Capital Ventures

Business owners, creators and innovators share stories and strategies of how they started and built their respective businesses in Ottawa to inspire prospective entrepreneurs to get their ideas off the ground and help the companies being interviewed to promote themselves.

Last refreshed: August 21st, 2025 at 3:18 AM ⓘ

Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.

Follow on

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

RSS

Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app

Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episodes

#11 How to get the Government to fund your Startup with SR&ED (SHRED) Credits with Naren Balakrishnan

Big three Takeaways: 1. Canada’s Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) or SHRED program can be a fantastic financial resource to help entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life. Naren’s team at Grant Thornton helps companies navigate the complex process of applying for SR&ED credits. 2. Tracking activity is important when it comes to SR&ED applications. The lesson here is to create systems that can scale. There’s a great quote in James Clear’s book Atomic Habits that ...

Nov 03, 2021•40 min•Season 1Ep. 11

#10 Starting tech companies without a technical background with Arctic Leaf founder Josh Garellek

Big three Takeaways: 1. Take action, when you notice a trend with business potential. Josh admits later in the interview that he has said yes to too many things in the past, but his default mode is to take action and he creates opportunities for himself with this mindset. 2. The other side of that coin; Be careful what you say yes to. Choose the topics you want to focus on and the people you want to work with carefully. Time is your most valuable resource. 3. Instead of jumping right into the mi...

Oct 20, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 10

#9 Standing out in the sea of sameness with Yellow Beauty founder Jaz Fenton

Big three Takeaways: 1. With the cost of failure as low as it is in ecommerce, launch well before you fully understand everything and trust that you’ll fill in the blanks as you build. 2. Be consistent , with your product and marketing. People should know what to expect when they do business with you. 3. To build a lifestyle brand, you have to find ways to consistently share your brand's values. Other Takeaways for entrepreneurs 06:18 – You can launch before you understand everything. 07:22 – Th...

Sep 08, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 9

#8 Using Basketball as a Vehicle to Build Life Skills with Right Way founder Mike Kenny

Big three Takeaways: 1. Using a mission to drive decision making, helps build a culture. For Right Way, the mission is more than just creating better basketball players. 2. When coaching or running a team, don’t micromanage. Let players figure things out on their own as much as possible. 3. On pricing: Price your service at a level to attract the clients you want. In a services business, particularly coaching, you want clients who are serious about results and will put the work in. Takeaways for...

Aug 26, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 8

#7 Tax planning is important, but it's the easy part of succession planning - with BLG tax partner Pamela Cross

Big three Takeaways: 1. For owners planning for an eventual transition of the business to the next generation, it’s important to establish what your ideal outcome is, as opposed to selecting particular assets to leave certain individuals. 2. When rules change, like 2016/2017 with the introduction of Tax on split income (TOSI) rules, having a team of professionals becomes even more valuable because they can help you make necessary changes to adapt. 3. When it comes to structuring a business for t...

Aug 12, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 7

#6 Process over Profit, People over Process with Roxborough Bus Lines' Nick McRae

Big three Takeaways: 1 a) Large scale changes in an industry force companies to evolve. This will often lead to failures when transitioning to new way of doing things. Having a growth mindset using failures as a learning experience separates companies that become stronger when industries shift from those who are left behind. You don’t want to be a dinosaur when a meteor is about to hit. 1b) Change takes a lot of energy. Transitioning younger employees to leadership keeps energy high and ideas fl...

Jul 29, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 6

#5 How to acquire successful businesses with Sunbelt Broker's Gregory Kells

Big three Takeaways: 1. Prospective buyers need to understand seller discretionary earnings and the advantages of seller financing. 2. For sellers, the key to increase value is to take yourself out of the day to day. 3. Why buyers should picture a “day in the life” as an owner before buying Other Takeaways for entrepreneurs 2:00 – When Greg explains what the #1 reason for selling was when he first started and why that has changed looking at the #1 reason now. 3:01 – Business owners by age catego...

Jul 15, 2021•53 min

#4 Building a business & a community during challenging times with SweatFitCo founder Conor Oakley

Big Takeaways: If you don’t give yourself any choice, you’ll be more resourceful in figuring things out. Other Takeaways for entrepreneurs: 2:18 - Conor’s ‘fight or flight’ approach to starting his business. 6:43 – Now that people have become comfortable with doing a guided workout over Zoom, attendance has picked up. 8:37 – The importance of physical fitness for mental well being. 9:22 – How to hustle when you have no connections or experience. 11:13 – If you’re going to sell yourself, you have...

Jun 30, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 4

#3 The Next Evolution of Game Film with GameStrat founder and CEO Tunch Akkaya

Big Takeaways: · Don’t be afraid to launch early and fix your product on the fly · Focus on building a business that you want to run before you can even consider selling. Other Takeaways for entrepreneurs: · 4:22 – The best way to prove your product or idea is to use it to gain an advantage over your competition/prospective customer! · 5:55 - Imitate then innovate to create a Blue Ocean. · 7:30 - Customer service mindset: even if the issue is caused by a customer not knowing how to use your prod...

Jun 15, 2021•38 min

#2 Scaling a SaaS business in a massive industry with Elizabeth Audette-Bourdeau

Three Big Takeaways: Create a business that solves a problem. When trying to build a talented team, focus on the vision/mission. Take bigger risks when you have less to lose. Even if you fail, you’ll learn a lot by trying to figure things out. Other Takeaways for entrepreneurs: 2:20 A great example of starting a business to solve a problem. 6:10 How Welbi aggregates data into information to create a community within a community. 10:58 Elizabeth explains how much time Welbi saves on administrativ...

Jun 01, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 2

#1 Joel & Justyna - The business of creating lasting memories

It is becoming increasingly rare to have a 'wow' experience as a customer. One of the last ones I can remember was our wedding photographers. When we got the photos of our engagement shoot back, I knew they were special, but that feeling continued when I noticed their professionalism and talent level at our wedding. It was great to hear how they built their business and found developed their unique style. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Joel and Justyna Bedford. Lessons for Entrepreneurs :...

May 01, 2021•54 min•Ep. 1

Trailer: Capital Ventures with Steve Hughes

On Capital Ventures, I talk to entrepreneurs from Ottawa and hear the stories of how they built their businesses. For every Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, there are thousands of wonderful founders and businesses right in your city. This show is all about these founders. If you own a business are want to start one, you’ll find motivation, tactics & strategies and lessons in these stories. If you’re an investor, you might find an emerging opportunity before it takes off and If you...

Mar 13, 2021•1 min

Hosted on Buzzsprout

For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android