IMPACT INVESTING
Cam Crowder
#110
Listen on
Investor – Coach
Using Metrics for success – Cam Crowder
“You have to be okay with failing and get comfortable with it and I think that’s probably the biggest thing.”
ABOUT
Cam Crowder is a member of the Equation Angels selection committee, a partner in a family business that operates six Tim Hortons in Essex, and part-owner of the Leamington Flyers. Recently, he joined the Frontier Tech Team – U.S. & Europe at Vu Venture Partners.
THE FULL INTERVIEW
Cam Crowder
The full #OPNAskAnAngel talk
Jeffery: Welcome to the Supporters Fund Ask An Investor. I’m your host Jeffery Potvin. today let’s please welcome Cam Crowder. How are you, sir?
Cam: I’m doing great JP, thanks.
Jeffery: awesome. Well, we’re super excited to have you here today. There’s a million reasons why I’m excited to have this conversation. From working in franchises to owning and operating businesses, to selling properties, there’s so many great things that you’re up to and that you’re doing. But more importantly now, the stuff that you’re working on in the VC world, which to me is super exciting too. So, I think we’ll take a step back and the way we kick off our show is we want to learn a little bit about yourself, your background. the things that you’ve been doing that got you where you are today and then one thing about you that nobody would know.
Cam: Okay. For me, I spent 12 years in the Tim Hortons franchise world the last seven years. in the last franchise world, as a franchisee, I really enjoyed that. And when I saw that the industry was going, the turnover was getting crazy. We had a 100 turnover year and I was looking at different avenues to help that in the business and which led me to a company that was a Silicon Valley company that actually moved to Windsor that was doing industrial time studies and got involved in the tech side with that and led to an investment there. And all of a sudden, I’m an Angel Investor and I just fell in love with it. So, fast forward, two years now, I’m at Venture University here in Silicon Valley.
Jeffery: amazing. And one thing about you that no one would know?
Cam: one thing about me that no one knows, I do Pilates in the morning.
Jeffery: awesome. Yeah. That’s pretty good.
Cam: a good way to get the body moving.
Jeffery: Yeah, absolutely. And what got you started in Pilates?
Cam: Well, I just started working out pretty heavy. And then, I push myself. So, what’s the hardest thing I could do? And I looked at Pilates as a six foot three 225 pound guy. I figured it would be probably the hardest thing for me to do and just started doing it. And it’s been great. It’s good for my back and keeps me in shape. And it’s a good sweat.
Jeffery: Well, you mentioned that it’s good for your back. So, I’m going for the audience. I’m going to share that you were also and have been, and I believe you’re still active today as a hockey coach. And you were a player as well. Is that correct to say?
Cam: Yeah. I played junior hockey and then got involved in coaching and did that while I was doing Tim Horton’s for 10 to 12 years. not coaching anymore, I’m still an owner with the two flyers junior b team there and we do a lot of good things just trying to help develop players. Man, we’ve had a couple players move on to division one scholarship. So, it’s a good way to give back to a sport that gave a lot to me growing up.
Jeffery: amazing. I also played hockey, junior hockey. way back in the day so I’m a big fan of the space and area. And there was one thing and I was interesting enough I kept saying your last name. And I’m like, I think that’s an NHL hockey name. This is big and it always steered in my mind but I think what I liked about all of the things that I read and learned about yourself is that, as an athlete, you also became a coach. And now you coach businesses and you help people. So, you took a lot of your learning going through hockey. And we’ll call it being the driver to a lot of learnings that you had working in a sport you loved, finding a way to go in front of everybody by being the coach. And now, you’re on the opposite side of that. all these learning that you’re getting, how much do you translate that into this entrepreneurial side of things?
Cam: It sounds like it’s going to be pretty incredible to drive that JP. 100%. I would say I might have learned more coaching than I did in Tim Horton’s. And a lot of that was just when you’re coaching your business in the paper every week, your pants are completely down and they know how well you’re doing it. There’s the one part for me that I really understood or learned through the process of coaching. just how to get a group together. And coming from sport as a head coach, that’s probably the most important thing – that everybody’s on the same page. You need to be organized every day. And if you’re not organized, players read into that immediately. And I think for me and my journey coach, it was to get organized. make sure you have a plan. a lot of those things led into my business career getting better because I was doing those things. And what’s more fun to do than be a hockey coach and be involved in junior hockey and play a playoff round, go get in a playoff run and stuff that. So, I learned a ton. And it’s still nice to be able to be involved in it as an owner, not that I admit a lot of games recently, I’m out here in San Francisco, but you always check the stats. And it’s always good to see a young coach. We have their Dale Mitchell excel. So, sports is everything to me. To be honest, when it gets down to it, there are so many life lessons in it.
Jeffery: Well, I love that. And in being a young individual playing hockey, and looking up to your coach, to me, they were the god. The players were great, yeah. That guy’s the superstar, etc. It never really impressed me. It was about the strategy and how the coach would approach every game. And to me it looked man, that’s got to be a stressful job because he is the focal point or at least it was for me looking up to that person. I’m 15 to 14 years old looking up to my junior or a coach or whatever and I’m thinking man, this person’s got to be so knowledgeable and they’re really directing and they’re that conductor in the room. How did you find that? You were able to take that learning from being the young guy in the room and trying to learn from them and now flipping the stage around and saying I got to teach these young people to get together with my plan so that we can execute and win this in the end. That’s got to be pretty tough to get 30 people to align to your initiatives because it really comes down to the teams there to win. But I’m sure they’re too young to really understand how that comes together and your job is to really drive that home. And it’s to me that’s got to be quite the amazing effort to be able to pull that off year after year.
Cam: Yeah, I think first of all, when I first started coaching, I wasn’t a very good coach. And that it was a learned ability that I over time, just kept getting better, iterating and getting better. But I think the biggest thing I learned was every single person on the team has to have a role. And you need to celebrate those roles. So, even if you had your first line left winger, the guy scores 50. Yeah, that’s great. But you also need to get a kill penalty using block shots and you need the trainer to be on board
Cam: I’m doing great JP, thanks.
Jeffery: awesome. Well, we’re super excited to have you here today. There’s a million reasons why I’m excited to have this conversation. From working in franchises to owning and operating businesses, to selling properties, there’s so many great things that you’re up to and that you’re doing. But more importantly now, the stuff that you’re working on in the VC world, which to me is super exciting too. So, I think we’ll take a step back and the way we kick off our show is we want to learn a little bit about yourself, your background. the things that you’ve been doing that got you where you are today and then one thing about you that nobody would know.
Cam: Okay. For me, I spent 12 years in the Tim Hortons franchise world the last seven years. in the last franchise world, as a franchisee, I really enjoyed that. And when I saw that the industry was going, the turnover was getting crazy. We had a 100 turnover year and I was looking at different avenues to help that in the business and which led me to a company that was a Silicon Valley company that actually moved to Windsor that was doing industrial time studies and got involved in the tech side with that and led to an investment there. And all of a sudden, I’m an Angel Investor and I just fell in love with it. So, fast forward, two years now, I’m at Venture University here in Silicon Valley.
Jeffery: amazing. And one thing about you that no one would know?
Cam: one thing about me that no one knows, I do Pilates in the morning.
Jeffery: awesome. Yeah. That’s pretty good.
Cam: a good way to get the body moving.
Jeffery: Yeah, absolutely. And what got you started in Pilates?
Cam: Well, I just started working out pretty heavy. And then, I push myself. So, what’s the hardest thing I could do? And I looked at Pilates as a six foot three 225 pound guy. I figured it would be probably the hardest thing for me to do and just started doing it. And it’s been great. It’s good for my back and keeps me in shape. And it’s a good sweat.
Jeffery: Well, you mentioned that it’s good for your back. So, I’m going for the audience. I’m going to share that you were also and have been, and I believe you’re still active today as a hockey coach. And you were a player as well. Is that correct to say?
Cam: Yeah. I played junior hockey and then got involved in coaching and did that while I was doing Tim Horton’s for 10 to 12 years. not coaching anymore, I’m still an owner with the two flyers junior b team there and we do a lot of good things just trying to help develop players. Man, we’ve had a couple players move on to division one scholarship. So, it’s a good way to give back to a sport that gave a lot to me growing up.
Jeffery: amazing. I also played hockey, junior hockey. way back in the day so I’m a big fan of the space and area. And there was one thing and I was interesting enough I kept saying your last name. And I’m like, I think that’s an NHL hockey name. This is big and it always steered in my mind but I think what I liked about all of the things that I read and learned about yourself is that, as an athlete, you also became a coach. And now you coach businesses and you help people. So, you took a lot of your learning going through hockey. And we’ll call it being the driver to a lot of learnings that you had working in a sport you loved, finding a way to go in front of everybody by being the coach. And now, you’re on the opposite side of that. all these learning that you’re getting, how much do you translate that into this entrepreneurial side of things?
Cam: It sounds like it’s going to be pretty incredible to drive that JP. 100%. I would say I might have learned more coaching than I did in Tim Horton’s. And a lot of that was just when you’re coaching your business in the paper every week, your pants are completely down and they know how well you’re doing it. There’s the one part for me that I really understood or learned through the process of coaching. just how to get a group together. And coming from sport as a head coach, that’s probably the most important thing – that everybody’s on the same page. You need to be organized every day. And if you’re not organized, players read into that immediately. And I think for me and my journey coach, it was to get organized. make sure you have a plan. a lot of those things led into my business career getting better because I was doing those things. And what’s more fun to do than be a hockey coach and be involved in junior hockey and play a playoff round, go get in a playoff run and stuff that. So, I learned a ton. And it’s still nice to be able to be involved in it as an owner, not that I admit a lot of games recently, I’m out here in San Francisco, but you always check the stats. And it’s always good to see a young coach. We have their Dale Mitchell excel. So, sports is everything to me. To be honest, when it gets down to it, there are so many life lessons in it.
Jeffery: Well, I love that. And in being a young individual playing hockey, and looking up to your coach, to me, they were the god. The players were great, yeah. That guy’s the superstar, etc. It never really impressed me. It was about the strategy and how the coach would approach every game. And to me it looked man, that’s got to be a stressful job because he is the focal point or at least it was for me looking up to that person. I’m 15 to 14 years old looking up to my junior or a coach or whatever and I’m thinking man, this person’s got to be so knowledgeable and they’re really directing and they’re that conductor in the room. How did you find that? You were able to take that learning from being the young guy in the room and trying to learn from them and now flipping the stage around and saying I got to teach these young people to get together with my plan so that we can execute and win this in the end. That’s got to be pretty tough to get 30 people to align to your initiatives because it really comes down to the teams there to win. But I’m sure they’re too young to really understand how that comes together and your job is to really drive that home. And it’s to me that’s got to be quite the amazing effort to be able to pull that off year after year.
Cam: Yeah, I think first of all, when I first started coaching, I wasn’t a very good coach. And that it was a learned ability that I over time, just kept getting better, iterating and getting better. But I think the biggest thing I learned was every single person on the team has to have a role. And you need to celebrate those roles. So, even if you had your first line left winger, the guy scores 50. Yeah, that’s great. But you also need to get a kill penalty using block shots and you need the trainer to be on board