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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/347582
28 BCBusiness August 2014 cHRis tHORn (MeReDitH POWeLL) H aving skipped four grades in high school and earned a UBC commerce degree by the age of 18, it's fair to assume that Brian Wong is an entrepreneur in a hurry. Wong, 24, is the founder and CEO of Kiip, a Silicon Valley-based company that rewards customers via the apps they use after they've reached certain mile- stones: log enough miles on a running app, for example, and you can redeem points for a music download. Wong has already received nearly $16 million in venture capital funding and he's constantly pitching for more investors. Achieve. Get rewarded. Set another milestone. It's the business model behind his company, but his big idea is something slower, less upwardly mobile. everyone wants everything instantly, and that desire was really crucial for our company. We don't want people to have to do more to get things. Just you living your life is doing enough. The pattern of behaviour we wanted to create was some- thing that augments, facilitates and makes more ef cient the way we live our lives. It's the whole basis of being rewarded. As a younger CEO, I don't always get that the person I've hired has a wife or a husband who also deserves their time—that they have in-laws, anniversa- ries, vacations that can't be cancelled. When you're young, you think: I work seven days a week, why doesn't everyone else do that? We have employ- ees of all ages and one of the biggest lessons I've learned, the big idea, is that there is a loyalty in prior generations that is something my generation really needs to understand. We have short attention spans nowa- days. It's dif cult for people to commit. We get distracted, but when it comes down to it, if you have loyalty and a foundation, you have something to build on. It's not just taking an idea; it's having people who believe in it. That's something that only comes with time and loyalty. Younger generations need to value loyalty and experience. M Y B I g I D e a M eredith Powell, 37, has founded three brand management and PR agencies in the fashion industry, helping to get exposure for Swedish and Australian designers from the likes of Vogue magazine, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom. Her com- pany Powell and Co. Showroom (since sold) had o ces in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and Vancouver, where one of her corporate neighbours was Ryan Holmes, then launching a little company called Hootsuite. Today the pair is working together on Powell's next venture, The Next Big Thing, which aims to help young entrepreneurs reach the next level by providing them workspace in Hootsuite as well as grant funding and mentorships. Launching a sales agency for the fashion business in Vancouver— where your clients are Aussies and Swedes—everyone thought it couldn't be done, that we were crazy. The only people who would give me any money was Gulf & Fraser Credit Union on East Hastings; they gave me a $100,000 line of credit. I told them, "I know what's going to be popular, I know what's going to sell"—and enough people believed me that I was able to start. I didn't have the schooling and I didn't have the hookups. I would cold- call Vogue and tell them we had some awesome brands and I would send them samples and they used them. Over and over, I would just reach out to people and the thing that was different, that was going to sell, I was able to identify before they knew it themselves. It's not teachable and you can't go to school to learn it. You have to trust yourself that you're right. MereDItH poWeLL Co-founder, The Next Big Thing Trusting your fi rst instinct is the key to success. M Y B I g I D e a 28 BCBusiness August 2014 living your life is doing enough. The pattern of behaviour we wanted to create was some- thing that augments, facilitates and makes more ef cient the way we live our lives. It's the whole basis of being rewarded. As a younger get that the person I've hired has a wife or a husband who also deserves their time—that they have in-laws, anniversa- ries, vacations that can't be cancelled. When you're young, be popular, I know what's going to sell"—and enough people believed me that I was able to start. I didn't and you can't go to school to learn it. You have to trust yourself that you're right. BrIan Wong Founder, Kiip BrIan Wong Fo