Kraft Dinner served on $250-a-plate wedding China was the meal Iain Blackand his wife prepared to celebrate their third anniversary in 1996.
Needless to say, his first attempt to start a company and build it into a success wasn't going well.
“I actually don't believe you learn that much from your successes,” recalled Black. “You learn from your failures. Embrace every opportunity to fail, especially when you're young because the risks are insignificant.”
These days, the former MLA for Port Moody-Coquitlam is busy re-connecting with the local business community and moving into his new office at the Vancouver Board of Trade.
He became the organization's new president and CEO at the beginning of October, replacing former managing director Darcy Rezac, who retired in April after some 24 years on the job.
Black, an affable 43-year-old former provincial cabinet minister, has big plans for the board.
But he's also keen to re-assert himself as a seasoned executive, not just a well-hewn politician with ties to Victoria's halls of power.
That's how the topic of E-Z Net, his first company, came about during a sit-down interview with Business in Vancouver.
After six years at IBM in sales and marketing, Black launched his own company in Vancouver in 1995 to serve the rapidly expanding market for Internet service providers (ISP).
“I refer to E-Z Net as my MBA,” he said. “I launched the company. Invested everything I owned into it.”
His wife worked three jobs to keep food on the table while Black hammered away at the company.
But then the telecom he bought telephone phone line capacity from jacked up its rates, driving his cost of doing business through the roof.
“When they were $17.50 [a line] they were my No. 1 cost in the business, so when it went to $67.50 I was out of business; absolutely done.”
That's how Black and his wife wound up with Kraft Dinner on their plates three years into their marriage.
But that early setback didn't dampen Black's ambition.
Not long after, he was given the opportunity to head up Axion Communications, another local ISP.
He joined the company as vice-president corporate sales, but was quickly promoted to chief operating officer and told to turn the company around.
At the time, Axion was losing $100,000 a month and had $300,000 in the bank, Black explained.
Within six months, Axion was cash-flow positive and, within a year, profitable, garnering the young executive a Top Forty Under 40 award from BIV at the age of 29.
From that point on, Black developed his reputation as a fixer.
His next project was the Electric Mail Co., a Burnaby-based software venture that specialized in business email technology.
Black was named president and CEO in 1999 and eventually led the company to profitability.
Ian McDonaldjoined Electric Mail in a sales capacity in 1999 and was immediately impressed with what he called Black's articulate and well-thought-out business strategy.
“He's not the kind of person who wings it or flies by the seat of his pants,” said McDonald. “He always thinks through very carefully and is very well prepared. As a business leader it gives you a lot more confidence about the direction he wants to go.”
After Electric Mail, Black had another successful stint as president of Datawest Solutions' banking solutions group in Vancouver.
He held that role until 2005, when he was presented with an opportunity to enter politics, a life-long passion.
At the time, then-Deputy Premier Christy Clark had decided to give up her seat in the legislature to spend more time with her family.
Shortly thereafter, Black received a phone call about running in Clark's old riding.
He was elected and eventually served as minister of labour and small business and led the International Business Hosting program for the 2010 Winter Games.
Black said his experience in government was invaluable, teaching him how ideas become laws and who holds the power.
He said he liked the job so much he wasn't planning on leaving until this past summer when the phone rang about a job at the Vancouver Board of Trade.
“I wasn't looking to leave politics. That's the honest to God truth,” he said.
But the headhunter who contacted him made a fairly convincing sales pitch, Black said, so much so that within weeks he knew he wanted the job at the board.
“Why did I want this job? One, this is an organization that has to evolve into something new,” said Black. “I've done that kind of work, I've taken over troubled organizations in the past. While not facing financial distress, this is a similar if not identical exercise.”
Although he acknowledged that the board has a long and successful history, he believes more work needs to be done to improve its brand and marketing initiatives to connect with companies that aren't already members.
He also wants the board to collaborate more with other industry organizations, and he's pushing to get more young managers and new entrepreneurs involved.
“There was a time, let's say 25 to 30 years ago, where you would not start a small business in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia without joining the Vancouver Board of Trade. It was a no brainer. A given. That's where I'm going to take this organization.” •
