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Vancouver Entrepreneur.
🌏 Founder @pilotplans 🎓 Alumni @NEXT_Canada & @UBCSauderSchool 🚀 Founding Team @NiceJobApp (exited) 🏆 2019 @NVBC Award Winner
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I'm a recent top entrepreneurship graduate (maintaining an "A" average) from the UBC Sauder School of Business (ranked 1st in Canada and 19th globally for business and economics studies). I've never taken any class I didn't think would be useful or because it might improve my GPA. I was accepted to UBC first year, one of only 7% of all applicants for direct-entry status.
As far back as high school I was on the honour roll with distinction for my 94% GPA, recipient of multiple scholarships and awards, Debate Club founder, model UN delegate, student representative to the school board, a leader on the student & grad councils, and more.
I've been a hockey coach, swimming instructor, kids day camp leader, university fair coordinator, organizer and moderator for a bullying seminar for the North Vancouver school district, coordinator for multiple elementary school visits promoting UNICEF, spoken in front of 100 people as one of the leading candidates at the Vancouver Model UN conference, member of student council, graduation council, a student representative to the school board in High School where I helped shape real education policy, and much more. I was also awarded the outstanding service award in Grade 12 for exceeding more than 200 hours of community service that year alone.
Additionally, I made it my previous startup event marketing agency's mission to focus on providing events where women could feel safe, without fear of harassment, partnering with many non-profits. My future work will also relate to social enterprise.
I successfully expanded Sonder (previously Flatbook), to British Columbia, making the company $110k in revenue with 55% of that as profit in just four months at the age of 19.
Hired as the youngest Regional Manager in the firm when it had fewer than 20 employees, I reported directly to the COO and was personally responsible for bringing the business to British Columbia. By the time I left I had led and trained a team of 15 with little to no direction, only skyping with my boss twice the entire summer. I left to return to school and start my own business.
Sonder was recently valued over $1 billion in their latest financing round.
After renting a 400 person yacht on credit for my 20th birthday, recruiting friends to sell tickets to pay for it, filling the boat and profiting, I started Rapture Events, an on-campus event marketing agency that worked with music festivals, bars, pubs, clubs, and brands targeting student audiences using micro-influencer networks.
I grew us 12 cities across Canada, managing over 300 different students, with 6-figure revenue, and securing a board that consisted of two professors from my business school (including one of the heads of UBC Sauder's Entrepreneurship program), and the Executive Director of the BC Music Fund. I left that when I realized the entertainment wasn't my passion, and to finish school, having taken a gap year to focus on learning from real experiences.
At age 21 I was invited with a few other select students, to advise my business school on their five-year strategic plan, and was invited by the university's entrepreneurship club, two years in a row, to speak to students about entrepreneurship.
I have also performed pro bono consulting to over 20 different local startups and entrepreneurs, and mentor and tutor one currently, teaching him everything from organizational culture and sales strategy, to macroeconomics and product development.
I did not solicit any of the above work or speaking engagements. I was invited, and accepted.
I was the President of the Vancouver Young Entrepreneurship Network, a highly exclusive group comprised of Vancouver's top young entrepreneurs typically below the age of 35 including those from top incubators & accelerators such as Y Combinator, 500 Startups, Techstars, The Next Big Thing, The Next 36, e@ubc and many more with many raising funds and being valued in the millions.
We provide free resources to members, put on exclusive, invite- only, networking events, introductions, startup consulting, mentorship, and acceleration services.
Joined NiceJob (customer review automation software) as a Founding team member to lead Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, Human Resources... basically anything to do with growing the company.
NiceJob was a winner of the 2019 New Ventures BC Startup Competition award, recognizing it as one of the top 2 startups in British Columbia in 2019. NiceJob was also listed as one of the fastest growing tech startups on the Ready to Rocket list in both 2019 and 2020.
After growing NiceJob to $3.4mil in annual revenue (majority recurring), with 30 full time staff, we successfully exited NiceJob for $30mil in 2021, being acquired by a large payments company.
This was achieved without any external investment, and was entirely bootstrapped through our own revenue.
NEXT Canada is a highly competitive entrepreneurial accelerator program that develops Canada’s most promising young entrepreneurs by providing venture funding, mentorship, and world-class founder development.
For eleven months, I was mentored by successful Canadian entrepreneurs, VC's and business leaders and was taught by some of the world's top faculty from Harvard Business School, Stanford, MIT Sloan School of Management, Georgetown, and Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
It was essentially an MBA for Entrepreneurs led by, for example, hundred-millionaire-net-worth entrepreneurs, world leaders in AI research (including those who have consulted for the United States national AI strategy), and those with selfies with Elon Musk.
I founded Pilot, a travel planner app, with a small team but mighty team, incorporating on sixto de mayo 2021. We've got $115k in funding so far, and we're trying to time the return to travel in the consumer market.
I'm continuing to support the growth of NiceJob, and now Paystone, the company who acquired us, with their ambitious goal of acquiring their way to an IPO.
Additionally, while I also continue to grow Pilot, I act as an alumni mentor to other NEXT Canada startups.
You want to work with someone who care about you and your growth, with the knowledge, energy, and integrity needed to get the job done right. I can help. Click the button below to learn how.
Work With Me >Contact >"Connor is one of the hardest working, and brightest individuals I've ever met."
- Philippa Swartz, Research Analyst, Rapture Events
'“Insanely talented” is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Connor."
- Navmeet Jassal, Human Resources Manager, Rapture Events
"I have never met someone more dedicated to succeeding and creating a positive environment than him."
- Eli Mallin, Event Manager, Rapture Events
"Truly a force to be reckoned with."
- Andrew Lee, Property Manager, Sonder (previously Flatbook)
"There was always something to learn from him, and he was always willing share his insights."
- Conner Bryan, Sales Representative, Rapture Events
"He is also one of the most hardworking people I've ever known who would choose work over sleep."
- Adrian Salcedo, Event Representative, Rapture Events
"Connor is one of the most organized and dedicated entrepreneurs I know by far."
- James Cohen, Co-Founder & CEO, PartyWell
"Connor is a brilliant problem solver, even while under immense pressure in a very dynamic environment."
- Johnny Gong, Logistics Manager, Sonder (Formerly Flatbook)
"If there's one thing I know for sure about him is that he hustles. He knows how to scale a business."
- Layne Lafrance, Product Manager, Axiom Zen
"I am overwhelmed by his motivation, broad knowledge and passion for all things business. A future leader for sure!"
- Jarrad Penley, Business Analyst, Pernod Ricard
"Connor was an absolute pleasure to work for! He is a natural born leader and has a knack for bringing out the best in his team."
- Zain Haq, Growth Manager, Rapture Events
"This is a guy who regularly thinks in big ideas, and then will follow up on those big ideas by making a detailed plan on how to go about achieving them."
- Joe Stewart, Life-long friend
"Working with Connor forced me to observe his unmatchable ambition and commitment to all he is involved in. Connor does not disappoint."
- Michael Colacone, Music Manager, Rapture Events
"Connor is one of the brightest and most motivated entrepreneurs I've met. He is dedicated and knows how to envision, plan and coordinate a project, end-to-end."
- Alejandro Esquivel, Software Engineer, Aida
"His tenacity and work ethic are unparalleled."
- Prasenjit Das, Vice President, Talent, Rapture Events
"I would recommend Connor to anyone who is looking to build a solid foundation for their company."
- Connor Smith, Vice President, Operations, Luminari
"His optimism was inspirational and his critical thinking was crucial to our operations."
- Wes Dunham, Human Resources Director, Rapture Events
"An absolute pleasure. Connor takes feedback extremely well and is always eager to hear constructive criticism and improve accordingly."
- Intishar Jashim, Staff Accountant, Rapture Events
"He fostered a culture where you could tell the executives, and especially himself, cared about the people under them."
- Tony Hui, Data Scientist, Rapture Events
"He was always the man you would talk to if you needed anything."
- Lynden Grosso, Musician, Rapture Events
"Connor was a pleasure to work with and had outstanding customer service."
- Dana Szalkai, Customer Service, UBC AMS
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I write about entrepreneurship, personal development, marketing & sales, technology, investing, people & culture management, as well as occasionally politics, current events and updates about my life.
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