BCBusiness

October 2019 – Making Waves

With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.

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BCBUSINESS.CA R U N N E R - U P Greg Smith C E O , T H I N K I F I C L A B S n Learn video marketing, improve your memory, master speed-reading. Online courses like these, produced on the Thinkific platform, have helped more than 30,000 businesses in 150 countries reach hundreds of thousands of people. More than a decade ago, Greg Smith, then a law student at UBC, began leading a Law School Admission Test (LSAT) preparation course. He wanted to make it available online to expand his reach, better support his students and generate income. Unable to find a platform that met his needs, he built one. "I was really my own customer," says the Thinkific CEO, who heads a team of 70 in Vancouver. Thinkific is a subscription- based service that helps people create online courses and manage memberships so they can develop leads and earn money. "I think education is the most powerful force for change in the world," Smith says. "I absolutely love this intersection between education and busi- ness." –J.N.W. n Patients with chronic health issues can reduce their trips to the pharmacy thanks to Prizm Media's RxtoMe mobile app. Through the app, patients fill out a profile with their pre- scriptions, insurance information and medical details. Prizm takes over from there: the company deals with pharmacies and sup- pliers and arranges delivery right to the client's door. Co-founders Karina and Zeeshan Hayat both had family members who struggled to manage diabetes, experiences that motivated them to central- ize health-care services for chronically ill patients while also facilitating discounts and other perks. The pair, back-to-back EOY nominees, founded the company while they were still students at Douglas College. "If we can help people get the medication they need on time, and provide them with solutions that can help them improve their health outcomes, that's the ultimate reward," Karina says. Now operating in North America, 33-employee Prizm plans to launch in the U.K., with Pakistan and India to follow. –J.N.W. R U N N E R S - U P Zeeshan Hayat + Karina Hayat C O - F O U N D E R A N D C E O + C O - F O U N D E R A N D P R E S I D E N T , P R I Z M M E D I A WHAT BUSINESSPERSON DO YOU MOST ADMIRE? Warren Buffett. He remains a genuine person despite his success, and he gives back –Karina Hayat R U N N E R - U P Morgan Carey F O U N D E R A N D C E O , R E A L E S T A T E W E B M A S T E R S n Real Estate Webmasters' story is one of technological firsts in the property industry: first to bring MLS listings to bro- ker websites; first to apply virtual reality; first to use an augmented reality app. Founder and CEO Morgan Carey, a four-time EOY finalist who grew up on Vancouver Island, chases innovation to help him reach the stretch goals he's set. "There's 1.4 million realtors in the National Association of Realtors, and we only have about 60,000 on our platform," says Carey, noting that 90 percent of REW's 2,000 accounts are based in the U.S. "In three years we want to get to 5,000 unique accounts and 200,000 users," adds the Vancouver Island University alumnus. With a staff of 150 in REW's Nanaimo and Vancouver offices, Carey is eyeing expansion into Europe in 2020, as well as acqui- sitions. "We're approaching $150 million in aggregate rev- enue," he explains. "We're now at the size that we want to buy other companies." –J.N.W. OCTOBER 2019 BCBUSINESS 41

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