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.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/771840
BCBUSINESS.CA company, and we are disrupting our category based on a new way of delivering our solution. The third thing is business model. We moved to a subscrip- tion model—we converted 90 per cent of our business in one year to subscription, which in software land was fairly enor- mous and also quite fast. What's with all the moose? The office has moose every- where, from a statue to wall motifs and plush toys. We "put the moose on the table," which is like the ele- phant in the corner of the room. It's about extreme transparency in being able to talk about good stu and uncomfortable stu . So there's moose all over this place. "Put the moose on the table"—we say it all the time. It's a huge, huge, huge part of our culture. This whole building is all about open. Everybody's opinion matters equally, and everybody's little piece of real estate matters equally, so we're all in an open environment. The company car is a 1972 Gran Torino painted ACL purple. How did that come about? It's kind of about attitude. It's kind of about comeback. It's kind of unexpected. So if you see this big, monstrous 1972 Gran Torino driving down the street, that's ours. Employ- ees just rent it out: take it to church, go get some groceries, pick up their kids at the airport. It's become this really great part of our culture. We're all proud as hell about that car. In fact, we're actually hiring people because of that car right now. It's hilarious to see, but it's unpretentious, it's big and purple, and it's this cool little symbol of the transformation that we've made as a startup. Just as we've breathed new life into this car, this company feels like a fresh, brand new place. In 2015 you and other ACL executives rappelled down a 30-storey building dressed as superheroes. What inspired you to do that? We had a bet with our sales organization that if they hit a certain target, they could throw their leaders o a 30-storey building—and well, they hit their numbers. It was really quite ter- rifying. I'm so glad we did it. As a leader it's about facing what you don't know and making prom- ises you don't know how to keep and then spending every living moment living up to your word. So rappelling down that building as Spider-Man was a pretty cool way to feel close to employees and also celebrate a great accom- plishment by doing something that is pretty much completely ridiculous. TOP 10 ACL MARKETS FEBRUARY 2017 BCBUSINESS 23 SOURCE: ACL SERVICES (BY NUMBER OF CLIENTS) UNITED STATES 2,401 BRAZIL 365 CANADA 348 GERMANY 221 ARGENTINA 216 FRANCE 216 AUSTRALIA 212 JAPAN 192 SOUTH AFRICA 187 Client: HELIJET / Size: 7.1875" x 4.9375" / CMYK / BC Business A 3,000-FOOT VIEW OF TRAVEL COSTS BETWEEN VANCOUVER AND THE ISLAND. With reliable winter service, the most convenient schedule, free parking, and no extra costs, we provide the best overall value for travel between Victoria, Vancouver and Nanaimo. And, your kids fl y free* on Helijet. helijet.com | @helijet | helijet | 1.800.665.4354 *one child 12 and under fl ies free with each accompanying adult fare purchased. Additional children $79 one-way including tax. Does not apply to unaccompanied children. For a complete list of complimentary services visit helijet.com ALL INCLUDED WHEN YOU FLY HELIJE T NO CHARGE FOR BAGGAGE FREE PARKING FREE SHUTTLE NO EXTRA FEES RELIABLE WINTER SERVICE COMPLIMENTARY FOOD & BEVERAGES