Elton Pereira, a Victoria, BC resident, is no stranger to the ins and outs of the business world. As an entrepreneur, technologist, and visionary, he has a history of launching and supporting a series of successful startups and growing these into multi-million dollar enterprises. Most notably, Elton Pereira is a co-founder and former CEO of ParetoLogic, a company that grew exponentially in a matter of a few short years to become one of the leaders in Internet security solutions in the world, with sales in every country.
Preparing himself for a career in the business world, Pereira received a Bachelor of Commerce Degree, specializes in entrepreneurship and finance at the University of Victoria in British Columbia in 1998. His first appointment after earning his degree came at CIBC, where he managed over $60 million worth of assets and received the CIBC Annual Achiever Award three years in a row, earning national recognition as one of Canada’s top financial planners.
ParetoLogic: The Little Family Business that Could
While Pereira has a string of successful companies in various industry sectors that he is involved with, the shining star in his entrepreneurial crown to date has been ParetoLogic, a Victoria, BC based software technology company specialized in Internet security that he founded with family members in 2004.
Elton Pereira founded ParetoLogic in 2004 along with his two brothers Adrian and Myron Pereira and brother-in-law Don Wharton, a long-term business partner. The company specialized in PC and cloud-based Internet security platforms, providing optimization, backup, and privacy solutions, and other utility software services, serving small businesses as well as independent home users.
The company was launched with a small investment of personal capital on the part of each of the co-founders, and a wealth of market research on the part of Pereira. This led to an extremely successful launch, thanks to a robust online marketing campaign, a triumphant move that provided cash flow from the very beginning, which led to constantly expanding opportunities for growth. Pereira recalls these early days in his own words:
“My bros and I started with our own online marketing companies, took out large credit lines on our Visa and started to play. Throughout the trial and error process of selling a variety of software online we discovered a niche market in the anti-spyware space that turned out to be the beginning of our growth journey. As a reseller, we were having success marketing and selling hundreds of units of an anti-spyware product per day but we had bigger dreams and aspirations.”
Those dreams and aspirations manifested in the form of dedicated hands-on approach on the part of the ParetoLogic team, and this spirit of determination paid off generously. Between 2004 and 2015, the company grew rapidly from a tiny team of 5 employees and $3.9 million in revenue to an enterprise with 70 employees, 350 million downloads, and $24 million in sales, with customers in every single country around the world.
“We grew fast and furious because my brotherly founders, the executive team and I had ambitious goals of introducing 2-3 new products to market each year (including anti-virus, privacy controls, pc optimization, data recovery and backup, parental controls, etc), recruiting the top marketers in the world and never taking our success for granted,” Pereira recalls.
The company valued innovation, creativity, and a healthy and focused work ethic. The executive team brought in talented personnel and encouraged individual employees to expand upon their unique skills and interests. The team also valued a family-oriented workplace culture that allowed employees to flourish as professionals, and encouraged having fun as part of the path to success.
The core values that led ParetoLogic to its rapid growth and success were passion and drive, coupled with integrity, trust, respect and love for one another, all of which fostered a loyal team spirit, and a fun and creative work environment. It was this inspiring environment that led to the innovation of top quality software solutions and exceptional customer service on the part of the ParetoLogic team.
“We appealed to the mom and pops of the world providing very simple, user friendly one click applications that took up very little computer system resources, worked lightning fast with exceptional live and timely customer service. We were also willing to reward our marketers handsomely for their expertise, execution, support and loyalty.
“But even beyond the solid product and customer acquisition strategy, I would have to say our PURE success was directly a result of our highly talented, passionate, warm-hearted, driven, committed and loyal team. Each and every one of them played a part in our growth journey. Even during our biggest challenges as a tech company in a competitive world, I was inspired by the team’s positivity, resilience, drive and thrive attitude. It was all heart and soul that allowed us to provide software solutions to over 10 million customers in all 196 countries in the world for 17 great years.”
Community Giving as a Unifying Force
The ParetoLogic team was also committed to the belief that companies have a responsibility to harness their capital, influence, and resources, as well as their economic power and access, and use those to positively impact human lives in communities both locally and globally.
Elton Pereira is a passionate philanthropist who believes that with rapid entrepreneurial growth comes a responsibility to community giving at both the local and global levels. He is also passionate about working with optimistic, driven, and inspired individuals and organizations that are similarly passionate about making a difference in the world.
“We were honored with a number of technology awards over the years but most proud of the ones that recognized us for Community service,” he recalls. “Our team embraced being a champion in the global community building schools in Kenya, India, Mexico and the Dominican Republic; sponsoring children through World Vision, donating blood (and eating lots of cookies ) at Canadian Blood Services; serving up breakfast at Our Place; honoring my grandparents by supporting the Eddie & Maggie Pires Center in North Goa to rehabilitate, empower and protect young girls from sexual exploitation; bringing joy to young children through CFAX Santa’s Anonymous; [and] shaved our heads for Cops for Cancer.”
In 2014, ParetoLogic became an investor in Change Heroes, an organization that provides a platform as well as tools for individuals and charitable organizations to effectively raise funds. These funds support the building of new schools serving hundreds of thousands of children in developing countries.
Pereira became passionate about participating in the Change Heroes platform after watching a Ted Talk by Change Heroes founder Taylor Conroy.
“I wanted to be part of something new, exciting and impactful,” he remembers. “He allowed me to be his first guinea pig and fortunately I was successful in utilizing social media and personalized videos to recruit 100 of my closest friends and family to donate $3.33 per day for three months for a total of $30,000. This built three beautiful schools in Rajasthan, India.”
He then led ParetoLogic into a partnership with Change Heroes, raising $20,000 to build two additional schools in Kenya and Haiti through the organization’s partnership with Free the Children.
ParetoLogic also supported other organizations with contributions of cash, time, energy and passion, including Pied executives for Power To Be, as well as BC Children’s Hospital.
The accolades that ParetoLogic earned for its community giving include the Community Engagement Award presented to the company at the BCTIA Technology Impact Awards Ceremony in 2012, and the World Vision Recognition for Humanitarian Efforts award in both 2015 and 2016. The company was also honored to receive the 2017 VIATEC Community Involvement Award, recognizing ParetoLogic’s contributions to a total of 11 charitable initiatives in the year leading up to the awards ceremony.
2020 Retirement of ParetoLogic
The retirement of ParetoLogic was announced in March 2020, as Pereira made the following statement:
“It’s been a wild ride and I could not have asked for anything more. Our lease on the space we have been in for 16 years is up and retiring the business allows our team to move on to new and exciting careers, and allows the founders to pursue new passion projects including more time with our family. New beginnings just felt right heading into 2020.
“ParetoLogic’s 17-year run has allowed my brothers and I to support and grow half a dozen other tech/sports media/eCommerce/venture/online businesses currently employing hundreds of people globally. Although Pareto’s officially winding up, its presence lives on. I love my brother’s strong passions and desires to continue to make a mark in this world while understanding the importance of family, friends and community. If it wasn’t for this inner fire and the unwavering love and support we receive from our parents, partners, kids, friends and the community, none of this would have been possible.”
Moving on from ParetoLogic allowed Pereira to devote more time to his family, as well as to set his sights on an assortment of new business ventures. Some of his new businesses include SureSwift Capital, a diversified SAAS portfolio company that buys out talented founders in order to take businesses to the next level of growth; SendtoNews, a cloud-based digital sports syndicator that has become the fastest growing technology company in its field; The Very Good Butchers, a rapidly growing company that provides plant-based alternatives to meat; Social Nature, a social marketing company that delivers natural products to customers’ doorsteps; Version One Ventures, a venture fund that supports mission-driven founders launching promising startups; Gravity Group, a global investment and advisory enterprise that focuses on businesses with game-changing technologies that support environmental, social and governmental initiatives; and Constant Content, an online talent marketplace that links expert content producers to companies seeking top quality SEO content.
Elton Pereira’s passion for community giving has also endured beyond ParetoLogic, and in this past year, he supported Startup Skool, a social project that brings an entrepreneurial mindset to youth, through Glenlyon Norfolk School in Victoria, BC.
