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FROM: SEP-OCT 2007 ISSUE | BY DAVID PYE
For some people, a quiet afternoon by the pool or some light gardening might be ideal down time. For Eric Boyko, climbing the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro is a more likely scenario. The Montreal native is one of Canada’s most dynamic young entrepreneurs and has accomplished more in his 37 years than most do in a lifetime. By age 30, he had cashed in on the dot-com boom and has been building upon that success ever since. He has also established himself as a devoted philanthropist along the way, climbing six of the world’s largest summits to raise money for Alzheimer’s research and other charitable causes.
“I hear people say they’ll start giving back at age 50, but I’m a strong believer that there is no better time than the present,” says Boyko, the self-proclaimed chief energizing officer of Stingray Digital Media Group. “Even if it’s not a monetary donation, we all need to take something we are passionate about and get involved with it in the community.”
In 2006, Boyko’s combination of business acumen and benevolence was recognized by Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 program. Sponsored by CGA-Canada, the national program celebrates the achievements of young Canadians under the age of 40, and promotes mentorship and professional development.
“It was a great honour for me because it’s a big Canadian event that provides recognition for my achievements outside Quebec,” says Boyko. “The opportunity to share the experience with scientists and engineers who were nominated, as well as with close to 400 alumni, including other CGAs, also made for a powerful group of connections.”
First Steps
Boyko’s fascination with business began at an early age. Determined to follow in his father’s footsteps as an accountant, he dreamt of entrepreneurial pursuits that could bring balance sheet numbers to life in far more exciting ways.
“I looked at how hard my dad was working – and still is at age 72 – and I decided that I didn’t just want to sell hours,” he says. “I realized early on that hours are limited, but selling units is limitless.”
After excelling in studies at prestigious Brébeuf College, Boyko pursued a bachelor of commerce degree at McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management, where his entrepreneurial strengths began to emerge. Along with classmate Eric Aubertin, Boyko converted a school project into a viable business plan to open a restaurant called Campus Gourmet in 1991. But with an $80,000 investment and a monthly rent of $5,000, the endeavour was doomed from the start and came to a crashing halt less than six months later. Always the optimist, Boyko wrote off the experience as the starting point of an entrepreneurial adventure that would eventually lead to bigger and better things. “That experience taught me you can play with your variable costs, but your fixed costs need to remain low if you are going to succeed,” he notes. “I also learned that accounting is the grammar of business and that understanding a balance sheet is what business is all about.”
Continuing the Ascent
Boyko’s next endeavour brought far greater results. As vice-president of finance for McGill’s Commerce Society, he developed a scratch ticket program to raise money for the 1992 Commerce Games. The program raised $10,000 over a two-week period and led to a profitable venture that made up for the losses of the failed Campus Gourmet.
After graduating in 1992, Boyko started working toward his CGA at night while interning at KPMG by day. Now debt-free, Boyko and Eric Aubertin reunited to found Universal Fundraising Group, an Internet-based business providing customizable fundraising programs for a wide variety of clients. The business took off and Boyko, having consulted with his father, decided to pursue the venture on a full-time basis. Nonetheless, he never lost sight of the importance of eventually earning his CGA designation.
“The CGA designation is very advanced in terms of the knowledge it provides for understanding financing options, cost accounting, taxation issues, and mergers and acquisitions,” he says. “I also believe that, in our current world of globalization, you really need the extra designation to give you an edge.”
Boyko earned his CGA in 1997 and applied his advanced accounting knowledge to growing Universal Fundraising Group. In 1998, following the departure of Eric Aubertin, the company was renamed eFundraising.com and became one of Quebec’s 10 fastest-growing companies. Two years later, Boyko received an offer he couldn’t refuse and unloaded his baby for $27 million to ZapMe! Corporation. When the tech bubble burst shortly thereafter, Boyko reacquired the company for a mere $2 million and flipped it to its current owner, Reader’s Digest, for another profit.
Nailing a Route
The success Boyko enjoyed with eFundraising.com helped him to identify an entrepreneurial niche he was truly passionate about. Instead of spending his money on a vacation home and a new yacht – items he says would make him a “slave to my own goods” – he sought out opportunities that would allow him to create new wealth. “Entrepreneurship is the key to creating new wealth, as opposed to money earned by doctors and lawyers that is just redistributed,” he explains. “It’s much like a poker game where five guys bring in $100 each. It’s a zero-sum game because at the end of the night there is still only $500 on the table.”
Boyko used his profits to invest in a handful of companies he believed he could help to grow, including companies involved in lumber, transportation, retirement homes, and even cranberry juice. He remains active in each and every one of them and studies their monthly financial statements religiously. His business ventures are his lifestyle and the more money he makes, the more he plans on reinvesting in new entrepreneurial pursuits.
“We’re in a period of change right now where old business has to adapt to the digital space, so now is the time for young CGAs to consider starting their own businesses,” says Boyko. “If you have an accounting background and lots of ambition, there is money available.”
Boyko is a firm believer in the power of angels – angel investors that is. He wants to help generate seed money in Canada for ventures that will create new wealth in sectors that are fresh and emerging. That is the focus of his latest project, Stingray Digital Media Group, a company founded earlier this year along with entrepreneurs Alexandre Taillefer and Charles Sirois. Stingray hopes to acquire companies viewed as leaders in their particular digital media niche and to help grow those companies with a hands-on approach. The philosophy is to capitalize on the current digital media boom by acquiring a stable of synergistic companies that will exploit new niches, thus creating brand new wealth in a healthy sector.
“There have been five periods in history where we have seen a boom, followed by a bust and then 40 years of prosperity,” explains Boyko. “The latest is the technology boom that busted in 2000. We are now in the early stages of 40 years of prosperity and guaranteed economic fluctuation in that space because everything is changing.”
Stingray Digital Media Group’s first acquisition was a company called Sound Choice, a world leader in the karaoke sector. The acquisition includes the largest catalogue of karaoke songs in the world, as well as The Karaoke Channel, a television station with approximately 16 million viewers in the United States.
“It’s all about creating wealth by nurturing niches that are underdeveloped,” says Boyko. “It’s something that needs to be done on a larger scale in Canada. If we lose jobs in the lumber industry, we can create new service-sector jobs. If we can’t compete with cotton T-shirts, we need to start making higher-quality clothing.”
Sighting the Summit
Boyko’s vision and successes haven’t gone unnoticed. In 2004, he was invited to take part in the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference, a Commonwealth event held every four years to help broaden the perspectives of future leaders in business, unions, and public administration. Participants are sent out to provinces and territories across Canada, and Boyko chose Nunavut.
“I asked a high-school graduating class how many of them were planning on starting their own businesses, but they all looked at me with blank stares,” recalls Boyko. “I offered them a deal – in exchange for a one-page business plan, I would award $1,000 to the first two submissions.”
One of the first business plans submitted was for a cleaning service for water purification systems, while the second recipient used Boyko’s funding to purchase three mountain bikes to start his own touring company. “That’s just one example of how seed money can help stimulate new wealth,” explains Boyko. “Angel investors are crucial to that process and unfortunately we are lacking in that area in Canada.”
Boyko continues to provide $2,000 annually to fund business plans, and has seen two other tourism companies emerge since the first year, including a young man who used the grant to start his own guide service.
As if mergers, acquisitions, investing, and mountain climbing weren’t enough to keep him busy, Boyko somehow finds time to be involved with a variety of entrepreneurial associations. He is a member of the Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization and the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), and also serves on the boards of YPO Quebec, Cyber-Cap, and Redex. In March 2006, Boyko was also named to the board of directors of the Montreal Economic Institute.
“I’m lucky enough to have made money at an early age and to be able to share my vision and experience with other young people who hope to do the same,” says Boyko. “I’ve been blessed, but I’m only 37 years old and my best years are still to come.
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