A Letter to My First Born Child

David,

On March 25, 2016, you were born at 11:07AM EST. You weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces and were 21 inches long. The weather outside was -2 degrees Celsius and we just experienced a minor ice storm. When I first saw you, you literally took my breath away and tears of joy ran down my face. Your birth made me immediately re-evaluate life and gave me a deeper purpose for waking up every morning and working hard for what I believe in and what I can do to add value to the world we live in. Your mother and I are so happy right now, and like all parents, we want you to grow up in a world better than ours today, so the purpose of this letter is to give you a snapshot of today.

Before I get into that, I want you to know what drives me – my passion, as you soon may find out, is creation! And you are a byproduct of that  (Ew! I know, right?…lol {equals laugh out loud, in case this lingo does not exist in the future}). Nevertheless, my passion for creation is diversified – from cooking to building to starting a business and so on and so on. I hope one day you see the power of what passion, purpose & creation can do and the value it can bring to this world…if you decide to follow and use it properly!

With that said, let’s talk about the world today:

Current Prime Minister: Justin Trudeau – energetic, charismatic and a Liberal. He is the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada and assumed office on November 4, 2015 (your grandfathers 55th birthday).

Current Top World Issues:

1. Climate change and extreme weather events
2. Widening income disparities
3. Hunger
4. The volatility of quick spreading diseases
5. Gender inequality
6. Conflicts and terrorism
7. Armed violence
8. Cyber attacks

Now, I don’t want this section to be all negative. As you will find out in life, most media outlets focus on what’s wrong or the negative things in the world, however, as Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook – a massive social network where people can connect with family, friends and colleagues in order to share significant or insignificant milestones in life) wrote: “In many ways the world is getting better. Health is improving. Poverty is shrinking. Knowledge is growing. People are connecting. Technological progress in every field means your life should be dramatically better than ours today“.

Current Cost of Living:

• Average Home in Toronto: $639,000 according to Royal Lepage
• CAD/USD Currency Conversion: $100.00 Canadian gets you $75.36 US
• Carton of 2% Milk (1L): $2.27
• 12 Jumbo Eggs: $3.68 (your mom loves eggs!)
• Grande Skinny Vanilla Latte at Starbucks: $4.15 (my favourite)
• Movie Ticket: $12.99 (the last movie your mother and I watched before you were born was Allegiant and we saw it on Sunday, March 20th)

Issue I am Currently Solving: Boomers retiring and looking to sell their small business or franchise.

In the next few years, 550,000 Canadian boomers plan to retire and sell their business (coupled with 10m in the USA and other similar business for sale trends in the UK, Australia and Japan). With that said, I created BizON, an online marketplace where people can easily buy, sell and grow businesses or franchises. Our goal is redefine how buyers and sellers connect in the digital world, ensuring that amazing small businesses don’t simply shut down and disappear. Instead, they can try and sell their business or franchise to someone who has the passion and resources to carry their legacy on instead of starting something from scratch.

How I See The Future:

1. I see a world less dependent on fossil fuels.
2. I see a world solving the issues surrounding agriculture and the impact it has on our environment.
3. I see drastic decrease in travel time.
4. I see the normality of space travel.
5. I see a more connected world via AI (artificial intelligence) & the Internet; especially in some areas of the world that currently do not have the Internet aka “dark zones”.
6. I see a world with no more 9-5 jobs, rather, a mobile workforce that can truly integrate life and work, making the workforce more productive, however, way more accountable for their performance.

What Your Grandfather & Grandmother Taught Me:

1. Core values: Family, Health, Happiness, Love & Success.
2. Failure: Learn from it & move forward without losing faith or enthusiasm.
3. Passion: Love what you do. BOTTOM LINE: if you don’t love what you do change until you find it!
4. Perseverance: Never give up & fight for what you want and what you believe in. With hard work and a supportive family you can accomplish whatever your heart desires.
5. Execute – if there is something you want to do, do it, don’t wait for tomorrow!
6. You’re Italian– Sunday is for Church and Pasta & Meatballs – eat up!

My Mission For You:

Solve the issues mentioned above. Love your family (and yourself). Smile. Make People Laugh. Add value to the world and change it for the better. Listen to your gut and never let anyone tell you you can’t do something and if they do kick them to the curb! You don’t need negativity in your life. Stay positive, work hard and believe anything is possible. I leave you with this quote from Steve Jobs (founder of Apple Inc. {current stock: $105.67} who passed away October 5, 2011):

Love always and forever,

Dad aka your best friend