What Happens in Vegas
People tend to look at me funny when I tell them Vegas is my zen happy place. My escape. Where I go to recharge. To Unwind. That’s probably because a lot of people go to Vegas to for drinking, partying, clubbing… but not me.
For entrepreneurs like myself it can be terribly difficult to turn it off. And yet, turning it off is so incredibly important to enable the creative process, not to mention to ensure your health — and sanity! It just so happens for me that Vegas is the one place in the world where I can hit pause, shift, and refresh.
I’ve been guilty of drowning and losing myself in my work. Then one day I realized I had literally lost myself: my purpose, my drive, my happiness. I was executing life, not experiencing it. So I made a promise to myself not to miss any more opportunities, to experience as much as I possibly could. It changed me. And in the process I found my purpose: bringing experiences to life — not just my own. XPR was born.
I’m building XPR from Ottawa, my hometown, due to the incredible support I’ve received from mentors and investors — and good thing cause I found my awesome team here. I love what I do but I’m only human so I admit I get into ruts. I believe all entrepreneurs and startups do and in my opinion what’s important is how you deal with these slumps. Do you ‘hustle’ harder hoping for a miracle before you burn out? Or do force yourself out of the rut? I’ve learned the hard way, after many burnouts, to do the latter. And for me, Vegas became my forcing function.
Yes, I take quarterly trips to Vegas. And as counter intuitive as it may seem to most it’s probably one of the most productive things I do. There are many reasons for this:
I have tons of design inspiration from Vegas, for instance our logo was inspired by the Wynn and the MGM marketing materials also inspire our branding and collateral.
I get so many new ideas when I allow myself to be distracted by the city. Vegas has a funny way of sucking me into that zone where I am at my most creative. Everything there is so over the top and I absorb it all. Then, usually starting on the return flight home, I find myself overflowing with new ideas.
Finally, the 8 to 12 hour poker session are oddly therapeutic and regenerative for me. It’s literally the best way I have found for me to recharge — kind of like my meditation. It also happens to be great for networking at times: eight new people to pitch ideas off of at every new table. There are also many parallels between poker and business — from reading people to risk management. But I won’t get into that too much here.
Now I know what you’re all thinking. Omg. Are you a gambler? I’m a startup founder, what do you think? But seriously, cheekiness aside, the real answer is I take calculated risks. I do everything I can to stack the odds in my favour. And then, and only then, do I go all in. I’m not afraid to take risks. I genuinely believe you have more to lose by never risking anything at all, because you never accomplish much by playing it safe. Plus, you’ll never experience the thrill. Just sayin’. That’s kinda what life is about.
So there. I’ll say it: XPR is a gamble. I know it. My team knows it. My investors know it. Actually, investors especially are the gamblers and ours are betting on me. If you’ll allow me an analogy, it’s not all that different from going to the Sports Book and placing a bet on your favourite team based both on the odds and your gut. Except rather than betting on an NFL, NHL or NBA team, you bet on XPR… and it’s a really long game.
Another fun (for me anyway) comparison would be to look at the correlations between startup investing and poker staking. For those of you who don’t follow poker here’s an interesting tidbit: many players you see in the big tournaments on TV (with buy-ins from $25k to $250k or more) or the biggest cash games (often with well over $1M on the table) are not playing with their own money. They are staked: investors bought a piece of their action — at a valuation based on past performance.
Anyway, if you are still skeptical that my trips to Vegas are productive and justified I totally understand. And I’m going to prove you wrong.
Every time I’m in Vegas there is one thing I am reminded of: this place really shouldn’t exist. It’s in the middle of nowhere. In the desert. There was nothing here. Now there’s the Bellagio for instance, where there’s a lake with the coolest water fountain show. In the desert. You can eat fresh fish flown in daily at 5 stars restaurants. In the desert. You have these enormous pools with lavish pool parties. In the desert. Cause why not right?
Vegas only exists because of big, make that colossal, dreamers with borderline insane audacity. And, surrounded by their awe inspiring exploits, I can’t help but be compelled to dream bigger myself. Much bigger. There’s simply no room for mediocrity in Sin City. In Vegas you make big bets. This is what inspired me to now raise the stakes beyond anything I’ve ever done before.
See opportunities don’t just pop out of nowhere. And definitely don’t just fall into your lap while sitting at home. That’s what happens in Vegas… and it’s where we’re going next.
