Jan 22, 2021
Corbin Lowe enjoys identifying problems and creating solutions. He co-founded three companies in the last four years, asset management Hoovest, vegan meal delivery service Planted Meal and ventilator manufacturer Ocalink. Alum of the Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Management (2015), Colin is a Board Member of the Big Brothers of Vancouver and serves as an off-ice NHL official for Canucks games. He recently shared his experience with us about entrepreneurship, business, and asking for help.
How was the process of creating your first company, Hoovest?
I had created other small projects in the past, but my first real shot at entrepreneurship was in finance, in 2017. A funny thing about Hoovest is that people tend to stay away from opening the first business in more complex fields like finance or medical, and we did the opposite. We learned it the hard way. Peter Fang, the co-founder, and I had similar visions of what type of asset management we wanted to launch. We felt like there were good opportunities to create a new investment vehicle in a way that was not available on the market yet.
One year later, you opened Planted Meals. What is the mission of the company?
Planted Meals is a vegan meal prep delivery service. We want to lower the carbon footprint of as many people as possible. We believe going vegan is the simplest way for someone to reduce their footprint and make an impact on the world.
Ocalink was created in the wake of COVID to produce ventilators and help solve a worldwide problem. How is the company now after it received the Health Canada certification?
The certification allowed us to commercialize the products and bring our made-in-Canada solution to the world. As we know, the need has changed quite a bit in the last few months. We are also exploring other ways of using the technology we developed to best serve other challenges in the world.
What does entrepreneurship mean to you?
Entrepreneurship to me is about solving problems that other people have not solved yet. It's about solving more problems around the world. It’s solving problems every day.
A lot of young people wish to start their own business but face challenges, what advice would you give them?
Business is about solving problems. Think from the perspective of what types of problems you have in life and what solutions you can offer to people. If you can charge money for it, even better. You will obviously have to assess if it’s executable and try different ways.
When we launched Planted Meal, for example, there wasn’t anyone producing good vegan food. Many fancy restaurants only remove meat from the plate and call it vegan, but everyone wants a proper quality meal. We then worked on everything else, execution, production, and distribution.
How has Langara and the BBA program contributed to your work and career?
Instructors are awesome mentors but students usually don’t take enough advantage of the knowledge they can share. Now thinking back, I know I should have done it. Several instructors tried to help me and offered their experiences as mentors. I owe many Langara instructors for helping me point my life in a different direction.
You recently joined our Program Advisory Committee for the Business Management programs. How has this experience been for you?
It’s always so great when your experience can provide some good outcomes. Business is a cycle, it’s all about passing knowledge. It’s very nice to be able to give back and contribute to Langara in that way.
How do you stay connected with Langara?
I maintain contact with some of my past instructors and have joined Career Talks in the past. I was also talking with Deland Jessop about building container farms at the College, to plant food and sell for local organizations. We are still exploring the possibilities, cost, and resources.
Are there any future plans on the horizon?
I honestly don’t know. The world has changed so fast recently that it’s hard to plan. We have to be prepared for the unexpected, we have to stay flexible.
Do you have any last words to share?
One thing I wish I had done earlier is to get the support of a mentor. I wish I had tried to get mentorship or any help in the beginning. Especially as a male, I was always hesitant to ask for help and it constantly surprised me how much people were willing to support me, we just need to ask. Teens and young people don’t really ask for help, we think we are cool and smarter than everyone else. And, later in life, we realize how much help we really need.