Mark Lachance

Mark Lachance is a strategic thinker, investor, and entrepreneur. His in-depth comprehension of blitzscaling has helped companies he owns and operates experience incredible growth. Much of that growth can be attributed to his creative business development and lead generation strategies.

As the CEO and lead investor of Maxy Media Inc., the company became one of the largest TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, and Google Display Network performance marketing agencies in the world. Maxy Media is currently the top advertising agency in terms of monthly ad spend on TikTok in Canada and top ten in North America.

In the past, Mark founded EVO Payments International Canada, a payments solution provider and merchant acquirer. He led the company from one employee to over 200 employees throughout Canada before he sold it in 2009.

Before his successful exit in 2006, Mark was a founding member of Pivotal Payments. Mark’s focus on company sales and revenues helped lay the foundation that ultimately led to Pivotal Payments becoming a multi-billion dollar publicly-traded company. Mark was also a founding member and president of VersaPay Inc., a payments solutions provider that went public in 2010.

Mark is a natural leader in sales, marketing, and finance. He’s an avid learner who continues to enhance his expertise in his daily life. His track record of investments in several industries such as payments, cryptocurrencies, marketing, sports, fitness, and nutrition has resulted in highly positive returns.

Where did the idea for Maxy Media come from?

The idea from my book, The Lucky Formula, came from the fact that my last name is Lachance and it means ‘Lucky’ in French. Our company name comes from my business partner’s first name being Max. Hence Maxy Media. He launched the company and was a one-man shop when I met him in 2017. Now, it’s a company with over 250 employees and $39 million in revenue in 2021.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

I subscribe to the Dan Sullivan method of operating a business. Dan is the head of Strategic Coach, and he teaches entrepreneurs how to run self-managing organizations, which allows you to do what you do best and what gets you excited. My role is on motivation, recruiting top talent for massive expansion, and finance. I hold the dual role of CFO and CEO.

How do you bring ideas to life?

When we find an idea that we like, we brainstorm on best practices for this idea being successful and assign a project manager to make it real. We then bring in a team lead to make it recur.

What’s one trend that excites you?

I am very excited about the possibilities in the metaverse, NFTs, cryptocurrencies (especially BTC), and Defi. I am involved in all four of these and believe that there is a massive play in a project that combines all four.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Staying focused on tasks that give me more energy and getting rid of tasks that annoy or irk me.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I am in Mexico right now having a look at a villa that I just purchased. I was thinking this morning that if I could turn that clock back, I would invest heavily in real estate and revenue-producing properties.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

Most people that I speak with do not believe in or agree that Bitcoin has the potential to be the world’s reserve currency or at least become an incredibly valuable asset that can become the foundation of the financial world.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

My incredible morning routine, which incorporates meditation, yoga, affirmations, visualization, and a big goofy smile in the mirror for 10 minutes.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Blitzscaling. Defined as massively hiring talent and plowing all of your profits or available capital into growth. This has helped us grow almost 8x in one year, from $1.5 to $11.5 in EBITA.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

As I write in my book, my one mega-colossal failure was when I went into a real estate deal with my eyes completely closed, which resulted in near bankruptcy, depression, and constant anxiety for 6 months. I escaped this by making a decision to fix this horrible situation. It’s as simple as one day I woke up and had enough.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

If I didn’t have a business idea right now, I would read the Star Principle by Richard Koch and find the industry where all of the major investments are happening in. This would be cryptocurrency and Metaverse related. I would attend the major trade shows and ask thousands of questions. From there I would have 30 different businesses that I would want to launch. This might seem like advice but it’s not; it’s an actual strategy I use.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

A subscription to Audible and YouTube Premium. This is where I taught myself how to invest in cryptocurrencies and learned about how to play the inflation game and win.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

Calendly has been amazing for me; it saves that constant back and forth that frankly used to annoy me.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss. It really teaches you the psychology of how to win in any negotiation. I have used the tactics and they actually do work.

What is your favorite quote?

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “Press On!” has solved, and always will solve, the problems of the human race.”
Calvin Coolidge.

Key Learnings:

• Education and continued learning are major keys to entrepreneurs that want to run a successful and thriving business.
• To grow a large organization, leaders and entrepreneurs must learn how to focus on what they do best and what their strengths are to move their businesses to the next level.
• As I do this interview, I am in Mexico at a Dr. Joe Dispenza event. Dr. Dispenza has dedicated his life to the science of meditation and its benefits on the human mind and body. Meditation has been the single biggest game-changer for me in business. It has helped me with focus and greatly helped calm my mind in times of stress.