What The Tech?

We welcome to the show Kristjan Sigurdson, Managing Director at Endeavor Canada. Founded in 1997, Endeavor is a global organization with a mission to unlock the transformational power of entrepreneurship by selecting, supporting, and investing in the world’s top founders. Today, Endeavor’s network spans 40+ locations and supports 2,300+ entrepreneurs, whose companies generate combined revenues of over $28 billion, have created more than 3.9 million jobs, and, in 2020, raised over $4 billion in capital. As Managing Director of Endeavor Canada, Kristjen connects growth-stage entrepreneurs with resources, mentorship, and networks to scale their businesses and transform their communities. But he’s been working hard to drive Canadian innovation in numerous roles for more than a decade, including helping scale the Creative Destruction Lab into one of the world's largest startup support organizations, while also completing a PhD in Strategic Management from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. He’s got an amazing background and has been a stellar resource to founders across Canada and beyond, and I can’t wait to pick his brain on what it takes to drive innovation, achieve growth and scale in 2024. Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

Today we welcome to the show Neil Weitzman, CEO and Co-Founder of PORCH and Founder amd Fractional CRO of revenue•x. Neil is a go-to-market operator who understands that “revenue is everything.” He builds and scales teams within SaaS, DaaS and tech businesses, while helping CEO’s,  founders and executive teams build and execute robust GTM strategies focused on revenue acceleration.But Neil is also an Entrepreneur who focuses on making an impact through the power of community. At PORCH, their mission is to help 1,000,000 immigrant entrepreneurs succeed in Canada through community, helping level the playing field for immigrants by providing a curated, engaging and safe place to build relationships, learn, and help each other grow.It’s an amazing mission, and I’m thrilled to learn about his successes to date and what’s in store for the future. Without further ado, welcome to the show, Neil!Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

On this episode of What The Tech, we welcome Quin Sandler, Plantiga’s Co-founder and CEO. Quin's team is on a mission to optimize human performance, resilience and recovery through the monitoring and analysis of biomechanics—that is, a person’s unique movement patterns. The Plantiga platform combines an advanced sensor insole that measures how a person moves so they can maximize their health, recovery and performance. Combining predictive analytics and applied sport science, Plantiga supports hundreds of teams, trainers and athletes - in sport and life. As impressive as that mission is at Plantiga, Quin’s experience in the Canadian startup ecosystem is extensive and mighty as well. As the latest serial entrepreneur to join our show, Quin has founded companies in online learning, coaching and digital branding. He’s most recently spent more than a decade in the wearable space, where he brings a wealth of experience in product design, development and branding that truly sets Plantiga apart.Quin has also been an amazing Boast customer and partner, and an incredible resource across the Vancouver tech ecosystem and beyond. We pick his brain on the work he’s done to date, his path to success, and what’s next for Plantiga. Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

Today we welcome onto the show founder-extraordinaire Diraj Perkash Goel, Managing Partner and Founder of Get Fresh Ventures. At Get Fresh, Diraj and his team have played a pivotal role in launching over 200 startups onto paths of significant growth and profitability. His tenure at technology giants such as Hootsuite and Vision Critical has given him invaluable insights into operational excellence and customer engagement strategies, making him a cornerstone in the realm of business growth acceleration.Before establishing GetFresh Ventures, Diraj's visionary leadership was instrumental in the revitalization of BC Tech's HyperGrowth Programme. His overhaul of the program structure led to a marked increase in the success rates of participating startups, many of which have since surpassed $100 million in revenue.Of course, these are just a few of the bona fides that have made Diraj such a distinguished figure in the tech industry both in Canada and globally. I can’t wait to pick his brain on his startup journey, some of the great companies he’s working with today, and what’s on deck at Get Fresh Ventures for the rest of 2024.Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

We welcome Simon Knauber, Director of Finance and HR at Glass Canvas, which is a faith-tech and consulting company behind ministry products for the Church, including Tilma Parish and Tilma Diocese. Their software is more than just technology, but a way to create more ministry impact by helping dioceses and parishes serve their people better and create more meaningful encounters with their faith.This includes delivering Ministry, marketing and tech expertise for Dioceses, churches and ministries, while equipping teams with unified infrastructure, formation resources, and ongoing mission support.It’s a lofty mission that’s rooted in a lot of cool and innovative  tech—to say nothing of the unique value proposition that Glass Canvas delivers to the faith community. I’m excited to learn more about Simon, Glass Canvas, and the incredible tech behind empowering the Church to form resilient disciples in our modern age.Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

Today I am stoked to welcome to the show Chris Hobbs, President of TTT Studios. Through Chris’ leadership, TTT Studios has grown to become a powerhouse in the Vancouver tech community, creating digital experiences for customers that innovate and leave a lasting, positive impact on every user’s journey.What sets TTT Studios and Chris apart is their unwavering commitment to deeply understanding every client’s' unique challenges and business needs. From concept to code, TTT assembles an expert team around each project to build user-centric solutions that upgrade their clients’ business.As exciting as the work being done at TT Studios is, this is hardly Chris’s first go-round driving innovation in the tech space, as he’s been a Founder and Developer on some incredible projects over the past two decades. I’m thrilled to learn more about hwo got into the entrepreneurial space in the first place, his experiences building amazing solutions at TTT, and his sage wisdom for founders in Canada and beyond. Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

Today we welcome to the show Tim Sprinkle, Managing Director of Venture Capital Marketing, where Tim and his team have worked with almost 50 VC firms to help drive an average 20-30% increase in Assets Under Management (AUM) year-over-year. While this is impressive on its own, Tim has an expansive career in the tech and startup space, including more than 25 years as a writer and journalist, which has given him a unique and valuable perspective on what it takes to succeed in the world of tech and finance. He’s shared many of these learnings in his 2015 book Screw the Valley: A Coast to Coast Tour of America's New Tech Startup Landscape where he outlined just how decentralized the footprint for innovation has become in the United States (and frankly, across the globe!). I’m excited to pick his brain on how things are looking for startups and VCs in 2024, sage wisdom for navigating the current market challenges, and what’s in store for Tim and his team as the year rolls on!Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

Today we welcome to the show Hamoon Ekhtiari, Founder and CEO at FutureFit AI. At FutureFit AI, Hamoons’s team uses over 350 Million global talent profiles, live labor market data and projections, and proprietary algorithms to help workers navigate career transitions. Their team works with Fortune 500 companies, governments, and workforce development organizations to provide an AI-powered tool that acts as a GPS to guide workers on their next step, from reskilling to job placement. Ultimately, they’re using AI to support reskilling efforts and reimagine layoffs through outskilling–an awesome mission and one steeped in very cool tech. But FutureFit AI is just the latest chapter in Hamoon’s personal mission to help others unlock opportunity through innovation. His career journey has taken him from Founding Director of a leadership academy at one of the world's largest urban innovation hubs, to Director of Strategy and Innovation for a $30B telecom and technology company.He’s an active member of the Governor General's Canadian Leadership Conference, an AdR Fellow at The University of Cambridge, a recipient of University of Waterloo's Alumni Achievement Medal, and a Canada Millennium Scholar, to just name a few of the accolades. We pick his brains on his path through the startup and scale up world and driving innovation, and share his insights on how to succeed as a founder in today’s tech ecosystem. Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

We welcome to the show Deskree Founder and CEO Dmytro Grechko. At Deskree, their mission is to make software development accessible to everyone by breaking down traditional barriers and empowering people to turn their ideas into reality. This can be a gamechanger for any entrepreneurs who may have the vision to build an amazing product, but lack that backend expertise. Deskree’s proven 5-step process for building an effective and scalable cloud infrastructure offers visionaries a seamless route for bringing their ideas to life in minutes—not weeks, months or even years. The TL;DR? Their solution enables founders to focus on creating amazing products, letting Deskree do the heavy lifting when it comes to technical nitty gritty. It’s an ethos that we mirror in our mission here at Boast as we strive to help  founders drive innovation without burdening them or expanding their already heavy workload. I’m thrilled to pick Dmytro’s brain on some of the exciting projects he’s executing at Deskree today, the unique R&D that goes into creating no-code solutions, and what’s in store as Deskree grows.Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

We're thrilled to welcome VanHack CEO Ilya Brotzky on the show. At VanHack, Ilya and his team are on a mission to create a borderless world for tech talent by connecting the world’s top software engineering, design, and digital marketing talent with some of the leading innovating businesses in North America. With more than 450,000 members from over 100 countries, VanHack is the largest workforce that is ready to relocate in the world, truly walking the walk when it comes to “connecting cultures through code.”Along with helping companies grow through on-demand staffing, Ilya is also a force in both the Vancouver, BC and broader Canadian innovation ecosystem. I know I caught up with Ilya at my first Collision Conference in Toronto this past summer, but he’s been working with our team at Boast for years to help VanHack bring their game-changing solutions to reality. He’s on an incredible mission, and has the network behind him to make it work. I couldn’t be more excited to pick his brains about his journey through the startup space, what it takes to succeed in today’s market, and tips for any founders launching tech in 2024.Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.