How Office Assets Can Support Companies Throughout Their Entire Life Cycle

Canada's Leading VC Talks Space-as-a-Service

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John Ruffolo,?Founder & Managing Partner of?Maverix Private Equity, joins?Bold?Founder?Caleb Parker?for the second episode of?Season 6?to discuss what fast-growing companies need from office real estate,?and how office assets can support companies throughout their entire life cycle.

We talk through the important of asking the users what they want, how changes in real estate have accelerated since the start of the pandemic, and what the most important things are for spaces to consider when building brand and community.?

John shares his insights on hybrid working and back to the office and how there is space for more disruptive and bold companies to change the future of work conversation.?

Connect with John Ruffolo on LinkedIn

Connect with Caleb Parker on LinkedIn?

If you have any questions or feedback on this episode, email?[email protected]

Value Bombs:

• And throughout history, if you look back at the major innovations that's moved the world forward, it's been during times of crisis. This pandemic is no different. - Caleb Parker
• ?Traditional real estate, particularly during the pandemic, probably has the most visibility of an industry that's in need of massive change. - John Ruffolo
• [Real estate owners are] really trying to shoe horn a client opportunity to fit their buildings. - John Ruffolo
• The real estate industry didn't look at their customer as a customer. They looked at it as a tenant in that particular building, based on a geographic location. - John Ruffolo
• [Real estate] was one of the last industries, or maybe the last industry that was supply side focused as opposed to demand side. - John Ruffolo
• You are a deep expert in real estate at what was the last time that somebody was looking for space asked who the building owner was? - John Ruffolo
• In order to build loyalty and trust with that person you have to deliver a consistent experience. And that consistent experience is what becomes known as the brand. - Caleb Parker
• You use the term space as a service. I actually don't use that term. I actually use community as a service. - John Ruffolo
• Disruption always comes from the bottom, never from the top down. - John Ruffolo
• I think if you're a landlord right now, you have to be looking at as a service and figuring out how to get into your building in some capacity. - Caleb Parker
• I know these CEOs were led to believe that a transformation for them to work out of the home would have taken three years. It [only] took them three weeks. - John Ruffolo
• We haven't learned how to be as efficient using technology as we would have with those small conversations in the office. And that's really just because of our adoption. And I still think I love physically seeing people, that's who I am. - John Ruffolo
• Blackberry was the first time that I was personally untethered from my desk. So the hybrid work arrangement is a shrug in our office and it's a shrug for a lot of folks. - John Ruffolo

Listen to the full episode:?(press play)

Resources:

1. ?TSK's agile/flexible/hybrid article
2. Maverix Private Equity Website
3. OMERS Ventures
4. Eat, Sleep, Work, Repeat Podcast?
5. 10 x Podcast
6. The David Suzuki Podcast?

?Shout Outs:

• Dave Cairns
• One Eleven
• Matthew Lombardi
• Michael Kravshik
• LumiQ
• Basil Demeroutis
• Bruce Daisley
• Richard Pickering

About John Ruffolo?

Follow John on?Twitter?

John is the Founder and Managing Partner of Maverix Private Equity.?

John’s focus is on guiding the strategy of the firm, Chair of the Investment Committee and is deeply involved with sourcing and leading opportunities particularly within the technology industry.

John is also the Founder of OMERS Ventures. Through John’s leadership as Chief Executive Officer, OMERS Ventures had invested over $500 million of capital in over 40 disruptive technology companies across North America, including growth investments in Shopify, Wattpad, Wave, Hootsuite, Rover, Desire 2 Learn, Hopper, DuckDuckGo, TouchBistro and League. During his tenure at OMERS, John also formed OMERS Platform Investments as its Executive Managing Director. He has led investments in Purpose Financial, PointNorth Capital, District Ventures, Xanadu, OneEleven and ArcTern Ventures.

John is also the Co-founder and Vice-Chair of the Council of Canadian Innovators, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping high-growth Canadian technology firms scale up globally. Further, John sits on a number of boards of leading innovative organizations in both the profit and non-for-profit sector.?

Fun fact: John and his wife named each of their children after their favorite bottle of wine.

Sponsors

Headline Sponsor: TSK

TSK creates inspiring workplaces for some of the world’s biggest brands across the UK and Ireland, They’ve been working for 25 years to deliver the best employee experiences and the vision of their clients. Not only do they create great places to work, TSK share workplace content every week from the latest data to inspiring spaces they’ve designed and built. You can read their latest insights at?www.tskgroup.co.uk?or check out their?LinkedIn?and?Instagram?pages to become a follower, fan and friend.

Fortune Favours the Bold

Bold merges property management & Space-as-a-Service to drive asset value and help office customers grow faster. Now part of NewFlex (www.workbold.co)?

Future Proof Your Portfolio with NewFlex

NewFlex delivers and manages a range of branded solutions for every type of building, in every type of location, for every type of occupier. Including the flexibility to develop your own brand. All enabled by flexible management contracts where we are invested in making money for you. (www.newflex.com)

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A Podcast Company is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. (https://www.apodcastcompany.com)