I hear the words ‘high risk investment’ and I freak out. I barely make enough to support myself, an accomplishment in and of itself, so when I think about ‘high risk,’ I run the other way.
But, but but, if there were anyone in the world I would trust with giving me sound advice on these matters, it’s long-time CrossFit Vancouver member Dave Eaton, CEO of the Baron Group and possibly the most generous man on the face of the planet.
One Notable Dave Eaton Achievement:
Dave Eaton was the driving force behind the hard lobby for the washroom renovation. “Those washrooms are unusable. It’s like showering in a Midas Muffler shop,” he would complain, day after day, week after week, month after month.
It proved impossible to find a picture of Dave Eaton, so here’s his son Kyle. At least you know what he might have looked like twenty years ago.
Training Eaton
Dave Eaton is one of T-Bear’s clients. One day about a year ago, Bear asked me to do a session with Eaton.
The preamble: “He’s a big guy. He’ll likely burst through the doors in a big huff a couple minutes late, wearing a suit, and he’ll be talking on the phone with his earpiece in. He’ll tell you he’s in a rush, and he’ll bitch and complain throughout the entire workout,” said T-Bear. “You’ll love him.”
T-Bear was right. On all counts.
The next day, Eaton burst through the doors at 4:10 pm (for a 4 pm session), blue tooth in his ear, talking 100 miles an hour.
“I have to be out of here in 45 minutes,” said Dave. “This has to be a quick one.”
I’ve probably done about 40 sessions with Eaton in the last year, and everyday I train him is a carbon copy of the last. He moans and groans and paces in pain as he warms up always repeating, “I need to get back into this…I need to get back into this.”
Then he always tells me, “I have to get out of here in 45. This has to be a quick one.”
Trying to schedule Eaton in is impossible.
“Can you come in this Friday morning?” I’ll ask.
“No, I leave for Denver tonight, and then I head to China for a week, and then to Australia. I’ll be back on the 20th of the month.”
Recently I started a new deal with him. I gave him two workouts to do on his one-week business trip, and if he doesn’t do them he will be fined $100. I’m hoping this might work to “get him back into this,” but I fear $100 isn’t enough incentive for Eaton to bust out Tabata Squats alone in his hotel room after a 12-hour-day and after finishing a 16 ounce steak and lobster dinner.
When he does make it in, sessions are often interrupted when his Blackberry vibrates – another emergency in the financial world.
But somehow through these rushed sessions, through the moans and groans and prolific swearing, Eaton has let me get to know who he is.
He’s a workaholic and a foodaholic, and he’s one of the most sincere people I have ever met. He’s charming and endearing. He’s refreshingly honest and open and tells you what’s really going on instead of what you want to hear.
Mid-warm-up, he’ll stop, hold his gut and shake it around a little bit as he complains about the obnoxiously-sized steak, mashed potatoes, cup of gray, litre and a half of wine and bottle of vodka he downed the night before.
He’s a husband and a father of three children. His youngest two are barely out of diapers, while Kyle, who also trains at CrossFit Vancouver, is 26.
Sometimes, in between Eaton’s strained lunges and squats, between his incessant pacing and panting, he takes the time to tell me something small about his children, or his wife – something small, but always something that tells me more about Eaton’s character.
“I need to be out of here today because it’s my son’s first day of school. I need to be there. I can’t miss it. You always remember your first day of school,” he says, his face lighting up thinking about his son.
“Have you met my wife?” he asks. “She is the most amazing woman in the world,” he beams.
Then he goes back to bitching. “Fuckin T-Bear. Is he still with that Kiwi girl? When the fuck is he going to marry her?…Is anyone married around here? These guys need to grow up,” he says.
And somewhere along the way, in the precious fleeting moments between sets of overhead squats and blackberry vibrations, Eaton has taken the time to know me, too.
“I love that you talk to me about your dating life. If you didn’t, I would feel old,” Dave told me after I divulged the most recent man frustrations in my life.
Eaton has become one of my unofficial man consultants. I trust his advice with my life. I feel deprived when he goes on a work trip and I don’t get to see him for a couple weeks.
And although I mock Eaton for being a chronic complainer, he is one of the clients that lights me up every time he walks through the door. He is the kind of person that reminds me why I enjoy coaching.
T-Bear, how much would you sell Eaton for?
Interested in High Risk Investing?
Eaton is the owner and founder of the Baron Group, a boutique investment bank with offices in Vancouver and Hong Kong.
He works closely with consultant Jason ‘JB’ or ‘Porky Pig’ Birmingham.
What the Baron Group does (to the best of my minimal financial industry knowledge) is take new companies, raise funds, find investors and turn them into public companies (for a company to become public, it must have 50 shareholders and be listed on a public exchange). There are two ways to go public – as an IPO (initial public offering) or as a CPC (capital pool corporation).
The hope for you as an investor is to buy in at something low – let’s say 5 cents – and watch that new company sore to $1.50. In this world, you go big or go home, and Eaton is proof that the risk can be well worth it.
If you’re interested in finding out more, here’s how to contact the guys at the top:
Dave Eaton: david.eaton@barongroupintl.com
Jason Birmingham: jb@senergyir.com
Baron Group: http://www.barongroupintl.com/
1980 Clark Drive, Vancouver, B.C.
778-887-7903