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Brokering Broadband: How Matthews Achieved Serial Success

Article Overview: A journalist once suggested to Mathews, “The standard wisdom is that Canadians are more risk-averse than Americans and therefore less aggressive.” Matthews’ response? “Okay, so I suggest you write some articles to stay that’s bullshit. Canadians need to just get on with it.”

Brokering Broadband: How Matthews Achieved Serial Success

A journalist once suggested to Mathews, "The standard wisdom is that Canadians are more risk-averse than Americans and therefore less aggressive." Matthews' response? "Okay, so I suggest you write some articles to stay that's bullshit. Canadians need to just get on with it." Get on with it is exactly what Matthews did, working to build almost 100 high tech communications companies in Canada and the United Kingdom, and finding success every time. How did he do it?

Persistence: "I don't have time to play," says Matthews when asked whether he makes use of the golf course at his 400-room Celtic Manor. He does not have time to play because he is too busy breaking down doors and finding new opportunities to pursue. When those opportunities did not come easily, Matthews demonstrated that time and persistence were two of his greatest allies.

Timing: If Matthews' imported electric lawnmowers had not gotten lost during their transatlantic voyage, he might have wound up living a much more mundane life. But that early lesson in timing not only opened up new opportunities to the budding entrepreneur, but also taught him the importance of taking advantage of chances when they're given. "It's important to be an enthusiast and know what's going on," he says. "When everyone else was downsizing including Nortel, ‘dumb nuts' [himself] was investing...People were saying, ‘This guy is a nut case.'

Relationships: Matthews learned early on the importance of establishing relationships with people that went beyond the cash register. The more he could connect with someone and build outstanding obligations, the more he could rely on them to come through in the future. From offering free repairs on musical boxes back in Wales, to encouraging an open-door policy at work, Matthews worked hard to get people on board.

Forward-looking: Matthews could have listened to the experts and scale back his businesses just like the rest of his competitors. Instead, he looked at the trends for himself, and saw nothing but more opportunity. "Right now we are in an Aspirin market, instead of a vitamin market," he says. "We call it that because vitamins are for healthy purposes and Aspirin is a pain killer. People are only making changes when there is pain, but I think...people will begin to look at business more as a vitamin market." By maintaining a forward-looking attitude, Matthews was able to gain ground while his competitors lost out.

Value: Matthews refused to push a product simply because it was new. He understood that new technologies meant little to companies that could not see how they would benefit from them. Matthews got behind products that he knew he would be able to prove could add extra value to companies' operations.

He may be 66 years old, but Matthews has no intention of retiring any time soon. He continues to think ahead and live according to his own motto: "Make a mark; don't be part of the living dead."

"The opportunity for me now is to use all those pipes and develop broadband solutions where you can use video, voice and data to help businesses," he says. "It is about utilizing the technology and delivering tangible business benefits."

Related Articles
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  Lesson #4: “This is such a titchy bit of the iceberg”
  Lesson #5: “Where’s the extra value?”
  Lesson #1: “Persistence is the single most important thing for success"
  Lesson #3: “Develop a tight team relationship and a fighting spirit that wins”

Article Tags: allies, breaking down doors, broadband, bullshit, canadians, celtic manor, communications companies, companies in canada, downsizing, electric lawnmowers, entrepreneur, golf course, journalist, mathews, mundane life, new opportunities, persistence, transatlantic voyage, united kingdom, wisdom



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