The stories behind this picture we took in Muskoka a few weeks ago captured four incredible world-dominating startups.

From left to right: Sally Daub, Zak Homuth, Katherine Homuth, Eva Lau, Allen Lau, Dennis Bennie

Eva and I started our careers at Delrina in the ’90s. Delrina was a fledgling startup with a modest team of just over 20 when she joined. When I joined nine months later, it reached nearly 100 people. Less than four years later, when Dennis Bennie, the CEO and co-founder, brokered a half-a-billion-dollar deal with Symantec, the company employed just under 800 people and became one of the world’s top 10 PC software companies. With over 90% of the market share, Delrina’s products were so dominant that we crushed all our competitors. Truly legendary. 

Post-acquisition, Eva went to work for ATI, where she crossed paths with Sally Daub, then served as its General Counsel. ATI and its chief rival Nvidia emerged as the two world’s leading graphics chip players. In 2006, ATI was acquired by AMD for $5.4 billion. The transaction is one of the largest Canadian tech acquisitions. Probably still in the top three to date.

I’ll be succinct about Wattpad—it’s a story many are familiar with. We pioneered mobile reading, user-generated fiction, AI-and-audience-backed movies and many areas that resulted in billions of story uploads in over 50 languages, numerous world’s most-watched movies and 100 million users in virtually every corner of this planet.

Katherine and Zak Homuth’s Sheertex needs no introduction. In seven short years since its founding in Muskoka, the company became a world-famous household name and synonymous with unbreakable pantyhose. Three years ago, it took over the largest hosiery factory in Canada. To keep up with the demand, it is now moving into a space in Montreal three times larger. There is still so much headroom for growth.

These four Canadian companies are all world-dominating category creators.

As a passenger on the rocket ship, being the captain of the rocket ship and funding the rocket ship are three different skills. And yet, they’re intertwined, each amplifying the other. If you have never been on a rocket ship, it would be hard to imagine what a rocket ship looks like and spot the next one.

Eva and I have been immensely fortunate to wear multiple hats as employees, founders, and investors in many rocket ships. The timeless adage rings true: Surround yourself with the best. If you aim to be the best, work for the best and work with the best will help you learn from the best.