Metiquity Ventures’ Bryan Slauko and Jacques LaPointe have lifted the lid on what makes their dynamic as co-founders so successful when it comes to guiding the next generation of local, early-stage companies and founders in Alberta and across the Canadian Prairies.

According to Bryan, a lot of the pair’s success can be attributed to their ability to listen, both to each other and to startups to approach Metiquity Ventures for advice and support.

“There’s a lot to be learned from listening,” Bryan began, pointing to the significance of creating a dynamic in which entrepreneurs are not speaking to the pair as though they are “trying to prove something”.

“We’re just gonna listen and learn along the way,” he continued, crediting Jacque for his ability to ask challenging questions without “being in your face about it”.

On the topic, he continued: “That’s where our founders love working with Jacques – he’s got so much experience and expertise through all the things he’s done in the past. 

“He just has so much to offer to founders, and good stories they can relate to because they’re all aspiring to do something similar.”

Likewise, Jacque credits the power of listening to a “good ebb and flow” in the pair’s respective approaches to founders, remarking that letting people speak is the best way to get “to the meat of an issue”.

“We usually don’t bug each other too much,” he added, claiming the pair’s respective approaches can be helpful in “resolving debates which might be going on in a founders’ minds”.

In a previous article, Jacques also credited Bryan for the “meticulous effort” he puts into into legal documents, due diligence and the overall structure of Metiquity Ventures – an aspect which Jacques believes Bryan is all too often not given credit for.