Portrait: adam blasberg
I recently had coffee with an aspiring
entrepreneur, fresh out of university, and we
got talking about the kind of stories he was
interested in reading in the magazine. "What
I'd like to see is more stories about people who
are successful—explaining how they got suc-
cessful, where they came from, what those
early years were like," he told me. In short:
stories he could relate to and get inspired by.
I didn't retort "We do those kinds of stories
all the time"—though we do—but I did men-
tion this upcoming issue of BCBusiness called
Entrepreneur of the Year, where we profile
30 of B.C.'s top entrepreneurs, as selected
by an esteemed panel of business experts
pulled together by Ernst & Young (EY). This
is the 21st year that EY has run the
program, and we're always excited to
share the stories of the finalists (and
ultimate winner). Some are names
that you will know, but many are rela-
tive unknowns who are having some
serious below-the-radar impact on
their industry and our world.
Perhaps just as insightful as the
profiles themselves is the series of
questions that we ask each finalist.
Questions like: Who did you learn
the most from? When did you know
your business was a success? And
if not this, what else would you be
doing for a living? I won't ruin the
surprise as to who said what (for all
that, turn to p. 58), but I will note the
varied, and surprising, responses
to the question, "What's the most
underrated trait of an entrepre-
neur?" From humility to confidence
to "sociopathic tenacity," it clearly
takes all kinds to succeed in business.
Speaking of entrepreneurs, our second
annual 30 Under 30 issue—celebrating the
over-accomplished under-30 set—is back
next April after an outpouring of interest in
this year's list (which basically crashed our
website). From now until November 16, we
are taking submissions for people who want
to be considered for the 2015 30 Under 30
list. To nominate yourself or someone you
know, and to find out more about the pro-
gram, go to: BCBusiness.ca/30under30.
C O N T R I B U T O R S
Matt O'Grady, Editor-in-Chief
mogrady@canadawide.com / @bCbusiness
editor'sdesk
y
Vancouver photographer Carlo
Ricci ("To Die For, " p. 80) began
his career at 26 while working
in the Australian film business.
The Bologna, Italy, native picked
up a Nikon F2 and "from that
moment on I knew what I
wanted to do." In addition to
editorial work for Vancouver and
Golf Digest magazines, Ricci's
commercial clients include
Emirates and MasterCard.
AUGUST'S moST
popUlAr STorIeS
on bcbUSIneSS.cA
Lululemon's
flagship store
opening attracts big
names (photos)
How Vancouver's
traffic nightmares
hurt all of B.C.
Vancouver
Convention Centre
hosts largest
conference yet
Canada's 6 biggest
tech investments in
the last year
Mount Polley
happened. Now
what? The Greens
have an idea
/people /manufacturing-
transport
/tourism-culture /finance /natural-resources
20
BCBusiness oCtober 2014
British-born writer Nikki bayley
unearths the careful strategy
behind the Vikram Vij brand in
"Passage From India" (p. 50).
"I genuinely don't know how
he gets to whiz around to all
his businesses, show his face
at all of them, keep everybody
happy and still keep laughing, "
she says. A former music writer
and co-author of The Rough
Guide to France, Bayley is the
Vancouver editor for Eater.com.
Inside the
Winner's Circle
N e x T M O N T H
Politics! Politics! Politics!
The Gregor Brand. Lunch
with LaPointe. And "the
other Bill Bennett."
