Gordon Lam CEO, President And Director Of Etruscus Resources- A Junior Exploration Company With The Focus Of Developing Its 100% Owned Rock & Roll And Sugar Project

Gordon Lam is the CEO, President and Director of Etruscus Resources Corp, a Vancouver based junior exploration company with the focus of developing its 100% owned Rock & Roll project.

The Rock & Roll deposit sits within the prolific Golden Triangle, northwestern British Columbia, Canada and is located 7km northwest of the past-producing Snip Mine, currently operated by Skeena Resources.

Etruscus Resources has the right team and vision to unlock the true potential of the Rock & Roll project.

Gordon has over 21 years of experience in public markets as an Investment Advisor, independent consultant, entrepreneur and investor. He specializes in helping early stage companies with the public listing process, corporate and market development, financings, and advisory services.

His entrepreneurship and understanding and competency in all components of a successful company make him a valuable asset for early stage companies. Having graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce finance degree from the University of British Columbia, Gordon has a strong balance of business knowledge, analytical skills and hands on experience. Gordon used these assets to become an Investment Advisor for 16 years at 3 different brokerage firms.

In 2013, he left PI Financial Corp. to start his own business/management consulting business. He has recently provided consulting services to firms in the technology, biotechnology, resource, automotive and oil services sectors.

In an exclusive interview with AsiaTechDaily, Gordon says:

Before you embark on your journey, make sure you can commit years to build it. If you aren’t in a good position financially to do it or can’t make sacrifices, then being an early-stage founder may not be right for your situation.

Many founders do not put in the time and effort to make it work. They often focus on short-term goals at the expense of long-term strategies.

Founders often need to make sacrifices mentally, physically, and financially to give the company the time to build a solid foundation for eventual success. It happens over the years, not months.

Read on to know more about Gordon Lam and his journey.

Please tell me about your personal background and What motivated you to get started with your company?

Gordon Lam: I was a former stockbroker for 16 years specializing in early-stage companies and helping private companies go public. When I left the brokerage industry, it was a natural evolution in my career to use my expertise to develop startups and take them public.

What is your current main product, and can you share any previous product pivot story to the current product?

Gordon Lam: Etruscus Resources is a junior mining company with 2 properties in British Columbia’s Golden Triangle, an area well-known for its rich mineral resources. Etruscus has an existing gold-silver rich deposit and is exploring to expand its resources. The previous property operators mainly focused on the deposit area that has a 600-meter strike length. When we acquired the Rock & Roll property in 2018, our goal was to expand on this area by drilling big step-outs. We were successful in 2019 as we expanded the strike length over four times, to 2,700 meters.

How much money have you raised in total so far? When was the recent funding round?

Gordon Lam: Etruscus has raised over $4 million CDN so far. We recently raised $1.5 million CDN, and we expect to seek additional funding shortly.

What were the internal decision processes in determining when to begin fundraising, and what were the logistics for this? And how many investors have you met so far, and how did you meet these investors, and which channels worked best for you?

Gordon Lam: The goal was to raise funds for this year’s exploration season but the initial COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns impaired fundraising through spring. Thereafter, we closed financing in June and another in August. Given my background as a former broker, I developed a network of former clients and many contacts I had built up from those years. We’ve spoken to many investors on the phone, in person, by Zoom and WhatsApp. We have also done a couple of webinars for investor groups and plan to do more very soon.

What are the biggest challenges and obstacles that you have faced in the process of fundraising? If you had to start over, what would you do differently?

Gordon Lam: The biggest challenge I faced recently was juggling between big and small investors and local and international investors that all have different investment objectives.

For example, paperwork for international investors requires different subscription forms. In the future, we will co-ordinate the documentation to make the process more efficient and easier for all parties.

What are your milestones for the next round? And what are your goals for the future?

Gordon Lam: We are looking for a larger funding round of $3 million-plus to accelerate the company’s growth and reach the next level of our development.

How have you attracted users, and with what strategy have you grown your company from the start to now?

Gordon Lam: We don’t really have users, so I will refer to investors.

We have expanded our exposure and shareholder base from mainly Canada to both the United States and Europe. This year, we have obtained a listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE) and expect to be listed in the United States shortly. We already have some investors from the United States.

Which has been the best marketing software tool for the growth of your startup, and why?

Gordon Lam: Online marketing has worked well in Europe and has expanded our shareholder base and overall investor interest there.

What do most startups get wrong about marketing in general?

Gordon Lam: Startups often believe they don’t need to spend funds on marketing, but a certain amount should be allocated to this at all times, especially in the exploration sector. There are many companies in this business, and really, they are competing for investor dollars. No one will know about your company without marketing.

How do you plan to expand globally?

Gordon Lam: We’ve already started this plan by listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and marketing in Europe. We’ve already had good success with a strong shareholder and institutional base there. The United States is next, with a similar plan of listing there and then marketing to expand our shareholder base with American residents and institutions.

What are the most common mistakes companies make with global expansion?

Gordon Lam: A very common mistake is expanding too fast without the necessary capital and resources to make it work or, if you do have the capital, not spending the necessary funds to make it work. Another mistake is not testing that market with a small amount of capital to determine interest first before committing larger amounts of funds.

How do you handle this COVID-19 outbreak situation for your company’s survival in the future?

Gordon Lam: At the outbreak of COVID, we closed our office and minimized costs. We then lobbied with our industry partners to forge a pathway towards the summer exploration season. For meetings, we’ve held them mostly by Zoom or Microsoft Teams. For our office and at our property, we’ve implemented strong COVID protocols internally as well as with our partners and suppliers.

What are the most common mistakes founders make when they start a company?

Gordon Lam: Many founders do not put in the time and effort to make it work. They often focus on short-term goals at the expense of long-term strategies.

Founders often need to make sacrifices mentally, physically, and financially to give the company the time to build a solid foundation for eventual success. It happens over the years, not months.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? And What advice do you have for someone who is interested in doing similar things like yours or in a similar direction?

Gordon Lam: Before you embark on your journey, make sure you can commit years to build it. If you aren’t in a good position financially to do it or can’t make sacrifices, then being an early-stage founder may not be right for your situation.

What are the top-three books or movies (TV series) that changed your life and why?

Gordon Lam:

“Trading Places” a movie that talks about how success and failure can happen instantly. Life isn’t about just making money but also about protecting it as there’s always risk involved, even if you think it’s a sure thing.

“The Big Short” taught me how most of the world could be wrong and entangled in the United States housing bubble. People are usually short-sighted looking at profits today and not realizing that they contribute to a much larger problem. The movie taught me that just because everyone else is investing in subprime mortgages or other complex financial instruments, it doesn’t mean you should too. Sometimes it’s best to go against it. Those who chose to ‘short’ against it made massive profits.

“The Wolf of Wall Street” is both a book and movie that taught me about being a good person and doing things the right way. Like the book and movie portray, some people make big money quick and easy but it comes at other people’s expense. Sudden wealth can also change a person and lead them down a road they can’t recover from, like drug and alcohol addiction. This is not who I am. Personally, I like to build companies. By doing so, I can build shareholder value, which means that everyone profits. This, to me, is a win-win situation for everyone!

How do you keep yourself motivated every day?

Gordon Lam: It is not easy to do, as there are always ups and downs. But what I do to motivate myself is visualize the end goal.

If you keep pushing and continue to work hard, you will achieve your goals.

What are the top three life lessons that you want your (future) sons and daughters to know?

Gordon Lam:

Success comes with hard work, dedication, and sacrifices.
Nothing is given to you. You have to earn it.

What would you like to be remembered for?

Gordon Lam: I want to be remembered for doing things the right way and not taking shortcuts. Many people lack ethics and cheat, lie, or steal to reach success, but they are only hurting themselves and their name at the end of the day. I can sleep at night and be proud of what I achieved and not what I have because of my ethics, integrity, and work commitment.

You can follow Gordon Lam here.

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