Scaling with Angel Money Only in Canada: Joel Lessem, CEO of Firmex (Part 7)

Sramana Mitra: That’s an interesting position because venture capitalists manage portfolios. Entrepreneurs manage their life. Your life is not a portfolio. Life is life. You can do one company. If you fail, then it’s writing off a lot of your life.

Joel Lessem: I’ve had a couple of conversations. I once said, “Here’s the problem. We have different economics.” I said to another venture guy who came by, “You’re playing with your career. It’s other people’s money. You’ve got your eggs in 12 different baskets. I’ve got my eggs in one basket. I don’t have the hurdle you have. You have to make your fund on a couple of deals. I just have to make some money.”

Sramana Mitra: For most people, making money doesn’t mean making hundreds of millions of dollars. In a lot of situations, making a couple of millions is a very happy scenario.

Joel Lessem: The decision to not go down that path was a really important one. I love talking about the model. Even with my employees, I have to educate them. The focus has been really good. It’s paid off. We are very customer-focused. Our customer support people are not a cost. To me, they’re a part of the offering. I just hired my first Director of Finance. Part of it is I have an MBA Finance for a Sales VP. I interviewed seven people and I hired the one person with no experience, which a venture capital wouldn’t do. They always want you to hire the person with the pedigree. I said, “This is the most driven and most intelligent one.” He had no industry experience. We grew the business just by understanding people and understanding the emotional intelligence and leadership. That’s a really important part of a business. I’m not sure if it’s an important part of a business or it’s just an important part of how I like to work.

Sramana Mitra: The thing about small companies is that you have to have a functional company. You don’t want a dysfunctional company. You don’t want unhappy people. You don’t want a lot of politics. With large companies, it’s anonymous. You don’t get to know that many people. With small companies, it’s very personal. If the personal dynamics don’t work, then it’s not really satisfying.

Joel Lessem: When I do my on-boarding with new staff, I say, “What do people think about when starting a software company?” They all say they think about money. That’s right. I always say, “The greatest reward that I’ve seen in building this business over the last nine years has been being involved in this culture.” I don’t say build. It’s just part of the company. It reflects the attitudes of the leadership. We had seven new borns last year and another seven this year. It is satisfying to watch staff come here, settle down, get married, have children, and just having the social aspect.

Sramana Mitra: Life is a lot more complex than just money.

Joel Lessem: I always ask myself, “Would this be the same if I had an 800-employee company?” No. Would it be as rewarding? Probably not. Maybe I’m just not used to working in a big company. You can make money many different ways. That’s fine. At the end of the day, you have to enjoy the social aspect of the business. I know lots of entrepreneurs. Some of them are nice and some of them aren’t, and they’re all successful.

Sramana Mitra: To each his own.

Joel Lessem: Being a nice guy is not a means to an end. It’s an end in itself.

Sramana Mitra: Very nice talking to you, Joel. I’m glad to see that things are working out. We’ll keep in touch.

This segment is part 7 in the series : Scaling with Angel Money Only in Canada: Joel Lessem, CEO of Firmex
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