Being a successful businessman can sometimes mean taking risks, a habit Michael Hungerford knows well.
The 37-year-old partner at Hungerford Properties, a Vancouver-based real estate private-equity firm, took a huge leap of faith when he purchased a one-way ticket to China at the age of 21.
“The first risk I took was going overseas,” said Hungerford. “That was a big step for a small-town private-school boy, and from there I kept challenging myself.”
At the time, Hungerford believed China would become an economic juggernaut, and he managed to start a joint venture between a state-owned telecom company there and a global telecom company.
In 1996, Hungerford left China to pursue an MBA at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.
Toward the end of his tenure there, Hungerford took another risk when he took part in an Internet software company that also paid off for him.
But he said the most important thing he created at Stanford were connections.
“The biggest thing for me was the people you meet, and the networks that are created in these institutions,” he said.
In 2003, Hungerford returned to Vancouver to enter the real estate business with his father and formed Hungerford Properties.
The firm currently manages $120 million in equity, employs 12 people and is responsible for the MacPherson Walk residential development in Burnaby.
Success aside, Hungerford has experienced hard times.
In 2003, he lost his wife to brain cancer and as a result started fundraising for the BC Cancer Foundation.
Hungerford raised enough money to create a family endowment fund to fight cancer, and he believes his volunteer work is one of the most important parts of his life.
“It’s huge,” he said. “It’s citizenship and something that I’ve always felt is important.” •
