Interview with Cybele Negris CoFounder of Webnames.ca

Entrepreneurs, Highlights, Interviews | July 21st, 2008 | No Comments

Cybele Negris is one impressive lady. Softly spoken, elegant and unassuming, you’d have no idea that she’s the epitome of the modern day Female Entrepreneur with super powers. Cybele is Co-Founder of Webnames.ca, Canada’s original .CA Registrar and one of the country’s leading Internet solutions companies. The multi-million dollar company has an impressive client list including many of Canada’s as well as Global Fortune 500 companies.

Over the years she’s amassed several awards including: PROFIT W100 – Canada’s Top Women Entrepreneurs, (2004 to 2009), Finalist, YWCA Women of Distinction (2006), Finalist, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Pacific (2005); and Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 Under 40 (2003).

Cybele is also Co-owner of Construction By Design which won a prestigious Gold Georgie Award in 2006. Two luxury Point Grey homes recently built by the company are finalists for the 2009 Georgie Award and results will be announced March 2010.

What’s more she’s a very generous woman who gave me an exclusive interview in the WebNames office a few weeks ago and now we get to blog together as part of the MetroBlenzNewSquad covering the Olympics. You get treated to both a video interview and a written one!

What’s been the most invaluable learning experience for you as an entrepreneur?

Realizing the value of networking. Years ago, I thought of myself as a shy, behind the scenes person. I never attended any events. When I joined the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs back in 2002, I started to make connections with other women entrepreneurs that were in the same situation.

We were all building high-growth companies and many were balancing that with raising young children and still giving back to the community, volunteering on boards or participating in fundraising activities for charities.

Then being in the technology sector, there are very few women in executive level positions. I found that media and many groups started to ask me to speak. While public speaking was something I feared, I pushed myself to do it. Now, I speak at over a dozen events each year.

Some examples of past events I spoke at:

Young Women In Business Beyond Pink Conference
Dot Tel Meetup – Dot Tel and Effective Use of the New Digital Business Card
Blog Talk Radio –entrepreneurship and Dot Tel
International Business Conference
Business in Vancouver Leadership Lessons from Influential Women in Business
CATA-Women in Technology Forum
Canadian Women in Communications – Online Brand Strategy, Security & Social Media
Enterprize Canada – Hitting the Ground Running – Inspirational Story of Entrepreneurship
Ewomennetwork – Using Technology to Grow into a Million Dollar Company
Momcafé –- Choosing Your Path
Enterprising Moms Network – Entrepreneurship Bootcamp
Forum for Women Entrepreneurs – Online Marketing Strategies
Wired Woman –Leadership
Momcafé – Rising Above the Obstacles to Success
Young Women in Business Conference – Entrepreneurship & Building a Winning Team
Association of Women Business Owners – Entrepreneurship & Growth
Massive Technology Show, – .MOBI and the Mobile Internet
Forum for Women Entrepreneurs – “How to use Technology to be More Effective”
Women’s Enterprise Centre – “You Grow Girl” Event

Today, I realize how important networking and building connections is to business. So much of business is based on who you know and strategic partnerships and alliances. As an entrepreneur, not only do you need a great team at work and at home but also a support network of like-minded people who understand the challenges of entrepreneurship.

Some of my best friends I’ve met through the FWE and those are the people I can call up at midnight to talk to (as entrepreneurs, they are probably up working too!).

What’s been your biggest challenge to-date and how did you tackle it?

Lack of time to do it all. With two companies, being on the board of directors of four organizations (FWE, SBBC, VEDC, Small Business Roundtable), co-chairing a charity (Canary Derby), acting as a mentor in the Wired Woman mentorship program, judging business plan contests and other commitments and two young children aged 3 & 5, there are simply not enough hours in a day.

For the time being, I’m up with the kids early, then work 8am to 6pm, quality time with kids in the evenings and then start my second shift from 8:30/9pm to 1 or 2 am. I keep weekends & evenings for the kids, although I typically have multiple events I attend throughout the week.

I do try to limit these to one a week but lately, I have to admit it is two per week in the evenings and lots of board meetings in the mornings.

I have a great nanny and she does the housework during the week which allows me to spend my time building/growing the business or quality time with my family.

How did you manage to grow Webnames.ca into the success it is today?

Having a vision and sharing that with the team so everyone is going in the same direction and building a great team of people who are the right fit for the right time of growth. They have to have the skills, share your vision and be self-motivated.

Systematizing every repeatable task and documenting all policies, procedures and work flows so it is easy to train new staff and scale.

Ultimately, focusing on providing exceptional customer service (maintained A+ BBB standing and a zero complaint record) and constant improvement of everything we do. By the way, these are our top two core values
“Amaze every customer with exceptional service” and “Always be improving” (striving for excellence). Our third is “Making a positive difference”.

Do you have any daily habits that propel you to success?

Write lists (tasks and goals for the day, week, month, year). Take time to plan but making sure I execute and check the items off.

What are the top books you’ve read that have made a personal difference to you and influenced you and why?

Years ago I took the Dale Carnegie program and read How to Win Friends & Influence People. It’s about being sincere and genuinely interested in other people. Never criticize, condemn or complain. Respecting others’ opinions and leading people by giving them a great reputation to live up to. Words of wisdom to live by for business or just in regular life.

I don’t have a lot of time to read so I’m still in the midst of reading Mastering the Rockerfeller Habits by Verne Harnish. A friend and fellow entrepreneur gave it to me a few months ago. Teaches you the way to master growth, the one-page strategic plan, use of core values and organizational focus/alignment.

What are your future plans?

Continued growth of the company and for Webnames.ca not just to be the top domain name registrar and provider of Internet services in Canada but globally.

For 2010, there will be additional launches of new products and services and .TEL which launched last year will continue to be a great driver of new business for us.

.TEL is the “digital business card that never goes out of date”. It consolidates not only all of your contact information but links to your blog, map of your location, links to social media accounts like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, key words to help your SEO and much more.

The best part of it is when you update any piece of that information, anyone who knows your .TEL has your most up-to-date contact information — for life! It is very powerful and it will continue to revolutionize the way we stay connected.

What is your key piece of advice to any female considering becoming an entrepreneur?

Be passionate, relentless, almost obsessive about what you do. Surround yourself with successful, like-minded people through groups like the forum for women entrepreneurs. Having advisors and mentors are important when starting and growing your company. Why learn from your own mistakes when you can learn from others!

Check out nataliesisson.tel to see how this revolutionary business card works.