Chairman, Fulmer & Company
CanadianSME Small Business Magazine talked to Yuri Fulmer recently. He is an entrepreneur who started building businesses in his early twenties. He was young but was highly motivated to do something better for the community. In 2000, Yuri founded FDC Brands Inc and continued helping businesses grow. Read this interview to learn more about how serving the local community has been on Yuri’s task list from the very beginning. Learn more about how he has also been actively involved in the local arts, non-profit, and educational organizations.
What do you think will be the biggest change in venture capital and private equity over the next 5 years?
Valuations are due for a correction, which will leave some investors underwater and scare new investors away. Opportunity for those with courage and cash in the bank.
Also, the continued emergence of ESG criteria for many institutional investors. Old industries that don’t make the cut may struggle for investment going forward.
Do you see any new or upcoming trends in venture capital and private equity that we should be keeping an eye on?
I think the emergence of the Family Office as a credible investor and indeed more desirable investor in both private equity and venture capital. The nature of family offices is that they can move quickly, have longer time horizons (more patience), and no requirement to earn management fees, or to deploy capital to achieve public-facing IRR targets – in short, all much more friendly to the founders.
What do you think is the key to success in venture capital and private equity?
Discipline. Especially in venture capital, it is incredibly important to define your investment criteria, define your investment size and maintain the discipline of both. I see far too many novice investors get caught up in opportunity FOMO and deploying capital inconsistent with their mandates. You have to be comfortable missing out on good opportunities in order to also miss out on failures.
It is also really easy to get caught up in other investors’ stories of success. Much like fishing or gambling, few talk of the days on the water they got skunked, or the losses they took in the casino. Likewise, investors never mention the losses they take or the investments that go sideways. They happen. Trust me.
What do you think are some of the biggest challenges facing venture capitalists and private equity investors today?
Interest rates are shifting – there’s nowhere to go, but up, and the question will be, how fast. It’s been so long since we saw rates that started with a 5, let alone anything higher than that, I’m not sure anyone knows what it means. Return profiles will change for sure.
The COVID aftermath/length is also unknown. Businesses have been remarkably resilient and governments have been extraordinarily generous to both businesses and individuals. It can’t and won’t last. Specifically, we’re grappling with changes in consumer behaviour, labour shortages and increased labour costs and then the short, medium and long-term tax hikes that are most definitely coming our way.
On the opportunity side, Web 3.0 is big and it’s here to stay. It’s impossible to predict who will win in this space. This is like cannabis 3 years ago – getting multiple pitches a day, hard to predict winners, founders don’t have enough credibility in the space because it is new, and every investor has massive FOMO. Hence the silly valuations, and sophisticated investors doing the VC-equivalent of lining up overnight to pre-buy a condo that won’t be built for 5 years.
Yuri Fulmer – Taking Venture Capital & Private Equity to the Next Level Share on X
Do you have any advice for newcomers who are looking to get into venture capital or private equity?
Define your investment criteria and determine the amount of capital you are prepared to put at risk. Put at risk = possibly lose. Start networking with people who have access to deal flow. Be seller/founder-friendly. This isn’t Dragons’ Den or Shark Tank. People with good businesses can choose their investors, not the other way around. Share your investment criteria widely and ask people to send companies that match your criteria to you. Make enough time for pitches, and conduct savvy due diligence. Be patient on the returns side. Everything takes longer to materialize than you think.
About Yuri Fulmer
Yuri Fulmer has been building businesses since his early twenties. Having arrived from Australia a few years earlier, it all began when he was faced with the unexpected opportunity to buy a local franchise while working for A&W. Young, but extremely motivated, Yuri figured out how to put together enough money and made the tough decision to focus solely on running a business, rather than studying them at school.
Since then, Yuri has grown that single A&W franchise into dozens, as well as managed, developed and invested in a number of other businesses including Mr. Mike’s Steakhouse and Pizza Hut franchises across Western Canada, doggedly building a $60 million business portfolio by the time he was 30.
In 2000, Yuri founded FDC Brands Inc (now Fulmer & Company Investments Inc) to continue doing what he does best — helping businesses grow. Currently, Fulmer & Company owns and invests in a collection of companies in the hospitality, business-to-business, manufacturing, construction, digital technology and consumer service industries. To date, Fulmer & Company businesses have been named among Canada’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies five times. And yes, Yuri’s counting.
Right from the start, serving the local community has also been an important part Yuri’s work. Over the years, he’s been actively involved in local non-profit, educational and arts organizations, and serves as an accredited Director on a number of corporate and civic boards. Currently, Yuri is the National Chair of United Way Centraide Canada which raised $560 million in 2019, Co-Chair of the Vancouver Fireworks
Festival Society and a Director of the BC Achievement Foundation. He is a past Chair of the Board of BC Ferries, and a former director of the Vancouver Foundation, Vancouver Opera, Boys and Girls Clubs and the Surrey Food Bank. Yuri served on the Board of BlueShore Financial for 7 years, including chairing the Human Resource and Compensation Committee, and serving on the Nominations & Election Committee, the Audit Committee, the Governance & Conduct Review Committee and the Investment Committee.
In 2020 Yuri was installed as Capilano University’s Fourth Chancellor, making him the youngest University Chancellor in Canada.
In 2019, Yuri established The Fulmer Foundation to take Fulmer & Company’s community investment to the next level, continuing his long-standing commitment to helping improve social issues with more than just financial support. One of the foundation’s biggest undertakings is the management and support of Goodly Foods Society — a social enterprise working to repurpose surplus produce from local suppliers while creating employment opportunities for people in need.
As much as recognition is not what drives him, Yuri feels truly honoured to have received a considerable amount of acknowledgement for his contributions to others, including Canada’s Top Forty Under 40 (2008), The BC Community Achievement Award (2010), The Spirit of Vancouver Award (2011), The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012) and The Order of British Columbia (2010), our Province’s highest honour, for Yuri’s “dynamic entrepreneurship and committed volunteerism”.
Away from the office, you can often find Yuri enjoying the great outdoors near and far, fishing, diving, canoeing, kayaking, climbing and exploring. Or, you know, not find him.
