Today’s Notable Young Entrepreneur is serial investor and business starter Dave Gens, who’s the founder of online lending companies Merchant Advance Capital and Progressa. We caught up with him to find out what inspired him about a career in finance and what advice he would share with other young professionals…
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WORK
1. Describe what you do in less than 140 characters. Go.
My passion is capital markets and entrepreneurship. I’ve founded two online lending businesses, Merchant Advance Capital and Progressa.
2. What was the inspiration for your career route?
My brother initially got me interested in business/finance, and after studying finance at UBC I became fascinated by Warren Buffett’s track record as an investor. It became clear to me that investing is a dynamic and rewarding career – one where the learning never ends; and if I could be successful in it, I could do good things.
3. What is the most memorable milestone in your career so far?
My consumer lending business, Progressa, is currently undergoing an equity raise. As I write this, the equity raise is yet to be finalized, however I am thrilled with the calibre of investors we have been meeting with – it’s an honour to get to work with such accomplished and talented people.
4. Where do you see yourself in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years?
Continuing to make investments and build businesses.
5. Do you have any advice for other young professionals?
If you’re entrepreneurially inclined, don’t make excuses when you have something you want to try. Just go ahead and do it. But do it in a way that you can fail and be okay. With most ideas you can create a minimum viable product fairly cheaply – and that way you can test the market without spending much on it (an example that comes to mind is the first version of Facebook, Facemash, a simple website that got people’s attention).
That way, you’ve still got some bullets left if it fails and you can pivot if something isn’t working right. I’ve seen entrepreneurs take the “build it and they will come” approach and it can fail spectacularly – they raise substantial cash from investors to execute on a big business plan before even knowing if people want to buy what they’re selling. It’s great to be ambitious but not at the expense of careful planning. There are always unknowns and you have to be positioned to handle negative outcomes.
6. Do you support any charities? If so, which one(s) and why is it (or they) important to you?
I support Doctors Without Borders, The Ride to Conquer Cancer, and a few non-profits such as Hardline Products and BeTheVote. I’ve been a mentor to a UBC student, which I quite enjoyed and I hope to do more of that.
7. What is one major challenge that you’ve had to overcome in your career? How did you overcome it?
I’d say the biggest challenge I had to overcome was my age. I had to raise significant capital to start a financing company and I was 22 years old with no track record of my own. I overcame it by creating very clear policies as to how I would underwrite the financings so that investors could be comfortable with the way I was going to do things. I was very transparent about everything. It was a slow start with just a few small investors – friends of mine willing to support me – but as the business began to develop a track record, this became easier.
8. What does the word notable mean to you?
Something that stands out – something unique.
PLAY
1. Where is your favourite place to wine/ dine in your city and why?
The Fat Badger – it’s an awesome gastropub right next to our office.
2. What’s the most visited website on your Internet browser? The most played song on your phone?
Most visited website – not a very exciting answer, but probably either Gmail or the web back-end for my business. Outside of work-related websites it would be Bloomberg News. The most played song on my phone right now is “Paul and Jon” by Ontario folk singer Daniel Romano.
3. Who’s one person you think everyone should be following on social media?
Donald Trump because American politics are just so entertaining.
4. What’s your favourite country to visit and why? And what’s the next one you plan on travelling to?
I love visiting my roots in Poland and Russia. Next up is the USA – Los Angeles in a few weeks followed by a conference in Las Vegas.
5. What gives you the greatest FOMO?
I don’t like missing an opportunity to catch up with good friends. Especially as life gets busier with careers and families, I think it’s important to make time and maintain those relationships.
6. What’s your guiltiest pleasure?
Watching Law & Order: Special Victims Unit with my girlfriend, dog and cat.
7. What’s something you wish you didn’t spend so much money on? What’s something you wish you spent more on?
I enjoy eating out. I guess if there’s something I could cut down on, it would be that. When I was younger, my parents helped me pay for flying lessons – it’s something I really enjoyed and I wish I did more of it these days.
8. And finally, what does success look like to you? Work, play, or otherwise…
Strong relationships, time for my hobbies, and happy investors!
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