Point of No Return podcast

In this episode of the Flagship Podcast, we sit down with Tyler Reid, co-founder and CEO of Zona Space, to explore the future of satellite navigation and why GPS as we know it is no longer enough. Tyler shares his journey from space-obsessed kid to Stanford researcher to venture-backed space founder, and explains how Zona is building a next-generation positioning system designed for centimeter-level accuracy, stronger signals, and built-in security. We unpack how modern infrastructure depends on timing and location, why GPS is vulnerable to jamming and spoofing, and what new satellite constellations unlock for autonomous systems, defense, data centers, and everyday devices. We also go deep on building a hard-tech startup: raising capital for space infrastructure, launching satellites, assembling the right team, and navigating the long road from research to orbit. If you're interested in space tech, deep tech startups, autonomous systems, or the new space economy, this episode is for you. Topics covered: Why GPS needs an upgrade How next-gen satellite navigation works Centimeter-level positioning and resilient timing Space infrastructure and low-Earth orbit constellations From PhD research to space startup Lessons from building a hardware + space company The coming wave of space innovation and lunar missions

What does it really take to build a unicorn-scale company from Canada? At North Star, the Unicorn Panel brings together founders behind global tech leaders to talk candidly about ambition, scaling, capital, leadership, near-death moments, and the realities behind the highlight reel. Moderated by Sophie Boulanger, this conversation goes beyond success stories and digs into the hard decisions: when not to sell, how to think about control and cap tables, scaling teams, surviving crises, and building companies with long-term impact. You'll hear firsthand lessons from founders who have built and scaled category-defining businesses across gaming, mobility, and healthcare technology Topics covered include: Early exit offers vs long-term ambition Scaling from startup to global platform Fundraising strategy and cap table discipline Hiring executives and leadership evolution Crisis moments and near failures Building and keeping tech champions in Canada AI, moats, and the future of company building Recorded live at North Star — Inspiring Entrepreneurs in Montréal.

Two of Montreal's most iconic tech founders — Dax Dasilva (Lightspeed) and Fred Lalonde (Hopper & Deep Sky) — sit down for a rare and candid fireside conversation on building global companies from Canada, surviving the founder rollercoaster, and using technology and capitalism to tackle world-scale problems. From bootstrapping and product-market fit, to IPOs, hypergrowth, culture, leadership, and climate action — this keynote goes deep into what it really takes to build enduring companies. This is not a highlight reel. It's an unfiltered operator conversation. In this keynote, they discuss: Bootstrapping vs venture capital journeys The hardest leadership transitions founders face How company culture is actually built (not what's written on the wall) Product-market fit stories from Lightspeed and Hopper Scaling teams from 10 → 1,000+ people Founder psychology, resilience, and decision-making under pressure Why trust is the ultimate currency with teams and boards Capitalism as a lever for large-scale positive change Climate, carbon removal, and building Deep Sk Conservation, Age of Union, and purpose beyond exits Speakers: Dax Dasilva — Founder & CEO, Lightspeed Fred Lalonde — Co-founder, Hopper; Founder, Deep Sky Recorded live in front of founders and students at North Star in Montreal. If you're a founder, operator, investor, or student thinking about building — this conversation is a masterclass in real-world company building.

At North Star, we brought together top founders and emerging entrepreneurs for a candid panel on what it really takes to build in today's tech ecosystem — from first traction to scale, hard lessons, and unfair advantages. In this session, the panel shares practical insights on: How to get your first real customers Mistakes founders make early (and how to avoid them) Fundraising vs. bootstrapping decisions Building momentum with limited resources What great investors actually look for Tactical growth and execution tips If you're a founder, operator, investor, or student exploring startups, this conversation is packed with field-tested perspective and actionable advice. About North Star North Star is a founder-first gathering that brings together startup builders, investors, and students to share real stories, practical lessons, and ecosystem insights.

This is the North Star Pre-Show — recorded live as a Tech Poutine podcast session — where founders, investors, and ecosystem builders warm up the room before the main event with unscripted startup talk, real operator stories, and behind-the-scenes insights. This pre-show segment sets the stage for an exciting day filled with inspiration and insight from a dynamic lineup of entrepreneurs. Reflecting on last year's success, the hosts discuss the unique value of gathering experienced founders and ambitious young entrepreneurs, all while growing the event to new heights. Hear about keynote speakers Dax and Fred, as well as engaging panels with industry leaders like Adrian and LP. This episode captures the essence of Montreal's tech scene and the vibrant community driving it forward. About North Star North Star brings together hundreds of founders, students, and investors for high-signal conversations and practical startup insight. About Tech Poutine Tech Poutine is a live startup podcast focused on founders, venture, and the Canadian tech ecosystem.

We closed out the year with a special live recording of the Flagship Podcast in collaboration with AI Salon at Mila, a packed evening featuring a Montréal VC panel, an AI founder roundtable, and a fireside keynote with Sam Ramadori (BrainBox AI, now co-president of Law Zero). Across all three segments, one theme dominated: AI is moving faster than any tech cycle before it, and Canada has a once-in-a-generation chance to lead. VC Panel,  Navigating the AI Wave Investors from Inovia, White Star, and Amiral Ventures explored the chaos and opportunity of today's market. The AI cycle is "psychotic" in speed and scope, but the fundamentals still matter: strong teams, sticky products, real customer value. The best startups will use AI as an enabler, not the product, and differentiate through privileged data, deep domain expertise, and the ability to deliver ROI, not hype. Founder Panel,  Building Real AI Companies in Montréal Budpress, Maxa, and Wrk shared candid takes from the front lines: why traditional SaaS is being rewritten, how open-source models and reasoning engines are changing the game, and why Montréal remains one of the best bases in the world for AI talent and cost-efficient scaling. The founders stressed that Canada must shed its "small market" mindset, big outcomes are possible here. Keynote with Sam Ramadori,  AI, Climate, and Responsibility Sam recounted his unlikely journey from private equity to leading BrainBox AI through an acquisition, and why he's now dedicating himself to Law Zero, a nonprofit effort led by Yoshua Bengio to build safer, more reliable AI systems. His message was clear: Canada has extraordinary AI talent, but must rally around sovereignty, responsible innovation, and deeper collaboration to avoid being squeezed between global superpowers. The night ended with a message to the community: this is our moment. We have world-class research, world-class founders, and a fast-maturing ecosystem. If we choose ambition, and support one another, Montréal can be one of the defining AI hubs of this decade.  

In this insightful episode, we turn the tables on Josh Scott from BetaKit, delving into his journey in journalism and passion for Canadian tech. Josh shares his early writing experiences, challenges in the industry, and the invigorating process of reporting on tech startups. We dive into engaging discussions on the evolution of journalism, the state of Canadian tech, the intricacies of venture capital, and the policy landscape shaping the tech industry. With candid reflections on past stories and predictions for future trends, Josh offers a compelling look at the importance of transparent reporting and the dynamic world of Canadian tech.

Étienne shared his journey from founding his own startup to becoming a VC. He talked about what pushed him to start a fund after exiting his company and the unexpected path that led him there. He reflected on his transition from founder life to joining a larger company, Hootsuite, and how that experience shaped his perspective as an investor. Étienne opened up about the lessons he learned along the way, the value of resilience, trust, and playing the long game in both building and backing startups. He also spoke about his partnership with Luis & Varun at Telegraph Hill Capital and their shared mission to support founders in Quebec. Real talk, honest stories, and practical takeaways, this one's for anyone thinking about their next chapter, whether it's starting up or stepping into VC.  

In this episode, I spoke with Edouard Reinach, CEO & co-founder of Trampoline AI. We explore their journey, focused on revolutionizing the RFP response process using AI. The discussion covers the genesis of the company, challenges faced in the initial stages, and the pivotal switch to focusing on RFPs. Edouard provides insights into how their platform streamlines complex RFP responses, making the process faster and more efficient, particularly for remote and distributed teams. He highlighted the technology's benefits, like saving significant time and enhancing the quality of responses. The conversation also delves into the broader implications of AI in enterprise settings, the cultural aspects of building an AI-native organization, and the future trajectory of Trampoline.

In this episode, I sat down with Etienne Gauthier, Associate @ Inovia Capital. We discussed our shared passion for cycling  and its connection to his career in venture capital. We discuss his career path, touching on Etienne's background in management consulting, transition into VC, and current role at a prominent firm. We explored investment trends, particularly in AI and cybersecurity, and shared insights into their firm's differentiators and investment strategies. The conversation wraps up with advice for aspiring VCs on the importance of networking, building a personal brand, and developing essential skills like context switching.  

On this week's episode, I spoke with George Korkejian, co-founder and COO @ Rozvelt. We  discussed his journey from working at Next AI to launching his own startup. We dove into George's experience in the Montreal entrepreneurial ecosystem, his pivot from supporting other founders to becoming a founder himself, and the motivations behind building Rozvelt, a revolutionary product aimed at filtering human breath for hunters and wildlife observers.    The conversation covers the importance of aligning founder priorities, the unique challenges of creating hardware, and the innovative techniques used in field testing. George also shared insights into how Rozvelt has quickly gained traction and their ambitious plans for the future.  

In this episode, Chris, co-founder of Bio Box, delves into the innovative solutions his company offers to the biopharma sector. Bio Box provides a knowledge and reasoning infrastructure for biopharma R&D, helping scientists scale up hypothesis generation and testing in early drug discovery. Chris explains how their platform integrates various biomedical data sources to enable quicker, data-driven decisions and improve collaboration across research teams. He also discusses the challenges and rewards of building a startup in the biotech industry, particularly in the Canadian context, and shares insights on the importance of productive science and reasoning in drug discovery. Furthermore, Chris provides a glimpse into Bio Box's customer engagement strategies, business model, and his vision for the future of the company. Whether you are a scientist, investor, or just curious about the intersection of biotech and AI, this episode offers valuable insights into the evolving landscape of biopharma research.  

Amy discusses her pioneering work at Vopemed, a health tech company developing AI software to enhance visualization during minimally invasive surgeries. Amy explains the challenges surgeons face with traditional endoscopic cameras and how Vopemed's software addresses these issues by providing real-time enhanced image feeds. The conversation explores the company's first market focus on laparoscopic surgeries, the potential for expansion into other diagnostic procedures, and the dual go-to-market strategies involving OEMs and hospitals. Using a proprietary dataset, Vopemed's AI enhances surgical visuals, which can significantly reduce the stress and inefficiencies associated with surgical procedures. Amy also shares insights on the company's regulatory journey, the genesis of the company from her master's program, and the potential broader impacts of AI in the surgical field.

In this episode, we spoke with Lisen Kaci, the founder behind Discrepancy AI. Lisen talks about his journey from working as an AI engineer in document processing to founding his startup based in Toronto. He identifies key industry limitations with legacy OCR technologies and explains how Discrepancy AI is leveraging AI tool-chaining to convert any document into actionable structured data.  Their innovative approach focuses on reducing manual review costs by over 80%. Lisen discusses various use cases, including income verification for rental and mortgage screening. He emphasizes their unique, no-code implementation that integrates seamlessly with existing systems. The conversation also touches on the future of AI, industry challenges, fundraising strategies, and Discrepancy AI's next product launch that aims to automate complex report generation.  

In this episode, I spoke with  Gennady Pekhimenko, CEO & Co-Founder @ CentML - an AI company focused on optimization and efficiency. He successfully transitioned from academia to building one of Canada's leading AI companies. We discuss his background, starting with his educational background in computer science and his research at the University of Toronto and Carnegie Mellon University. Gennady raised $27 million in seed funding to take advantage of the AI wave.    The conversation explores the development and optimization of AI technology, the challenges of turning research into scalable engineering solutions, and the realization of practical applications beyond the university setting. Gennady shares insights on the importance of efficiency in AI, the company's approach to optimizing hardware and software for AI models, and the experiences of raising funds and building a team. The episode offers a deep dive into the technical and strategic aspects of growing an AI company and highlights the significance of open-source models and innovations in the evolving AI landscape.   The conversation explores the development and optimization of AI technology, the challenges of turning research into scalable engineering solutions, and the realization of practical applications beyond the university setting. Gennady shares insights on the importance of efficiency in AI, the company's approach to optimizing hardware and software for AI models, and the experiences of raising funds and building a team. The episode offers a deep dive into the technical and strategic aspects of growing an AI company and highlights the significance of open-source models and innovations in the evolving AI landscape.  

I had the pleasure of moderating a panel at the recent Reseau Capital Annual summit on the topic branding for investment firms.  My job was pretty easy, I got the chance to listen to the brilliant Whitney Rockley from McRock Capital, Amélie Foz-Couture from Diagram Ventures and Clement Bourgogne from Jolt Capital. They share some unique insights on grassroots marketing, relationship based messaging, adapting for new markets and much more. The panel discusses the importance and impact of marketing and branding in venture capital. Whitney shares the early grassroots marketing journey of Mac Rock, focusing on industrial software, and how their quirky, authentic videos and deep connections with entrepreneurs and LPs fostered a loyal following and facilitated significant deals. Amil Lee from Diagram explains their low-profile but relationship-driven strategy in the FinTech and climate tech sectors, emphasizing the power of personal outreach and alignment with their fund's strategy. Cleon shares how Jolt leverages its identity in deep tech and engineering, while highlighting the importance of staying true to core values. The discussion touches on the cost-effective nature of grassroots marketing, the importance of authenticity, trust, and consistency, and scaling branding efforts. They also stress the significance of data-driven thought leadership and firsts in maintaining a leadership position in a specialized fund.

Dans cet épisode, nous découvrons l'histoire de Ferréol Technologies, une entreprise québécoise fondée en 2018-2019 par trois passionnés de ski et ingénieurs mécaniques de l'Université Laval. Nous apprenons comment Félix, Jonathan, et Étienne ont utilisé leurs compétences complémentaires pour créer des skis adaptés aux conditions de ski variées du Québec, tout en ayant une empreinte écologique réduite. L'entreprise, qui a démarré dans un garage, s'est rapidement fait connaître et est devenue la deuxième plus grande compagnie de ski au Canada.   En parallèle, ils ont développé un alliage d'aluminium ultra-résistant, ouvrant ainsi des opportunités dans les industries du sport et de l'aérospatial à travers Ferréol Technologie. Félix partage également des réflexions personnelles sur l'entrepreneuriat, soulignant l'importance de la passion, de la persévérance et des relations humaines dans leur réussite.  

In this episode, Patrick Murphy, CEO& co-founder of the startup Maket, shares his vision of democratizing architectural design and planning.   Inspired by Canva's transformation of graphic design, Maket aims to simplify and accelerate the architectural process using generative AI. Starting with residential design, the platform seeks to compress timelines and cut costs, providing both consumers and professionals with powerful tools.    Patrick discusses the challenges of traditional methods, the advancements Make It has made since its inception in 2021, and the company's growth to over 670,000 users.   We conclude with insights into navigating venture financing and the overarching ambition to revolutionize not just architectural design but the entire home building and renovation process.  

Joël discusses the inception and development of BioIntelligence which is focused on real-time data monitoring in industrial biotechnology. His journey began with a background in chemical engineering and years of experience in developing bioprocesses.  Frustrated by the lack of real-time information in fermentation processes, Joël's team at the University of Sherbrooke developed a revolutionary optical probe technology. This innovation allows operators to monitor multiple parameters in real-time, significantly improving productivity, quality, and resource consumption in industrial biotechnological processes.  We also talked about the strategic challenges of funding and scaling the company, emphasizing the importance of a clear vision and focus on core applications within the biotechnology industry. This is one of the conversations I've had on the podcast. I really enjoyed Joël's candor on what it takes to build a breakthrough startup.  

Un nouvel épisode dans la série des startups de Québec  On a parlé avec Francis Robichaud, Co-fondateur et PDG @ Lime Santé.    Francis discute de son parcours d'intégration de la technologie dans le système de santé pour améliorer l'expérience des patients et l'efficacité du système. En tant qu'ingénieur passionné par les soins de santé, Francis exploite les données et les commentaires des patients pour apporter des améliorations systémiques.    Il explique l'approche de son entreprise en matière de numérisation du parcours du patient, d'optimisation de la communication et d'utilisation de l'IA pour de meilleurs résultats en matière de soins de santé.    Francis aborde également les défis et les opportunités des systèmes de santé du Québec et des États-Unis, ainsi que l'importance de la responsabilité personnelle et de la transparence dans les soins de santé.    La conversation s'étend à la stratégie de croissance de l'entreprise, à ses ambitions internationales et au rôle des outils novateurs dans la définition de l'avenir des soins de santé.  

Sharing today a new podcast series highlighting the 5 cool startups participating in Quebec Tech's first cohort. The startups are: Flovver, Lime Santé, Biointelligence, Maket and Ferreol.    The first episode is with Jimmy Beauregard, CEO & Co-Founder @ Flovver (in french). Jimmy started the company in 2020 and their mission is to make sharing money accessible to all by offering secure, automated technological platforms that promote ethical and accessible financial growth. They specialize in end-to-end loan management solutions designed to streamline the lending process. Their offerings aim to accelerate secure access to funds and empower businesses to integrate lending into their models effectively.   Jimmy shares his entrepreneurial journey on the podcast, detailing his 18-year-long career, which began with a web agency and eventually led to the founding of Flovver. Its inception is a tale of resilience and perseverance. Despite early setbacks, Jimmy secured clients and continuously improved the product over the years. Jimmy emphasized the importance of not waiting for perfection, showing up during tough times, and balancing work with personal life priorities. He highlights the crucial role of a dedicated team and good partnerships in achieving success.  

Anna Chif is a world class founder that is one to her second company. She co-founded Coral. a women's digital health platform designed to help women in perimenopause, menopause and beyond achieve their optimal health. Coral matches users with a wellness coach, who is available to chat asynchronously with users to talk through symptom management. They recently raised $4M in seed financing led by Brightspark as well as Diagram Ventures and The51.   We spoke about:  Anna's deep conviction on building Coral  Coral's mission and business model Applicable lessons from Dialogue  Objections during her recent fundraise Integrating AI with a human touch  

In this episode, we interview Marc Bellemarre, who discusses his work on developing AI software for the pharmaceutical industry. They focus on 'commercial pharma,' which involves everything beyond molecule search and testing, such as marketing and clinical landscape analysis. Marc's software uses AI to expedite the literature review process, reducing a traditionally 400-hour task to half an hour. The software aims for high accuracy by structuring scientific data and helping analysts and researchers make informed decisions. Marc explains the intricacies of integrating AI with user-friendly software interfaces and ensuring transparency in data validation. He also shares his motivations for leaving a secure job at Google to create a startup and highlights the potential of AI to eliminate bureaucratic inefficiencies. The conversation touches on the challenges of combining traditional software engineering with AI research and the importance of founder-led sales for startups. Marc concludes by discussing the future ambitions for his company and the vital role of building robust AI ecosystems.

In this panel discussion, Gabriel Sundaram, a co-founder of Attain, hosts successful CEOs and founders to share their entrepreneurial journeys and key strategies for building and scaling startups. Panelists include Andrew from Stay 22, Anna from Dialogue and Coral, Malik from Nesto, and Joanne from PemPem. They discuss the importance of speed, intensity, and obsession in growing a business, the balance between rapid execution and maintaining personal well-being, and the role of mentorship and coaching. The conversation also emphasizes the value of storytelling in media, adapting to market realities, and the significance of teamwork and finding joy in the entrepreneurial journey. The session ends with advice for students on leveraging academic skills in the business world and maintaining a healthy balance while pursuing their passion.

Harley Finkelstein on Entrepreneurship, Grit, and the Montreal Entrepreneurial Spirit Harley Finkelstein of Shopify shares his journey and insights at the North Star event, highlighting the importance of Montreal in his entrepreneurial career. He expresses gratitude for the city's role in his growth and the legacy of his family's market stall. Finkelstein delves into the motivation behind entrepreneurship, stressing both passion and necessity as drivers. He discusses the lowered cost of entry due to modern technology, urging aspiring entrepreneurs to pursue persistent ideas. Emphasizing grit, he argues that failure is part of the journey, and shares personal anecdotes on anxiety and vulnerability as strengths. Finkelstein encourages embracing the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Montreal and the value of staying geographically agnostic in business operations. The session concludes with reflections on personal growth, success, and the importance of having a personal mission aligned with professional goals.

In this North Star panel discussion, Eleonore Jarry from Brightspark Ventures sat down with student founders. The conversation highlights the experiences of various student founders, their innovative projects, and the challenges they face in the startup ecosystem. Key topics include raising initial funds, the importance of team and mission, navigating the academia-industry transition, pivots and finding product-market fit, and the unique advantages and support systems available to young entrepreneurs. The panelists also engage in practical discussions on retaining talent within Montreal's ecosystem and fostering stronger ties between academic institutions, startups, and the broader venture capital landscape.

In this episode, we dive deep into the Venture Studio model with Amelie, discussing the varied and often misunderstood landscape of venture studios. Emily explains how their unique approach involves de-risking ideas internally before partnering with an entrepreneurial community to launch startups. The conversation expands into the nuances of their recently closed $80 million Climate Fund, which focuses on leveraging software and business model innovations to solve critical adoption challenges in the climate tech space. Emily shares insights on addressing macro climate problems, the importance of rigorous customer discovery, and navigating the evolving competitive landscape. Listeners also gain a glimpse into the strategic thought process behind their investments and the future of climate-focused ventures

J'ai eu le plaisir d'échanger avec François Gingras, Vice-président Innovation @ Investissement Québec.   Nous avons parlé de:  La récente initiative d'Investissement Québec « Grand V », dont l'objectif est de soutenir les entreprises québécoises par des améliorations technologiques et durables de leur productivité. L'initiative offre un soutien financier pouvant atteindre 45 milliards de dollars sur trois ans, combinant prêts et capitaux propres, et comprend des services d'assistance technologique et d'innovation. L'importance de l'innovation tant au niveau des produits que des processus Le rôle de la culture organisationnelle et des succès initiaux des projets pour surmonter les obstacles à l'innovation. Comment le Québec peut-il être plus compétitif en matière d'amélioration de la productivité et la vision future de la résilience économique du Québec (très opportun avec la guerre commerciale imminente) Vous pouvez apprends plus à propos de Grand V ici: https://grandv.investquebec.com/   

Guillaume Jacquet is one of the strongest founders I know. He co-founded Chronogolf which was acquired by Lightspeed. He rose to run product & technology eventually leaving to start Vasco.  After being in stealth mode, they announced a massive US$8M seed round, led by Inovia Capital, with support from BY Venture Partners, Framework Venture Partners.    Vasco empowers RevOps teams to unify their data, processes, and technology to build frameworks and blueprints that actually work.  

Andrew Lockhead is a rockstar founder building the next Canadian flagship. The start-up launched in 2016 made its mark in the affiliate field of accommodations. They have built a global platform for travel content creators with $500M GMV and a $36M ARR run-rate on the path to $100M.   We spoke about The genesis story of Stay22 Surviving the pandemic and now thriving on a remarkable trajectory How they've incorporated LLMs into their business model  Leadership lessons and the operating model  How Andrew thinks about the future of travel in the world of AI agents  

Philippe Beaudoin is a gritty founder and one of the world's foremost experts on AI. He's relentlessly focused on his startup Waverly and shared some very candid and inspiring insights.  We spoke about: Waverly 3.0 - pivoting and hard lessons Building personalized experiences for enterprises   Provocative idea that Data is Dead  Why the GPT wrapper challenge is flawed Getting to default alive as a bootstrapped founder His thoughts on the AI landscape

(00:00:00) Intro (00:01:39) Research spotlight by Réseau Capital (00:23:08) Investor panel (00:54:26) Founder panel (01:22:28) Fireside chat with Tom Birch      

Dr. Nicholas Nadeau is the Chief Technology Officer at SmartOne, a leader in ethical AI and data solutions. Nicholas has become a pivotal figure in tech innovation with a Ph.D. in AI and engineering and a career dedicated to emerging technologies. Before joining SmartOne, he founded Nadeau Innovations, propelling startups to success as a fractional CTO.    We spoke about The evolving role of the CTO Pitfalls for Startup CTOs Maintaining a Startup Mentality at Scale SmartOne's Value Proposition  

I'm lucky that I get to work alongside Julie Lacasse and learn from her every day.  If you don't know her, Julie is a serial entrepreneur and current venture capital partner at Amiral Ventures. She's the cofounder of Tracktik, an innovative company specialized in optimizing the management of security agencies, she led the company to international success and exit.  Julie now brings her expertise to Amiral Ventures, where she focuses on venture capital investment. Her inspiring career path and strategic vision make her an influential figure in the entrepreneurial and investment ecosystem.   We spoke about:  Julie's entrepreneurial journey  Insight that led to hyper growth company Board and VC dynamics  Principles that Julie learned operating and scaling  Lessons learned during the exit process  

Startup Montréal, the non-profit organization that has supported early-stage Montréal startups is now known as Québec Tech. The rebranded organization has also adopted a new mandate to grow the international footprint of Québec tech companies with high export potential. To talk about the important mission of Québec Tech, I had the pleasure of speaking with Richard Chenier on the podcast to learn more about their plans and how they plan on addressing a key challenge for Quebec based startups. On the episode, we spoke about:  The reason to expand the mission of Quebec Tech to the entire province How they plan to support their initial cohort of startups  Why they focused on international go to market as the key value creation lever How Quebec compares to other provinces Reasons for optimism and why Quebec startups will win  

I had a great conversation with Aydin Mirzaee, CEO & Co-Founder @ Fellow. Aydin is a tech loving entrepreneur with a passion for building great products, leadership and people.  Fellow solves a huge problem for companies, help people spend less time in meetings and make them more productive. Previously , he was the co-founder and co-CEO of Fluidware which was acquired by SurveyMonkey.    On the episode, we spoke about:  Why he decided to start Fellow after having sold his previous startup  How meetings have grown significantly since the pandemic Their product offering and how it improves organizational performance Using AI for human level transcriptions and building institutional knowledge  Advice he gives to fellow founders  Why they started their own podcast Supermanagers (https://fellow.app/supermanagers/)   

Sur cet épisode du Flagship podcast, j'ai eu le plaisir d'échanger avec Marc Bédard, cofondateur et PDG @ Lion Électrique.  Marc Bédard a toujours été passionné par la technologie, l'innovation et la finance. En 2008, il a fondé Lion Electric et a peu après mis l'entreprise sur la voie du zéro émission en s'engageant dans un portefeuille de produits de véhicules lourds et moyens entièrement électriques.    Sur l'émission, nous avons parlé de:  Comment le Karaté l'a aidé à devenir un meilleur leader Acceptation sociale des véhicules électriques Comment ils naviguent sur les marchés en tant qu'entreprise publique Pourquoi nous en sommes encore aux premiers balbutiements de la transition énergétique pour les transports  

There is a cool new fund called DevCap based in Montreal founded by Max McCrea and Jordan Steiner. Developer Capital is a pre-seed and seed-stage investment corporation. They  strive to provide what other investors promise: real support for our investments in the form of actionable technical and operational support via its partnership with Monadical. Jordan and Max are not building your typical VC firm which is structured as an evergreen investment corp. They bring solid technical expertise for their founders.   We spoke about:  Building a strong culture as a new VC fund How they built a relationship of trust  and decided to start a fund together Culture principles they put into practice  Deep dive on the excitement around AI and their investment thesis  

J'ai eu le plaisir de discuter avec Simon Leblond, co-fondateur et PDG @ SmartD Technologies.  Simon est un entrepreneur avec 20 ans d'expérience entrepreneuriale dans la mise sur le marché de technologies disruptives dans tous les secteurs. SmartD Technologies développe des variateurs de fréquence (VFD) pour le contrôle de moteurs. Leur variateur de fréquence Clean Power VFD peut augmenter l'efficacité des moteurs, réduire l'usure des équipements, économiser de l'énergie et réduire les coûts pour les entreprises de nombreux secteurs, notamment les infrastructures, les services publics, l'agriculture, les mines, les transports, entre autres. C'est un marché adressable énorme avec des gains en efficacité énergétique significatifs. En plus, Simon est un entrepreneur chevronné avec énormément d'expérience. Il a participé au lancement de trois entreprises, a introduit de nombreuses technologies sur le marché, et mentoré des entrepreneurs.  

I had the pleasure of hosting the Flagship podcast at last week's CDL / NextAI Community Dinner.  The first guest was Sarah Jenna, Managing Director @ QV Studio We spoke about quantum computing and how Sherbrooke is rapidly becoming a global leader in the quantum. Note - this convo was in French   The second guest was Raphael Steinman, Co-Founder & Co-CEO @ Maxa Raphael shared some great insights into building & iterating products. He also spoke about how founders can support founders.  Note - this convo was in English  

J'ai eu la chance de parler avec Simon Pelletier et Gilles Duruflé de Réseau Capital. Ils ont publié un rapport très pertinent en novembre à propos de l'écosystème de capital de risque du Québec.  L'objectif de cette étude était de comparer le dynamisme de l'écosystème d'investissement en capital de risque du Québec à ceux de l'Ontario et de la Colombie-Britannique afin d'identifier certaines forces et faiblesses et d'en tirer des pistes de recommandations. Le rapport a fait beaucoup de vagues dans l'écosystème et je vous invite à le consulter!  

I had the pleasure of speaking with Andria Santos, Co-founder & CEO @ Fülhaus  Fülhaus is an AI-powered interior design and furnishing company dedicated to improving performance of furnished real estate properties and hospitality business through good design.    We spoke about:  Building a solid interior design company over 10 years The AI new product they launched with Ludwig and how it can empower interior designers globally How Fülhaus is the first & best customer for Ludwig The huge market opportunity ahead with their new AI Entrepreneurial lessons after 10 years  

Simon De Baene is the dreamer and visionary at the top of Workleap, which designs software used by over 15,000 organizations in 110 countries. Recognized as one of Quebec's largest SMEs, Workleap now has over 200 employees and is currently one of the fastest-growing companies in North America. Early in his entrepreneurial journey, Simon realized that employee fulfillment was the key to success, and began building what would quickly become one of the most inspiring business cultures on the planet. Audacious and non-conformist by nature, he is more motivated than ever to challenge the status quo in the workplace. We spoke about:  Being obsessed in order to build a world-class product How you need to be relentlessly determined to achieve a breakthrough How competition has radically increased in software  The global opportunity for Workleap The market for employee experience and how it's growing

Scott is a partner at Panache Ventures. Prior to joining Panache, Scott was the co-founder and CEO of Covera.ai (acquired in 2019), an InsurTech startup that leverages data and technology to take insurance renewals off of your to do list forever. Scott was also an Entrepreneur in Residence at Ferst Capital Partners, one of Canada's pioneering FinTech venture capital funds. Scott writes and speaks about how technology, analytics, design and data impact the various components of the modern FinTech landscape. Scott is a business lawyer and holds a masters degree in business administration (MBA) from McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management as well as civil and common law degrees from McGill's Faculty of Law.  

Originally from Montreal, business woman, creator and philanthropist, Vickie Joseph has been immersed in the world of fashion from a very young age. Today, as a happy mother of three children, the designer and businesswoman has been recognized for her projects on several occasions, including the multi million dollars she and her husband Frantz Saintellemy invested in the neighborhood of Saint Michel. Having created her clothing line in 2006, Vickie is a model of success. With determination and perseverance, she has succeeded in creating a company that broke into a very limited local market in Quebec, swept the country, and then spread internationally to create jobs for eager young women who would not otherwise have had the chance to work in such a niche sector

John is the Founder and Managing Partner of Maverix Private Equity, a private equity firm focused on technology-enabled growth and disruption investment strategies. As a firm run by entrepreneurs, funded by entrepreneurs, and for entrepreneurs, Maverix invests in health and wellness, financial services, transportation and logistics, live, work, play and learn, and retail. John chairs the Investment Committee, guides the strategy of the firm, is deeply involved with fundraising and sourcing and leading investment opportunities, particularly within the technology industry.  He led Maverix's first investment in Viral Nation and sits on their board.  John is also the Founder of OMERS Ventures and Co-Founder and Vice Chair of the Council of Canadian Innovators. Over the course of his leadership as the CEO of OMERS Ventures, they invested over USD$500 million in over 40 disruptive technology companies across North America, including growth investments in Shopify, Xanadu, Wattpad, Wave, Hootsuite, Rover, Desire 2 Learn, Hopper, DuckDuckGo, TouchBistro and League. During his tenure at OMERS, John also formed OMERS Platform Investments, and as its Executive Managing Director, he formed OMERS Growth Equity and led investments in Purpose Financial, PointNorth Capital, District Ventures, OneEleven and ArcTern Ventures. John co-founded the Council of Canadian Innovators with Jim Balsillie, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping high-growth Canadian technology firms scale globally.  

For the first episode, I could not think of two better people than my mighty partners at Amiral Ventures, Frederic Bastien and Dominic Becotte. We spoke about:  Why we're starting Amiral Ventures  The funding gap in Canada and how we're planning to address it Our investment thesis centered around sustainable economic dynamism  Why we believe that the Canadian tech ecosystem is just getting started     

On this week's show, we spoke with  Jean-François Leduc, Co-Founder &  Partner @ The PNR.  JF is an entrepreneur, executive, lawyer and angel investor. Formerly partner of one of the largest agencies in Canada, he was initially Chief Revenue Officer, then Head of Corporate Development. Following a few years of revenue and profit growth, he eventually managed all steps leading to the acquisition of the company by Dentsu-Aegis Media – a world leading advertising company. Previously, JF spent many years with Yahoo!, leading business development across Quebec and negotiating advertising agreements with many key clients. JF used to practice corporate and Internet law for Gesca, Power Corporation's multimedia group and several law firms in Europe. These days, most of his time is spent with shareholders and management teams of fast growing companies focusing on corporate strategy, based on agility, in order to accelerate execution.   On the show, we spoke about:  How JF and Nectar met  Starting Point of No Return together The ups and downs of running a small business How PNR innovated with its consulting model and software Lessons learned after 8 years   Subscribe | iTunes | Google Play |Spotify | YouTube | Stitcher |   

On this week's show, we spoke with Hugues Lalancette, Partner @ iNovia Capital Hugues has over 10 years of experience in technology, finance and entrepreneurship. He joined Inovia as an Analyst in November 2015 and quickly rose through the ranks to become a Partner on the growth investment team where he focuses on enterprise software opportunities. During his six year tenure at the firm, he worked with 15 portfolio companies — including AlayaCare, AppDirect, Bench, Lightspeed, Top Hat, WorkJam, WorkFusion and Rewind — helping them raise $2B+ across 25 transactions and driving great exits to date. Hugues also developed Inovia's LP co-investment program — enabling Inovia LPs to deploy about $800M across the portfolio. Prior to Inovia, he collaborated with startups in CFO and advisor roles after having worked at BMO. Hugues graduated with an MSc. in Accounting & Finance from The London School of Economics in 2012 and with a BBA in Economics & Finance from HEC Montreal in 2011.   On the show, we spoke about:  Hugues' journey into venture iNovia's mission and platform team Current macro environment and how their portfolio has adjusted  Leveraging insights and relationships to build M&A Key technology trends he's studying   Subscribe | iTunes | Google Play |Spotify | YouTube | Stitcher |   

On this week's show, we spoke with Ashley Werhun, CEO & Co-Founder @ Mentorly.  Ashley Werhun is the CEO and Co-Founder of Mentorly.com, and is on a mission to make mentorship accessible, and reliable to all. Mentorly is a cloud-based mentorship solution for businesses and organizations looking to invest in their people and help them soar. Ashley leads all things growth: B2B sales, marketing, positioning, fundraising and long-term vision. With many hats, Ashley is a leader who puts culture first. She strives to build an organization where each team member thrives because they are trusted and have the space to be their authentic selves. Prior to co-founding Mentorly, Ashley spent 10+ years touring the world performing with BJM Danse, Ballet BC and Trey McIntyre Project. She also was a development liaison, where she was the bridge between donors and artists. It was on tour when the large mentorship gap in the creative market became apparent and she started her journey into building a start-up.   On the show, we spoke about:  The path from elite level ballerina to startup entrepreneur Lessons from performance art world  What does it take to have a successful mentor- mentee relationship The Mentorly business model and growth strategy  Helping organizations with their people science function   Subscribe | iTunes | Google Play |Spotify | YouTube | Stitcher |   

On this week's show, we spoke with Sheldon Fernandez, CEO @ Darwin AI. Sheldon Fernandez is a seasoned executive and respected thought leader in the technical and enterprise communities. Throughout his career, he has applied emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence to the enterprise. First, in his capacity as CTO at Infusion, the company he founded out of school with five partners that grew to 600 people. Then subsequently, at Avanade, the organization that acquired Infusion in March of 2017. Sheldon is also an accomplished author and speaker. He has spoken at numerous conferences in numerous contexts, including Singularity University, the prestigious think tank in the Bay Area, and has written technical books and articles on many topics. Through his career, Sheldon has coupled his entrepreneurial endeavors with non-technical pursuits, resulting in an interdisciplinary approach that is critical to the intelligent application of AI. He completed a Master's degree in theology at the University of Toronto in 2008, with thesis work in neuroscience and metaethics. He also pursued creative writing at Oxford University.   On the show, we spoke about:  How studying theology helped Sheldon in his career  Darwin AI's mission to protect our supply chains His thoughts on the current AI landscape The innovation behind Alpha Go Their innovative hardware and software model    Subscribe | iTunes | Google Play |Spotify | YouTube | Stitcher |