What is your best habit?
I do strength training with free weights five times a week at home and cardiovascular exercise every day.
And your worst habit?
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What do you do when you need to come up with an idea?
I always come up with ideas when I jump rope. But when I’m really looking for a good idea, I do a cardio session by running on the treadmill. It used to be by smoking a cigarette, but I quit smoking five years ago.
Who do you admire in the business world?
Patrick Pichette (chairman of the board of directors of Lightspeed). He accomplished so much. He was head of finance at Google, but also did great things in nature conservation, which is close to my heart. I even worked with him on the Kenauk Nature Reserve project, near Montebello. He rose to the top in the business world, but his legacy will be a reserve that will survive for thousands of years.
How do you unplug?
There is a meditation room at my house. There is a mobile version and I will unveil it at the C2 Montreal conference in May.
What app could you no longer live without on your phone?
A fasting app called Fastic. Every day, I fast for 16 to 20 hours.
What was your best investment?
With the exception of Lightspeed, there are two in particular for documentaries. The first is called Wildcat for which I was co-executive producer and which won an Emmy. The other investment is that made for the documentary Caught with the marine conservation organization Sea Shepherd off the west coast of France where thousands of dolphins died each year due to commercial fishing. The regulations were changed seven months after the film’s release.
How important is physical activity in your life?
It is an important source of energy. If for one reason or another I can’t train for a day, I will feel the difference. Coffee doesn’t give me the same energy as a morning cardiovascular workout.
What advice would you give to the younger version of you?
The journey is the destination. We sometimes think about what will happen later, but it’s really important to enjoy the present moment. You should not live only for the result.
A good boss is someone who…
He is someone who knows how to listen. This is a very important aspect of being a leader. The decision of a boss who listens is much more appreciated when everyone has felt heard.
Who is Dax Dasilva?
This 47-year-old entrepreneur left Vancouver in 2001 to settle in Montreal.
In 2005, he founded Lightspeed, a Montreal-based provider of technological solutions for merchants.
He was at the helm of Lightspeed when the company made the jump to the Toronto Stock Exchange in March 2019 and for the listing of shares on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2020.
He was a billionaire on paper at the height of the market when Lightspeed’s stock reached stock market highs in 2021.
In 2021, he founded the environmental alliance Age of Union, an organization for the protection of threatened ecosystems.
reference: www.lapresse.ca