When companies go public, and even before, they need to have a solid understanding of the capital markets. However, in Canada, there is a critical shortage of these skills in publicly-traded companies, which play a determining role in success. As a capital markets professional, Andrew Osis, co-CEO of Magnetic North Acquisitions Corp, has connected his corporate finance career to company building. From analyst roles to investment banking positions, Andrew has evaluated countless deals, managed ca...
Jun 08, 2020•54 min•Ep. 51
We're celebrating episode 50! It was suggested to do an episode where someone interviews me so I reached out to my good friend Mark Raffan, host of a #1 rated podcast, "The Negotiation Ninja". In this episode, we reflect on 50 episodes, lessons from our guests and talk about what lights me up with the how-to properly finance deals and engage investors. Check out some of our most popular episodes: Chicken S#!it CEOs w. Mogens Smed: https://bit.ly/3M7c4xC Leadership Lessons from Louis Vuitton, Sam...
Jun 05, 2020•27 min•Ep. 50
ESG is becoming a strategic advantage. Ebel Kemeling is the Managing Director of ESG and Responsible Investing at MJ Hudson. Ebel advises fund managers and companies on how to establish, execute and measure long-term Environmental, Social and Governance programs - or ESG. The amount of capital now seeking sustainable growth through sustainable investments is staggering and that means ESG has grown beyond just being a thematic niche for some private equity managers. As we discuss, having an ESG p...
May 29, 2020•41 min•Ep. 49
What are the benefits of going public? And most importantly, what are the risks versus the rewards of making such a decision? Richard Carleton is the CEO of the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE), which plays a material role in supporting early-stage companies and their access to the capital they need for executing their business plans. Richard and the CSE are making a point of living their slogan of being ‘the exchange for entrepreneurs’. Richard tells us that one of the CSE’s goals is to lower...
May 21, 2020•37 min•Ep. 48
Oren Klaff is the best-selling author of Pitch Anything and Flip the Script, and a successful entrepreneur and financier. Oren has raised hundreds of millions for companies and has strong opinions on how to do it correctly. Oren's approach to capital raising will make you throw out everything you thought you knew about selling you and your business. He sheds light on why your sales, marketing, or even relationship-building skills aren't your strongest tools. In fact, they may even hinder your ab...
May 12, 2020•38 min•Ep. 47
Mogens Smed has been referred to as “the most fireable CEO”. In fact, he is an outstanding success that caries this as a badge of honor. He has achieved great success, building himself, his teams, and his companies up from a very painful bankruptcy almost 40 years ago. He has built two multi-hundred-million dollar public companies and he is on the way with a third – Falk Built . In this interview, you are going to hear from an entrepreneur and leader that has paid a heavy price for staying true ...
May 06, 2020•36 min•Ep. 46
Jason VandeBoom has bucked the Silicon Valley trend of raising money wildly and living to "fail fast". Jason is the founder and CEO of ActiveCampaign. He recently raised a $100,000,000 Series B financing for his company, but unlike so many software entrepreneurs, he has been building his same business for over 15 years. In this episode, Jason shares with us why he chose a measured approach to grow ActiveCampaign. For him, valuation figures do not correlate with validation. Instead, the customer ...
May 02, 2020•40 min•Ep. 45
Dan Eberhard is the CEO of KOHO, a fintech company that focuses on democratizing the best financial products for Canadians, This is his third successful startup. His first was a decentralized wind energy company that he sold after reaching $70 million in assets! Check out some of our most popular episodes: Chicken S#!it CEOs w. Mogens Smed: https://bit.ly/3M7c4xC Leadership Lessons from Louis Vuitton, Samsonite, and Now, EVCP Growth Equity: https://bit.ly/3LN5Gug Canada’s Best Venture Partner w....
Apr 24, 2020•34 min•Ep. 44
Bruce Croxon is a serial entrepreneur turned venture capitalist, whose passion lies in supporting Canadian entrepreneurs. As the Managing Partner of Round 13 Capital, he manages over $325 million spread over three funds. In this episode, Bruce sheds light on these funds and the different strategies the company employs. He talks about the difference between the venture and growth funds along with the varying levels of support Round 13 provides to companies at various stages. We also take a look a...
Apr 18, 2020•43 min•Ep. 43
Content marketing and capital raising in real estate are rarely discussed in detail. So, today we speak with Ellie Perlman about the ins and outs of financing real estate investment ideas. Her approach is that her success for herself and her investors is partly due to her taking the conservative route. She compares the current economic crisis with the recession of 2008, helps listeners to recognize the opportunities in the market, and provides guidelines around reasonable fees to charge as a spo...
Apr 08, 2020•43 min•Ep. 42
At the best of times, investment banking is a high stakes game; add in a global health crisis and you have a really stressful situation! To bring some calm to the storm is returning guest Howard Katz, a Managing Director at Mackie Research Capital. He offers some much-needed perspective on staying steady and avoiding panic in these times. Howard was on the show just four weeks ago, which now feels like a completely different time! His advice from the frontlines is really helpful and he assists i...
Apr 04, 2020•33 min•Ep. 41
In less than a month, global indices have fallen over 30%, widespread quarantines have been mandated, and we are all wondering what the new normal is going to be. Iliya is the CEO and co-founder of DBD Partners, a lower to mid-market investment bank that provides M&A services, capital formation, debt restructuring, and co-investing. He and his team focus on deals that are between $20 to $80 million dollars in revenue, both on the buy and sell-side of the transaction. History shows huge growt...
Mar 26, 2020•45 min•Ep. 40
Kyle Dunn, CEO of Meyler Capital, sheds light on the importance of building a brand when raising capital and the requirement to take 'marketing risk' in doing so. Kyle and his team help fund managers raise capital for their investment funds. He makes the point that great marketing is about building loyalty and brand integrity, which means that raising capital should not start with asking investors for money. Kyle also highlights that raising capital requires differentiation. It is far less about...
Mar 19, 2020•57 min•Ep. 39
Howard Katz is a rare breed. Not only is he a career investment banker, but he was also the CEO of a gold exploration company that he successfully sold. Having seen both sides, he has unique insights into raising capital and growing companies. In this episode, Howard sheds light on the importance of capital and why companies must work with an investment firm that helps them access the right kind of capital. Not all capital and investors are created equal, so it's vital to ensure aligning values ...
Mar 12, 2020•47 min•Ep. 38
Michelle Scarborough joins us from BDC Venture Capital to talk about her work as a VC and to share some wisdom for all those startups looking for better funding practices! Michelle Scarborough is the managing director of the Strategic Investments Fund and the Women in Technology Fund at BDC and manages over 200 million dollars in capital. She delves into the human side of venture investments and how these play out during pitching and ongoing relationships. We discuss her perceptions of the role ...
Mar 04, 2020•58 min•Ep. 37
Investor relations is changing - In Canada alone there are over 500 press releases a day from public companies. So how do you stand out? Taylor Thoen is the founder and CEO of Business Television (BTV) where she has been at the forefront of reaching investors with the most powerful form of media - being video. We asked Taylor to be on the show to get her perspectives on marketing public companies and engaging investors. She’s been doing this for over 20 years, so she not only knows the media ind...
Feb 27, 2020•42 min•Ep. 36
In today’s markets, all public companies are facing a similar problem. That problem is how public companies find and engage the roster of service providers needed to properly manage public investor relations programs. Joining us today is Neil Lock, the founder of a new company that is tapping into exactly that problem. Neil and his team are working towards creating an online destination that brings together all of these service providers to one spot, enabling executives and IR professionals to i...
Feb 19, 2020•24 min•Ep. 35
Anthony Milewski, whose ties to Russia and his role as the former CEO of Cobalt 27 are part of a fascinating career. Success can bread envy and false narratives, especially in today's media. So, naturally, we needed to interview him. Anthony takes us from his early days growing up in a small town in eastern Washington to the beginnings of his legal and finance career in Russia. It was there that he gained exposure to international mining and energy deals. He's since led some remarkable deals and...
Feb 12, 2020•52 min•Ep. 34
Real estate investing offers cash flow, but at what risk? Praveen Varshney joins us for a second time to speak about his passion for this asset class. Praveen started his career focusing on public venture capital deals, particularly in the resource and tech space, but for the last fourteen years, he has diversified into various real estate properties and projects. In this discussion, Praveen gets into why he loves real estate, the different asset classes he has experience in, and how he structur...
Feb 05, 2020•44 min•Ep. 33
Brad Feld is a legend in the venture capital world. He is a co-founder of the Foundry Group and co-author of the seminal guide to venture capital, Venture Deals. Brad speaks with us about the book and weaves in examples and experiences from his career in venture capital. We also go further to discuss his more personal relationship with art, meditation, and his journey with anxiety and depression. Venture Deals, in its fourth edition, is a must-read if you are raising venture capital. Check out s...
Jan 29, 2020•43 min•Ep. 32
Times have changed... Now, especially for public companies, content publishing, and thought leadership is a requirement to be seen and heard. Our guest today, Chris Smith, is a founding partner of Investing News Network (INN), an investor media company that publishes educational content about public companies and the industries they compete in. Readers come to INN to gain insights and educate themselves on a range of industries while also having an opportunity to connect with public companies an...
Jan 23, 2020•36 min•Ep. 31
What if you built and sold a multibillion-dollar company, only to get a cheque for several million dollars, or worse, only a few hundred thousand? Believe it or not, this could happen. It can be the result of not navigating their company through the stages of financing properly. Kevin Vela, founding partner of Vela Wood, joins us to discuss the ins and outs of working with your lawyer and properly financing your company. Vela Law is a boutique corporate law firm that focuses on M&A, private ...
Jan 15, 2020•46 min•Ep. 30
Codie Sanchez is a Partner and Managing Director of Entourage Effect Capital, which is one of the largest growth equity funds in the cannabis space. Codie has a fascinating background, starting her career as a journalist focusing on human and drug trafficking. From there, she moved into the financial space, working at Vanguard, State Street, and Goldman Sachs before moving more directly into the venture capital game. After a personal investment in cannabis companies, she followed this by joining...
Jan 08, 2020•45 min•Ep. 29
In this episode, we talk about going public! Delilah Panio, Vice President at the TMX Group joins us to discuss what it means and what it takes to go public. Delilah focuses on educating high potential ventures on the benefits of using the TSX and/or the TSX Venture as an opportunity to raise capital list on a reputable market and potentially uplist to larger markets. We both agree that most companies aren’t meant to go public. But for those who are, the Canadian Public Venture Capital model is ...
Dec 13, 2019•58 min•Ep. 28
Richard Wilson is the CEO of Family Office Club, PitchDecks.com and Centimillionaire Advisors. He speaks with us about the black box of family office money and how companies can tap into this enormous pool of investor wealth. We also discuss of all things, social media. One of the things that amazed me in this interview is how Richard has used informal, ‘real’ social media posts and blogs to attract multi-billion dollar clients to his business… That’s right… Richard shares with us how social med...
Nov 13, 2019•32 min•Ep. 27
Edge Investments is focused on millennial investors. They do investor marketing, helping companies build awareness and generate investor leads. Nick Findler speaks with us about the often misunderstood and untapped wealth of millennials. There is an enormous amount of money held by this demographic. You just have to reach them through different communication channels. For investor marketing, there are more and more digital strategies being pitched to pubco executives. Nick explains how he thinks...
Nov 07, 2019•50 min•Ep. 26
Digital marketing to investors isn’t much different than marketing products or services to customers. In this episode, we discuss the power of digital marketing in investor engagement and investor relations. From first impressions to ongoing engagement, Jason dives into tips, tricks, and tactics of how to land a great online impression with investors. As well, we get into a discussion of retail investors and the liquidity they can bring. As quoted from the NASDAQ - “liquidity is king” - and a st...
Oct 30, 2019•55 min•Ep. 25
In life, you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate. So, in this episode, we talk about negotiation. We are joined by Mark Raffan, who is a professional negotiator, coach, and host of the Negotiations Ninja podcast. There is no doubt that negotiation plays a crucial role in financing a company. So, we talk about some of the tactics and styles that you can put to use. We also talk about some misconceptions, his favorite episodes and it surely wouldn’t be complete without a discuss...
Sep 24, 2019•44 min•Ep. 24
Charles Plant is a former founder, VC, banker and now a PhD candidate in economics. A key focus for him is the Narwhal Project - or the study of world-class Canadian Unicorns (aka Narwhals) as defined by a billion-dollar plus valuation. The question of what it takes to build a billion-dollar organization has led Charles to research and publish numerous studies on his findings. What we get in this episode is a glimpse into the algorithms of growth… in other words, the capital it takes and the are...
Sep 13, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 23
Danny Brody is the CEO of TGOD Acquisitions Corp., a partner in RADD Capital and CCO of HempFusion. He and his partners have been the financial force behind some of the cannabis industry's most notable names. They’ve raised over half a billion dollars for Organigram, Emblem, Plus Products, The Green Organic Dutchman and now Hempfusion. Danny speaks with us about his unconventional path to engaging investors for these companies. He lays out how they lead a “Retail Investor First” strategy and how...
Sep 04, 2019•48 min•Ep. 22
