Matt Corker » Great People

VCIC: First Copenhagen, Now Oxford.

Matt Corker — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:54:42 +0000

For the past 2.5 days, 4 of my classmates and I came together as the “Miracle Workers” to compete at the internal round for the Venture Capital Investment Competition. Unlike the usual business case competition, this competition gives MBAs an opportunity to act as a venture capital firm and select a real start-up company to invest in and then negotiate the terms of investment with the actual entrepreneur team. (For you business competition junkies, further details on how it all works can be found here.)

Working with a team from Copenhagen, Ecudaor, Norway and Germany was an experience. A great experience in fact. They selected me to be the team lead as soon as we were formed and, from that point forward, I was reminded what it feels like to manage a team of people that are WAY smarter than you. (I say this not to downplay what I bring to the table. I say this so you understand the talent THEY brought to the table!)

My two big takeaways from this experience:

The team matters. Both our team (how we work together) and the entrepreneur team (do they have what it will take to make their biz a success). Handling internal debates, push-back from the entrepreneurs, and tight deadlines also become easy with a well-functioning team.
Manage the conversation, not the time. (Despite the giant clock looming overhead.) Start each interview or negotiation conversation indicating the way you want to talk rather than what you want to talk about. Wrap-up the conversation with intentional points that show that you were a) listening to them and b) understood their concerns/desires/etc. 20 seconds is all it takes to get a seemingly never-ending conversation to wrap up nicely for both parties.

Overall, the competition was challenging, fun, and was something I never thought I’d enjoy doing before (the people development guy negotiating pre-money valuations… who knew)!

An added bonus: our team took home both “Entrepreneurs Choice Award” for being the team they’d most want to work with and first place at the competition as awarded by the panel of real VC judges that followed us through each stage of the competition. This means that the Miracle Workers are now off to Regionals in March to compete against London Business School, HEC, Manchester, IESE, and Rotterdam.

Well done gents. You make miracles work.

Pick of the Post: Ratatat vs Marvin Gaye – Ain’t No Drugs High Enough (Jane Doze Remix)

Redefine Perfection

Matt Corker — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:45:34 +0000

These posts by my friends Jo and Jackie, got me thinking about our obsession with the idea of perfection.

Dictionaries define perfection as a state of completeness and flawlessness.

What if perfection could be a state of being complete with flaws?
What if we considered that because it has flaws, it is perfect.

The perfect job would then become the one that we still have bad days at.
The perfect friend becomes the one that sometimes forgets about that event that was important to you.
The perfect apartment becomes the one with the eccentric roommate.
The perfect body becomes the one that has a strong core hidden under a layer of love.
The perfect grade becomes the one that reminds us we still have something to work on.
The perfect lover becomes the one that pushes us out of our comfort zone.

When we include the blemishes of life in our definition of perfection, it becomes attainable, real, and everywhere. Perfection is real. We may just need to redefine it to see it.

Pick of the Post: Kelly Clarkson – Dark Side (watch it below!)

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Value and Motivation: Wesley George

Matt Corker — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:26:08 +0000

corker #3: Wesley George! Wes is a seeker of truths. After becoming friends in Vancouver, he went off to complete his degree in mathematics in Ontario and has since moved to New York to help a professor with some of her projects as he completes his PhD in cryptography. He looks for what is true and real (in numbers and in life). I feel smarter by simply talking to him for 5 minutes. His wisdom is infectious. (And also so vast that we chose to separate his musing into two posts for you!) What a corker.

I caught up with S, an old friend of mine, over the Christmas break. S. is in the third year of dental school in Michigan. I don’t remember when he first got the idea, but it was something he committed fully to. He spends two summers studying for the DAT. Canadian schools show no interest in his (multiple) applications, but he’s accepted to a school in Michigan; after securing a massive loan, the journey begins.

I wasn’t shy to question his motives. I felt that he, like many students, took this path because he imagined it would in the future offer him the freedom to do the things that were important, whatever he eventually decided these were. It is that the real values are as yet unarticulated, and that this path of training does nothing to shape them that this choice seems disordered.

Whatever S.’s original motivation was, it runs out 2 years into this program. The promise of future freedom no longer has purchase. (freedom for what?) Class is unappealing. Studying seems pointless. He skips class to sit at home, smoking weed and playing Halo in his underwear. Even the enormous debt of two year’s tuition – whose repayment seems impossible without the income potential of a dentist – is no motivation.

Now earlier that term, when he still cared, S. had signed up to spend part of his summer in Guatemala with Dentists without Borders. And though he’s in no place to be making new commitments, he honours this one and leaves for Guatemala.

The work is not glamorous and the days are long. Largely he’s pulling infected teeth. By Canadian standards, this is emergency medicine not dentistry. But it’s easy to see how this thing he’s doing is important to the people he’s with. There’s a new importance to his work.

Suddenly it clicks.

It’s not important that this is dentistry or medicine, that he’s in Guatemala, or that he’s alleviating suffering. He could be a mechanic back in Detroit, a barber in Sudbury, a bus driver in Manitoba, a web developer in Vancouver; take your pick. The point is that he sees how his skills – his commitments, his investments – can effect other people’s reality, and so they have cause to seek him out as he can help them better their lives.

This is why what he’s doing is valuable – because it involves him with other people, enabling him and empowering him to participate in society.

Dentistry is cast in a new light – it is not about provisioning for some unspecified future investment, it is enabling him right now to take up the things most valuable.

With this, all tension, all hesitation, all doubt dissolves. He is renewed, reborn. New clarity: his actions follow directly from and reinforce his values. And with this clarity, purpose.

So why didn’t he see this before?

More musing from the corker series:
corker #1: Steph Corker -The Remarkable Journey
corker #2: Mike Desjardins – Creating White Space

Pick of the Post: Austra – Beat and the Pulse

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Day 4-6: European Yogi Nomads hit Basel

Matt Corker — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:49:23 +0000

With my travel essentials in tow (a rad playlist, my mat, and my new favourite body refresher), I spent the last three days of my reading deprivation week in Basel, Switzerland with the European Yogi Nomads.

8 hours of yoga was the perfect remedy for the aches and pains of not being able to read (or share my excitement about this adventure with others online). It was a weekend spent in my own body, and my own mind.

The people around me, from the Copenhagen kula, would joke and chat in Danish which gave me the chance to simply be in the conversation. Rather than trying to translate, or ask them to speak in English, I could sit back and enjoy their facial expressions, the intonation of their voices, and the crazy dance moves they would break out while cooking dinner. It was cool to experience happiness without knowing what witty comment triggered it.

The yoga, led by some superbly talented teachers, reacquainted me with my body. Note: my hips and butt are still talking to me! Press handstands, rolling down to full wheel … it was crazy. There is something about laughing out loud on a yoga mat – especially while reaching the peak of / falling out of a pose – that reminds me not to take myself so seriously. My inner critic definitely got a good kick in the butt this weekend. My best self also got some serious love. Thanks Copenhagen Kula!

Next stop for the European Yogi Nomads – Copenhagen. Can March be tomorrow?

Pick of the Post: Kelly Rowland – Down for Whatever

Flashes of Benevolence

Matt Corker — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:59:48 +0000

I was in line at Capers on 4th, and somehow got a flash of inspiration and decided to buy the person behind me in line their meal. It was an elderly man, and he was eating a very light serving of dinner. He said that was the nicest thing someone did for him lately, and the cashier said in his three years of working at Capers, he has never witnessed anything like that.

Thanks for sharing the tip of giving generously to strangers. I loved it, and will continue doing this regularly.

Stay awesome.

E-mails like this make me smile.
Listen to those “flashes of inspiration.” They happen on purpose.
By acting on them we put that purpose into motion.

What revolution are your flashes of inspiration calling you to create?

Pick of the Post: Coldplay – Paradise

Benevolence by Jason Mraz

Day 2 + 3: Distraction & Creative Action

Matt Corker — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:16:02 +0000

Day 1 was filled with temptation. The textbooks, the incoming letters from friends I haven’t heard from in years, the blog posts … all tempting to read. I did not give in.

Day 2, yesterday, was a day of distraction. Was there an episode of Community that I could kill some time with? What about perusing pinterest for some visual stimulation? How much time could I spend watching videos on YouTube? (When I found myself watching babies laughing and beagles, I knew it was time to stop.) My procrastination had turned from text to images.

Day 3, today, is the day of creative action. I started off my day with a meeting with the Department of Management, Politics, and Philosophy about their research in self-management. This is the department at CBS that asks questions like “What is money?” and “How do we use co-creation in today’s society?” and hires (read: pays) PhD candidates to do research in authenticity and vulnerability in the business world. It was 10 am and my mind was blown.

My day continued with the download of Danielle’s Big Beautiful Book Plan. It was time to answer the call and realize that this blog may have been the beginning of something bigger … stay tuned.

And now, I am moments away from taking on another artist task for the week: create a vacation and make plans to do it. Well – “all talk, no action” and I don’t go well together. When a plan is created, I commit to making it happen. So I am flying off to Basel, Switzerland with the European Yogi Nomads to enjoy 4 classes this weekend with some great people from across Europe. One of the classes is being taught by Nanna (my friend/teacher here in Copenhagen) and Chris Chavez – together!

Worlds are about to collide in Basel and it will be beautiful.

Pick of the Post: MC Yogi – Give Love

Feel the Fear. Step Into Action.

Matt Corker — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:03:02 +0000

Sometimes I get really nervous. This usually happens right before I hit the stage, the morning before a marathon, or right before I press send to that e-mail I knew needed to be written yet have no idea where or how it will be received.

I am then reminded that nerves are the best thing I could be experiencing in that moment.

As Steven Pressfield says in “The War of Art,” (hat tip to Chloe for the great read):

The more fear we feel about a specific enterprise, the more certain we can be that that enterprise is important to us and to the growth of our soul. That’s why we feel so much Resistance. If it meant nothing to us, there’d be no Resistance. …

The professional tackles the project that will make him stretch. He takes on the assignment that will bear him into uncharted waters, compel him to explore unconscious parts of himself.

Is he scared? Hell, yes. He’s petrified.

(Conversely, the professional turns down roles that he’s done before. He’s not afraid of them anymore. Why waste his time?)

So if you’re paralyzed with fear, it’s a good sign. It shows you what you have to do.

Deep breath. Here we go!

Pick of the Post: Straight No Chaser – Buddy Holly

2012 = Scandi Sweatfest

Matt Corker — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:43:22 +0000

I love getting sweaty.

There is something about the sweat dripping of my face, the mind raging with endorphins, and the lactic acid burning in my body that reminds me “I don’t feel this way by sitting on the couch!”

Sweat is earned.

After a sweatfest in Vancouver over the holidays, I became aware that my level of sweating had gone down substantially since moving to Copenhagen. Since I bike for at least 40 minutes every day, I’m on the move more than I was in Vancouver. However, the intensity (read: sweat factor) had severely decreased. So this past week I cranked it up by adding some new sweaty pursuits to my yoga practice – ensuring I was sweating once a day.

I took my new helmet (and new bike lights) out for their first 8 am ride of the year with the unofficial CBS MBA cycling team (also known as two rad classmates of mine). Leave it to them to find the only hills in Copenhagen! They like to sprint up hills, race each other along the seaside, and kick out 65 kms in -4 degree weather like its no big deal.

I don’t know which was more painful: the lactic acid building up in my quads or my toes going completely numb -slash- freezing. It reminded me of that time when Steph and I decided to do a crazy ride just to eat a cookie. It was great and I’m actually looking forward to the next one.

AND, after 25 years of having my siblings rule the pool, I joined a swim team. (Now all the Corker kids can smell like chlorine!) The first practices have been great. I’m slow – which motivates me to become fast. I also love being coached. Intentional feedback rocks my world – and my stroke!

2012. The year of swim-bike-shavasana. It’s my own little Scandinavian sweatfest.

Pick of the Post: Dionne Bromfield – Yeah Right

Lessons from Presenting via Skype for the UBC SLC

Matt Corker — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:09:22 +0000

On Saturday night, I took to the online airwaves to present two workshops on “Getting Out Of Your Own Way” for the UBC Student Leadership Conference with the best co-presenter I could have asked for, Krystal Gabriel. She was live and alive in Vancouver, while I was connecting in from Copenhagen via Skype. I loved it. It was different. It was challenging. It pushed me as a presenter. We won an award for it (#humbled). And, best of all, I learned a ton. Such as:

No matter how prepared I am, things can always go wrong.

30 minutes before the session, we are online, the sound works wonderfully, the video we are going to show is fully loaded, and we’re ready to begin. 5 minutes before the session, technology decides to stop working and I’m lost in cyberspace. Mini-”oh sh*t” moment, a few deep breathes, and we’re back online ready to make up the lost 5 minutes. “We got this,” I remind myself.

Seeing the audience is key.

Krystal faced the camera towards the live audience in Vancouver so I could actually see who we were presenting to. It made me feel less far away. Especially when I saw a familiar face or two in the crowd. (Thanks again familiar faces for being there by the way!)

There is no substitute for preparation.

Krystal and I spent enough time with the material itself and ran through the actual flow and dialogue of the presentation to ensure that, even if I couldn’t hear everything she was saying, I could know exactly where she was, what point she was driving home, and how to make a smooth transition into what I was supposed to say. The focus we put on this was much more intensive than either of us would do normally and the results were great.

It’s valuable to leave room to recover. And, whatever happens, it’s always recoverable.

While playing our video in session number 2, technology decided to play a game on us again and terminate my connection to Krystal. I looked at my blank screen and thought – “Well, the video is 2 minutes long. We have 2 minutes to get back online. Easy.” Switching presenters for different segments, playing videos, asking questions from the audience – all great things we added in just in case my connection went down and we needed to keep the flow of the presentation going. (Some may argue to include those in any presentation you give. I wouldn’t argue with them.) PS. Check out the video we used about what it looks like… and feels like… to get in our own way.

Do what makes a live presentation great.

Repeat the big points. Make them laugh to give their brain a break. Be vulnerable. Play fun music before and after the session. Have a dance party to said music. (Feedback said they liked that part ) Give them something they can use now. Leave space for silence (not hard to do when there is a slight delay in the conversation anyway due to it being online).

Follow and engage in the online conversation.

By following the hashtags of the conference, we were able to find out what people were tweeting about and incorporate that into our conversations (both on and offline). It made it feel more like I was actually a part of the conference and less like I was simply sitting in a room talking to a computer. It was also helpful to know where our audience was coming from so we could meet them with the right energy level.

Presenting with someone that loves it, rocks.

Krystal was a serious rock star. Not only does she love presenting (and can manage the bumps and hiccups along the way with complete ease), she loved the material as much as I did. We could have gone on for hours about the stuff we presented on. I know that if ever I come across a topic that I think “how will I EVER present this,” I know I am not the right person to be presenting on that topic. Listening to someone present what they are passionate about is friggin inspiring. Thanks Krystal for being the rock of the presentation and for inspiring me with your passion for living a really rad life!

(Digital high fives! Proof that we had a blast together!)

Thanks to all that made taking the plunge to online presenting great. Hope the rest of your day on Saturday was #awesome.

Pick of the Post: Karmin – Crash Your Party

How Do I Develop Myself?

Matt Corker — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 08:32:12 +0000

Develop: de-vel-op, verb.

to bring into being or activity; generate; evolve
to bring out the capabilities or possibilities of; bring to a more advanced or effective state
to make active or promote the growth of
to increase value or change the use of

The verb develop has the Latin prefix “de” meaning “away” or “off,” which, in English, generally indicates removal or reversal.
Other words with this prefix include: destroy, deactivate, deplane, detach, and defuse.

So maybe the process of developing someone (like ourselves) to this “more effective or advanced state” doesn’t require the addition of new skills and abilities. Maybe the process of developing ourselves calls us to remove things, to take things away, to get out of our way, in order to use the skills and abilities we already have and just haven’t been able to use effectively yet.

Development isn’t a game of Pokemon. We don’t need to catch em all – be them courses, skills, or habits. (That’s a fun game though!)

Development is a game rooted in archeology, where we dig deep to find the monumental treasures that were already inside us!

(Seemed an appropriate post considering that I am presenting at the UBC SLC tonight from Denmark on “Getting Out Of Your Own Way” with Krystal Gabriel. Can’t wait to rock my first digital workshop with her! #outofmyway)

Pick of the Post: Hellogoodbye – When We First Met