Flagship Podcast

In this panel discussion, Gabriel Sundaram, a co-founder of Attain, hosts successful CEOs and founders to share their entrepreneurial journeys and key strategies for building and scaling startups. Panelists include Andrew from Stay 22, Anna from Dialogue and Coral, Malik from Nesto, and Joanne from PemPem. They discuss the importance of speed, intensity, and obsession in growing a business, the balance between rapid execution and maintaining personal well-being, and the role of mentorship and coaching. The conversation also emphasizes the value of storytelling in media, adapting to market realities, and the significance of teamwork and finding joy in the entrepreneurial journey. The session ends with advice for students on leveraging academic skills in the business world and maintaining a healthy balance while pursuing their passion.

In this episode, we dive deep into the Venture Studio model with Amelie, discussing the varied and often misunderstood landscape of venture studios. Emily explains how their unique approach involves de-risking ideas internally before partnering with an entrepreneurial community to launch startups. The conversation expands into the nuances of their recently closed $80 million Climate Fund, which focuses on leveraging software and business model innovations to solve critical adoption challenges in the climate tech space. Emily shares insights on addressing macro climate problems, the importance of rigorous customer discovery, and navigating the evolving competitive landscape. Listeners also gain a glimpse into the strategic thought process behind their investments and the future of climate-focused ventures

J'ai eu le plaisir d'échanger avec François Gingras, Vice-président Innovation @ Investissement Québec. Nous avons parlé de: La récente initiative d'Investissement Québec « Grand V », dont l'objectif est de soutenir les entreprises québécoises par des améliorations technologiques et durables de leur productivité. L'initiative offre un soutien financier pouvant atteindre 45 milliards de dollars sur trois ans, combinant prêts et capitaux propres, et comprend des services d'assistance technologique et d'innovation. L'importance de l'innovation tant au niveau des produits que des processus Le rôle de la culture organisationnelle et des succès initiaux des projets pour surmonter les obstacles à l'innovation. Comment le Québec peut-il être plus compétitif en matière d'amélioration de la productivité et la vision future de la résilience économique du Québec (très opportun avec la guerre commerciale imminente) Vous pouvez apprends plus à propos de Grand V ici: https://grandv.investquebec.com/

Guillaume Jacquet is one of the strongest founders I know. He co-founded Chronogolf which was acquired by Lightspeed. He rose to run product & technology eventually leaving to start Vasco. After being in stealth mode, they announced a massive US$8M seed round, led by Inovia Capital, with support from BY Venture Partners, Framework Venture Partners. Vasco empowers RevOps teams to unify their data, processes, and technology to build frameworks and blueprints that actually work.

Andrew Lockhead, co-founder and CEO of Stay22, shares insights from his journey in the travel industry. He discusses the creation of a platform for travel content creators and navigating the challenges of the pandemic. The implementation of large language models to enhance their business model is explored. Andrew also reflects on leadership lessons learned and his vision for the future of travel in an AI-driven world, emphasizing the need for a balance between technology and human connection.

Philippe Beaudoin is a gritty founder and one of the world's foremost experts on AI. He's relentlessly focused on his startup Waverly and shared some very candid and inspiring insights. We spoke about: Waverly 3.0 - pivoting and hard lessons Building personalized experiences for enterprises Provocative idea that Data is Dead Why the GPT wrapper challenge is flawed Getting to default alive as a bootstrapped founder His thoughts on the AI landscape

(00:00:00) Intro (00:01:39) Research spotlight by Réseau Capital (00:23:08) Investor panel (00:54:26) Founder panel (01:22:28) Fireside chat with Tom Birch

Dr. Nicholas Nadeau is the Chief Technology Officer at SmartOne, a leader in ethical AI and data solutions. Nicholas has become a pivotal figure in tech innovation with a Ph.D. in AI and engineering and a career dedicated to emerging technologies. Before joining SmartOne, he founded Nadeau Innovations, propelling startups to success as a fractional CTO. We spoke about The evolving role of the CTO Pitfalls for Startup CTOs Maintaining a Startup Mentality at Scale SmartOne's Value Proposition

I'm lucky that I get to work alongside Julie Lacasse and learn from her every day. If you don't know her, Julie is a serial entrepreneur and current venture capital partner at Amiral Ventures. She's the cofounder of Tracktik, an innovative company specialized in optimizing the management of security agencies, she led the company to international success and exit. Julie now brings her expertise to Amiral Ventures, where she focuses on venture capital investment. Her inspiring career path and strategic vision make her an influential figure in the entrepreneurial and investment ecosystem. We spoke about: Julie's entrepreneurial journey Insight that led to hyper growth company Board and VC dynamics Principles that Julie learned operating and scaling Lessons learned during the exit process

Startup Montréal, the non-profit organization that has supported early-stage Montréal startups is now known as Québec Tech. The rebranded organization has also adopted a new mandate to grow the international footprint of Québec tech companies with high export potential. To talk about the important mission of Québec Tech, I had the pleasure of speaking with Richard Chenier on the podcast to learn more about their plans and how they plan on addressing a key challenge for Quebec based startups. On the episode, we spoke about: The reason to expand the mission of Quebec Tech to the entire province How they plan to support their initial cohort of startups Why they focused on international go to market as the key value creation lever How Quebec compares to other provinces Reasons for optimism and why Quebec startups will win