Jordan Boesch, 7shifts
Jordan Boesch, 7shifts. Photo by David Carter Photography.
Jordan Boesch is the founder and CEO of Saskatoon’s 7shifts, a labour management platform that helps restaurants manage their workforce. The company began as a simple tool to help Jordan’s dad manage the work schedule at his Quiznos franchises. That humble beginning has turned into one of the leading restaurant labor management platforms.
7shifts is used by over 20,000 restaurants worldwide and trusted by over 500,000 restaurant professionals. Boesch is on a mission to simplify labour management and improve performance for restaurants.
What’s the most important risk you took?
“In 2014, pivoting 7shifts to focus 100 per cent on restaurants. At the time, it meant isolating some of our customer base. It was scary, as we did lose a bit of traction, but we recovered quickly and soon major investments started taking place in the restaurant space. As it turns out, our change of focus was perfectly timed as far as the market was concerned.”
What qualities are lacking among today’s leaders?
“Radical candor and vision-selling. Most might think of radical candor as having “hard” conversations, but they’re not really hard, it’s just that most people are scared of confrontation. I believe confrontation, when done correctly, is just problem solving with someone and the term confrontation has a negative undertone to it. I prefer the term ‘radical candor.’ Radical candor is defined by Kim Scott as ‘caring personally’ and ‘challenging directly.’ Meaning, you don’t beat around the bush on the point you’re trying to get to, but you also aren’t a jerk about it. You approach in a very direct and caring way.
Also, I wish that more leaders/founders were selling their long-term vision. The executives and leaders I ended up having the pleasure to work with didn’t come to work at 7shifts because “we do restaurant scheduling.” They decided to work with us because we pitched an ambitious vision of building a restaurant network of restaurants and workers, ultimately having the ability to predict and automatically match workers up with labor demands from our tens of thousands of restaurants, replacing job boards. Overall, leaders need to be strong advocates for their vision.”
If you could give one piece of advice about leadership, what would it be?
“Be true to yourself about what you really believe. Others can pick up on it, so don’t try to be something you’re not. Be honest, open, and be critical of yourself. Try to be 1 per cent better every day.”
From Someone Who Knows
“Jordan is a natural-born leader with a deep level of curiosity. His methodical and thoughtful decision-making approach is fuel for the engine of 7shifts’ success.” – Alex Baker, Managing Partner at Relay Ventures
Dustin Coupal, 54e Dev Studios
Dustin Coupal, 54e Dev Studios. Photo by Shane Luhning.
Dustin grew up in rural southern Saskatchewan on his family’s grain farm. During that time he learned the values that have shaped the rest of his life – hard work, perseverance and integrity. From a young age, he has been an early adopter of technology and remains a self-professed computer nerd to this day. Dustin has owned and operated multiple Canadian and US based businesses during the past 20 years. He was co-founder of GasBuddy.com which launched in June 2000 and grew to a team of over 75 people in Regina. Dustin successfully exited GasBuddy in 2016 after it was acquired by a US corporation.
Dustin is also a board-certified physician, and he enjoys the challenges of a busy ophthalmology practice while maintaining a commitment to tech and ag entrepreneurship. Currently he leads a team of 20 talented people working on innovative robotics technology at 54e Dev Studios Inc. which he co-founded with Tim Borgares in 2019.
What one thing makes you most proud?
“After operating multiple businesses, I have been most proud of the ongoing achievements and personal successes of our employees. Everyone who works on our teams is more than an employee, they are truly part of the family. As part of our journey together we have had multiple past employees start their own successful businesses and build their own families from relationships that started in our offices. Having employees come and ask for advice on non-work-related matters is one of the things that I value the most. They know that I am not their ‘boss’ but someone they can trust to help with even the toughest challenges in life.”
What is one decision you wish you didn’t make?
“So much is learned over time in business, and mistakes have proven to be my best learning opportunities. Early on in GasBuddy’s history we signed a 10-year exclusive data sales agreement that was expected to yield millions of dollars of revenue. After a couple years however, it became obvious that it was not going to materialize but it prevented us from better monetizing our data. It took us eight years before we were able to re-negotiate that deal and bring value back to the vast data we had gathered. Long-term exclusive agreements should not be taken lightly, they may come at a heavy opportunity cost.”
If you could give one piece of advice about leadership, what it would be?
“Although not everyone makes a perfect leader, I believe that leadership is a quality that lives inside everyone. In our businesses we have always given each and every person the chance to be a leader. Some really blossom into strong leaders that become foundational to the team while others still contribute in their own way and set strong examples for the team. Leading by example is fundamental to my thinking and it helps everyone learn their own way to bring maximum value to the business each and every day.”
From Someone Who Knows
“I’ve had the honour of working with Dustin for about 10 years. He is the type of leader that will go into the trenches with the team and get his hands dirty. He leads by example and has a great ability to motivate teams and bring out the best in them. He is very well respected by everyone who’s worked for him (past and present) because he genuinely cares about them and treats them with dignity and respect.” – Stephanie Boon, 54e Dev Studios Inc.
Brendan King, Vendasta
Brendan King, Vendasta. Photo by David Carter Photography.
Brendan King is the innovative force behind Vendasta. Responsible for providing the vision, thought leadership, and business strategy, it is Brendan’s ability to focus on the big picture while maintaining quality on the finest details that drives Vendasta’s success. Prior to starting the company, Brendan has many business ventures, including a computer chain that was nationally franchised. He was also the entrepreneurial force behind Point2 Agent, a real estate software company, where he grew its membership to more than 185,000 agents and brokers in 85 countries. Brendan and Vendasta are almost synonymous. Both are governed by four core values: drive, innovation, respect, and agility. Brendan is extremely passionate about upholding these values while helping Vendasta on its path of democratizing technology for local businesses.
What’s the most important risk you took?
“The biggest risk in life, in my opinion, is not taking any. My life has been one big risk. From starting a business in university, to leaving a job as a geophysicist to start my own business, to starting Vendasta with no option B and child on the way, to continuing to expand our current vision and raising capital has been a risk of increasing value and importance.”
How do you generate great ideas with your team?
“First off, with the people at Vendasta there is no shortage of ideas. The challenge is that with so much going on it is often difficult to really listen and “hear” those ideas and give them mind share. One of the best ways to do that in my opinion is to change the context. Get out of dodge. Get away from the distractions, relax, be friends, have a drink, open your mind and really listen to others.”
If you could give one piece of advice about leadership, what would it be?
“Treat everyone with respect but understand that not everyone will be a fit for the company you are building. You need to believe in yourself and persevere because doubt really is the toughest enemy. You have to understand that being challenged in life is inevitable but being defeated is optional.
Some of the greatest innovations of modern farming techniques and equipment came from the quonsets of Saskatchewan. Brilliant, innovative minds that asked ’what if’ and then answered their own question.”
From Someone Who Knows
“Brendan along with the team he has built at Vendasta carries on that great tradition of industry changing innovation. When I was still serving as Premier—what eventually became Vendasta was then a conversation; just ideas tossed around a Saskatchewan living room. It has grown to become a national and international innovation and tech success story. This simply would not have happened without the leadership and vision and the determination of Brendan King.” – Brad Wall, former Premier of Saskatchewan; Special Advisor, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Katherine Regnier, Coconut Software
Katherine Regnier, Coconut Software. Photo by David Carter Photography.
It is a fact that only six per cent of tech companies have a female CEO. Katherine Regnier, who is from the prairies, is proud to be one of them. Her company, Coconut Software, is now the leading Customer Engagement Platform that serves financial institutions. They were noted as one of the top 11 Companies in Tech to watch in Canada in 2020 and recently out of 800 applicants were accepted into the North American Google Accelerator.
Katherine started her company with a $5K loan and a pencil sketch—the demand for Coconut’s solution grew and in Fall 2016, it was time to raise outside capital. She has successfully raised over $11.4M, has experienced 100 per cent growth year over year and is projecting to have 80 team members by the end of 2021.
She is a founding board member of Co.Labs—Saskatchewan’s first tech incubator, currently sits on the University of Washington—Foster School of Business Advisory Board, and is the president of her kids’ Ukrainian Dance Club.
What are the most important qualities for a successful leader?
“The most important quality for a successful leader is that you and the company you work for share the same values. These values should be a part of your day to day and not something that is posted on the wall. Great leaders also need to be able recruit top talent and really lift those around them up.”
What’s the most important risk you took?
“The most important risk I took was just taking a chance on this paper napkin idea called Coconut Software. All great companies start from just an idea, the risky part was whether or not I could get it off the ground. As we know 90 per cent of startups fail.”
What is one decision you wish you didn’t make?
“One decision I made that I wish I didn’t make was waiting so long to raise capital. I now realized the value of capital and the network that it opens around you. If anyone is reading this, it’s uncomfortable, it’s hard, but it’s worth it.”
From Someone Who Knows
“Katherine is one of the best natural leaders and culture builders that we have had the privilege to back. She leads with vision and executes with smarts, compassion and an appreciation for diversity that is paying huge dividends and propelling her company to extraordinary heights.” – Dave Unsworth, General Partner and Co-Founder at Information Venture Partners
Greg Sutton, TinyEYE Therapy Services
Greg Sutton, TinyEYE. Photo by David Carter Photography.
Greg is currently the CEO of TinyEYE Therapy Services and co-founded the company with his sister and co-founder, Marnee Brick. TinyEYE is the first company in the world to provide speech language pathology services online. Greg and his sister Marnee have taken their company from being a small start-up to emerging as a world leader in online speech therapy, providing services in 12 countries and five languages. It is TinyEYE’s vision to be the number one advocate in the world for children finding their voice.
In 2018 Greg and TinyEYE were selected as one of ten companies to participate in the Lazaridis Scale-Up Program co-hort where he and executive members of the TinyEYE team got to travel for sessions with major tech companies and meet and receive mentorship from top executives in the industry. Additionally, Greg and TinyEYE Therapy Services have won many awards such as CETAC West Entrepreneur of the Year, The Greater Saskatoon Chamber SABEX Award for Customer Service and the National Ingenious Award for Innovation from the Canadian Advanced Technology Association, to name a few.
What are the most important qualities for a successful leader?
“Every individual has strengths and weaknesses in every regard. It is important to be self aware of where your true strengths lie and build your leadership around your abilities instead of trying to emulate others. When you look across great leaders of our time—people like Katherine Regnier and Brendan King—there are only a few commonalities between them except utilizing the strengths they have and building a team around them that fills in the gaps where they are not strong. In my opinion, striving to be a great leader is really striving for self-actualization versus acting like the leader you think you ‘should’ be.”
Who do you look up to for inspiration?
“I look everywhere for inspiration. I remember when my nephew was two years old, trying to push his stroller up a tree—one of the adults around said “why don’t you just give up”? His eight-year-old sister said, ‘he hasn’t learned how to give up yet.’ You can gain inspiration and knowledge from anyone in any walk of life. You simply have to pay attention and reflect on your experiences with people. Sometimes we get lost in studying great leaders, but we rarely see their great origins of how they got to where they are and how they built themselves up and grew through their missteps.”
How do you generate great ideas with your team?
“I find in trying to generate great ideas with the team, there are a couple of elements. One, identify a really important problem to solve. In our fast-paced world we do not spend enough time to truly understand the problem at hand. The more time you spend with a problem, the more innovative your ideas will be. Two, if you really understand the nature of the problem, and go outside of the constraints of your abilities, resources etc, you can let go of the ‘how’ and focus on the ‘what’. Imagine ‘what’ would be an amazing solution for this problem. Three, don’t filter out ideas at the early stage because often a bad idea will trigger a thought to a great idea.”
From Someone Who Knows
“Greg is the spark that ignited the online therapy industry more than 15 years ago. His visionary leadership and innovative tenacity eliminated monumental barriers to helping all kids have access to quality therapy services. Greg’s brilliance is matched by his profound care for his team and TinyEYE’s purpose: To Grow Smiles, Mend Spirits, and Engage Children in their Lives.” – Marnee Brick, president and co-founder TinyEYE Therapy Services