BCBusiness

34 B C B U S I N E S S . C A S E P T E M B E R 2 0 24 L E A D E R S H I P THE GODFATHER As the lead entrepreneur-in-residence at entrepreneurship@UBC, Chang Han keeps his finger on the pulse of startup culture in B.C. A STEADY HAN Chang Han (top) has played an important role in guiding Maddie Aliasl through her entrepreneurial journey WHAT makes a good mentor? Answers to this question can vary, and seasoned mentors who are active in the field have some interesting ways of framing the responsibilities that come with the title. Chang Han, for example, thinks that being a mentor is not unlike being a godparent. "The first mentor was a person in Greek mythology whose name, literally, was Men- tor," explains Han, the lead entrepreneur- in-residence with entrepreneurship@ UBC. The program helps early-stage UBC ventures grow. "And Mentor was encour- aged—was invited, was required—by his good friend and sort-of-boss, a king, a lord of the Greek Empire, to step into the shoes of his friend and boss and become the father, teacher and counsellor to this Greek leader's son in the Greek leader's absence when he went off to war. "So the idea of mentorship, for me, is that there is an aspect of parenting that is ingrained in the word, in its origins, and that's really useful to think about in the way we use the word today." Han has helped bring several compa- nies to life in B.C. through both mentorship and by serving in C-suite positions. Right now, alongside his role at e@ UBC, he is also an instructor at BCIT and an investor with Vancouver-based genomics research orga- nization Genome BC. Last year, Han became the IP executive- in-residence with New Ventures BC. He has been involved with the nonprofit for some time now—he was one of the mentors assigned to help AbCellera in 2013, when the Vancouver biotech company entered New Venture BC's $250,000 tech startup competition. "Even though AbCellera placed second in the contest, it's broken a lot of records as a company in B.C. and Canada since then," Han says. (No kidding—AbCellera currently has a market cap of over US$800 million.) the micro- and small-cap market retreated in 2021 and '22, we put our heads down, battled back and have built an even better company," says Thompson. "Being battle- tested is part of our DNA here. No one feels like it can't be done." Indeed, by July of 2024, the company was back up over $8.50 per share. "Roger, Joe and Sabrina, they all lead with curiosity, which is really interesting," says Hadravska. "They always ask ques- tions of themselves and us... They have that inherent ability to look constantly for opportunities and the readiness to discard what we've done in the past in the name of trying a better way." Hadravska notes that, because of where the company is at in this stage of its evo- lution, the design team has both the high- level processes of a big organization and a closeness to the overall decision-making you'd get at a smaller outfit. "Over the last year and a half, I've learned more about business than I did over the rest of my career," she says. "I've been exposed to a lot of the sides of the business." For Silvey, the big similarity between Kits and Evo is the customer focus. "The experience customers get when they [buy the glasses] is so key, and we use that to drive business. If customers love the expe- rience, they're going to tell more people about it." Like for Choo, the company's found- ers played a big role in his coming over. "I was just overwhelmed by what Roger and the rest of the leadership team had done in their careers," he says. "That's why I joined. I hadn't seen that type of diverse, successful group of people leading the way anywhere else in or around Vancouver." As far as what strategy the leaders will employ to continue to grow the company, Silvey thinks it's about "cadence and con- tinual attention." "Every single day we check in, make sure we're on the right path, adjust if we need to and carry on," he says. "That cadence supports the strategy—it's amaz- ing how much you can accomplish with that." –N.C.

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