Success: Why and How

Matt Mickiewicz has valuable business advice. To say that he experienced success in a short time would be an understatement. At 27, he co-owns three multi-million-dollar internet companies: Sitepoint, 99designs, and Flippa. Mickiewicz’s history of success began in the late ‘90s when, as a high school student, he started creating websites as a hobby.There was a lack of readily available  information about internet design and Mickiewicz saw an opportunity to turn his knowledge into a business.

Sitepoint, formerly Webmaster-Resources.com, started in 1998 with the goal of educating web developers and designers. 2008 saw the launch of Sitepoint spin-off 99designs, which gave designers the opportunity to sell their work online to a wide range of clients. In 2009, Flippa was created as an online auction marketplace for web designers and sellers.

Elena Verlee didn’t intend to become a serial entrepreneur when she started her public relations (PR) consulting practice after moving to Vancouver in 1997. Beginning with this “temporary” project, Verlee has since become a self-described “accidental entrepreneur” who has built a seven-figure business and sold two companies for six figures each. Currently, Verlee is the founder and managing partner of two very successful PR ventures: Cross Border Communications and PR in Your Pajamas. 

Verlee’s successes include:

2011 - Forbes’ list of “25 Most Influential Women Tweeting on Entrepreneurship”

2011 - The Rise to the Top, “35 Female Visionaries You Need to Know” 

In 1985, while raising a young family, Lynn Hsu began her real estate career despite being a new immigrant with limited English and no social network.

From 1987 through 1989, Hsu was the number one salesperson for Western Canada at a large, national real estate firm. In 1990, Hsu bought Macdonald Realty; at the time a single office in Vancouver’s Westside. Fast forward 25 years and Hsu is heading Western Canada’s largest real estate brokerage firm, with over 1,000 realtors working in 20 offices across British Columbia and Alberta. Macdonald Realty’s reported figure for gross sales in 2010 was $4.7 billion.

Hsu has been honored many times for her achievements, including:

• 2008, 2009, 2010 - The largest company owned by a woman in British Columbia

(Business in Vancouver)

• 2007 - Person of the Year in Chinese-Canadian Business Award

In 2008, Doug Burgoyne quit his high-paying corporate job and co-founded Frogbox, a Vancouver-based eco-conscious company which supplies reusable boxes for the residential moving market. With no experience in the industry, Doug, along with his partner, launched Frogbox, expanded into the U.S. in their first year, established three corporate locations within two years, and earned two high-profile investors via a successful pitch on the popular CBC show Dragons’ Den.

Just three years after inception, Frogbox have 19 locations and plan to expand into over 50 U.S. cities in the next two years. 

When I first met Doug at a business event, Frogbox was a year old. I was impressed by his strong business sense and in-depth understanding of branding and marketing. I also found him downright likeable. As a business consultant, I have worked closely with many business owners, and had no doubts that Doug would be successful.