Investing in Ideas

WHEN PEDERSEN ENROLLED in RDC’s Bachelor of Science, Pre-Professional, Chiropractic program in 1992, he expected to follow in the tradition of his family. His father, grandfather and grandmother have all enjoyed long careers as chiropractors and, for Pedersen, it seemed like the natural thing to do.

While he didn’t become a chiropractor, he did develop critical habits and skills which he credits as laying the groundwork for his success, ”The Sciences can be demanding, and I wasn’t a naturally gifted student who could just show up and do well. I had to really apply myself, so I established a lot of rigour in my routine early on.”

He remembers a heavy course load and long days that would start early and end late. “Now, when I start out my day at 5:30 a.m., I have a process that I go through that gets me really grounded and clear in terms of what’s important. I think post-secondary is a very helpful way to set habit and rigour in your routine.”

Pederson also found his experience at RDC shaped the way he looked at the world. When he happened to read a rags-to-riches article about a young man in California who had invented a toy, his interest was piqued. “I was intrigued with the product so I bought some. I thought it was pretty interesting and then later contacted him and asked him what his plans were for Canada. He hadn’t considered it, so, over a few conversations, I became his Canadian distribution partner.”

That relationship was the catalyst for Pedersen’s toy distribution company, which he grew from his Rosedale basement to a $23 million company over 10 years. This Red Deer-based venture ultimately became the largest toy distribution company in Canada in its time. “But, like everything,” says Pedersen, “what goes up must come down, and in 2006, I found out the hard way you can grow too fast.”

Pedersen went through a very challenging period of time where he had to make some hard decisions and do his best to salvage and reduce the business. In the end, Pedersen pivoted his company from

Pedersen is quick to acknowledge that his story isn’t uncommon in business development. “Behind just about every entrepreneur there are some tales of adversity that they’ve had to overcome,” he says. “It’s been a tale of highs and lows and some in-betweens that are probably fairly relatable to anyone who has founded a company.”

While that pivot toward manufacturing and development helped his toy company grow and be successful by creating new partnerships, Pedersen found the new philosophy that steered the company differed from his own. And so, Pedersen sold his stake and went on to his next enterprise, a venture capital incubator called Indykko. “Indykko focuses on consumer product ideas from founders who have an idea and have figured out product market set. But, they don’t have the resources to figure out how to get it to market, and they don’t have the capabilities to figure out how to scale,” says Pedersen. Through Indykko, he can apply the things he’s learned as an entrepreneur to help more founders with big ideas.

“I would say that the vast majority of entrepreneurship stories are based on an idea and a dream. It involves a lot of struggling, blood sweat and tears. But, if you have the stick-to-itiveness, the courage and I guess the smarts, you eventually work your way to an outcome that gives you a lot of satisfaction in having made something from nothing. Those habits I developed in the Science program at RDC certainly helped me cultivate the perseverance I needed to succeed.”

Indykko’s first venture is Open Mind Developments, a Canadian company that makes consumer products out of environmentally sustainable materials. To learn more about what got Pedersen excited about Open Mind, visit rdc.ab.ca/notebook/Pedersen.