great, it isn't
actually like that.
So just know that you're goingto be in for a ride and that the
(37:11):
most important quality foranyone that's in that is going
to be grit and perseverance isgetting through it.
So look to organizations andsupport groups that are out
there mentors, advisors, peoplethat are trusted.
I want to shout out to theVenture Mentoring Services of
Alberta and many other groupsthat are out there that can help
.
(37:33):
Earlier I was listingAccelerator and Incubator
Program.
Cdl Rockies is anotherorganization.
So there's lots of folks outthere that want to help and
support you, and that's part ofthe thing that I love most about
being here in Calgary when Imoved from BC to here.
I was born and raised in theOkanagan.
I just love the people here.
I thought they were just sohelpful and I knew it by being
on a bus or a train.
People were talking to oneanother and very open and oh,
let me connect you with thisperson, that person.
(37:54):
So I think that's important isto be around people that want to
help, support you, and it takesa village.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
Yeah, I actually didn't know that you grew up in
the Okanagan, because I alsogrew up in the Okanagan.
Oh, did you really?
Speaker 2 (38:03):
Yeah, Okay yeah.
Mount Bushiri.
You were in Mount Bushiri.
I grew up in Lakeview Heights.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
Oh, there you go yeah , so I was just down the road.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
McCartney Road actually was.
Oh my goodness, yeah, so I wasborn in Pentixson, grew up in
Kelowna and then livedthroughout the Okanagan, all the
way into Lake CountryPractically neighbors yeah,
practically neighbors.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
I feel like I could ask you 100 more questions and I
know that we're starting tocome up on time here.
But from a Calgary perspective,what are the things that you
see coming ahead for us, for theCalgary ecosystem?
I know it's an incrediblyexciting time.
What are some of the boldpredictions you have about
Calgary and our technologycommunity?
Speaker 2 (38:48):
That we're going to see that next evolution of those
many startups that are outthere scaling and growing their
business and going internationaland attracting more attention
and focus on the city.
So, outside investors, venturecapital, more private equity
investment into the city, Ithink we're going to see more
family offices and high networth individuals getting more
involved in investing in ourcity in progress.
I'm excited for data centers.
That's going to be reallyfascinating for the province.
(39:09):
I think we could have a reallyunique opportunity and a
competitive advantage for accessto compute, reducing latency
and price potentially too.
We'll see where policy comes infor opportunities to help
support these companies, becausecompute is going to be a big
thing in the future.
So, yeah, maybe that could be abig attractor for a tech
company elsewhere in the worldto say, hey, this is the best
(39:29):
place in the world for you tostart and grow your business
here in Alberta.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Amazing If you were to wave a magic wand and have
one thing come true the oldmagic wand question if you were
to have one thing come truearound the Alberta tech
ecosystem.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
I think my biggest thing is I would just love for
everyone in the city to knowmore about the companies that
are here.
I just think that's the bigthing and just getting back to
marketing brain and justpromoting and thinking about
that.
And yes, on the sales side too,I'd love them to work with one
another and subscribe to thosesoftwares and to implement them.
(40:04):
I just think awareness isreally key.
Get to know those companies.
If you're tapping your card atthe grocery store or you're
looking to implement atechnology in your company, get
to know what's out there, justin our own backyard.
So that would be.
My big thing is I want peopleto know more about the companies
that are here.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
I love it and.
I'll have to give a shout outto Tyler big billboard.
So I feel like I might'veripped off that question.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
So thank you, Tyler.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Final question of the day, and this is the real hard
hitter.
This episode is releasing ourseason finale on July 7th yes,
our first day of Stampede.
Yes, words of wisdom for peoplethat are embarking on Stampede
today.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
Oh, yeah, so this is one that I learned very late in
the game.
When I moved to Calgary, Ibought a pair of used cowboy
boots in Vancouver at a thriftstore.
Big mistake and I wore them foryears and I begrudgingly walked
through Stampede in very sorefeet.
It was only recently that Ipurchased a pair of custom-made
(41:03):
cowboy boots.
They are definitely worth theinvestment, so I'm very happy
with my custom cowboy boots forStampede.
I think proper footwear isreally critical for Stampede
there you go.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
That's a very sensible recommendation.
It's a sensible answer.
Yeah, absolutely Amazing.
Thank you so much for joiningus today, Ian.
If someone wanted to learn more, if they heard what you said
today and they wanted to pickyour brain or ask you questions,
what's the best way for them toget in touch with you with KPMG
?
Yeah, I think you probably knowthe answer I'm going to say is
LinkedIn.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
Feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn.
I'm pretty active on there.
If you're also looking to justfollow for news and information
and sharing great stories ofcompanies that are out there,
please feel free to follow andconnect with me on LinkedIn.
And, keith, I just got to sayyou have one of the best voices
for podcasts.
For anyone that's out therelistening, you've probably got
to admit that this has just beena great sounding podcast as
(41:51):
well, so hopefully there's beena lot of information too.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
The questions were terrible, but the audience was
fantastic.
No, disagree, the questions arefantastic, so thank you Amazing
.
Thank you so much and reallyappreciate having you on, ian.
Thanks so much, keith.
Thank you, cheers.
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