Longtrepreneur continues to bring the best-in-class tech and business leaders to get their take on long-term thinking in the world of Commerce, Technology and Entrepreneurship.
This week’s “Take the L” series guest is a personality who needs no introduction: Naman Budhdeo.
Here is the conversation in an interview format between Yawar Abbas(Longtrepreneur) and Naman Budhdeo(Founder and CEO of FlightNetwork, Acquired by Etraveli in August 2019; Founder and CEO TripStack, Acquired by Etraveli in August 2019)—partner at Antler Canada.
Yawar: What’s your morning routine? Coffee, tea or the good old orange juice?
Naman Budhdeo: It’s neither. I am a strong proponent of “intermittent fasting.” It’s something I picked up a while ago. So, it’s just been water. It makes me feel quite energized; it happened at my old company, where I caught on to intermittent fasting because my CTO had lost a bunch of weight during my time at FlightNetwork in 2018; 700 employees caught onto it, and the whole company followed suit. So, I gave it a go, loved the results, and made it part of my lifestyle.
Yawar: What is your favorite cuisine?
Naman Budhdeo: I consider myself a huge foodie, including eating at 3-star Michelin Star restaurants to Taco trucks. I probably eat out 6 days a week with my wife, kids and friends. My favourite restaurants in Toronto are Aloe restaurant and Pizza Badiali(the first time I had it, I waited in line for 80 mins to get only one slice); later, I discovered that you could pre-order a few days in advance and pick it up. That was quite the experience for me.
Yawar: How has being a father shaped you as a father and tech leader you are today?
Naman Budhdeo: That’s a good question, as no one’s ever asked me that. I can’t do everything by myself. However, I try to be there for my kids wherever I can. Recently, I attended my son’s graduation from “Spirit of Math.”
I set goals and then accomplish said goals. The global environment has changed, as people work from home without being stationary in one location. The way companies hire talent has also transformed.
It’s about output rather than Facetime with employees working inside an office building. I often block off time between 6 pm-8 pm to spend with my kids for maximum attention towards them during dinner.
Before shutting the lights, I clear out my email and Slack between 8-10 pm. I am balancing my family and Antler, ensuring I care for all aspects of my life.
Twice a year, we have an Antler partner conference somewhere in Europe. I gather my work and get it done while away. Work-Life balance is paramount to achieving the goals I lay out for myself.
Yawar: What is the elevator pitch of your relationship with your wife?
Naman Budhdeo: We are “equal partners.” We make almost every decision together and always talk things through to make the best decision considering the information at the given time.
If I were to say it from a work perspective(Antler), it would be that she is my number one advisor. This happens when you spend so much of your life working in a relationship. This has been through the 13 years that we have been together. We’re out for 6 days a week for dinner. We get lots to talk about.
During our dinners, I discuss my day, management problems, and opportunities – the excitement around those opportunities. My wife had a career in marketing before raising the children. We are always in sync with each other. She gives me a good perspective on things that I may not get from my peers or people from my former career as an executive.
Yawar: What was your childhood like growing up? Where were you born?
Naman Budhdeo: I was born in Nairobi, Kenya. My parents are from Mombasa, Kenya, with a large Indian population. My father worked his way up to a scholarship to become an engineer. He wanted to come to Canada for a different opportunity for himself and his family.
My roots have made me quite patriotic for my work; looking back at the opportunities Canada has given my family and myself. So, I always find ways to give back in whichever way I can.
I came to Canada at the age of 4. I vividly remember my father having trouble finding a job, so we settled in my mother’s family in Scarborough. I always wondered what my life would have been out in Timmins.
I often use the term “sliding doors,” which means that there are times in your life that can take you(or your life) in completely different directions.
My father got a job in Mississauga; I grew up there and spent my childhood in that city. I discovered that I was good at Math and Science. I wasn’t sure what I’d do after high school. However, I had always wanted to be an entrepreneur, as both my parent’s side are entrepreneurs themselves. My parents are successful entrepreneurs; in engineering, so I come from a family of entrepreneurs.
When I was in university, an entrepreneurship degree was something not taught in schools at the institutional level, as a viable career option. I enrolled in engineering but didn’t like it; hence, I enrolled in the Commerce bachelors program.
I travelled quite a bit – I worked at Ford’s financial credit program for a year before I came up with my first entrepreneurial idea in 1999. My career always focused on travel technology, specifically in the flight space. I believe in the premise that the best ideas are what you have or know.
We at Antler call that “Founder-Market-Fit.” It means you have worked in a certain industry long enough (you understand the space well). My mom was a travel entrepreneur; I worked at her travel agency during high school and summer (during university days).
Yawar: What was your unique insight in starting Flightnetwork?
Naman Budhdeo: I started FlightNetwork in 2005. You can classify startups into two different models: Proven models and novel. Online travel existed since 1994(that was nothing new).
When you work in a saturated market, you must know what makes you unique. My unique insights were that the market had “content and fragmentation.” The way travel booking worked back when with Expedia or Travelocity was that you’d ask for the price of a flight – those platforms would use decades-old systems built in the 60s, like Sabre, to make such bookings which was a dated system.
Dated travel booking systems used to make all the money, leaving barely anything for airlines, unlike today, where airlines have robust business models to run operations profitability.
Our distribution approach towards the market was that we screen-scrapped the data and had hundreds of airlines on our platform, which no one had.
We also mixed and matched airlines and online air travel booking combinations to give customers the best possible rates and passed much of the savings to end-consumers.
Another key insight we used was online keyword searches on Google search, which cost us 25 cents for each online ad placement for key terms like “cheap flights,” today costs $5. We played entirely online, which helped us retain our dominance in the market.
Yawar: Do you see the reminiscence of FlightNetwork today?
Naman Budhdeo: I also launched Tripstack, which grew quickly to 100 employees by the end of year-1. Our unique insight for TripStack was that if we create an API to manage all the fragmentation. At the time, people in the industry asked us why we were democratizing the market for everyone when we, in a way, have monopolistic power.
We enabled access for all travel agencies via an API because I thought it was going to come eventually, so why don’t we be the ones to make that happen sooner? That’s what I did.
Yawar: Where do your strengths lie as a founder?
Naman Budhdeo: Looking back to my entrepreneurial journey of building successful companies, I have realized that my expertise lies in – Product -Market-Fit, Product Management. I always knew I could find people who are much better at these skills than I am.
I relinquished my duties from day-to-day operations and focused solely on strategic matters of the business: Product Vision, Long-term company vision is what I did onwards.
Most founders struggle with “Founder-Syndrome,” thinking they can do it when they should not because someone else can do it better.
Yawar: What led you to join Antler Canada?
Naman Budhdeo: Unlike other tech accelerators and incubators such as Y-Combinator(YC), 500 startups primarily look at startups’ past 1 year of founding, with product market fit along with revenue. We at Antler are Day-Zero investors. Founders come to Antler with pre-idea- pre-co-founder, pre-incorporation.
I talked to about 30 people before joining Antler Canada, and many people said good things about Antler. Joining Antler was 6-7 months conversation. My patriotism was another reason which led to my decision to join Antler because I want to help Canadian founders build unicorns; selling to US companies shouldn’t be the only option.
Yawar: What are the top 3 founder traits you look for when investing?
Naman Budhdeo:
- Curiosity – The founder must be obsessed with a problem they are solving
- Trajectory – The founder should hit the ground running by moving fast
- Previous track-record – What have they done before?
Yawar: Which travel tech company or airline would you like to acquire in an activist takeover?
Naman Budhdeo: Got some friends at Onex, which acquired WestJet airline right before the pandemic; they are making several changes to the airline. As I said before, airlines are better run today than they were 20 years ago when they lost money.
Yawar: What led you to join Justwealth as an advisor and investor?
Naman Budhdeo: Sometimes, external macroeconomic forces make a case for new business models and ways of doing business. When Justwealth started, we discovered that the new government legislation legislated robo-advisors and mutual funds to disclose their fees to customers who invest their money.
Yawar: What are you most bullish about Canadian tech?
Naman Budhdeo: It’s the trends. 2 years ago, it was the NFTs. Now, we’re seeing the same thing play out with Generative AI; with Canada and its history with AI, I am bullish that Canada has the right DNA to reach new heights in our quest for AI leadership.
Yawar: What do you want your legacy to be?
Naman Budhdeo: Within the purview of Antler, I want my legacy to be that I helped as many founders build category-defining companies in Canada.
Yawar: What are your plans for the long weekend?
Naman Budhdeo: Yeah! I am going to a cottage for the long weekend to spend time with my family and enjoy Canada Day. My daughter’s birthday is on Sunday(we will celebrate that).
Yawar: Which 3 people would you want to nominate for the “Take the L” interview series with me on Longtrepreneur?
Naman Budhdeo:
- Brice Scheschuk – Managing Partner at Globalive Capital CFO of WIND Mobile(aka Freedom Mobile)
- Chris Carder – Schulich School of Business, York University Innovator, Speaker
- Bernie Li – Partner Antler
