He Opened Vancouver's First Escape Room, Then Took It To Dragon’s Den
In this episode of Marketing Corner Talks, host Dave Keighron is joined by entrepreneur, marketing instructor, and escape room founder Chris Ricard for an in-depth conversation on creativity, resilience, and learning through real-world hustle.
Chris traces his entrepreneurial journey from early sales experiences such as working the paper routes, telemarketing, and door-to-door selling, to building and scaling SmartyPantz Escape Rooms, downtown Vancouver’s first escape room business. The discussion unpacks how marketing fundamentals such as identifying the ideal customer and testing for a minimum viable product are put into practice. Chris also shares behind-the-scenes insights into SmartyPantz’s guerrilla marketing, and earned media such as his memorable appearance on Dragon’s Den. The episode also discusses the challenges of scaling across provinces, managing risk, surviving during the early COVID pandemic, and knowing when to exit a venture.
The episode concludes with a student Q&A featuring MCT producer Neehaa Kannamreddy. She asks questions around buyer behaviour, entering business partnerships with friends, building operational safety nets, and cross-province expansion.
About Chris Ricard
Chris has always had the entrepreneurial bug which has led him to start, operate and sell a number of businesses. He is currently teaching marketing at Douglas College and providing marketing services through Sharp End Marketing.
His most recent venture was an escape room business called SmartyPantz. They had locations in Gastown, Edmonton and Calgary. They were the first of this type of business to open in Vancouver. Since 2018, he’s been teaching Marketing at Douglas College and says that he “thoroughly enjosy sharing wisdom with the next generation and learning a few things from them too”.
Connect with Chris Ricard
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-ricard-4b36497/
Email: chris@sharpendmarketing.com
Website: www.sharpendmarketing.com
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