Next week, after six and a half years, I will become the sole CEO at Avanti and Amin will transition into a Chair role. I am incredibly fortunate to have the type of partnership, in the truest sense, where we can complete a role transition of this nature and continue to want to work closely together.

About 9 months ago, my friend launched his own investment firm. In the investment memo, he had a sentence that stuck out to me: “[investment firm] is the only place [partner] and I intend to work for the rest of our careers”. I imagine there’s something satisfying about knowing with certainty you’ve found the last job you want to have in your career. I’m not sure I can say the same. I love working at Avanti and hope to be here for many years, but having only just turned 35, I can’t say with certainty it will be the last role in my career.

One thing I am certain of is I want to work closely with Amin in some capacity for the rest of my career. I’m grateful for that. It’s not easy to find someone you share a common set of values with and can enjoy working with after many years, including through many highs and lows.

In many ways, a business partnership resembles a marriage. Aside from Julia, I have spoken with Amin more than anyone else over the past 6.5 years, including family and close friends. Making it a successful partnership has required intention and effort, like all meaningful partnerships.

I first met Amin in 2011 when we both moved to San Francisco for work. Our respective roommates were mutually connected from school and we became fast friends. I believe the fact that the initial connection was social and we enjoyed spending time together has been important in making the professional partnership work well. If you’re going to spend countless hours working closely together, you must enjoy one another, and you must have a more complete understanding of the person you’re partnered with than the professional picture alone provides. Throughout our time running Avanti, we’ve continued to spend time together socially, which has had compounding benefits to the partnership. And it doesn’t hurt that Amin ended up marrying someone much cooler than he, that Julia and I both very much enjoy as well!

There are two distinct factors that stick out in terms of making the partnership a success.

The first factor was investing significant upfront time in preparing for how we would work together. We began the partnership by discussing a set of realistic scenarios that could lead to future conflicts. Some more mundane (e.g., what if I want to hire someone and you don’t like them?) and others more imaginative (e.g., what if the business does ok; not great but not terrible and one of us wants to sell the business and one of us wants to raise growth capital and keep going?). Working through those scenarios when they were hypotheticals enhanced our ability to navigate them when they became a reality. It also provided an understanding of how we might respectively approach and react to situations during times of conflict, and helped elucidate what matters most. Most of the scenarios never surfaced and I’m glad we discussed them, regardless.

The second is vulnerability-based mutual trust and humility. We both have egos and take pride in our work. And we’re also willing to accept when we’re wrong and receive feedback with an open mind. That is much easier when a deep mutual trust exists. When you know someone is challenging your thinking with the desire to get to a mutually positive outcome, even the most difficult conversations become possible.

While our roles are changing, I look forward to continuing to work closely with Amin and value the multi-faceted role he will continue to play as a friend, colleague, therapist, mentor, and advisor.

The first week of September, following Labour Day weekend, is one of my favourite weeks of the year. When you’re younger, it’s the first week back to school. You see all your friends and catch up on how the summer went. When you’re in high school you come back and can tell who went through puberty, who changed their look. All very exciting.

Even as an adult, there seems to be a buzz in the workplace. People have mostly wrapped up vacations and summer travel and are serious about getting back to business. The out of office notifications drop off. The pace and hustle pick up. That type of energy is contagious and has always been a motivator for me. Only one calendar quarter remains in the year and there’s a push to complete any projects or transactions ahead of year end.

I once made the mistake of booking vacation that extended into the first week of September and learned never to repeat that. It felt like I was missing out on the return, and coming back mid-September felt like I was playing catch up. I missed being around the first week back and have been ever since.

I thoroughly enjoyed my summer this year and am looking forward to the September return and transition to fall. I hope you are too.

In May, I flew with two friends from Vancouver to Cancun for a Bachelor party. It was an empty flight – the Dreamliner – and we were fortunate to be e-upgraded to Business and sit in pods. After I sat down, a husband-and-wife couple and two kids got on and sat next to us. Clearly, the father had kept the news that they were flying Business a surprise. The whole family was ecstatic. “Dad!!! Are you kidding me!? I don’t have to sit in the middle seat! You tricked us!” The excitement persisted. This kid crushed about six sodas and was jumping up and down the whole flight with a huge smile on his face. “Dad, do we get to keep the headphones?!” His enthusiasm was contagious. I found myself grinning on the dad’s behalf. It was awesome.

A close friend came out to visit in the Winter and we went for dinner at one of Calgary’s oldest steakhouses, Caesar’s. He had never tried a tableside Caesar salad, so we ordered one. He was mind blown. “Wow. Best Caesar salad I’ve ever had. Hands down.”. His enthusiasm pumped me up too. It was awesome.

It’s easy to take things we enjoy for granted when they become a regular experience. Sharing something you enjoy with someone and seeing them experience it for the first time is a great way to re-ignite that feeling of gratitude. I can’t wait to share lots of “firsts” with Henry.