Business View Magazine - July 2016 25
to two billion dollars. So what did he do next? Wrote
a book, of course, to share the wealth -
Zero to $2
Billion: The Marketing and Branding Story Behind
the Growth
.
Admittedly having a “core competency” with dis-
tressed companies, Estill has invested in more than
150 angel venture deals; served on 5 to 6 boards at
a time since 1990; and made 175 acquisitions rang-
ing from one dollar to $600 million. He was a board
member of RIM, in the glory days before they went
public. He left the board 7 years ago and moved to
NY, and jokes that BlackBerry imploded soon after.
After a 2nd attempt at retirement, Estill is now back
in the C-suite – at the helm of Danby Appliances.
But you’ll rarely find him behind a desk.
“I do have an office,” Estill notes, “because there are
times when you have to talk with someone privately.
But I like to be out working with the staff. If you’re in
an office by yourself you miss out on the vibe, you
miss out on the energy.” He isn’t thrilled with meet-
ings, either. “When I have a meeting with a lot of
people, I keep it to an hour – no more. Meetings, a
lot of the time, are a waste of time. I’d rather be out
walking and talking one-on-one. It’s equalizing and
we both feel comfortable.”
For all his financial success, Estill lives modestly,
and is a philanthropist who believes in “doing the
right thing” in business and in his personal life.
In 2015, he led the effort to bring 50 Syrian refu-
gee families, roughly 250 people, to Canada. “It’s
a humanitarian crisis… imagine your house gone,
your business gone, no safe place to go. Countries
around the world were not working fast enough, so
I had to do my part.”
Jim Estill creates fortunes based on savvy time
management, close ties with employees, and a se-
lect menu of good habits. Here is his sage advice
for a successful work/life balance, no matter what
your bank balance:
•
Be inspired to take up a new success habit
for one year. Create a habit by anchoring it
to something else – like taking the stairs at
work, instead of the elevator.
•
Create your own energy and stamina. Things
you like, give you energy. Things you don’t,
sap your energy. Give those ones up.
•
Eat fresh, healthy foods. Keep fit. Have walk-
ing meetings; walking phone calls; listen to
audio books while exercising. Spend, at the
very least, 20 minutes a day outside. Gar-
dening is great therapy. Meditate.
•
Study people who are doing more. Ask “What
do I need to change in me to get to the next
level?” Let go of things you can’t change;
work on what you can.
•
Don’t get arrogant. The more famous you be-
come, the less people tell you the truth. They
say what they think you want to hear.
•
Define success. My own purpose is to help
as many people as possible achieve their
greatest potential. For the company, success
is goal-focused on measurable numbers. I
have many wealthy friends, billionaires, who
have lost the definition of success. They have
too much money. I donate everything over a
certain amount every year to base causes,
like the Salvation Army and Habitat for Hu-
manity, but I don’t make it public.
•
Fail often. Fail fast. Fail cheap. It means
you’ve tried. Having a failure does not make
you a failure. The true wisdom is learning
from other people’s failures.
Follow Jim Estill online at
