Interview with Dan Eisner, True North Mortgage

(Cross posted at Kempton with possible additional readers’ comments)

I was impressed by Dan Eisner’s mortgage brokerage business, True North Mortgage, when he described how lucrative and profitable it was when I met him at the Calgary Dragons’ Den audition in April, 2007. So I was not surprised to see him invited to pitch in front of the Dragons and then got a deal offered to him. (See my comments of Dan’s business pitch here.)

Since the show was aired, Dan has updated us in his blog that “after much deliberation we decided not to go ahead with the deal“.

The following is my interview with Dan where he shared his Dragons’ Den experiences and a few things future Dragons’ Den entrepreneurs may find useful to know. Dan also talked about one behind the scene thing happened during the pitch, talked openly about his entrepreneurial experience, and a few other things. I hope you will enjoy the interview as much as I in making it. And hopefully will also get inspired by the chat.

“One week I was working at my old job. The next week I was working here.” - Dan

Dear reader and viewer, has the entrepreneurial bug bitten you yet? (big smile)

Interview with Jodie Urchyshyn, Lit Cosmetics

(Cross posted at Kempton with possible additional readers’ comments)

I met Jodie Urchyshyn, owner of Lit Cosmetics, when she had her two auditions for Dragons’ Den in Calgary in April, 2007. And then again in Toronto when she pitched for real before the Dragons. (See my comments on her business pitch here.)

As a side story, during her second audition in Calgary (where she knew she has been invited to Toronto to pitch in front of the Dragons), she impressed me (unknowing) by repeatedly giving up her spot to other entrepreneurs that came later than her but don’t have the invitations to go to Toronto yet. She could have gone ahead, taped her part and left. But she was really nice to the other entrepreneurs and I think the other entrepreneurs appreciated it.

Without further delay, here is my interview with Jodie at her Calgary store to talk about her Dragons’ Den experience and what has happened to her business since Toronto.

Jodie has all her sparkles named and she picked five for the Dragons. Can you guess who has which one?

New chat with Atomic Tea’s Jessica & Russell Bohrson (Post-Dragons’ Den)

(note: This post is cross-posted at Kempton with potential additional comments.)

I’ve planned for months to do a post-Dragons’ Den interview with the Jessica and Russell and I am glad I waited for four more days after they pitched *atomic on national TV on Monday. (See my chat with them four months ago here.) I am glad because I was able to get a sense of how people feel after they watched the *atomic pitch. And I ended up asking the Jessica and Russell some of the questions raised by a few Dragons’ Den forum commentators.

For example, I asked how do they feel about the controversies about their deal being drastically changed by one of the dragon? To me, their answers showed great maturity and the ability to look at the big piture.

I also asked them about people saying stuff like “bubble tea is nothing new“. Again, they gave a very insightful answer. Watch how they explain in their own words. [Hint: Will you say the multi-billion Starbucks is copying the business of coffee?]

Here are some tidbits of information and observation that you might find interesting (well, I certainly did),

1. 2-atomic — Do you know that their store phone number in Calgary 228-6642 actually spells out 2-atomic ? Isn’t that cool? (Just match it to your telephone keypad and you will see.) And they got this number for free because the previous owner of this number was using it as an infrequently used smart ring and was really kind. Incidentally, as a return favour (and a karma thing), Jessica bought them a small gift to say thank.
2. Arlene — Arlene has visited their store, tried the drinks, and she loves it. Jessica and Russell have also visited Arlene’s Calgary office and really admire the hard working and nice Dragon.
3. Kiosk — To get a kiosk for *atomic, they actually went to get help from some industrial design students at University of Calgary to make the kiosk easier to use and more ergonomic. On the big scheme of things, this may be a small thing. At the same time, this is paying attention to details (like the phone number 2-atomic). Attention to details is something that is integral with what I call “Relentless Pursuit of Excellence“.

Finally, I hope you will enjoy the video chat (click to view in larger window) as much as I in talking to the wonderful and hard working Jessica and Russell. (Join their Facebook group here.)

(note: Jessica and Russell will appreciate very much if any Dragons’ Den or *atomic fans can post *atomic’s Dragons’ Den pitch on YouTube.)

Interviews with Atomic Tea’s Jessica & Russell Bohrson

Oct 17 Update: Here is my review of Atomic and other businesses/pitches in episode 3.

Oct 20 Update: Here is my post-CBC Dragons’ Den airing Oct 19th interview with Jessica and Russell.

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Here is my chat with Atomic Tea’s Jessica & Russell Bohrson after they finished pitching their business and talking to Dianne Buckner.

The following two chats were filmed about two weeks after they came back to Calgary after the Atomic Tea DD pitch.

Here is my chat with Jessica (click to view in a larger window),

Here is my chat with Russell (click to view in a larger window),

Here is something I wrote after the Calgary interviews with a non-descriptive on-location video as to not give away the secrets of what business I was referring to. Notice the fact that their store was steps away from Calgary’s C-Train line (see video). The three most important thing for a retail store? Location, Location, and Location. See for yourself. (smile)

Here is what I wrote about my experience after talking to them and my gut feeling of them as good entrepreneurs.