Startup Canada Podcast

Combine one hour-long meeting with a helping of unpreparedness, and just a dash of disorganization and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Enter Aydin Mirzaee, CEO of Fellow.app. Fellow helps managers and their teams have better meetings, exchange feedback, and more. Prior to Fellow, Aydin co-founded ottawa-based Fluidware in 2008, which led to the creation of two successful SaaS businesses: http://FluidSurveys.com & http://FluidReview.com. Fluidware was bootstrapped and grew to a $10M+ run-rate and over 90 people in staff. In 2014, Fluidware was acquired by SurveyMonkey (the world’s leading online survey company). Aydin is also the co-founder of http://FreshFounders.com, a non-profit organization with the vision to foster a community of top entrepreneurs in the nation’s capital. “For anyone who’s starting up it’s important to be focused and have a target. To understand your audience and what they’re looking for.” In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Ceridian, Aydin discusses the importance of making meetings work for you and your staff, and how to find the perfect manager’s co-pilot. The post A Manager’s Co-Pilot with Aydin Mirzaee – August 4th 2020 first appeared on Startup Canada.

It takes quite a bit of time and effort to help aspiring startup entrepreneurs with their businesses. Just ask Jamie Hoobanoff, Founder of The Leadership Agency, who is one of the best at what she does! Jamie is an industry disruptor with over 15 years of experience working with the fastest-growing startups, including Vena Solutions, StackAdapt, Reonomy, SkipTheDishes, Justworks, TouchBistro, and TripActions – just to name a few. She has interviewed over 10,000 top-tier candidates and has placed an estimated 3,000 people in the North American market. She is a trailblazer within the HR and recruitment space and continues to contribute her expertise to notable publications such as Forbes.com, CBC, The Globe and Mail, Inc. Magazine, and HR.com.  Jamie’s mission is to help build the most impressive companies of our generation, and The Leadership Agency helps startups find and hire best-in-class talent. As HRD Canada’s Best Service Provider of 2019, The Leadership Agency has truly become the one-stop-shop for startup recruitment. Working exclusively with startups, The Leadership Agency reaches all lines of business, including C-level, sales, leadership, tech, finance, marketing, and more.  “The number one piece of advice I give to anyone is not to think that it’s easy for anyone else. We’re all in this together.” In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Ceridian, Jamie discusses the importance of finding and keeping great talent for your startup. The post Hiring Top Talent with Jamie Hoobanoff – July 28th 2020 first appeared on Startup Canada.

It’s important to know what your audience wants, but it’s more important to know what they don’t want, and more important still to give them what they didn’t even know they wanted. Enter Charles Khabouth, CEO of INK Entertainment. Charles has been an entrepreneur, visionary and fashion icon in the country’s entertainment and hospitality  scene since the early 1980’s with Toronto’s groundbreaking Club Z and legendary nightclub Stilife. His risky out of the box ideas and determined point of view have set the foundation and fueled a thriving hospitality industry in North America. Named by EY as Ontario’s 2018 Entrepreneur Of The Year in the entertainment and hospitality category,  Charles  has made a career of elegantly fusing art and commerce. This has led him to expand his professional activities to include restaurateur and hotelier. Pushing the envelope whenever he can, Charles has the keen intuition of giving the public what it wants even before they know it themselves.  “For anyone who’s starting up it’s important to be focused and have a target. To understand your audience and what they’re looking for.” In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Ceridian, Charles discusses the importance of the art of fusing art and entertainment across industries, and how to stay one step ahead of your audience. The post The Art of Fusion with Charles Khabouth – July 21st 2020 first appeared on Startup Canada.

When it comes to building a business, it helps to seek advice from experts. Just ask Rivers Corbett, the Founder and CEO of the Chef Group! Rivers Corbett, MBA, is an award-winning serial entrepreneur, international speaker, startUP entrepreneurial thought leader, and author of “13 Fears of Entrepreneurs.” as well as the creator of The RockSTAR Mastermind. He has received numerous business awards including: 2015 Business Person of the Year, Canada’s Hottest Start-ups List and Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies list through Profit magazine and recently given the StartUP Canada Champion Award. Rivers is a founding board member of StartUp Canada and former host of the StartUp Canada Podcast Show. Most recently, he joined the Opportunities New Brunswick team as their first Entrepreneur in Residence and GoForth Institute as the Director of Partnerships.  “Life is full of great adventures with entrepreneurship.” In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Ceridian, Rivers discusses the importance of social entrepreneurship in shaping tomorrow’s world. The post The Heart of an Entrepreneur with Rivers Corbett – July 14th 2020 first appeared on Startup Canada.

There’s nothing quite like entrepreneurship, and it takes grit, courage, and most importantly hope – the rest are lessons Catherine Clark is happy to share! Named one of Ottawa’s Forty Under 40 by the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, Catherine Clark is a nationally respected broadcaster, emcee and the President of Catherine Clark Communications, providing strategic communications and public affairs advice to individuals, institutions and corporations.  Through her work in television, radio and print, Catherine has interviewed Canada’s most influential people, and is co-founder of The Honest Talk, a new, multi-platform podcast and event experience targeted at a dynamic, professional audience of women who are looking for more – out of themselves, out of their businesses and elected leaders, and out of the world around them. She has hosted and co-produced two historical documentaries, The Residences and Inside Centre Block, is the Giving Back columnist for Ottawa at Home Magazine and writes for the Montreal-based IEFA Magazine. “You don’t start up a business without a lot of hope and belief in yourself. It’s a tough time for entrepreneurs, and I want them to keep faith in themselves.”  In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Ceridian, Catherine discusses starting your entrepreneurial journey, and staying true to your hope and belief in yourself. The post How to Employ Yourself with Catherine Clark – July 7th 2020 first appeared on Startup Canada.

Wondering how to best prepare for your entrepreneurial future? Then Bruce Croxon, Partner at Round13 Capital, wants to talk! Bruce Croxon made his mark as a digital pioneer by co-founding Lavalife and revolutionizing how people connect. Under his direction, he grew this early tech start-up into the marquee brand in online dating with over two million users. Partner, chairman and CEO, Croxon helped lead the company’s growth from four to 600 employees, while achieving revenue of just under $100 million.  Since the sale of Lavalife, Bruce has been active as both an investor and advisor in growth-stage companies in the technology sector. As an ex Dragon on CBC’s Dragons’ Den, he added a broad range of businesses and products to his portfolio that tapped into his passion for digital media, health, and marketing. Croxon currently helms Round13, a company dedicated to investment in growth-stage Canadian tech companies. He also co-hosts The Disruptors on BNN and CTV, a weekly show spotlighting Canadian business and believes our entrepreneurs can hold their own with anyone in the world. ““It’s active work to focus on your goals, one of the most common mistakes I see entrepreneurs make is sensing early success, and pivoting six or seven different directions.”  In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Ceridian, Bruce investing in your own success, and starting to do so as soon as possible. The post Switching Focus for Success with Bruce Croxon – June 30th 2020 first appeared on Startup Canada.

Has your business roadmap been thrown out the window and you’re wondering what direction to pivot in? Then Razor Suleman, CEO and Co-Founder of Elevate has some advice. Razor Suleman is a successful serial entrepreneur, investor and champion of the Canadian technology ecosystem.    Currently, Razor is the CEO & Cofounder of Elevate, an organization committed to the advancing the Canadian technology ecosystem. Elevate’s mission is to unite the world’s innovators to solve society’s biggest challenges. The organization was created in partnership with Toronto Mayor John Tory along with 150 community and corporate partners. Razor is also the CEO of Design Exchange, a cultural institution that provides access to hands-on design-based learning for Canada’s next generation youth. Previously, Razor is Founder & former CEO of Achievers, a corporate social network focused on employee engagement that was backed by legendary VC Sequoia Capital. Razor built Achievers from an idea to a company with a $100M in revenue in less than 10 years. Achievers was acquired by Silicon Valley based Blackhawk Networks (which is owned by Silver Lake Partners) in July of 2015 for $150M.  “You know what attracts capital investors the most? Customers.” In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Ceridian, Razor discusses the Canadian entrepreneurial landscape, and his thoughts on the future of entrepreneurship in Canada. The post The Future of Canadian Entrepreneurship with Razor Suleman – June 24th 2020 first appeared on Startup Canada.

Sometimes self-doubt can be a barrier to your own best self, and Amanda Truscott would call that another step on the entrepreneurial journey. Amanda Truscott is Co-Founder and CEO of Rithmik Solutions, which builds advanced analytics for predictive maintenance on mining equipment. She’s also a NextAI Entrepreneur and the author of Creative Unblocking: Bypass Self-Doubt, Tap Your Genius and Complete Your Best Work. While her colleagues combine data science with decades of experience working on equipment in mines, Amanda specializes in the intersections of creativity, technology and communications. Amanda has a Master’s Degree in Journalism with an emphasis on multimedia, and she brings a unique and human-centred approach to industrial transformation. “It’s pretty rare for a lot of people to not feel self-doubt in this journey, but being able to get done what you need to get done is often about moving through that doubt.” In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Ceridian, Amanda discusses the importance of breaking through self doubt, and the importance of coincidence in influencing decisive action. The post Coincidentally on Purpose with Amanda Truscott – June 16th 2020 first appeared on Startup Canada.

Sometimes when you don’t fit the mould, you need to break it – just ask Sonya Satveit, Founder & CEO, Qanik DX Inc. Sonya’s journey to becoming a FemTech Founder began with her own health story. When unaddressed hormone issues led to two miscarriages, Sonya realized our healthcare system wasn’t designed to serve the unique needs of women. The guiding principle, “let your pain become your purpose” led her to become a women’s health advocate through her blog Hormone Soup. When the blog reached women in 175 countries, she knew she had to do more to help so she set out to transform women’s health. Sonya founded Open Source Health which piloted the first precision medicine platform for women’s health – a multinational project involving multiple stakeholders from the US, Canada and Europe. Sonya published the results in the peer-reviewed journal, Learning Health Systems.   She didn’t stop there, her vision to remove the gatekeepers to lab testing, give women control over their data and empower them with knowledge resulted in her latest venture – a company called Qanik DX. She and her team have developed a mini-lab for the home to allow women to test their hormones and get real-time results delivered to their smartphone all in the comfort of their own home. “One of the biggest things is I don’t fit the stereotype of a typical tech founder. I don’t check all the boxes, and I saw that as an opportunity to redefine what being a founder looks like.” In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Ceridian, Sonya discusses the importance of carving out your own corner in entrepreneurship. The post Growing From Grassroots with Sonya Satveit – June 9th 2020 first appeared on Startup Canada.

Just because you’re busy doesn’t mean you’re doing good work, and Jonathon Moody, President and COO of Versature, will be the first to tell you. Growing up north of Toronto, Jonathon attended the University of Ottawa and began working in Ottawa’s thriving tech sector during the late 90s. Jonathon has spent more than 15 years helping organizations change the way they do business through technology. With a background focused on the internet, hosted technologies and most recently ‘cloud services’ Jonathon focuses on helping firms of all sizes realize the business changing benefits of services such as Salesforce.com, Google Apps, Asana and hosted communications such as Versature’s Hosted PBX. Jonathon is active both in and out of work; he races sailboats north of Toronto and in the nation’s capital, organizes Versature’s hockey team and is a certified ski instructor. “I always fall back on one thing, we always want to do it right, we always aren’t in a rush.” In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Ceridian, Jonathon discusses the importance of taking a measured approach to entrepreneurship and how to make the most of your time. The post Doing It Right, Without the Rush – June 2nd 2020 first appeared on Startup Canada.