This week’s guest is Alex Rink, strategic advisor for high-growth companies and VCs, a three-time founder/startup CEO with over 20 years’ experience in leading SaaS companies to profitability. Alex brings his own expertise in successful bootstrapping and exits to assist CEOs in exit planning. A venture adviser at Invest Ottawa, he’s currently angel investing while exploring his next startup. Naturally, he was a great fit for “I’m a Millionaire! So Now What?”.

 

Alex tells us a bit about his journey to Numerator, a Vista Equity Partners portfolio company where he was Chief Growth Officer and head of M&A and merger integration, and the acquisition of 360pi by Market Track. We learn about his family history of entrepreneurship and how that entrepreneurial bug kept eating away at him until he did something about it.

 

Here’s a little preview of what we talk about on the show:

The three companies he successfully exited:

• A profitable SaaS or outpatient service provider with a limited ceiling that was sold as a harvest acquisition

• An ideation platform for the public sector that was like “a suggestion box on steroids”, allowing people to comment and rate ideas. He sold the company to his co-founder when he realized it would be difficult to scale

• A B2C comparison shopping engine that was technically insolvent before they pivoted towards to B2B, offering retailers a way to monitor competitor pricing online. This became a multi-million-dollar company before it was sold as an acquire in 2017.

Maximizing positive impact

We discussed what he’s currently doing in the world  of venture capital and how he’s been a part of the success of two Ottawa startups, Rewind and Hoppier.

“I help out various firms through Invest Ottawa, and look for opportunities in B2B SaaS, Big Data, AI or ML. And I'm increasingly interested in Climate Tech and FinTech. I don't want to call myself a consummate networker because I don't feel like I'm a networker at all. But I'm just a curious individual and I love talking to people about what it is they're doing. What I'm most keen on is how I can make the greatest positive impact in the least amount of time.”

 

Ultimately, he wants to help companies from making a big gaffe, save them a few months’ work, or set them on the right path.

 

“I don't need to be the CEO of the company, I'm sharing in the upside. I'm just happy to know that I can contribute to making that happen.”

 

Unlocking growth opportunities

Alex looks at business plans and provides feedback on them. If they’re a great fit, he often likes to join as an investor or advisor. “I encourage anyone who's got a business that they're looking into or a business problem to reach out to me with where you’re at, and a business overview or investor deck. Like here's a big strategic issue that you're experiencing, that's what gets my attention. I like to see a growth opportunity and help people unlock that.”

 

Fun, Frank advice?

“Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment. And I feel like I've lived that. I’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way, more than most people will ever make. And I've learned a lot from those mistakes. And hopefully, that's led to some good judgment where I try to avoid those pains going forward. Whether it's the companies I invest in, or give feedback to, I'm basically trying to help people avoid mistakes, number one, and number two, to identify good opportunities.”

 

“Part of good judgment comes back to the people I work with. When I was younger, I would look for a really big opportunity. What I've learned over time is to find the right kind of people who have the right kind of ethics, morals, and integrity. In addition to their drive and passion and intellectual curiosity and so on, there's humility too. It’s a set of characteristics that I find work extremely well for me and fit for me, and I know it when I find it. And if those kinds of people are pursuing a big opportunity, magic can happen.”

 

Have a listen!

 

If you’d like to share your business idea or a strategic issue that you need help with, you can reach out to Alex on LinkedIn.

 

And if you’re at the helm of a thriving business or startup, looking to exit, or simply have something to share with the Self-made Nation, do get in touch. I’d love to hear your story.

 

“I’m a Millionaire! So Now What?” is sponsored by Double to Sell, Canada’s premiere, invitation-only workshop for business owners who want a cash-rich exit. The 2021 edition is taking place on the 4^th and 5^th November 2021. Contact me for more information or register here.