True Entrepreneurs Are Ageless
I couldn’t have worked with entrepreneurs for the past twenty years if I didn’t admire them. Of course I do. I admire anyone who has the guts to go out and create something out of nothing.
But some I admire more than others, and Peter Thomas is the one I admire most of all right now. I am honored to be writing a book about Peter for his 80th birthday, and writing that book has given me a window into the life of someone who embodies the optimistic, can-do attitude of the true entrepreneur.
Peter was born in the UK, moved to Canada with his mom when he was 7, and started a business digging ditches at 14. No, he didn’t dig them himself. He acquired the contracts and subcontracted out the digging! At 16, despairing of spending his entire life in the small town in Alberta where he lived, he ran away to join the army.
In the army he learned something that would serve him well: discipline. He also learned to make good choices.
When he got out of the army, Peter got a job selling investments, and that was the beginning of it all. From guaranteed savings accounts to mutual funds to multi-unit residential buildings, to owning his own real estate investment firm in his twenties, Peter’s career soared. He broke all sales records at the firms he worked for, pioneered the selling of mutual funds and real estate syndications in Canada, and capstoned the first part of his career by buying the rights to Century21 for all of Canada for $5000 down.
Yes, he had a meteoric rise, but then he shifted focus half way through Century 21’s rollout by starting a side company, Samoth Capital to invest in other real estate projects. With Samoth Capital, he flew too close to the sun.
Peter calls this having “King Arthur’s disease,” — thinking you are invincible. That causes you to lose focus, and when you lose focus you do things you wouldn’t ordinarily do. For several years, he had to leave the day to day operations of Century 21 to his partner while he dug himself out of some of the failed real estate deals brought about by the roaring interest rates and crazy tax changes of the 1980s.
But he is a fighter, eternally optimistic, and he did it. Samoth Capital emerged stronger in the 90s. During that time period, Peter also ran a marathon and took helicopter lessons.
Eventually he recovered, from his investment problems, sold Century 21 to his partner, and decided to take money off the table.
He then went on to develop the Four Seasons Hotel in Scottsdale, write four books and a leadership course, “Life Pilot,” to teach people how to live a life aligned with their personal values, and spend a decade offering “Life Pilot” free around the world.
At age 73 he decided to come out of “retirement.” He started Thomas Franchise Solutions, pivoted a couple of times, and now is the Chairman of Dogtopia, a franchisor of dog day care centers.
Don’t let this whirlwind of business activity make you think Peter isn’t any fun, however. On the side he trades cars, rides Harleys, and is beginning to explore virtual reality. Do you know when he and I meet? 6 AM at Starbucks.
