The Hard Part with Evan McCann

Rob Fraser, Founder of Outway, discusses the transition from athlete to founder, effective forecasting and balancing sales and inventory, exploring different channels of the sock business, scaling a business from $1M to $25M in sales, transitioning from in-house fulfillment to 3PL, and staying updated on platforms and trends.

Daniel Eberhard, founder of KOHO, discusses his early days starting a renewable energy company, helping Canada's underbanked, and views on building a great team. Topics include how he used $1000 to raise $1M, rethinking credit building, instant pay for employees, future plans for wealth tools at KOHO, scaling and adapting product decisions, favorite books, movies, and podcasts, and coping with challenges.

Jason Warner is a Managing Director at Redpoint Ventures. Since 1999, Redpoint Ventures has partnered with visionary founders to create new markets and redefine existing ones. In this episode, we discuss Jason’s time as CTO of GitHub, how he has built his career while working remotely and his move into early-stage investing.

Jim Pattison is the Chairman and CEO of The Jim Pattison Group. The Jim Pattison Group is a multi-industry conglomerate with sales of over $12B a year and more than 50,000 employees, The Jim Pattison Group is one of the largest private companies in Canada. In this episode, we discuss Jim’s early days selling cars, how he looks at talent and his philanthropy.

Ameet Shah is a partner at Golden Ventures. Golden Ventures is a leading seed-stage venture capital fund, based in Toronto and investing across North America. In this episode, we discuss Ameet’s early career, how he got into early-stage investing and what he looks for in founders he wants to invest in.

Dave Wessinger is the co-founder of PointClickCare. PointClickCare is the market leader driving the transformation of healthcare vulnerable and complex populations through a broad, connected care network powered by deep insights. In this episode, we discuss how Dave and his brother started PointClickCare over 20 years ago and have turned it into a multi-billion dollar business with thousands of employees.

William Johnson is the founder of Vancouver Tech Journal (now part of Overstory Media Group). Vancouver Tech Journal uncovers and tells the stories that matter in Vancouver's tech ecosystem. They have a daily and a twice-weekly newsletter. In this episode, we discuss how William started Vancouver Tech Journal, their acquisition by Overstory Media Group and what William thinks about monetizing media. Subscribe to Vancouver Tech Journal here. Subscribe to Victoria Tech Journal here. Subscribe to Calgary Tech Journal here. Check out what brands Overstory Media Group owns and how they are changing the media landscape in Canada.

Zain Manji, co-founder of Lazer Technologies, discusses his early work experience at Yelp, Google, and Instagram. They talk about their transition from consumer households to B2B corporations, the importance of finding a good fit with buyers, and their excitement for growth and new projects in e-commerce, crypto, and fintech.

Jim Murphy was the co-founder of Boltmade which was acquired by Shopify. In this episode, we discuss Jim’s extensive tech background, the Waterloo tech scene, and what it is like being acquired by Shopify, Jim’s view on investing and why he decided to buy a farm. Check out Jim's brewery, Elora Brewing Company.

Justin Herlick is the co-founder of Pine. Pine is transforming the Canadian home financing process by creating a new digital-first, direct-to-consumer and low-rate process for their clients. In this episode, we discuss Justin’s background that led to starting Pine, he also gives a crash course on the mortgage industry in Canada and why it is ripe for disruption. If you are looking for a mortgage, Pine is currently available in BC, Alberta and Ontario. Apply here.