These 11 remarkable CEOs have built hugely successful firms by shaking up their industries. Here are the inspiring — and instructive — stories of how they did it.

Larry Rossy, Dollarama

He's the gold standard for the truly hands-on CEO. Even as Dollarama LP Inc. has raced past $1 billion in sales, Larry Rossy, its chief executive, has held onto the jobs of head buyer and store-location scout for the chain's 585 outlets across Canada.

Rossy built Dollarama into the titan among Canadian dollar stores in part with his bargaining skills as a third-generation discount retailer whose grandfather opened the family's first five-and-dime in Montreal in 1910. "There are not too many CEOs who will fight tooth and nail with suppliers for a penny on a product," Dollarama's boss told the National Post last year.

But Rossy's skills go far beyond being a hard-nosed bargainer. He also foresaw the appeal of clean, well-organized stores to bargain hunters repelled by the shabbiness of most dollar stores. Rossy told the National Post that before opening Montreal-based Dollarama's first location in 1992, he studied existing outlets and realized: "Their stores are junky, they're buying poor product. Their stores were not well lit or merchandised. They were very unprofessional."

Over the past decade, Rossy has achieved his vision of a professionally managed chain rising to dominance. His firm has tripled the number of its stores and left rivals such as A Buck or Two shrinking fast. Although the recession juiced up sales — which reached $303 million in the quarter ended August 2, 2009, up by 15% in a year — Dollarama was flourishing long before the slump.

Bain Capital LLC, a Boston-based private-equity fund that now has US$60 billion in assets, bought into Rossy's vision in 2004, paying C$1.03 billion for 80% of Dollarama. Continuing as CEO, Rossy maintained strategies that helped put the chain on top in Canada. He scoured higher-priced stores for $10 items he could copy and sell for a buck — even a disposable camera. And, to keep costs rock-bottom, he bypassed importers, sourcing directly from Asian manufacturers.

Under Rossy, Dollarama made some key changes in recent years. The chain invested heavily in IT to increase its efficiency amid hectic growth. It introduced debit-card readers — almost unheard-of in its sector — to boost average transaction values. And, early this year, Dollarama introduced items priced at up to $2, boosting the number as well as value of transactions.

The most recent measure of Rossy's success was Dollarama's initial public offering in October, which ranked as Canada's third-biggest IPO of 2009 to date, with $300 million raised. And, given that Canada has just one-third as many dollar stores per capita as the U.S. market, Rossy figures Dollarama has plenty of room to open more outlets. "I used to think that 750 was the most Canada could support," he says. "I don't think so any longer." — Jim McElgunn

Guy Laliberté, Cirque du Soleil

Guy Laliberté is having an extra*ordinarily good time while building Cirque du Soleil into an ever-more powerful worldwide entertainment brand. The penniless stilt walker turned billionaire has won and lost millions at poker, hosted wild, week-long parties for thousands of guests and sported a bright red clown's nose as Canada's first space tourist.

Laliberté is such a larger-than-life character that it's easy to lose sight of the rare combination of creative and business skills that has made the Montreal-based entrepreneur so enormously successful. He neatly summed up these skills in a video marking his 2005 induction into Canada's Marketing Hall of Legends: "I'm an expert in clowning and marketing."

The clown understood the potential to transform the tired three-ring circus into a place of enchantment for all ages through a sophisticated and passionate blend of artistry, acrobatics, music and storytelling. And the marketing expert understood the power of endlessly inventive PR to break through the clutter and connect with the public: how many firms mark their 25th anniversary, as Cirque did this past June, by having 900 employees set the record for the most people to walk 100 metres on stilts?

Cirque's founder has shown the daring of a trapeze artist to grow his ragtag troupe into a behemoth with nine touring shows and 10 resident shows in venues from Las Vegas to Dubai — triple the number of shows Cirque had a decade ago. Almost 100 million people have seen a Cirque performance, and annual revenue tops $800 million. But Laliberté doesn't take foolish risks. He funds expansion largely through cash flow to avoid becoming overextended and losing control of his firm. He routinely convinces the companies he partners with on his ambitious projects to put up the money while he retains full creative control. And he surrounds himself with seasoned senior executives and an advisory board drawn from the cream of Corporate Quebec.

Laliberté has created a driven company culture of always trying to top yourself. Sometimes that means bold new concepts, such as the adult-themed Zumanity show that debuted in 2003 — "the sensual side of Cirque du Soleil." Sometimes that means imaginative repackaging of proven content, such as Love, a 2006 show crafted around Beatles music, much of it mixed and rearranged from the original recording-session tapes from Abbey Road Studios. The tens of millions of dollars Cirque spends per year on R&D fuels a ceaseless stream of creative and technical innovations. The firm's "no compromises" approach to product quality — such as hand-sewing all 20,000 costumes it uses per year — makes consumers willing to shell out big bucks for tickets.

And Laliberté never forgets his vast empire's simple mission. "We make people forget their problems for a couple of hours," he said in the Marketing Hall of Legends video. "They leave with a smile, and that's the best reward an entertainer could have." — JM


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