BCBusiness

13 B C B U S I N E S S . C A A P R I L 2 0 24 "Is that artist going to work in that venue?" And we got it right a lot. Is there one that got away? One that you saw early and maybe missed? No. Not really. Wow, no regrets. You hear about artists, but did I have an actual sit down or an opportunity and went, "I don't think so," and then they went on to great glory? Honestly, there was nothing direct like that. Our agency represented Nickelback, but I wasn't the guy on the ground doing it. In that instance, our business had gravitated to Toronto a bit and the Toronto people didn't believe in them, so the rest is history. A lot of the artists you're currently working with are a little older. Do you have your ear to the ground for new stuff? We do always have our ears open. We have a lot of young people who work here, and I tell them, "Listen, you keep your ear to the ground." If someone in here—even if they're in a different part of the company— believes in someone and wants to work with them, that's powerful. How often does that happen? Rarely. Recently we were lucky enough to find a group called Tiny Habits—one young person from here and two from Brooklyn— they all met at the Berklee College of Music and started singing together just for fun. Lo and behold, the harmonies are so special. They're selling out everywhere. You invested in Kapoose Creek Bio, a biotech firm on northern Vancouver Island doing research on mushrooms. Why that company? That's a big one, because I'm one of the founders of that company. I knew anecdot- ally that some of the mushroom products were helpful to people in a lot of ways. So there was an opportunity to get in at the ground level on this. Again, it turns out it was pretty naive. The plan then was to go public; companies that were similar to what we were thinking about were trading at market caps of $200 million. Then the market went away, and the business stayed private. It was challenging, but we raised a significant amount of money. Now we have a drug discovery at McMaster University led by our CEO Eric Brown—he's a Harvard- trained drug discovery guy—and an incredi- ble board of directors. It's full steam ahead. Any others you want to disclose? Well... I'm a partner in Il Giardino restau- rant. Which is fantastic. I love my partners, love the place. I'm also invested in real estate and other stuff, but the restaurant and Kapoose Creek are more hands-on. Do you envision retirement coming any time soon? When I started in the business, I remember saying to someone, "If you find me back- stage at some concert when I'm 40 years old, take me out and shoot me." And on my 40th birthday I was in Toronto with my client Art Bergman. Art was going through some issues and I was trying to get him on stage at Lee's Palace. I think I drove by the exit sign. It's that old cliché: if you retire, you die. But I think you need to have something to look forward to, something that gives you a little bit of stress. But if I didn't like what I was doing, I'd get out. Money isn't for what you're going to have, it's for what you're going to avoid. So I like what I'm doing. Your relationship with your business partner, Bruce Allen, has been rocky over the years, to the point where you moved offices and he stayed down- town. How's that relationship now? We circled back. It's been the most volatile partnership in the history of mankind, but we stayed together. And now, every Sunday when we're in town, we do a two-hour hike and review the previous week. We never used to do that. Even though we owned the company, we were competitive. It's hard— there are ups and downs. But I consider him a very good friend. This interview has been edited and condensed. PET PEEVE People mistakenly thinking I'm retired. If this is retirement, I'd hate to think what working full time looks like! HOBBY Golf—probably more of an obsession at this point. RECENT TV BINGE Le Bureau. No James Bond or Jason Bourne here—just pure suspense based on reality. MOST MEMORABLE CONCERT James Taylor and Carole King's Troubadour Reunion Tour at Madison Square Garden in 2010. An incredible catalogue of songs from two brilliant artists. GUILTY PLEASURE Great smashburgers! FAVOURITE PLACE IN B.C Any beach, but if I had to pick just one, it would be Chesterman Beach in Tofino. LAST BOOK I READ The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin. It's all about creativity and what it means to be an artist. I think he nailed the artistic process and ways to prompt it. QUICK HITS

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