Gilson is a tech operator with extensive experience as a founder and executive. He is also a startup advisor, mentor and angel investor. With a 20-year career in technology companies, Gilson built and led teams in multiple functional areas. He has been a COO, CMO, CPO, Business Unit Leader, and a co-Founder, leading teams of hundreds of people in 7 countries. Born and raised in Brazil, he has lived in the US twice, and migrated to Canada in 2018.
Apr 17, 2024•47 min
Join us as we dive into Roya’s mission to empower millennials and Gen Z’s to make better financial choices. Roya for many years was deeply engaged in sports, having to set aside her athletic dreams to focus on academic achievements, leading her to study computer engineering. This decision paved the way for her eventual move from Iran to Canada with plans for a master's degree, which shifted towards a thriving career in computer and software engineering due to financial constraints. Her journey t...
Apr 03, 2024•44 min
Jay is a globally successful entrepreneur and the CEO of the Accelerator Centre. He brings 20+ years of executive leadership across venture capital, entrepreneurship, and product development. Having founded and guided three startups to acquisition, he has extensive firsthand experience in the startup lifecycle. Before entrepreneurship, he held key roles in product management and engineering at Cisco, Juniper, and Cantata-Dialogic/Intel.
Mar 20, 2024•56 min
Kasia is an avid explorer of ideas & cultures. As a professional executive coach, author and founder of Mindquest Global Leadership Development, Kasia works with founders who are ready to scale globally, as well as busy leaders at global companies, including Amazon, Cisco, LinkedIn, Salesforce, Samsung, HSBC and Visa. She loves equipping leaders with modern leadership skills so they can expand their impact, escape the time trap & get their life back, without giving up on leadership....
Mar 06, 2024•36 min
Urooj Qureshi is the Founder and CEO at Design Centered Co. a leading design and digital transformation agency shaping the narrative around design and technology in Canada. He also leads the product division at the firm responsible for the creation and operation of Impactor App, an innovative solution that is enabling organizations to accelerate, inclusive decision-making and amplify project success.
Feb 21, 2024•45 min
Julie Smolyansky, is a soviet immigrant that became the youngest female CEO of a publicly held firm when she took over Lifeway Foods at the age of 27 in 2002. Since then, Julie has continued the company’s growth trajectory with creative product development and marketing to bring kefir, the company’s flagship product, into the U.S. mainstream. Under Julie’s leadership, Lifeway’s annual revenues have grown from $12 million to more than $140 million in 2022, and distribution has expanded beyond the...
Feb 07, 2024•39 min
Nardin is a co-founder and CTO at Simmunome, where she combines her knowledge in engineering, machine learning, and neuroscience. After gaining experience as a regional electrical engineer at Proctor and Gamble, Nardin's passion for research drew her back to academia. This led her to pursue a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at McGill University, where she utilized machine learning and diverse modeling techniques to investigate the brain's information processing and learning capabilities. As CTO of Simmuno...
Jan 24, 2024•26 min
Born and raised in Iran, Pouya migrated to Canada and got into sales at a young age, he has worked across 07 industries, outsourced sales for multi-billion dollar companies and celebrity entrepreneurs. After that experience, he ventured into business for himself. Pouya does a lot of training and consulting work, helping business owners sell more and scale.
Jan 10, 2024•28 min
Dinesh is a Relationship Builder and a Change Agent. As a Human Resources Leader, with more than 25 years of global corporate experience, Dinesh has worked both in North America and India. One of Dinesh’s benchmarks of success is his community work. He believes in lifelong learning and sharing his knowledge with other professionals in the industry. He has helped a number of skilled immigrants settle down in the country. The work Dinesh does in the community has earned him the recognition of an e...
Dec 13, 2023•39 min
Christine is the founder of Kaima Designs, an African-inspired trendsetting clothing brand whose Corporate Social Responsibility prioritizes poverty reduction through girl-child education and women empowerment initiatives in West Africa. She co-founded United Colours of Fashion, a non-profit whose mission revolves around harnessing the talents of newcomers and persons of BIPOC heritage in the fashion industry by creating training opportunities that enable them to become active players towards th...
Nov 29, 2023•32 min
Amadeu Ferreira, CEO & Founder of Vambora, is a FinTech innovator championing financial inclusion who moved from Brazil to Canada with his wife in 2016. With a unique background in legal, financial analysis, and product development, he's transforming the financial landscape for those underserved by traditional systems. As an immigrant, he’s passionate about helping newcomers to succeed in their new homes.
Nov 15, 2023•31 min
Ataman is the co-founder of Maple excellence. An innovative CO2-Energy auditor company that leverages technology for scalable, affordable, efficient, and effective auditing of carbon and energy. Ataman has over 12 years of experience in the field of industrial engineering and also has the lead auditor certificates from IRCA for multiple ISO certifications. He is also developing his own knowledge in the Decarbonizing field. Ataman believes that a better life depends on having a better environment...
Nov 01, 2023•32 min
Anferny is a serial entrepreneur with experience in FinTech, EdTech, and consulting work in data analytics. He is currently leading the business and data science team at Dataraction. He and his talented team is working on the implementation of hyperledger fabric (in other words, blockchain), building customized analytics dashboards, and developing an "AI Coach" recommendation system. The team at Dataraction is specializing in advanced AI/ML tools from IBM, GCP, and AWS. Anferny is a recognized D...
Oct 25, 2023•32 min
Today we have with us Juliana Montoya and Fernando Vega, who are two young people that are passionate about entrepreneurship. Their company is called Colamakers, and it focuses on teaching robotics and programming to children aged 6 to 12 years old. They strive to bridge the gap in STEM education, specifically in coding, in response to the rapidly evolving technology that challenges traditional teaching methodologies. Their vision is a future in which all children, regardless of their background...
Oct 18, 2023•29 min
Nishant has studied law and arts at the Institute of Law, Kurukshetra University in India. He has also completed a Master's degree in law from the same institution, focusing on international business, trade, and tax laws. Additionally, he has a diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) from a Deemed University in India. Nishant has obtained certifications in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) from WIPO Geneva and the Internet of Things (IoT) from Stanford University. With fifteen years of ...
Oct 11, 2023•28 min
Ambitious, result-drive and creative professional with 5+ years of comprehensive experience developing marketing strategies, sales funnels, and lead generation to provide a rapid increase in sales and online traffic. Superb client management abilities and time management skills with strong experience in contract negotiation, B2B sales and establishing partnerships. Recognized for deploying and managing eCommerce solutions that generated a 30% increase in online sales, reduced administrative cost...
Oct 04, 2023•40 min
Lloyed Lobo, an entrepreneur, podcast host and community builder, experienced the Gulf War as a young refugee in Kuwait, witnessing the strength of community in evacuating the population to safety. As the co-founder of fintech platform Boast.Al, he leveraged the Community-Led Growth model to bootstrap the company to $10 million in annual recurring revenue while also co-founding Traction, a community empowering more than 100k innovators through connections, content, and capital. Lloyed is also th...
Sep 27, 2023•58 min
Abhinav is a soldier in the Canadian Armed Forces and social entrepreneur who has carved out a reputation for challenging the status quo. He strives to build on the wealth of international experience and cultural learnings that he has accumulated from travel to over 50 countries. As an avid photographer, he is used to seeing things in different perspectives from most people with a very keen eye for detail. With AP Performance Consulting, his latest venture, he is determined to make meaningful co...
Sep 20, 2023•46 min
Doina Oncel is a changemaker, founder, innovator, social entrepreneur, and a licensed financial broker, building communities and helping families with access to financial literacy. She was named the 2021 WXN Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award Winner. Additionally, Doina has been nominated for the 2021 Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards and the 2020 WomenTech’s Global Awards in The Women & Diversity in Tech Ally of the Year. Furthermore, Doina was nominated for the 2018 Premier’s Award...
Sep 13, 2023•42 min
Siamak is the founder and CEO of Riahi Patents, Inc. He has over 18 years of experience in research, development, and intellectual property. After spending about a decade in academia, he needed more challenges and decided to use his technical expertise in the Intellectual property world. He started working for an IP search firm in the U.S. and started his own patent research business after a few years. After moving to Canada in 2018, he started working with startups, SMEs, and investors on IP st...
Sep 06, 2023•40 min
Today our guest is Vitaly. He is currently leading operations, marketing, product teams at StackAdapt, a venture-backed technology company (currently 900+ people strong). Vitaly Pecherskiy is a passionate entrepreneur with two core values: BIG MISSION and DOING GOOD. learn more about him here: https://vitalypecherskiy.com/archives/2021/8/14/all-business-ideas-that-ive-had-part-1...
Aug 30, 2023•29 min
Sandra Veledar is a seasoned business transformation architect and technology leader with 20+ years of experience who is deeply motivated making a positive impact on people’s lives. Sandra built her career delivering business impact with technology-enabled solutions and people-first approaches. Sandra has worked on large scale business transformations in the Ottawa PwC Advisory Services, followed by an IT executive role at a fresh food retailer where she supported the organization through aggres...
Aug 23, 2023•37 min
For as long as he can remember, James has been fascinated by human development and been on a quest to answer two key questions: “What makes for a successful life?” and “What makes people change?” He thought he had all the answers as he spent two decades of his life traveling the world and rapidly gained “success” and recognition across various business, creative and spiritual spaces. Little did he know that he was slowly breaking apart inside and losing himself to unhealthy coping mechanisms an...
Aug 16, 2023•53 min
Born in Tehran, 1994, Arshia is an entrepreneur with a deep interest in establishing companies that prioritize team members' freedom over adhering to rigid 9-5 jobs. He has already founded successful ventures like Gardeniya, 9876 Studio, and Lil in Iran and Canada. Currently, he is passionately working on his latest startup, Solenery in Toronto, which operates in the renewable energy industry. With an unwavering commitment to sustainability, Arshia aspires to make a positive impact on the planet...
Aug 09, 2023•34 min
Mandip is a serial tech entrepreneur from India, that has made a name for himself in the startup world. With two successful startups under his belt, he is now focused on his latest venture - an AI-ML powered English language platform called IELTS Analyst. Mandip's entrepreneurial journey began with his first startup, I Can Infotech. The company provided IT solutions to businesses and helped them streamline their operations. After a successful exit, Mandip moved on to his next venture, Vite HR. T...
Aug 02, 2023•35 min
Paola wears many hats but there has been one consistent theme throughout her career, to unlock value by creating strategic partnerships and interpersonal networks. In her role as the founder of Mandala Group, BankingBook Analytics and In Vino Frances Veritas she helped her clients scale up and occupy white spaces, enter niche markets and develop synergies. Some of her volunteer positions include: Executive Director and Past President of Brazil Canada Chamber of Commerce, President of Grupo Brazi...
Jul 26, 2023•32 min
With a degree in Business Administration and a passion for innovation, his career has traversed the realms of software development, network infrastructure, and the transformative power of converting software into tailored services. Presently, as the CTO of Neojets, Emerson is at the helm of an innovative SaaS platform designed to revolutionize the operations of Jet Operators. Through his expertise and visionary approach, he drives technological advancements, optimizing the aviation industry and ...
Jul 19, 2023•39 min
Yuri's background in investments dates back to when he graduated from school and got a job at a bank. Since then, Yuri's path has been anything but straightforward, having held senior roles in Government (economic development and clean tech), helped to launch an incubator (Centre for Urban Energy), run startups (Avante Smartboxx) and leading a non-profit (NACO) to support tech investors. In 2018, Yuri made his first foray into VC when he left NACO to help launch Panache Ventures, but by 2020 Yur...
Jul 12, 2023•50 min
Just 11 years ago, Garima was an immigrant woman of color in a country with no connections. In the last 6 years, through grit and dedication, she has worked towards building a company that does well for all associated with it. Even as a small, fully remote firm, Artha provides full health benefits, competitive wages and a flexible work schedule to all its employees. They believe in the power of education to transform – and as such, Artha sponsors full operational costs of ten primary schools in ...
Jul 05, 2023•35 min
Originally from Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. Rodrigo came to Canada in 2015 as a MBA student and few years later started his own business in the immigration sector. He is the CEO and Co-founder of Lakehouse Immigration Consulting, where he helps entrepreneurs with innovative business to take it to the next level by immigrating to Canada via the Startup Visa program.
Jun 28, 2023•34 min
