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Looking for an executive assistant at CrossPacific Capital

I am having a great time at CrossPacific Capital (XPCP), learning a lot and seeing many interesting deals. So many that it may be more efficient to get some assistance. Therefore I am now looking to hire an additional personal assistant / executive assistant for our office in downtown Vancouver (we have one EA already at this moment). 

What does that mean? The person I am looking for will help to efficiently manage the day-to-day operations and  bookkeeping of our venture capital firm. You will work directly with me, but management of staff, accounting, and support of management or other staff is also required. You may also work with some of the start-ups that we incubate in our office.

Position Requirements

  • Three to five years in administrative support in a corporate or start-up environment, with two years support at the executive level.
  • Experience in an investment banking or VC/PE environment a plus.
  • Minimum of a Business Admin degree from a recognized University (SFU, UBC or equivalent educational institution in Canada or abroad).
  • MBA a plus
  • Fluency and proficiency in the English language, with a preference for a candidate who also speaks another language (esp. Chinese would be a big plus considering our activities in China)
  • Certification in accounting and bookkeeping
  • Overseas experience a plus
  • Ability to respect at all times the confidential nature of the work and information in the Executive’s office
  • Ability to be available 24/7.  Max 1 hr response time to calls, sms and email during working hours, 24 hrs response time during non working hours
  • Communication: Excellent oral and written communication skills.
  • Needs Assessment: Anticipate, understand, and respond to the needs of members and other clients to meet or exceed their expectations.
  • Teamwork: Work cooperatively and effectively with others to set goals, resolve problems, and make decisions to enhance organizational effectiveness; ability to undertake self-directed tasks when necessary.
  • Organization: Excellent time management skills; attention to detail; the capacity to prioritize by assessing situations to determine urgency; ability to develop a work schedule, set goals, create / implement actions plans and monitor progress towards goals; and ability to make clear, timely decisions.

If you are interested in this position or have any questions, you can get in touch with me at marc@xpcp.ca. If you decide to apply for the job send us your resume and a short motivation. Please also indicate your expected salary level. 

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To Bitcoin or not to Bitcoin

Bitcoin price

For a couple of weeks I have been looking at Bitcoins. First more out of curiosity, but over the last couple of days more from an investment point of view. It’s fascinating that someone managed to come up with the idea for this new currency and that he (or she? Nobody knows who was behind the original Bitcoin idea) made it into a globally accepted means of payment.

Globally is relative of course, but in most countries of the world there are at least some merchants accepting bitcoins. Not a lot though: today there are just 12 companies accepting bitcoins in Vancouver for example. But I believe this will change, and therefore I see a huge opportunity.  Because hardly anybody uses bitcoins the demand is relatively low compared to supply. The supply side will certainly go up a lot over the next years (more people will buy or build bitcoin miners), but because it will get harder to mine every day (that’s part of how bitcoins work) I expect that demand will go up a lot more.

As an economist I see a big opportunity here: if supply is constrained and demand will go up it means that bitcoins may easily be worth 10, 100 or even 1000 times as much as their current value. Don’t underestimate what can happen it bitcoins would really become a global currency: in 2010 someone bought a pizza for 10,000 bitcoins, just 3 years later those bitcoins are worth USD 1 million. I hope the pizza maker kept them in his bitcoin account!

Of course there are a lot of risks. Maybe the theory behind bitcoins has a critical flaw that nobody thought about. Possible, but more and more unlikely as time goes by. A bigger risk, however, is that governments will ban bitcoins. This is something that is actually quite likely in the US or the EU, although a global ban will be impossible because bitcoins are anonymous. But if it happens my theory about demand outstripping supply might not work, because the general public won’t use them.

The currency seems to be a lot more stable than just a few weeks ago, so this looks like a good time to take a position. Either I’ll lose my complete investment or I’ll make a mega-return. No risk no fun, just like in my daily life as a venture capitalist!

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Addicted to the Grouse Grind

Going in the cable car down Grouse Mountain, with the Grouse Grind in the foreground and Vancouver in the background

The Grouse Grind, a steep 2.9 km trail up Grouse Mountain with a 850 meter altitude increase, has become my favorite trail in Vancouver. Not because it is such a beautiful trail – there are some nice views but generally the trail is so steep that you only see the steps or rocks ahead of you. There are much nicer trails out there, but they are not as much fun or as convenient to reach from downtown Vancouver as the Grouse Grind.

I did my first Grind in early May and since then I hiked it 6 times (once without the official Grouse Grind Timer, and the last 5 times with one, so everybody can see my results online). I don’t use the word run for the Grouse Grind, because it’s almost impossible to run it because it’s so steep. I often go after work, it’s just a short detour on my way home, and their is enough parking space at the bottom of the trail.

Grouse Grind

I bought an annual ticket for Grouse Mountain, so each time I go up I can take the cable car back down to my car. That’s a major selling point for the Grouse Grind compared to other trails, especially because running down is bad for your knees and I prefer just going up.

Another advantage is the Grouse Grind timer that I mentioned earlier. Most of the regulars have a chip card that you can scan at the bottom and at the top, so your results are displayed on a TV screen and they are all available online. It’s great to compare your results to others, or to the average of the different age groups.

Did the Grouse Grind twice this afternoon, it's very addictive

Last Friday I did the Grouse Grind two times in a row, which was actually a bit too much. My legs were killing me on the second climb up and I was not sure if I would be able to make it. But of course I did reach the top (although I did stop several times), but  not in a great time. The first climb I managed in 48:28 minutes, but the second one took me 16 minutes longer.

It’s quite busy on the Grouse Grind, especially on weekends, so I try to avoid peak times. When you go relatively fast you have to pass a lot of people on the steep trail, which is not always easy. I wish I could do it early in the morning, but it’s my task to get Scott dressed, fed and to school by 8 AM, so that won’t work. I realize more and more what a luxury it was that we had 2 nannies in China!

I actually like passing a few people on the way up, it’s a good incentive to push myself even more. I guess I am just too competitive. When I did the Grouse Grind 2 times in a row I was annoyed that people managed to pass me on my second climb up, especially when I had to stop several times.

Grouse Mountain cable car

The Grouse Grind is such a great work-out because it only takes less than an hour, but you have to give everything you have during that time. You can’t even stop and go back half way, because there are no side trails and it’s not allowed to hike down (although some people still do this). But there is a comfortable cable car back to the bottom of the mountain!

All these things together make the Grouse Grind quite addictive and I now need to do it at least once a week. And I am not the only one, there are people who climb Grouse Mountain 2-3 times per day almost every day! One guy did the Grouse Grind 97 times this year already, even though the season only started less than a month ago (so that’s over 3 climbs per day on average). I am very happy to have this great trail so close to my house!