Former Dragon tells young business students not to panic

Bruce Croxon's message to young business students with an entrepreneurial spirit, or those hoping to make it in the corporate world, is to work hard, keep up with technology and don't panic.

Croxon is best known as a former Dragon on CBC's Dragons' Den, a show in which young entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to successful investors such as himself (he appeared on the show for three seasons, between 2011 and 2014).

Croxon is in Sault Ste. Marie Thursday and Friday to be a mentor/judge, along with adverting expert and CBC Radio personality Terry O'Reilly, in Algoma University's ninth annual Northern Ontario Case Competition, held at Algoma's Water Tower Inn & Suites.  

"My message at this stage is 'the world is your oyster.'  I feel like saying to a lot of them that are anxious about career choices or decisions 'don't panic, it will come to you.'" 

"A colleague of mine has a saying, a basketball analogy, if you hang around the net long enough you'll catch a ball…try and find something you're really interested in and hang around the net, because opportunities are abundant, they're ever changing and there's no panic to have it sorted out by the time you're 20," Croxon said, speaking to SooToday. 

"Not everybody is destined to be an entrepreneur, or have innovation as the thing they're best at, so my advice is the better you can know yourself the better off you'll be."

"(My advice is) pick something that you really, really love so that when you have to work hard at it, and you will increasingly today because of technology and information, make it something you'll enjoy so it doesn't seem so much like work," Croxon said.

Croxon said he was looking forward to being a mentor/judge in this year's Algoma University Northern Ontario Case Competition, in which business students from Algoma Unversity and other postsecondary institutions compete, working in groups to develop strategies and solutions for business cases and have their findings evaluated by a mentor/judge.

"In my career as an entrepreneur I've had to problem solve a lot of cases or figure out solutions to issues while growing businesses, so I've got the experience to say 'look I've seen this kind of thing before' and help to judge how people tackle it."

"There'll be a lot more time for mentoring here (at the Case Competition) than there would be in that seven minute clip you see on Dragons' Den," Croxon said.

"I love working in a team, I've always had business partners, so when I see people collaborating to solve a problem I'm all over it, I feel very at home with people working together, developing a consensus…that's where I'm most comfortable."

Though best known for appearing on Dragons' Den, Croxon previously made his mark as founder of Lavalife, an online dating site established in 1988, long before the Internet and social media became a part of everyday life.

Croxon sold Lavalife in 2004 and now owns and operates Round13, investing in growth stage digital companies.  

Croxon, 54, is a married father of two children, born in Toronto, and still calls the city his home.

Though Dragons' Den was a part of his life for only three years, Croxon said he is aware the popularity of the show led him to be picked as a mentor/judge for this year's competition.

"I've been amazed by the number of young people who have ended up watching the show."

"My experience has been that a lot of people watch the show as a family…the 16 to 19 age group is all over it, and I think there 's a natural synergy between the Den and small business ideas and encouraging people to take a little bit of a risk and follow their dreams," Croxon said.

"It's hitting these guys and gals at the right time of their lives, so business competitions, problem solving, projecting what they may want to spend their time doing in a meaningful way is a very good fit with the show, so I think there's been a natural gravitation for me to work with people this age."

(PHOTO: Canadian entrepreneur Bruce Croxon, former member of CBC's Dragons' Den, is a mentor/judge at Algoma University's ninth annual Northern Ontario Case Competition, March 26, 2015.  Darren Taylor/SooToday)