What I used to do
My name is Ted Cape. I spent almost thirty years lending to, investing in and raising money for businesses. In September 2006, I resigned my position as Chief Financial Officer at Black Press Ltd., one of Canada’s largest publishers of community newspapers. I had just closed a financing involving over 50 lenders from the US and Canada which was the most satisfying transaction I had ever done.
The lenders were happy. My company had more than enough money to look after its needs. Most importantly, I had convinced both sides to do the financing on the right terms. It would take either the Great Depression or massive incompetence for this deal to default.
I knew there was nothing left for me to do that I hadn’t already done. I sold the rest of my shares in the company, had a great dinner with my colleagues and left to think about the rest of my life
What I have done recently
In October, 2007, I enrolled as a full time student in the New Media Program of British Columbia Institute of Technology to learn the fundamentals of website design and production. It was even better than I hoped – dedicated students, good instructors and a lot of hands-on-experience with the tools of the web design trade. I have never worked harder – from Christmas to spring, I might have had two or three days off. There was so much interesting, useful stuff to learn.
Family matters demanded my attention after two terms; I withdrew , sadly, but with my purposes largely fulfilled. BCIT gave me a very thorough orientation to web design.
I am now focused on starting up a web focused business. More on that as I develop it.
Education, Family, Interests & Volunteer Work
I am a graduate of Queen’s University and University of Toronto. I was called to the Ontario bar in 1979 but never practiced law, choosing instead a career in finance which I pursued for twenty years in Toronto before moving to Vancouver in 1997.
I am married to Ann Dillon, a former partner at a national law firm whom I met at university; we have four children. My volunteer commitments include memberships on the Boards of the Lion’s Gate Hospice Society and the Whistler Mountain Ski Club. My recreational interests center on skiing and the house Ann and I built in Go Home Bay, a summer community in Georgian Bay, Ontario.
