Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/716217
www.vanguardcanada.com AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 39 See the full interview online Q How did you start out in this industry and how has it brought you to where you are today? I started out with a visual effects and video game business that was invited into de- fence by a company looking to increase the fidelity of its simulations… Trainers couldn't understand why their multimil- lion dollar simulator didn't look as good as their kid's Xbox. From there, I attended CANSEC in 2011 and saw an opportunity to bring Hollywood and gaming into the defence industry. Strong relationships built between then and now with advisors, gov- ernment, clients and partners have brought us where we are today. Q What is your role at your organization today? I'm one of the Founders and the CEO. My role is to chart the company's course, advise clients on future training strategies and emerging technologies, be the client's voice within the company, lead business development, oversee creative, and con- duct final QA of products. Q What was your most challenging moment? As a small company, cash flow is king, and payroll can sometimes be a white knuckle event, add to that the climate in Canada – no support for innovation other than R&D, and the climate in the West – no financial support for business other than the lowest tax, rightly believing that viable companies will simply succeed. So during the slow times over the last three or four years, as our competition was financially subsidized by various regional agencies and Ottawa, we had to pivot and make hard de- cisions; ultimately those decisions lead to a lean and sustainable business that can offer huge cost savings, and the sustainable long term contracts we are executing today, but there were definitely a few sleepless nights while we were first navigating the industry! Q What was your a-ha moment? We started out believing that the only way to work in Canadian defence was to subcon- tract to foreign primes and pursue IRB's, but after realizing IRB's were paid lip ser- vice, and talking with end users, RaceRocks implemented a new business strategy and started responding to RFP's and working directly for the crown. We carved out a great piece of business for an SME as a trusted supplier to the Royal Canadian Navy. This led to partnerships instead of subcontract relationships with companies like Boeing and Federal Fleet Services that really believe in economic impact and supplier develop- ment in Canada regardless of offsets. Q Whit is the one thing that has you the most fired up today? Project Resolve and the RCN have given Ra- ceRocks the opportunity to help "imagine" what Future Naval Training will look like… Q What is a habit that contributes to your success? Building strong relationships throughout our supply chain – advisors, contractors, clients and partners. Contributing to ad- vance our industry and constantly learning. Q What is your parting piece of advice? Never give up, or give up right away, ev- erything in between is a lot of hard work. Q What people or organizations do you believe best embody the innovation mindset? Boeing (one of only 12 per cent of compa- nies on the Fortune 500 list in 1955, still on the list today), Elon Musk, Apple. Questions about RaceRocks Q How is your organization changing the game within your industry sector? RaceRocks believes learning should be entertaining, and aligned with the way people think work and play. We under- stand the demographics of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and know how to engage learners with the same media and technology they use in their daily lives. We are forging partnerships with like-minded small Canadian companies such as Modest Tree and Marine LS to give CAF trainers and subject matter experts (SME's) ac- cess to best in class Technology Enabled Learning (TEL). Q What are some of the biggest im- pediments to innovation in our industry sector? The biggest impediment to innovation in Canada is how Canada defines the in- novation it can invest in. Canada loves to support Scientific Research and Develop- ment, but R&D is only a small part of in- novation. R&D by nature, often fails, and although it can create IP or a new widget, it takes innovation across a company to create a vision, hire Canadians, commer- cialize the successful R&D and market and sell a product…Innovation creates jobs. Scott DewiS CEO and CO-fOundEr RaceRocks 3D Inc.