NEXT Canada, GRIT Ed.06, Brain Gain vs. Brain Drain - Magazine - Page 27
Tell us about your venture and
what you’re working on?
THE CALL OF
THE VALLEY
In conversation with Cathy Han
Co-founder & CEO, Levro; Next 36, 2011
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GRIT
I recently launched a company
called Levro, a multicurrency bank
for global businesses. We allow
businesses to hold 34 currencies in
one account. We are building new
financial infrastructure to support
international business. Imagine if
there were only one currency in
the world, how that would change
the flow of commerce around the
world? That’s what inspires us. It’s a
big, challenging idea with so much
potential to change the way businesses around the globe can interact with one another.
Prior to Levro, I co-founded a
company called 42 Technologies.
We saw a big opportunity to improve access to data for those without technical backgrounds. There
was a big problem that the industry itself was not built to solve, so
we built 42 Technologies to create
a product for the end consumers of
data. I love challenging B2B problems and data businesses provide a
lot of that.
If you’re spending time on a
company, you may as well pursue
the tough thing. The time will pass
anyway.
What’s been your experience with
accelerator programs in both Canada and the USA?
In 2011, when I got into the Next
36 program, it wasn’t necessarily
considered “cool” to build a startup. There weren’t many reference
points and my peers didn’t really
have any experience building companies. I just remember Reza saying,
“Be uncomfortable. The hallmark of
a good entrepreneur is the ability to
make decisions with limited information.” The only way to learn how
to build a company was to start
one, and so we did.
A couple of years later, we got
into Y Combinator, which is what
initially brought us to Silicon Valley. The partners and founders gave
us the core set of guiding set of
advice on how to build a startup.
They taught us to focus on the right
things and gave us an incredible set
of peers to learn from — our batch
included the founders of Cruise, Flexport, Algolia, Unbabel, etc.
I credit both the Next 36 and
Y Combinator communities with
teaching us how to think about and
work on building big companies
with lasting impact in the world.
Why did you choose to stay in San
Fransisco to build your business?
I love the energy here. The first
time I visited, I went to Coupa Café
in Palo Alto and I heard startups
getting funded and companies doing deals at the tables next to me.
The community here was like nothing I’d ever seen. People were open
to connecting and always talking
about big ideas, it’s an amazing
place to be to get inspired. From a
business perspective, for a fintech
product, Silicon Valley was the right
place to be because of the access
to experts and networks. The pace
of this industry is like no other I’ve
ever seen and a lot of the innovation
is starting in the Valley.
Canada is home and my family
is there. For this phase of my career, as we build out a global business, I’m sure we’ll have a presence
in Canada sooner than we think.
When we look at locations for our
international offices, Canada is the
top contender for our first office
outside of the US.
Having lived in both Canada and
the USA, in your opinion what
are the biggest advantages that
the USA has over Canada when it
comes to entrepreneurship?
There is such a strong community of startups in the Valley that it
sets the bar very high for new companies that are getting started. Risk
tolerance is another big advantage
entrepreneurs have here. You know
there will always be more ideas,
funding, and opportunities, which
allows you to dream bigger and go
for the impossible ideas rather than
the realistic ones.
The best thing about Canada is how kind and supportive the
people are. Given that, we need to
push our entrepreneurs more and
give them the support they need to
build world changing ideas. Instead
of waiting for another company to
do it, think, “Why not me?”
ADVICE FOR FOUNDERS
“Surround yourself with other founders, partners, and advisors who will
push you to choose growth over comfort. The influence of peers can’t be
understated, they shape the way you see your company and the world
more than you could imagine. You are talented and capable of more than
you think you are. Don’t be afraid, you can do it!”
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