From representing hockey players, to painting classes in Italy to heading up high-profile Internet companies, Jordan Banks travels easily between different worlds. He’s now the managing director of Facebook Canada but his real skill in the Canadian technology community may be in creating ties between the people he meets. Like the connectors Malcolm Gladwell wrote about in his 2000 book The Tipping Point, being in Banks’ sphere tends to lead to wealth and opportunities. “I really believe that when you have the ability to interact with people that are community spirited and very intellectually curious and morally sound and you put these people together with no real ulterior motives, awesome things happen,” he says.
Before joining the social network, Banks, who admits the role of connector is “a bit of a natural” one for him and something he enjoys, did some early-stage investing in media and tech companies such as Well.ca, Polar Mobile, The Mark News and the music and pop culture site andPOP Inc. through his fund Thunder Road Capital. “He literally took us by the hand and brought us to meetings with other media companies and other people he knew,” says Robert Ostfield, CEO of andPOP Inc., who met Banks through an acquaintance. The two stayed in touch and Banks invested in the company in 2009. “I think that did a lot for us because we weren’t just a couple of young guys off the street… It was him saying, ‘I believe in what they’re doing and it makes sense.’”
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