Who isAndrew Fletch

I grew up in Nova Scotia, Canada, and took a fairly traditional path at first. I studied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology for my undergraduate degree and originally thought I might go to medical school. Somewhere along the way, though, I realized I was more interested in business. I liked the flexibility of it, the idea that there wasn't one predetermined path and that I could build something around the life I wanted to create.

I went on to complete my MBA in Ontario before moving to Toronto and working in corporate banking. I specialized in syndicated financing, which, in simple terms, is when multiple banks come together to provide very large loans to major companies. It was a great place to learn how businesses are financed, how companies make decisions, and how large transactions actually get done.

But while I was working in banking, I couldn't shake the itch to build something of my own.

I tried a lot of things. I sold kitchen products online. I tried technology products. I made custom Christmas gifts. None of them turned into much. Most of them flopped. But each attempt made it clearer that I wanted to eventually leave the corporate path and take a real shot at entrepreneurship. I just hadn't found the opportunity I was willing to bet on yet.

That changed after spending time in the Philippines and seeing the commercial broiler industry up close. I saw farms producing at a scale I hadn't really appreciated before, met people operating real agricultural businesses, and started digging into the economics behind them. Eventually, I decided this was the opportunity I was going to pull the trigger on.

So I left corporate banking in Canada and moved to the Philippines to build an agriculture business.

I strongly believe in learning by doing. You can research, plan, build spreadsheets, and talk to experts, but at some point you have to start. You're never going to be completely prepared for a new venture, because many of the things you need to learn only become obvious once you're actually doing it.

The path reveals itself as you walk it.