BIV is recognizing Jay Crone, managing director of Deloitte Ventures, and 39 other exceptional business leaders as part of the 2023 Forty Under 40 Awards cohort.
Longer Q&As with each recipient are included in BIV's annual Forty Under 40 Magazine (out in print Dec. 11). Award winners will be celebrated at an awards gala Feb. 7, 2024.
This profile may have been edited for length and clarity.
What career highlight are you most proud of?
Taking the leap and starting a business from scratch as a founder. For as long as I can remember I have admired people that can take an idea and build it into reality, and it was truly a lifechanging experience to take the founder plunge myself with the bonus of getting to do it alongside a long-time friend. While my founder journey was not an economic home run, it was an incredibly rewarding and learning-intensive experience. It also solidified my love of founders and led me to a career in venture capital, allowing me to work with founders every day.
What was your toughest business or professional decision?
Leaving my job in investment banking to move across the country and start a business. While I knew that I needed a change, it was very difficult to leave a team and a role that I really enjoyed. Also giving up salaried role for the first time and betting on yourself to turn an idea into a business you can earn a living on was scary. Ultimately it was the right move and helped take my career down a path that has been truly rewarding.
How do you lead?
I like to lead by example and inspiration. I believe that leaders who care deeply about their business, that set ambitious goals and that foster a culture of sharing success with their teams will attract the best talent and keep their team motivated. Leadership to me is the combination of inspiring a team to believe that an audacious goal is possible and then building the foundational norms, practices and culture that allow team members to pursue the goal as efficiently as possible.
What is the biggest lesson you've learned in business?
Failing isn't nearly as painful as you think it will be and getting comfortable with failure is probably the most powerful skill you can develop to advance your career. If you wait until you're 100 per cent sure you'll succeed at something, you will either wait too long or wait forever – better to just take a shot now, fail, learn and try again.
Best piece of advice ever received?
One time my co-founder and I we're debating the content of an email that we were sending out to get feedback on a product we wanted to offer. It was the first time our ideas were leaving our heads and getting sent out to real people outside our founder bubble. I wasn't sure about it and wanted to delay, but he pushed to just send it. I agreed and within a couple hours we had responses from folks that wanted to learn more. Could the email have been better? Maybe, but it was better to be fast than perfect!
What advice would you give your 20-year-old self?
The older you get the harder it is to take big risks, so try things out. Failing isn't as bad as you think and even if you do fall hard, you'll probably turn out better in the long versus taking a sure bet that you aren't as passionate about.
What's left to accomplish?
I am extremely optimistic for the future and have many goals big and small that I hope to achieve. I look forward to leading Deloitte Ventures to become a pre-eminent corporate VC group in Canada. I'm excited to attempt some limit-testing physical challenges starting with a 118-kilometre ultramarathon next summer. I hope that I can succeed in raising my two sons to be thriving, happy and fulfilled adults. I look forward to finding new ways to be a community leader and contribute to causes that I am passionate about.
Read Q&As with all 40 award recipients here. Tickets to the 2023 Forty Under 40 Awards gala on Feb. 7 are now available.
