There’s a lot going on in the world today, and one of the Canadians who has been plugged into the pulse of Ottawa, Venture Capital, and Banking is our guest, Mark McQueen, Founder of Wellington Growth Partners and former President of CIBC Innovation Banking.We had a great conversation about what’s happening in Canada and globally in the markets, and how we should think about events as entrepreneurs and investors.About Mark McQueen:Mark McQueen is the Founder of Wellington Growth Partners, a family office and Angel Fund. He led the growth of Wellington Financial LP, a venture debt fund, from conception in 2000 to the firm's acquisition by CIBC in January 2018. He became President of CIBC Innovation Banking until his recent decision to leave the firm in 2022. Prior to his time in finance and banking, he served in Ottawa in various advisory roles to the Treasury Board and Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney.Mark started working as a professional news photographer in High School. By the time he was 16, his photographs had appeared in such publications as Time Magazine, The Globe & Mail, and The Toronto Star. He received his bachelor’s from Western University.In this episode we discuss:(00:01:30) Mark’s life journey that got him here today(00:03:13) Lessons he learned from his Father Rod McQueen(00:05:18) Mark’s time as a photographer(00:06:46) Working in government out of school(00:10:16) Why meeting in person can give a lot of context to who someone is(00:11:34) Jumping into banking instead of getting an MBA(00:13:20) The importance of service in banking(00:14:35) What his training was as a banker and how he views the markets(00:17:25) The importance of doing what the work requires(00:21:02) Raising his first fund in 2000(00:23:27) On choosing the name Wellington (twice)(00:25:27) Surviving the Global Financial Crisis in 2008(00:30:22) Growing his loan book 10x after being acquired by CIBC(00:31:13) How the market has evolved over Mark’s career(00:33:42) The reason behind the SVB implosion(00:36:42) Why the Canadian VC market is so much smaller than the US(00:41:36) Reasons why mining and real estate companies are easier to fund in Canada(00:45:45) Why Canadians seem fine with medium-sized exits(00:48:21) The crisis of small-cap companies de-listing(00:50:09) Has the venture industry left him jaded?(00:51:34) Will Mark return to politics, as some have urged?(00:54:29) On his love for Pearl Jam(00:58:33) The farthest he’s travelled to see the band(01:00:45) How he spends his days nowFast Favorites:* 🎙- Favorite Podcast: Live On 4 Legs* 📰- Favorite Newsletter / Blog: Paul Wells* 📲- Favorite Tech Gadget: Eero* 📈- Favorite New Trend: Taking the Summer off* 📚- Favorite Book: The Last Best Hope* 🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson: Be frank and authentic in all your endeavoursFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.ai This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Elements that make up a strong startup ecosystem are founders and talent to execute the vision, investors with capital, and finally journalists that are documenting what the founders and investors are doing. Without that coverage, it’s difficult to attract more founders and more investors which are needed to create a vibrant ecosystem that will hopefully have a larger impact on society.Our guest today is Sean Silcoff a business reporter at the Globe and Mail covering the Canadian startup scene. Sean’s book, Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry, which he wrote with his co-author Jackie McNish in 2013 was turned into a feature film starring Glenn Howerton and Jay Baruchel. I’ve seen it, and it’s such a great take on the rise and fall of RIM.We also have a news breakdown with John Ruffolo.About Sean Silcoff:Sean Silcoff writes about technology and innovation for the Globe and Mail. He is the winner of three National Newspaper Awards and is the co-author of Losing the Signal: the Spectacular Rise and Fall of BlackBerry, which was released in May 2015. Losing the Signal won Canada’s National Business Book Award and was shortlisted for the International Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year. Sean joined the Globe and Mail in January 2012; he previously worked as a columnist and Montreal correspondent for the National Post and as a staff writer at Canadian Business Magazine.In this episode we discuss:(00:01:11) News recap with John Ruffolo(00:19:25) Sean’s journey to becoming a tech journalist(00:28:02) How Sean ended up conecting and covering with CEOs(00:33:57) Dealing with high-profile people off the record(00:35:45) How Sean’s audience has evolved over the years(00:37:12) The changes Sean has seen in the Canadian ecosystem in the last 20 years(00:39:52) Sean’s duty to his readers to report news when it comes to him(00:40:36) Striving for timelyness and accuracy in a challenging environment(00:44:08) Why the media missed stories like RenoRun and ClearCo(00:47:47) Fighting the urge to put opinions in his writing(00:50:45) Thoughts on the wave of IPOs in 2020 and 2021(00:54:07) Benefits of being a public small cap Canadian tech company vs. the benefits of staying private for longer(00:57:58) Will ChatGPT replace journalists(01:02:55) Writing the story of John Ruffolo’s cycling accident(01:06:30) Watching his book Losing the Signal become a film(01:12:09) When Sean gets jaded by the industryFast Favorites:* 🎙- Favorite Podcast: Tank Talks, Pivot* 📰- Favorite Newsletter / Blog: Stratechery, Maverix* 📲- Favorite Tech Gadget: Olympus Recorders* 📈- Favorite New Trend: Fluidity* 📚- Favorite Book: Sapiens, Walt Disney, Shoe Dog, The Founder* 🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson: Work hard. There are no shortcuts to ultimate success and satisfaction.Follow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.ai This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

It’s not surprising that one of the pioneers of online dating believes that being open to options and new ideas will help your life and career. Sam Yagan is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Corazon Capital, an early-stage firm based in Chicago with a MidWest focus. But Sam is most known for Co-Founding OKCupid! and moving up to become the CEO of Match Group, where he helped launch Tinder.This was a wonderful and sometimes introspective conversation on the challenges of being a founder, the power of being open to new possibilities, and where we are with the current market.We also have a news recap with John Ruffolo.About Sam Yagan:Sam Yagan serves as Co-Founder and Managing Director of Corazon Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm. He recently served as the CEO of ShopRunner, Inc., leading its 2020 sale to FedEx Corp.Prior to ShopRunner, Sam served as CEO of Match Group where he led the company through the launch of Tinder in 2012 and through Match Group’s IPO in 2015. Sam’s prior entrepreneurial ventures include SparkNotes (founded in 1999) and OkCupid (co-founded in 2004).Sam has a BA from Harvard College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.In this episode we discuss:(00:01:17) News recap with John Ruffolo(00:20:58) Sam Yagan’s journey to entreprenuership(00:26:14) Was his career all luck?(00:28:20) How the exit of SparkNotes went(00:30:02) Regrets about not buying SparkNotes back(00:34:53) Seeing companies with broken cap tables but functioning businesses(00:36:57) Why they started OkCupid!(00:41:20) Deciding to sell to a larger rival, and then becoming its CEO(00:45:45) How Sam dealt with Imposter Syndrome(00:49:30) The PlentyoFish Acquisition(00:52:05) Deciding to career pivot to ecommerce(00:54:46) Lessons learned as an outsider coming in at ShopRunber(00:58:32) Why Sam chose to be a MidWest VC(01:01:23) How Sam’s investing thesis has evolved(01:03:33) What Sam likes to invest in(01:04:26) Why they missed on Cameo(01:05:24) What Sam is passionate about in the futureFast Favorites:* 🎙- Favorite Podcast: Succession* 📰- Favorite Newsletter /Blog: Matt Levine’s Money Stuff* 📲- Favorite Tech Gadget: 8 Sleep* 📈- Favorite New Trend: Alcohol abstinence * 📚- Favorite Book: Influence* 🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson: Be willing to failFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.ai This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Analytics has led to a revolution in how we approach many aspects of modern life, from how we field a baseball team to when is the right time to send a tweet. And now data and analytics are reinventing how LPs view Venture Funds and how those funds invest. Our guest today uses powerful analytics to help her clients participate in Venture investing at scale, Jamie Rhode, CFA is Principal at Verdis Investment Management, a large Family Office. The analytics she uses and how she communicates with the GPs she invests in are the focus of today’s episode. It’s a fascinating look at putting emotions aside when investing to maximize returns.About Jamie Rhode:Jamie Rhode is Principal at Verdis Investment Management, focused on venture capital, private equity, and hedge fund investment sourcing and due diligence.She joined Verdis from Bloomberg, where she held roles in both equity research and credit analysis. Jamie is a licensed Chartered Financial Analyst, and earned her bachelor’s degree from Drexel University.In this episode we discuss:(01:27) Jamie’s journey into investing(03:14) A history of Verdis Investment Management(06:20) How Verdis’ approach to venture investing has evolved through the use of analytics(10:37) Not needing to be the first investor in a geography(12:23) Fund sizes they prefer based on their data(17:12) Why Jamie thinks follow-on reserves are a flawed investment strategy(20:22) The data around being overly focused on valuation as a GP(23:06) The value to LPs of recycling(23:56) How shots on goal and consistency of investment is more important than finding winners(25:30) The infrastructure Verdis has to monitor its portfolio(28:52) Qualitative factors that Verids uses to evaluate investments when there is little data(32:40) Does the current market still support the data they have been using(36:14) Data around the importance of VC Brand(39:47) What Jamie’s deal funnel looks like and how she manages her meetings(42:27) Why Family Offices are typically very private(43:32) The effect of the current market on Jamie’s investingFast Favorites* 🎙- Favorite Podcast: Village Global* 📰- Favorite Newsletter /Blog: lifescivc.com* 📲- Favorite Tech Gadget: Tesla Model Y* 📈- Favorite New Trend: ChatGPT* 📚- Favorite Book: Thinking In Bets and Quit* 🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson: There are two things that determine how our lives turn out, the quality of our decisions and luck.Follow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.ai This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

The tables have turned on our host Matt Cohen who was recently a guest on the BetaKit podcast and had a spirited discussion about the recent meltdown of RenoRun. BetaKit features weekly podcasts discussing Canadian technology news and global startup news from a Canadian perspective and it was an honour to be a guest on the show. You can listen to the whole episode where Matt shares the history of Ripple Ventures and a lot more here.From BetaKit’s post:BetaKit has reported this year on LPs unable to honour capital calls, leaving Canadian VCs to pull out or renegotiate deals with Canadian startups—one of those startups being Montréal-based RenoRun, which recently filed for creditor protection after failing to raise four different rounds to keep the company alive (along with a few other Hail Mary attempts). Most recently, the Globe and Mail reported that Toronto-based Clearco is looking to raise $20 million USD at a $200 million USD valuation—one-tenth of what it was at its height (BetaKit can confirm we’ve heard the same numbers).You know things are bad when pension-backed VCs like OMERS Ventures’ Laura Lenz are trying to encourage downtrodden founders by tweeting that her firm is still investing.This week we also welcome back John Ruffolo to break down the big tech news.Follow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.ai This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Bringing offline businesses online, known as digital transformation, is a huge opportunity. There are entire industries where the efficiencies of digital tools and workflows haven’t penetrated. That’s changing with the market today valued at $535B and anticipated to grow to $3.3T in the next decade.Out guest today is helping lead that transition in the health and wellness services space. Matt Danna is the Co-Founder and CEO of Boulevard, a vertical SaaS that describes itself as “the first and only client experience platform for appointment-based, self-care businesses.”About Matt Danna:Matt Danna is the co-founder and CEO of Boulevard, a provider of the client experience platform used by more than 25,000 professionals to power more than 2,000 salons, medspas, and other self-care businesses across the US.Prior to co-founding Boulevard in 2016, Matt was head of product for the LA-based talent agency Wasserman. His career also includes product leadership positions with Awesomeness, a multi-media platform company, and the global media company Fullscreen. Matt holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and Human-Computer Interaction from the Rochester Institute of Technology.In this episode we discuss:(01:23) How Matt got into tech and startups(04:10) The opportunity they saw with Boulevard(09:52) What market validation Boulevard did(11:00) Why the founders worked for free at salons(14:37) Biggest takeaways from the pre-launch market research(16:35) How they knew their MVP was ready to launch(18:26) The early bootstrapped days of Boulevard(19:51) Early employees and financing(21:38) Leaving stealth and launching publicly(23:45) Early successes and challenges(25:51) Why they spun up their own FinTech solution(27:21) How they reacted to COVID(29:32) Scaling rapidly while sticking to their vision(30:39) Boulevard’s long-term visionFast Favorites* 🎙- Favorite Podcast: Asaassins * 📰- Favorite Newsletter /Blog: SaaStr* 📲- Favorite Tech Gadget: Airpods* 📈- Favorite New Trend: People freaking out about AI* 📚- Favorite Book: Hard things about hard things (right now)* 🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson: Dont rely on luckFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.ai This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Finding a big problem to solve with your startup is always the goal, but what happens if that problem lies outside of what is deemed sexy by investors? Our guest today is Josh Domigues, Founder and CEO of Flashfood, an app that allows shoppers to browse food items approaching their best-before date, buy them at a discount and pick them up in-store. Expiring food is a global problem and is one of the leading emitters of greenhouse gasses, but solving a problem like that isn’t as easy to explain as a flavor-of-the-month SaaS business.This was a fun conversation with Josh and it was great to hear his perspective.We also welcome back John Ruffolo to discuss recent startup and tech news.About Josh Domingues:Josh Domingues is the Founder and CEO of Flashfood, which started from his condo above a grocery store when he got a call from his sister who was a chef. She told him that she just threw out $4000 worth of food. Josh was shocked to discover that discarding food was the norm in the restaurant, catering, and grocery industries. He is an alumnus of TechStars and received his bachelor’s from St. Mary’s Univeristy.In this episode we discuss:(0:01:07) News rundown with John Ruffolo(0:30:45) Josh’s path as an athlete to founder(0:33:42) Lessons Josh learned working with Professional Athletes(0:36:28) The path to starting Flashfood(0:39:16) Defining the scope of the problem and surviving in the early days(0:44:22) Josh’s experience on Dragon’s Den(0:48:15) How TechStars opened doors for Flashfood(0:52:53) The Importance of showing up in person to network(0:54:48) Real-world examples of how Flashfood is working(0:58:36) Why investors like General Catalyst and S2G Ventures have backed Flashfood(1:02:06) Advice to early-stage founders struggling in the current market(1:07:13) How they brought on a new COO and President(1:12:00) Flashfood’s future plansFast Favorites:* 🎙- Favorite Podcast: 20 Minute VC* 📰- Favorite Newsletter /Blog: The Peak* 📲- Favorite Tech Gadget: Apple watch* 📈- Favorite New Trend: Electric car adoption* 📚- Favorite Book: Good to Great, Shoe Dog * 🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson: Hold on to HappinessFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.ai This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Getting into competitive venture deals is difficult enough when you aren’t a huge name-brand VC, and doing it from another country is even more challenging. Our guest today, Yatong Li is Managing Director at Sixty Degree Capital, a cross-sector firm that invests in software, digital infrastructure, healthcare, and biotech companies across multiple stages as early as Series A and as late as pre-IPO. Yatong talks to us about how he gets into competitive deals and what his view of the market looks like in 2023.We also have Anthony Mouchantaf joining us for another news rundown covering the biggest news in tech this week.About Yatong Li:Yatong Li is the Managing Director of Sixty Degree Capital. He joined in 2017 as an Analyst in the Toronto office and advanced to Managing Director in 2022.Born in China, Yatong moved to Canada and completed the Master of Finance program at the Schulich School of Business, York University. He graduated from Nanjing Agricultural University with a B.Sc. Before joining Sixty Degree Capital, Yatong worked at China Securities (SH: 601066) and as an investment banking analyst at China Galaxy Securities (HK: 06881), a state-owned securities firm in Beijing with a market value of $6.3 billion.In this episode we discuss:(00:59) News roundup with Anthony Mouchantaf(16:10) How Yatong got his start in becoming an investor(17:37) Early investments(19:01) Sixty Degree Capital’s origin story(21:54) How Yatong nurtures relationships in Silicon Valley(23:02) The diligence process at Sixty Degree(24:35) Building relationships with corporate partners(25:55) Why he focuses on infrastructure investments(28:17) Their investment decision process(29:47) How Yatong’s investing thesis has evolved(32:30) Sixty Degree’s process of investing(34:26) How Sixty Degree co-invests(36:23) How early-stage investments are assessed(37:38) What the market looks like right now(39:27) Thoughts on Stripe and others slashing valuation(41:04) Sixty Degree’s recent investment in DataGrail(43:44) Fallout from the SVB collapse(47:03) Biggest lessons learned as an investorFast Favorites:1. 🎙- Favorite Podcast: Tank Talks!2. 📰- Favorite Newsletter /Blog: The Information Tomasz Tunguz and Nikhil from Footwork3. 📲- Favorite Tech Gadget: E-scooter4. 📈- Favorite New Trend: Asking ChatGPT questions5. 📚- Favorite Book: Ray Dalio’s Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order6. 🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson: Sacrificing your health for success or wealth isn’t worth itFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.ai This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Startups take longer than anticipated, the average exit takes between 7 and 10 years. Even overnight successes are the product of years of behind-the-scenes work. This is as it should be, but the problem comes if you’re not in love with finding and solving the core problem of your startup (or if the market itself doesn’t actually have that problem).Our guest today is Adit Gupta, CEO and Co-Founder of Lula Convenience. Adit loves the problem he’s solving but also has advice for other founders on how to find that love as well as a problem that the market wants to solve. Lula Convenience is the operating system for the convenience industry. Their mission is to help stores by providing an all-encompassing platform that connects their stores to the world. Adit also is an alumnus of the RippleX Fellowship.And we have a news round-up with Anthony Mouchantaf.About Adit Gupta:Adit Gupta is co-founder and CEO of Lula Convenience, a verticle-SaaS product disrupting the US convenience retail sector. The Lula Store Platform captured nearly 1% market share within 12 months of product launch. He did his undergrad and is a Doctoral Candidate at Drexel University.In this episode we discuss:(01:10) News rundown with Anthony Mouchantaf(12:28) Adit’s journey to founding Lula Convenience(13:36) How he became a tennis coach using Youtube(16:04) What it took to land some of his first internships(17:57) Lessons he took from his first startup effort(20:30) Finding the problem you want to solve(21:29) How the RippleX Fellowship helped Adit focus on Lula(22:59) The founding of Lula Convenience(26:22) Why Lula was different than his first startup(28:18) Early lessons and pivots at Lula(31:49) The number of SKUs and other issues convenience stores face when focusing on delivery(32:57) How the business model has evolved(34:32) Advice to other early-stage founders on defining ICPs(37:16) Why they decided to rebrand to Lula Convenience(38:56) How Lula has grown with advice and support from their VC partners(40:48) What recent challenges have meant for their growth and development(42:41) Adit’s vision for the next few years of LulaFast Favorites:* 🎙- Favorite Podcast: Tank Talks (How I built this)* 📰- Favorite Newsletter /Blog: Nikhil Trivedi (Footwork)* 📲- Favorite Tech Gadget: My air fryer and my electric scooter* 📈- Favorite New Trend: Using ChatGPT for every computational task* 📚- Favorite Book: Never Split the Difference & Hard thing about hard things * 🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson: Treat people how you want to be treated, Think long term, there’s always creative ways / solutions to problems. Follow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.ai This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

We start this week’s episode with John Ruffolo and Matt discussing the SVB and Regional banking crisis taking over the headlines recently. It’s a candid discussion about what went down and how it's affecting the global startup ecosystem.We then talk with Connor Atchison, Founder and CEO of Wisedocs. Wisedocs is helping streamline and transform medical information with its artificial intelligence platform for insurance, legal, and independent medical evaluation firms to review medical records with ease.About Connor Atchison:Connor Atchison is the Founder CEO of Wisedocs. He began his career in the Canadian Armed Forces in the Infantry and left 12 years later supporting the Canadian national mandate of the Directorate of Casualty Support Management (DCSM) and the Canadian Forces Health Services Group (CFHSG).He received his BS from the University of Toronto - University of Trinity College and his Masters in Health Administration from the University of Regina.In this episode we discuss:(00:53) The news rundown with John Ruffolo(26:44) Connor’s background and journey into tech from the military(27:26) Why he stuck with a military career for so long(28:14) Lessons he learned in the military(28:59) How his military career put him in the position to found Wisedocs(30:27) Dealing with imposter syndrome as a new CEO(31:25) The process of actually starting Wisedocs(33:09) The early days as a tech founder(34:26) Wisedocs COVID experience and how they survived(37:00) How Wisedocs expanded into the US market(37:55) Connor’s evolution as a leader(39:37) The importance of focus in the early days(40:51) How AI and ML help power Wisedocs(42:19) Does ChatGPT fit into this use case(43:35) How medical records are currently handled in the US(44:54) Plans for Wisedocs recent seed round(46:43) Where Wisedocs is going to expandFast Favorites:* 🎙- Favorite Podcast: The Game* 📰- Favorite Newsletter/Blog: Forbes* 📲- Favorite Tech Gadget: Apple products* 📈- Favorite New Trend: Talking to ChatGPT* 📚- Favorite Book: How to win friends and influence people* 🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson: Define what you value and build your life around thatFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.ai This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com