BCBusiness

PORTRAIT: ADAM BLASBERG 10 BCBUSINESS JUNE 2019 I blame the in-laws for this one. Ever since they bought a cliside waterfront home on the Sunshine Coast a few years back, and extended an open invitation to join them in its mountain-view cove for a dinner of freshly caught crab, my wife and I have had vacation property on the brain. We love living in the city, but wouldn't it be nice to have our own cabin somewhere, preferably on a beach? Apparently we're not alone. In "A Cabin in the Woods" (p.30), Guy Saddy delves into B.C.'s recreational property market, which looks to be on an upswing. Besides expert commentary on the dos and don'ts of purchasing a vacation home, this guide includes snapshots of prime boltholes from around the province, in loca- tions with varying degrees of wildness. Which brings me to our cover subject. You may be wondering why Aman Mann, co-founder and CEO of Procurify, chose to dress up as a sloth for his portrait. Rest assured that there's a perfectly good explanation, starting on page 24. For "Sexy Beast," associate edi- tor Nathan Caddell hung out with Mann and other members of the team at Vancouver-based Procurify, an upstart maker of purchasing soft- ware whose investors include U.S. billionaire Mark Cuban. Sloth suit or not, the company represents what I hope will become a trend in the B.C. tech sector: innovators that attract capital and keep building their business here, rather than sell to a foreign buyer or pack their bags for Silicon Valley. Procurify may not be a household name yet, but there's no shortage of them in our latest B.C.'s Most Loved Brands ranking (p.43). As always, we're grateful to research partner Ipsos for conducting the survey for the list, which gives each of the 70 brands a score to determine how much it connects with consumers. In the 2019 ranking, for the šrst time, we also look at how political leanings factor into peo- ple's preferences. Left, right or somewhere in between, there's a brand for you. Thanks to a national honour, the BCBusiness brand recently enjoyed a bump. Contributor Frances Bula took gold in the personal šnance and investing category of the SABEW Canada Best in Business awards, sponsored by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. You can šnd her winning story, "Go Out On Top," a guide to retirement and succes- sion planning for entrepreneurs that appeared in the June 2018 issue, on our website. Congrat- ulations, Frances. Nick Rockel, Editor-in-Chief bcb@canadawide.com / @BCBusiness ( editor's desk ) The Top 100 celebrates 30 years of our signature networking event I N J U LY/AUG U ST Cabin Fever C ON T R I B U T OR S As executive VP for Ipsos's Western Canada division, Mike Rodenburgh leads a 30-strong team specializing in marketing, loyalty and advertising research. With more than 20 years of experience under his belt, he again turned his attention to the B.C.'s Most Loved Brands survey (p.43). "Building a great brand requires everyone in an organization to be aligned with the same values and objectives," Rodenburgh says. Vancouver-based Adam Blasberg owned his first camera when he was 10 years old. It wasn't until his 20s, though, that he decided to pursue photography as a career. "My favourite people to photograph are those with so much character and confidence that they refuse to be photographed unless they're wearing a sloth suit," Blasberg says of shooting Procurify CEO Aman Mann ("Sexy Beast," p.24).

• Cover