Paul LeBlanc says he suffers from “a serious case of corporate ADD,” so it’s no surprise the entrepreneur juggles several ventures and is always on the lookout for more. Any idea offering a unique product can catch LeBlanc’s attention and enthusiasm.
“Critical things to business success are a unique product, intense focus and an extraordinary dose of hustle. Those things are lightning in a bottle,” LeBlanc said from the Halifax office of Karma Gaming, a company he co-founded with Jay Aird in January 2010 to develop digital lottery games globally.
LeBlanc is CEO of Karma as well as founder and CEO of marketing company Extreme Group and co-founder of Dystillr.com, an analytics engine for the casual gaming industry. He’s also a partner in VistaCare Communications and Sage Mixology.
He has founded and sold several other companies. His awards include being named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006 and Top 40 Under 40 in Canada. He also sits on several boards. “I’m having a blast,” he said of his busy life.
Karma is his main focus. The company is helping revolutionize the gaming industry, which is switching from the purchase of lottery tickets and scratch cards to gaming online and mobile gaming.
Karma was a natural progression for LeBlanc who had previously worked with lotteries as clients of his marketing business.
“Also, I have owned every major gaming console since Atari and ‘invested’ countless hours playing casual games,” he said.
“The thrill of winning money is timeless and universal, but the current lottery solutions do not meet the expectations of digital customers. Lotteries around the world are looking to revitalize their products and become relevant to a broader audience.”
It might be his natural milieu, but LeBlanc did not set out to be an entrepreneur. When he was 20 he began a criminology degree at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax with the aim of joining the RCMP.
Then, he thought he’d follow the example of his dad, Roger, who had been a top salesman, selling trucks for companies like Mack and Caterpillar.
But in 1990, father and son decided to start their own company, Coastal Communications, a cellular and telecommunications provider. They opened six local offices and sold the business to DownEast Communications in 1996.
Again, LeBlanc wondered what to do, should he finish his criminology degree, find a job or launch another startup?
“I looked at a few jobs and discovered I probably wouldn’t make a good employee any more. I’d got used to operating to the beat of my own drum,” he said.
So, he toyed with the idea of making brochures for real estate agents and taught himself design using Photoshop. The brochures didn’t catch on, but he found himself with Sparkling Spring Water as a client and so Extreme Group was born. Extreme quickly won many blue-chip clients and top awards globally.
In 2007, LeBlanc and his family moved to Toronto and opened an Extreme Group office there. By 2011, missing family and a quieter pace of life, he moved back to Halifax, and began looking around for a new venture.
“I knew I wanted a scalable business with global reach. Casual gaming was experiencing explosive growth and I saw a need to capitalize on the growth of casual gaming to create a sustainable channel for lotteries.”
The initial proof of concept work at Karma went well, and he and Aird have now raised $5 million in seed capital. They have opened a second office in Moncton and are working with lottery corporations across Canada as well as in the U.S. and U.K.
He’s busy, but more startups might be in LeBlanc’s future.
“Once you’ve demystified starting a business,” he said, “well, it could be a game changer for you.”