Cameron MacCarthy is a Partner at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP and a core sponsor here at Long Calgary & House 831. I swung by the BLG office to chat with him about who he is and what he does, how he found his role in the Calgary Ecosystem, and what he sees coming.
Who is Cam?
Professionally, Cam is a partner at BLG, with a corporate finance and M&A Practice focusing on emerging and high-growth companies. Personally, Cam is a Vancouver Island transplant in Calgary who loves to get back to the coast, fish, play golf, and spend time with his family.
Looking back over the past few years, what shifts have you seen in Calgary?
We’ve started to see the diversification of the Alberta and Western Canadian economy. Specifically in Alberta, the shift from primarily Oil&Gas towards more companies with tech focus; disruptive technologies, energy transitions, or businesses with a deeper purpose. We’ve certainly seen the entrepreneurial spirit manifest itself. The things clients want to solve, do, take to market, is radically different from 10 years ago. We’re seeing really interesting business propositions, led by people who have always wanted to be entrepreneurs, who are now taking risks and starting on the journey.
What started that do you think?
I can vividly remember being at a Calgary Economic Development lunch - maybe 6 or 7 years ago – and the topic of discussion was diversifying the Alberta economy and turning Calgary into a tech hub. I think a lot of us that left that lunch were somewhat skeptical if that was truly a realizable vision. But we’ve seen it actually happen before our eyes since then.
It’s a bit of ‘if its built, it’ll come’. COVID was maybe in some ways a catalyst for people to rethink what they were doing and what they wanted to get out of it; it pushed people to take risks that they may have been unwilling to before. There’s a big snowball effect when we start to look around and see people having success outside of traditional industry and sector, it becomes motivation for people that are toying with the idea to make the jump.
There's a whole bunch of forces at play, but certainly in this city, there’s a mentality and spirit that fuels the diversification and the move to the new economy. I don’t think you have that in many other cities or economies. Capital allocators are looking at this city in favorable terms now, I think we’re at the start of a truly exciting shift.
And you position yourself as a support to encourage the transition?
From very early on in my career, I was shown the value of supporting entrepreneurs on their journey, and the power of helping them incubate their ideas. It only takes watching one client go through from ideation to liquidity event, to understand how transformative that is for the founders, shareholders, and all stakeholders. It's infectious. We, as professional advisors, are very uniquely positioned to both support and contribute to that journey.
Is that what you see Long Calgary as?
The idea behind Long Calgary and the manifestation of that idea in House 831 is 100% grounded in the idea of supporting a community and building a network of like-minded individuals that are going to face common challenges. It’s for helping people get from point A to B to C and educating them along that journey. It’s all about community, support, and contribution to the larger movement.
I think Long Calgary is very uniquely positioned in that regard; it’s not a typical incubator, it’s not a government-funded program. It’s grassroots, it’s organic. I think the impetus behind it is refreshing and hugely invaluable.
Do you identify or connect with the founder's identity/ story?
I’ve had a fairly unique career path within my profession. I was put into a management and leadership position early on in my career. Being the co-managing Partner in a law firm that we sought to rip down to the studs and restructure it gave me insight into the challenges of being an entrepreneur. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some incredible founders and entrepreneurs since very early on in my career; through that I’ve always tried to position myself as trusted advisor and strategic business partner, not just service provider. When you think about what that means, it means you’re in the trenches more. You celebrate the wins and suffer the losses differently than a service provider would. I’m truly privileged to get to work with the people that I do, and I’ve got a different affinity to the founders, the entrepreneurs, and the difference-makers who are taking the reins and moving us forward.
You’ve used the law as your way to be involved with and support business?
Law was once described as the family business; my father was a lawyer and is now a provincial court judge, my sister is a lawyer. Law was always in the back of my mind, I used it as my avenue into the business world. I’ve always wanted to be true to the business, and the business of law. That’s what appeals to me. It is the working with my clients in their businesses, growing and de-risking those businesses that I’m passionate about. Law has provided me with an opportunity to participate in the business world from a different perspective.
How do you stay sane?
Ha, balance is a very difficult concept. I think there’s an aspect of my personality that loves the challenges and demands of transactional work, helping people build and grow businesses. But the sanity check is finding time to disconnect and recharge. For me, that’s traveling, being on the coast, golfing, fishing. And understanding I don’t and will never work a 9-5. It’s about putting all my energy into what keeps me sane when I’m away, so I can recharge and plug back in when it’s time to get to work. Knowing yourself is critical, knowing what drains your energy and what refuels you, and being very intentional about what you put energy into. Finding the time and the space to do what you need to do, the best you can, is not a perfect science.
I would say the one thing that I love about what I do is, the practice of law is a team sport; I’m blessed to have an incredible team around me that can help share the load and help each other out every day. You’ve got to have a great support network and a great team, but you need to be very intentional about your time. Success is not a zero-sum game.
What’s coming for the end of 2024, the start of 2025?
I’m the eternal optimist, I look at what our clients are working on right now and I’m super excited. I think that the next few months and beyond are going to be a pronounced shift in the energy transition space. I have clients whose businesses are going to become very attractive targets, clients working on super exciting projects that’ll be transformative and significant in terms of size, scale, and scope.
I’m suspecting there will be a reduction in M&A activity, there may be a two or three-year period of building the business. Things always come in cycles, oscillating between a building phase and an exit phase I find; I feel like we’re the start of a building phase again.
What are you proud of?
I’m incredibly proud of what my friends and family do, day-in and day-out. I’m proud of what we as a firm are doing to support our clients. I take a lot of pride in those around me and seeing them succeed, and playing a small role in that, whatever that role may be.
I’m proud of this place, this city, for the resilience of it’s people to get hammered over and over, and have the fortitude to come back and grind it back out. There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance, I think there’s humility coupled with an incredible confidence that we’re seeing come through in businesses that we haven’t seen before. That’s something to be very proud of.
As someone deeply committed to personal and professional growth, in its numerous forms, I believe staying true to who you are, staying true to your values, will guide you to opportunities. I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish and the way I’ve been able to, staying true to myself and my values.
Thank you Cam for everything!