The Hard Part with Evan McCann

Jonathan Becker, Founder and President of Thrive Digital and a General Partner at Occasional Ventures, discusses founding Thrive, landing Lululemon and Uber as clients, misconceptions around paid growth, running marketing experiments, keeping up with different platforms, his investing style, and transitioning from CEO to chairman.

Kevin Stadnyk is the Co-Founder and CEO of Obruta Space Solutions. Obruta Space Solutions is enabling the space economy through reimagined, autonomous, and safe spacecraft docking systems. Obruta's turnkey Docking Kit combines the necessary hardware and software for virtually any spacecraft to perform on-orbit servicing and logistics. In this episode, we discuss Kevin's time at Carleton's Aerospace Engineering program, where Obruta plays in the ever-growing space industry, what the testing process looks like for a space company, why the satellite servicing space will be $14B by 2031, why is the space industry opportunity growing so rapidly, the regulatory environment around space and the nuances to raising capital in the space industry. My podcast supporter! ⁠Fasken's Emerging Tech and Venture Capital⁠ practice is comprised of 80+ dedicated legal professionals across the Canadian market. We're deeply involved in the startup ecosystem and have worked closely with founders from startup to scale-up to exit. Our team is a leading Canadian law firm for VC financings and tech M&A and act for many of the best-in-class startup and scale-up innovation-based companies and entrepreneurs in Canada. Given this experience we understand market trends and can assist in guiding your company forward as you scale – we take a holistic and strategic approach to helping our clients achieve their goals and provide the full suite of services including corporate, corporate finance, M&A, commercial, IP, data and compliance, employment, tax and beyond. We are excited to help the next generation of unicorns! 

Randy Garg is the Founder & Managing Partner of Vistara Growth. Vistara provides highly flexible Growth Debt and Growth Equity financing solutions to mid to later-stage technology companies across North America. Vistara's typical investment size ranges from $10M to $30M per investment for companies that have scaled or are scaling past $10M+ in revenues. In this episode, we discuss his time at Discovery Capital Corporation a Vancouver-based venture capital firm with investments like Sierra Wireless, working at Beedie Capital and uncovering a gap in the tech space, misconceptions people have about debt, common mistakes growth stage companies make, how debt and equity deals differ and what makes a great board member. My podcast supporter! ⁠Fasken's Emerging Tech and Venture Capital⁠ practice is comprised of 80+ dedicated legal professionals across the Canadian market. We're deeply involved in the startup ecosystem and have worked closely with founders from startup to scale-up to exit. Our team is a leading Canadian law firm for VC financings and tech M&A and act for many of the best-in-class startup and scale-up innovation-based companies and entrepreneurs in Canada. Given this experience we understand market trends and can assist in guiding your company forward as you scale – we take a holistic and strategic approach to helping our clients achieve their goals and provide the full suite of services including corporate, corporate finance, M&A, commercial, IP, data and compliance, employment, tax and beyond. We are excited to help the next generation of unicorns! 

Chris O'Neill is a technology leader, board member and advisor. His resume is extensive, currently, he is the Chief Growth Officer at Xero, a Board Member at Gap Inc., a GP and Advisor at Portage and an angel investor. Previously he was Chairman and CEO of Evernote, Managing Director of Google Canada with a stint at Google X (now X), Board Member at Tim Hortons and much more. In this episode, we discuss Chris's upbringing in his family's Canadian Tire business, learnings from launching Google Glass with Sergey Brin and Astro Teller at Google X, being on the board of Tim Hortons during the 3G Capital acquisition, leading a turnaround of Evernote, why the perception that Canadians don't take risks is BS and his passion for cleantech. Chris's Twitter My podcast supporter! ⁠Fasken's Emerging Tech and Venture Capital⁠ practice is comprised of 80+ dedicated legal professionals across the Canadian market. We're deeply involved in the startup ecosystem and have worked closely with founders from startup to scale-up to exit. Our team is a leading Canadian law firm for VC financings and tech M&A and act for many of the best-in-class startup and scale-up innovation-based companies and entrepreneurs in Canada. Given this experience we understand market trends and can assist in guiding your company forward as you scale – we take a holistic and strategic approach to helping our clients achieve their goals and provide the full suite of services including corporate, corporate finance, M&A, commercial, IP, data and compliance, employment, tax and beyond. We are excited to help the next generation of unicorns! 

Scott Stevenson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Spellbook. Spellbook uses GPT-4 and other large language models to review and suggest terms for lawyers' contracts, right in Microsoft Word. In this episode, we discuss Scott co-inventing a new instrument, how to run experiments when building product, how they are converting their waitlist to raving customers, nuances to building a co-pilot product, utilizing GPT versus creating your own LLM and his blog post "Lego Mindset versus Woodworking Mindset". Follow Scott on Twitter, he is an excellent follow His blog post "Lego Mindset versus Woodworking Mindset" and other writings His instrument creation the Mune A written interview with Scott by Ben Yoskovitz (previous podcast guest) My podcast supporter! ⁠Fasken's Emerging Tech and Venture Capital⁠ practice is comprised of 80+ dedicated legal professionals across the Canadian market. We're deeply involved in the startup ecosystem and have worked closely with founders from startup to scale-up to exit. Our team is a leading Canadian law firm for VC financings and tech M&A and act for many of the best-in-class startup and scale-up innovation-based companies and entrepreneurs in Canada. Given this experience we understand market trends and can assist in guiding your company forward as you scale – we take a holistic and strategic approach to helping our clients achieve their goals and provide the full suite of services including corporate, corporate finance, M&A, commercial, IP, data and compliance, employment, tax and beyond. We are excited to help the next generation of unicorns! 

Chris Neumann, Partner at Panache Ventures and founder of DataHero, dives into his entrepreneurial journey and insights into the venture capital landscape. He shares the challenges he faced while building DataHero, the nuances of effective startup accelerators, and the pressing need for more venture funds in Canada. Chris emphasizes the importance of mentorship and a supportive network for startups. He also discusses the evolving Canadian startup scene, the potential of AI innovations, and why Canadian cities should focus on their unique strengths rather than comparisons with Silicon Valley.

Patrick Monnot is the Founder and CEO of Pod. Pod is the ultimate AI copilot for B2B sellers. In this episode, we discuss Patrick's time at Fuel by McKinsey, how Pod competes in a busy sales tech market, what it is like to sell to salespeople, solo versus multi-player user experience, how to have focus when building product and the strategy behind their last raise from Bling Capital and GTM angels. My podcast supporter! ⁠Fasken's Emerging Tech and Venture Capital⁠ practice is comprised of 80+ dedicated legal professionals across the Canadian market. We're deeply involved in the startup ecosystem and have worked closely with founders from startup to scale-up to exit. Our team is a leading Canadian law firm for VC financings and tech M&A and act for many of the best-in-class startup and scale-up innovation-based companies and entrepreneurs in Canada. Given this experience we understand market trends and can assist in guiding your company forward as you scale – we take a holistic and strategic approach to helping our clients achieve their goals and provide the full suite of services including corporate, corporate finance, M&A, commercial, IP, data and compliance, employment, tax and beyond. We are excited to help the next generation of unicorns! 

Hamza J Alamtab is the Co-Founder of Tamba. Tamba is a product and digital solutions studio specializing in outstanding user interface & user experience. In this episode, we discuss Hamza's business acquired by Tiny, companies that are AI proof, what makes Victoria's tech community so great, meeting Andrew Huberman which led to the start of his new business Routines and the best advice Hamza got from Andrew Wilkinson. Tamba's website Routine's website Hamza's Twitter Tamba's Ambassador Program My podcast supporter! ⁠Fasken's Emerging Tech and Venture Capital⁠ practice is comprised of 80+ dedicated legal professionals across the Canadian market. We're deeply involved in the startup ecosystem and have worked closely with founders from startup to scale-up to exit. Our team is a leading Canadian law firm for VC financings and tech M&A and act for many of the best-in-class startup and scale-up innovation-based companies and entrepreneurs in Canada. Given this experience we understand market trends and can assist in guiding your company forward as you scale – we take a holistic and strategic approach to helping our clients achieve their goals and provide the full suite of services including corporate, corporate finance, M&A, commercial, IP, data and compliance, employment, tax and beyond. We are excited to help the next generation of unicorns! 

Arsham Ghahramani is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Ribbon. Ribbon is a professional social platform centred around verified achievements and ownership. They empower managers, leaders, and HR teams to effortlessly and publicly celebrate their team’s work by sending lasting verifiable awards and credentials. In this episode, we discuss his background in machine learning and data during his Ph.D. and working at companies like Amazon, how social networks should think about verification, the hack LinkedIn used to kickstart their network and how Ribbon is looking to shake up the professional social space. My podcast supporter! Fasken's Emerging Tech and Venture Capital practice is comprised of 80+ dedicated legal professionals across the Canadian market. We're deeply involved in the startup ecosystem and have worked closely with founders from startup to scale-up to exit. Our team is a leading Canadian law firm for VC financings and tech M&A and act for many of the best-in-class startup and scale-up innovation-based companies and entrepreneurs in Canada. Given this experience we understand market trends and can assist in guiding your company forward as you scale – we take a holistic and strategic approach to helping our clients achieve their goals and provide the full suite of services including corporate, corporate finance, M&A, commercial, IP, data and compliance, employment, tax and beyond. We are excited to help the next generation of unicorns! 

Ben Yoskovitz, Founding Partner of Highline Beta, shares his expertise in the hybrid corporate venture landscape. He dives into the significance of collaboration between startups and large corporations, emphasizing how innovative strategies can be tailored for both solo and multi-founder teams. Ben discusses the journey of transitioning from tech to entrepreneurship, the unique dynamics of a venture studio, and the importance of community in fostering growth. His insights into building successful companies and the challenges of fundraising add depth to the conversation.