After I returned to Canada in the late 1990's after four years in Bahamas, I was called by a reader of my Dow 30 Journal (weekly) blog " still datelined Nassau, although by the time I got that call in June or July 1999, I was back in Toronto watching Canadian Geese on the shores of Lake Ontario.

Actually I was planning an online brokerage and the fellow asked if I wanted to start one with him. In a couple days, I agreed. After six months of preparing what became Qtrade Canada, I moved to Vancouver to head up the organizing and later running of the firm's operation, while the others focused on money raising, the office build-out and the essential documentation and legal filings.

Qtrade today is broker of choice for over 175 Canadian financial institutions. Before we had opened the doors in 2000, however, we had, based mostly on our plans, agreements in hand from about 90 of them, with a potential account base of about 4.2 million Canadian adults with bank accounts and so forth.

It took a lot of work and an incredible attention to detail to do that. These were not retail accounts; they were financial institutions like banks and credit unions, and we had zero track record or any experience in that part of the business.

In the first year of business, we got ranked #4 out of 13 Canadian electronic brokers, as I recall. Interestingly, nobody knew of us. But the commitment to serve people well was there. We did that well, starting with just Cdn$1 million invested, but a much bigger personal commitment.

After Deutsche Bank agreed to invest significant capital in such a tiny company, I departed " too early, but in retrospect not with much regret. I retired then and have enjoyed life ever since " in fact more than any time in my life.

What changed my life, in fact, was my leaving Qtrade " when I made a conscious decision to do whatever I could for other people; to address the need for social equity and the public's education in capital markets.

For about three years I thought in my heart that Qtrade still needed me because I left with a lot of building still to do and issues to resolve. But then I started to see clear evidence they would make it on their own much as I had envisioned " perhaps bigger and better.

Traders who are not familiar with the Canadian financial services landscape wouldn't understand the extreme power of the top five banks. They are more than a formidable foe -- they are all similar size powerhouses with an oligopoly grip on most financial matters in the country.

In fact, each one of them was earning more in net profit per hour than we were able to raise in capital in six months. They all had multi-million dollar electronic trading platforms, thousands of staff, experience beyond comprehension, dominating brand name, and so on. This was more than David versus Goliath; it was five Goliaths up against David's baby.

But, it was my dream " and those of my partners " an impossible dream really " to beat all the big Canadian banks at their game.

And when we started our venture, I was the only one who had ever been in the business. There were two securities lawyers, a restaurateur/salon entrepreneur (who is now a rock musician apparently) and a commercial real estate developer. The average age of the first three was about 29.

Well, now they've done it, making #1 in the industry ratings done by Canada's leader in financial media, Globe & Mail Report On Business.

This #1 result goes to show that serious people should never worry about being called Pollyanna. I hate that term ‘pollyanna' because I know the person using it is a loser in life, someone with a fear of failure and accustomed to losing.

When any of us put together the right elements of people, ideas, capital, hard work, and extreme optimism, in time good things will happen.

I've seen it, I've done it; I know it.