Accounted For Transistor (https://transistor.fm) https://feeds.transistor.fm/accounted-for Everyone walks a unique career journey. No matter how "linear" it may look in their LinkedIn profile, it is never that simple. Most people that have careers you aspire to have had to struggle. They had their own obstacles and made their own luck. Some careers you dream about may not even be what you assumed it would be. All assumptions should be tested and that is what I seek to do in this podcast. Follow along as I interview people on what they actually do in their careers and why they made the jumps in their careers, some quite unorthodox. OMD Ventures 44cd2dd2-0079-577f-bfe9-1ea1e2d07427 no en-ca Fri, 09 Feb 2024 15:09:14 -0500 Tue, 02 Dec 2025 15:18:22 -0500 https://www.oldmandan.com/podcasts/ https://img.transistor.fm/-PeTcUs5Skix3ZUwAUq-EujYcOrjuea4n8u4U9ZosFk/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzI3MjkvMTU2MDQ3/MzA0OC1hcnR3b3Jr/LmpwZw.jpg Accounted For https://www.oldmandan.com/podcasts/ episodic Daniel Lee Everyone walks a unique career journey. No matter how "linear" it may look in their LinkedIn profile, it is never that simple. Most people that have careers you aspire to have had to struggle. They had their own obstacles and made their own luck. Some careers you dream about may not even be what you assumed it would be. All assumptions should be tested and that is what I seek to do in this podcast. Follow along as I interview people on what they actually do in their careers and why they made the jumps in their careers, some quite unorthodox. Everyone walks a unique career journey. Daniel Lee No Yes #83 - Justin Jackson, Co-Founder of Transistor.fm. From Not-for-Profits to Bootstrapping a Highly Profitable SaaS Company Helping Podcasters. 83 83 #83 - Justin Jackson, Co-Founder of Transistor.fm. From Not-for-Profits to Bootstrapping a Highly Profitable SaaS Company Helping Podcasters. full b3d9c8b4-9213-4c67-b0e0-3340cf1e127e https://share.transistor.fm/s/0e08dd48 Join in for a conversation with Justin Jackson, Co-Founder of Transistor.fm. It’s a podcast hosting service and full disclosure, Accounted For is hosted on Transistor. I learned about the company and Justin because Basecamp’s podcast is hosted on Transistor and I further learned how Justin bootstrapped Transistor 2 years ago to a company that generated monthly recurring revenue exceeding $50,000. Justin didn’t start out in tech or podcasts but working for a not-for-profit for the first 7 years of his career. In our chat we dive into Justin’s decision into switch into tech at 28, navigating a career to product management in tech startups, starting his first company, building a community with podcasts and his journey with building a successfully bootstrapped SaaS company. 


]]> Join in for a conversation with Justin Jackson, Co-Founder of Transistor.fm. It’s a podcast hosting service and full disclosure, Accounted For is hosted on Transistor. I learned about the company and Justin because Basecamp’s podcast is hosted on Transistor and I further learned how Justin bootstrapped Transistor 2 years ago to a company that generated monthly recurring revenue exceeding $50,000. Justin didn’t start out in tech or podcasts but working for a not-for-profit for the first 7 years of his career. In our chat we dive into Justin’s decision into switch into tech at 28, navigating a career to product management in tech startups, starting his first company, building a community with podcasts and his journey with building a successfully bootstrapped SaaS company. 


]]> Wed, 06 May 2020 13:00:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 5100 Join in for a conversation with Justin Jackson, Co-Founder of Transistor.fm. It’s a podcast hosting service and full disclosure, Accounted For is hosted on Transistor. I learned about the company and Justin because Basecamp’s podcast is hosted on Transistor and I further learned how Justin bootstrapped Transistor 2 years ago to a company that generated monthly recurring revenue exceeding $50,000. Justin didn’t start out in tech or podcasts but working for a not-for-profit for the first 7 years of his career. In our chat we dive into Justin’s decision into switch into tech at 28, navigating a career to product management in tech startups, starting his first company, building a community with podcasts and his journey with building a successfully bootstrapped SaaS company. Join in for a conversation with Justin Jackson, Co-Founder of Transistor.fm. It’s a podcast hosting service and full disclosure, Accounted For is hosted on Transistor. I learned about the company and Justin because Basecamp’s podcast is hosted on Transist careers, podcasts, entrepreneurship Yes #82 - Matt Cohen, Founder & Managing Partner of Ripple Ventures. Equity Trading on Wall Street to Tech Operator turned Venture Investor. 82 82 #82 - Matt Cohen, Founder & Managing Partner of Ripple Ventures. Equity Trading on Wall Street to Tech Operator turned Venture Investor. full e6b1140a-8e48-4f89-9cc8-769c7c721107 https://share.transistor.fm/s/c3cff54a Join in for a conversation with Matt Cohen, Founder & Managing Partner of Ripple Ventures. Ripple Ventures is a Toronto-based early-stage venture fund that works alongside startups through the good and the bad every day. Fitting with their motto of “Operators First” per Matt’s background as an operator turned investor. Though before Matt became an operator, his career started in finance as an equity trader for RBC, completing tours on Wall Street and Bay Street. While working in capital markets, he made a seed investment in Turnstyle Solutions, cutting his operator’s teeth on the company’s journey to getting acquired by Yelp. We go through the various pivots in Matt’s journey from capital markets, tech operations, angel investing and to his current role of running a venture capital fund. As always, it was never a pre-planned linear journey and we dig through every part of it.


]]> Join in for a conversation with Matt Cohen, Founder & Managing Partner of Ripple Ventures. Ripple Ventures is a Toronto-based early-stage venture fund that works alongside startups through the good and the bad every day. Fitting with their motto of “Operators First” per Matt’s background as an operator turned investor. Though before Matt became an operator, his career started in finance as an equity trader for RBC, completing tours on Wall Street and Bay Street. While working in capital markets, he made a seed investment in Turnstyle Solutions, cutting his operator’s teeth on the company’s journey to getting acquired by Yelp. We go through the various pivots in Matt’s journey from capital markets, tech operations, angel investing and to his current role of running a venture capital fund. As always, it was never a pre-planned linear journey and we dig through every part of it.


]]> Wed, 22 Apr 2020 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3796 Join in for a conversation with Matt Cohen, Founder & Managing Partner of Ripple Ventures. Ripple Ventures is a Toronto-based early-stage venture fund that works alongside startups through the good and the bad every day. Fitting with their motto of “Operators First” per Matt’s background as an operator turned investor. Though before Matt became an operator, his career started in finance as an equity trader for RBC, completing tours on Wall Street and Bay Street. While working in capital markets, he made a seed investment in Turnstyle Solutions, cutting his operator’s teeth on the company’s journey to getting acquired by Yelp. We go through the various pivots in Matt’s journey from capital markets, tech operations, angel investing and to his current role of running a venture capital fund. As always, it was never a pre-planned linear journey and we dig through every part of it. Join in for a conversation with Matt Cohen, Founder & Managing Partner of Ripple Ventures. Ripple Ventures is a Toronto-based early-stage venture fund that works alongside startups through the good and the bad every day. Fitting with their motto of “O careers, business, entrepreneurship, technology, investing Yes #81 - Terrance Kwok, Product Manager at HyperComply. From Audit to Startup Sales Rep to Product Manager and Digital Nomad. 81 81 #81 - Terrance Kwok, Product Manager at HyperComply. From Audit to Startup Sales Rep to Product Manager and Digital Nomad. full 09cd99a9-73bd-42ff-a65c-77544e92042d https://share.transistor.fm/s/28314193 Join in for a conversation with Terrance Kwok, Product Manager at HyperComply. Terrance was one of the pivotal folks who recruited me to KPMG to start my accounting career. It’s been a while since then and today we go through Terrance’s journey from leaving accounting just before getting the Chartered Accountant designation to join a young Vidyard, before it became the 150+ tech company it is now, in an entry role in sales. We explore how he pivoted from sales to product management, working remotely in London, UK while working for a company based out of Kitchener and his subsequent journey being a digital nomad product manager at Chilipiper and HyperComply. This was a super fun conversation where we dove into what it was actually like to make each pivotal jump in Terrance’s career and how shame, embarrassment and doubt are all real and even normal emotions when you go through an unconventional career. Please forgive me on places where the audio quality isn’t as great as with COVID-19, Terrance was taking refuge in a hotel where the connection wasn’t the best. But, I promise it won’t change how fun this conversation will be for you!


]]> Join in for a conversation with Terrance Kwok, Product Manager at HyperComply. Terrance was one of the pivotal folks who recruited me to KPMG to start my accounting career. It’s been a while since then and today we go through Terrance’s journey from leaving accounting just before getting the Chartered Accountant designation to join a young Vidyard, before it became the 150+ tech company it is now, in an entry role in sales. We explore how he pivoted from sales to product management, working remotely in London, UK while working for a company based out of Kitchener and his subsequent journey being a digital nomad product manager at Chilipiper and HyperComply. This was a super fun conversation where we dove into what it was actually like to make each pivotal jump in Terrance’s career and how shame, embarrassment and doubt are all real and even normal emotions when you go through an unconventional career. Please forgive me on places where the audio quality isn’t as great as with COVID-19, Terrance was taking refuge in a hotel where the connection wasn’t the best. But, I promise it won’t change how fun this conversation will be for you!


]]> Wed, 08 Apr 2020 14:00:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4086 Join in for a conversation with Terrance Kwok, Product Manager at HyperComply. Terrance was one of the pivotal folks who recruited me to KPMG to start my accounting career. It’s been a while since then and today we go through Terrance’s journey from leaving accounting just before getting the Chartered Accountant designation to join a young Vidyard, before it became the 150+ tech company it is now, in an entry role in sales. We explore how he pivoted from sales to product management, working remotely in London, UK while working for a company based out of Kitchener and his subsequent journey being a digital nomad product manager at Chilipiper and HyperComply. This was a super fun conversation where we dove into what it was actually like to make each pivotal jump in Terrance’s career and how shame, embarrassment and doubt are all real and even normal emotions when you go through an unconventional career. Please forgive me on places where the audio quality isn’t as great as with COVID-19, Terrance was taking refuge in a hotel where the connection wasn’t the best. But, I promise it won’t change how fun this conversation will be for you! Join in for a conversation with Terrance Kwok, Product Manager at HyperComply. Terrance was one of the pivotal folks who recruited me to KPMG to start my accounting career. It’s been a while since then and today we go through Terrance’s journey from leavi careers, technology, startup, product Yes #80 - [Anonymous-Moatsixcap] Investing During the COVID-19 Bear Market & Finding Resistant Businesses. 80 80 #80 - [Anonymous-Moatsixcap] Investing During the COVID-19 Bear Market & Finding Resistant Businesses. full a13a21fa-afc4-428a-9e39-e5ff21f4d5dc https://share.transistor.fm/s/8e2ba142 Join in for a conversation is another anonymous podcast with a return guest from episode 29 where we turnover the rock of working in a hedge fund in Canada. This was a top 10 downloaded episode in 2019 so what better way then to bring on my guest back during a time of market turmoil to see how it’s been like being an investor at a fund. Turns out, my guest already has an anonymous profile in the finance Twitter community as Moatsixcap. We chat about what it’s like being a fund manager during a time when the stock market plummets 30%+, deeper into what my guest is investing in, interesting companies worth digging into, and much more.   


]]> Join in for a conversation is another anonymous podcast with a return guest from episode 29 where we turnover the rock of working in a hedge fund in Canada. This was a top 10 downloaded episode in 2019 so what better way then to bring on my guest back during a time of market turmoil to see how it’s been like being an investor at a fund. Turns out, my guest already has an anonymous profile in the finance Twitter community as Moatsixcap. We chat about what it’s like being a fund manager during a time when the stock market plummets 30%+, deeper into what my guest is investing in, interesting companies worth digging into, and much more.   


]]> Wed, 25 Mar 2020 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3881 Join in for a conversation is another anonymous podcast with a return guest from episode 29 where we turnover the rock of working in a hedge fund in Canada. This was a top 10 downloaded episode in 2019 so what better way then to bring on my guest back during a time of market turmoil to see how it’s been like being an investor at a fund. Turns out, my guest already has an anonymous profile in the finance Twitter community as Moatsixcap. We chat about what it’s like being a fund manager during a time when the stock market plummets 30%+, deeper into what my guest is investing in, interesting companies worth digging into, and much more. Join in for a conversation is another anonymous podcast with a return guest from episode 29 where we turnover the rock of working in a hedge fund in Canada. This was a top 10 downloaded episode in 2019 so what better way then to bring on my guest back dur careers, investing Yes #79 - Josh Broun, Co-Owner of Impact Kitchen. Baseball, Teaching and Personal Training to Entrepreneurship in Wellness. 79 79 #79 - Josh Broun, Co-Owner of Impact Kitchen. Baseball, Teaching and Personal Training to Entrepreneurship in Wellness. full ebca1ebb-7210-4de4-8736-0ac840f512e6 https://share.transistor.fm/s/305fa9c3 Join in for a conversation with Josh Broun, Co-owner of Impact Kitchen. Impact Kitchen is a wellness company with 4 restaurants in Toronto. I’ve been a fan of Impact Kitchen since it’s first location at King East and I’ve been a patron here at least once a week for the last few years. It’s one of my staple places for legit healthy meals. My go-to is the paleo waffle though. A comfort food. So it was a real treat to speak with Josh, the man who helped create a place where I could get awesome coffee, work out of for a few hours, have some high-quality healthy food, in an awesome atmosphere. Josh’s journey did not start as a restauranteur. A hint, it involves going to university on a baseball scholarship in the US, studying health science, pursuing teaching, then firefighting, then becoming a personal trainer for successful entrepreneurs. Josh rekindled an inner entrepreneurial fire while getting a masterclass on business from his clients as he learned about their lives over the years. Through our chat, we go through the stress he felt early when he didn’t feel like he had his life figured out at 25 to the journey of starting Impact Kitchen at 35 to what it’s been like in the last 5 years of building the business.   


]]> Join in for a conversation with Josh Broun, Co-owner of Impact Kitchen. Impact Kitchen is a wellness company with 4 restaurants in Toronto. I’ve been a fan of Impact Kitchen since it’s first location at King East and I’ve been a patron here at least once a week for the last few years. It’s one of my staple places for legit healthy meals. My go-to is the paleo waffle though. A comfort food. So it was a real treat to speak with Josh, the man who helped create a place where I could get awesome coffee, work out of for a few hours, have some high-quality healthy food, in an awesome atmosphere. Josh’s journey did not start as a restauranteur. A hint, it involves going to university on a baseball scholarship in the US, studying health science, pursuing teaching, then firefighting, then becoming a personal trainer for successful entrepreneurs. Josh rekindled an inner entrepreneurial fire while getting a masterclass on business from his clients as he learned about their lives over the years. Through our chat, we go through the stress he felt early when he didn’t feel like he had his life figured out at 25 to the journey of starting Impact Kitchen at 35 to what it’s been like in the last 5 years of building the business.   


]]> Wed, 11 Mar 2020 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4593 Join in for a conversation with Josh Broun, Co-owner of Impact Kitchen. Impact Kitchen is a wellness company with 4 restaurants in Toronto. I’ve been a fan of Impact Kitchen since it’s first location at King East and I’ve been a patron here at least once a week for the last few years. It’s one of my staple places for legit healthy meals. My go-to is the paleo waffle though. A comfort food. So it was a real treat to speak with Josh, the man who helped create a place where I could get awesome coffee, work out of for a few hours, have some high-quality healthy food, in an awesome atmosphere. Josh’s journey did not start as a restauranteur. A hint, it involves going to university on a baseball scholarship in the US, studying health science, pursuing teaching, then firefighting, then becoming a personal trainer for successful entrepreneurs. Josh rekindled an inner entrepreneurial fire while getting a masterclass on business from his clients as he learned about their lives over the years. Through our chat, we go through the stress he felt early when he didn’t feel like he had his life figured out at 25 to the journey of starting Impact Kitchen at 35 to what it’s been like in the last 5 years of building the business. Join in for a conversation with Josh Broun, Co-owner of Impact Kitchen. Impact Kitchen is a wellness company with 4 restaurants in Toronto. I’ve been a fan of Impact Kitchen since it’s first location at King East and I’ve been a patron here at least once Yes #78 - Elvis Wong, Founder & Managing Director of Innovate Financial Health. Consulting to Accelerators and Tackling Financial Health. 78 78 #78 - Elvis Wong, Founder & Managing Director of Innovate Financial Health. Consulting to Accelerators and Tackling Financial Health. full 76cfc720-f9e0-43c4-9ce9-6ef8b183ffbc https://share.transistor.fm/s/35d7d294 Join in for a conversation with Elvis Wong, Founder and Managing Director of Innovate Financial Health (IFH). IFH is a not for profit accelerator based in Toronto that works with start-ups addressing the problem of financial health for financially vulnerable Canadians. Having developed a passion for social impact since high school, Elvis leveraged his experience as a management consultant to join the MaRS Studio Y Fellowship program to find ways of using technology to create social impact. What he did not expect was that he would be solving a problem in wealth inequality that would lead him to opportunities working with Social Capital Partners, one of the leaders of impact investing in Canada, and starting an accelerator backed by JP Morgan Chase and Capital One. In addition to dissecting his journey to creating IFH, we dig into the various learnings he has had from building an accelerator and strategies for forming partnerships with large corporations.  


]]> Join in for a conversation with Elvis Wong, Founder and Managing Director of Innovate Financial Health (IFH). IFH is a not for profit accelerator based in Toronto that works with start-ups addressing the problem of financial health for financially vulnerable Canadians. Having developed a passion for social impact since high school, Elvis leveraged his experience as a management consultant to join the MaRS Studio Y Fellowship program to find ways of using technology to create social impact. What he did not expect was that he would be solving a problem in wealth inequality that would lead him to opportunities working with Social Capital Partners, one of the leaders of impact investing in Canada, and starting an accelerator backed by JP Morgan Chase and Capital One. In addition to dissecting his journey to creating IFH, we dig into the various learnings he has had from building an accelerator and strategies for forming partnerships with large corporations.  


]]> Wed, 04 Mar 2020 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3902 Join in for a conversation with Elvis Wong, Founder and Managing Director of Innovate Financial Health (IFH). IFH is a not for profit accelerator based in Toronto that works with start-ups addressing the problem of financial health for financially vulnerable Canadians. Having developed a passion for social impact since high school, Elvis leveraged his experience as a management consultant to join the MaRS Studio Y Fellowship program to find ways of using technology to create social impact. What he did not expect was that he would be solving a problem in wealth inequality that would lead him to opportunities working with Social Capital Partners, one of the leaders of impact investing in Canada, and starting an accelerator backed by JP Morgan Chase and Capital One. In addition to dissecting his journey to creating IFH, we dig into the various learnings he has had from building an accelerator and strategies for forming partnerships with large corporations. Join in for a conversation with Elvis Wong, Founder and Managing Director of Innovate Financial Health (IFH). IFH is a not for profit accelerator based in Toronto that works with start-ups addressing the problem of financial health for financially vulnera Yes #77 - Miguel Fernando, Founder of Moment Financial. International Finance to FinTech Product Management and Entrepreneurship 77 77 #77 - Miguel Fernando, Founder of Moment Financial. International Finance to FinTech Product Management and Entrepreneurship full 8f060768-f8fe-49d3-98d4-cfb078584283 https://share.transistor.fm/s/e54834cd Join in for a conversation with Miguel Fernando, the Founder of Moment Financial. Miguel navigated a career starting in international finance to building products in FinTech companies to becoming a full-time bootstrapped entrepreneur. Miguel started his career in finance as an economic researcher at RBC and moved over to international wealth management with a focus on Central and Latin America. He made the pivot to work in a product role and become a product manager after realizing he enjoyed building internal tools and solutions while working for the bank and made the leap to join a FinTech company while teaching himself product management and coding through bootcamps and online courses. He went onto build the advisory solutions product for Purpose Investment’s Purpose Advisory Solutions business and made another leap into entrepreneurship. Something he felt he had to do. We talk a lot about the early years of entrepreneurship, what it was like making the decision, what gap he saw in the market, and much more.  


]]> Join in for a conversation with Miguel Fernando, the Founder of Moment Financial. Miguel navigated a career starting in international finance to building products in FinTech companies to becoming a full-time bootstrapped entrepreneur. Miguel started his career in finance as an economic researcher at RBC and moved over to international wealth management with a focus on Central and Latin America. He made the pivot to work in a product role and become a product manager after realizing he enjoyed building internal tools and solutions while working for the bank and made the leap to join a FinTech company while teaching himself product management and coding through bootcamps and online courses. He went onto build the advisory solutions product for Purpose Investment’s Purpose Advisory Solutions business and made another leap into entrepreneurship. Something he felt he had to do. We talk a lot about the early years of entrepreneurship, what it was like making the decision, what gap he saw in the market, and much more.  


]]> Wed, 26 Feb 2020 22:35:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4540 Join in for a conversation with Miguel Fernando, the Founder of Moment Financial. Miguel navigated a career starting in international finance to building products in FinTech companies to becoming a full-time bootstrapped entrepreneur. Miguel started his career in finance as an economic researcher at RBC and moved over to international wealth management with a focus on Central and Latin America. He made the pivot to work in a product role and become a product manager after realizing he enjoyed building internal tools and solutions while working for the bank and made the leap to join a FinTech company while teaching himself product management and coding through bootcamps and online courses. He went onto build the advisory solutions product for Purpose Investment’s Purpose Advisory Solutions business and made another leap into entrepreneurship. Something he felt he had to do. We talk a lot about the early years of entrepreneurship, what it was like making the decision, what gap he saw in the market, and much more. Join in for a conversation with Miguel Fernando, the Founder of Moment Financial. Miguel navigated a career starting in international finance to building products in FinTech companies to becoming a full-time bootstrapped entrepreneur. Miguel started his c careers, entrepreneurship, technology, FinTech Yes #76 - Marc Champagne, Host of Behind The Human Podcast, Returns. Economics of Building an App, Shutting down Kyo, Writing a Book and The Journey. 76 76 #76 - Marc Champagne, Host of Behind The Human Podcast, Returns. Economics of Building an App, Shutting down Kyo, Writing a Book and The Journey. full 412f6bc0-25e2-4208-b451-78afc58f2564 https://share.transistor.fm/s/77fd7d1b Join in for a conversation with a return guest, Marc Champagne. Marc is the Co-Founder of Kyo and Host of Behind The Human Podcast. In episode 46 we talked about Marc’s journey of building Kyo after a career in pharmaceuticals. In today’s episode, we talk through the developments since the year. The process and reason behind shutting down Kyo, the digital journaling app that had 86 million impressions and a community of 200,000 users. We talk about the difference between app rankings and user metrics vs. the economic reality of operating it. We also talk about Marc’s journey of building communities and how the podcast led to so much more than a personal brand, his new pursuit of consulting human-centric companies on brand strategy and writing a book on mental fitness. Traditional media only touts the stories of exits for obscene financial numbers but in our conversation today we talk about the daily process of building something, the constant ups and downs and the many iterations we will make in our journey to build something that is meaningful and fulfilling.    


]]> Join in for a conversation with a return guest, Marc Champagne. Marc is the Co-Founder of Kyo and Host of Behind The Human Podcast. In episode 46 we talked about Marc’s journey of building Kyo after a career in pharmaceuticals. In today’s episode, we talk through the developments since the year. The process and reason behind shutting down Kyo, the digital journaling app that had 86 million impressions and a community of 200,000 users. We talk about the difference between app rankings and user metrics vs. the economic reality of operating it. We also talk about Marc’s journey of building communities and how the podcast led to so much more than a personal brand, his new pursuit of consulting human-centric companies on brand strategy and writing a book on mental fitness. Traditional media only touts the stories of exits for obscene financial numbers but in our conversation today we talk about the daily process of building something, the constant ups and downs and the many iterations we will make in our journey to build something that is meaningful and fulfilling.    


]]> Wed, 19 Feb 2020 21:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3859 Join in for a conversation with a return guest, Marc Champagne. Marc is the Co-Founder of Kyo and Host of Behind The Human Podcast. In episode 46 we talked about Marc’s journey of building Kyo after a career in pharmaceuticals. In today’s episode, we talk through the developments since the year. The process and reason behind shutting down Kyo, the digital journaling app that had 86 million impressions and a community of 200,000 users. We talk about the difference between app rankings and user metrics vs. the economic reality of operating it. We also talk about Marc’s journey of building communities and how the podcast led to so much more than a personal brand, his new pursuit of consulting human-centric companies on brand strategy and writing a book on mental fitness. Traditional media only touts the stories of exits for obscene financial numbers but in our conversation today we talk about the daily process of building something, the constant ups and downs and the many iterations we will make in our journey to build something that is meaningful and fulfilling. Join in for a conversation with a return guest, Marc Champagne. Marc is the Co-Founder of Kyo and Host of Behind The Human Podcast. In episode 46 we talked about Marc’s journey of building Kyo after a career in pharmaceuticals. In today’s episode, we talk career, talent, entrepreneurship, podcasts Yes #75 - Alex Norman, Co-Founder of TechToronto, Head of Canada for AngelList and Partner of N49P Ventures. Investment banking to entrepreneurship and building the tech ecosystem in Canada. 75 75 #75 - Alex Norman, Co-Founder of TechToronto, Head of Canada for AngelList and Partner of N49P Ventures. Investment banking to entrepreneurship and building the tech ecosystem in Canada. full 2b64562d-685a-493f-954b-22e1a22ad630 https://share.transistor.fm/s/0e3349c7 Join in for a conversation with Alex Norman, Co-Founder of TechToronto, Head of Canada for AngelList and Partner of N49P Ventures. Through his various ventures and roles, Alex is an investor and tech entrepreneur who is building the Canadian tech ecosystem. TechToronto is on a mission to develop the technology and innovation economy in Canada through its wide-reaching events. AngelList is the startup investing platform that manages $1.8Bn and N49P is a VC fund for early-stage companies in Canada. Prior to these ventures, Alex was an investment banker for Lehman Brothers during the dot-com bubble. He worked in various startups in SF, NY and London, UK. He received his MBA from Wharton, became a management consultant for McKinsey and co-founded Homesav, one of Canada’s largest furniture e-commerce companies, that was later acquired by Rebellion Media. Given how interesting his journey has been, we talk through how he made decisions in each of his career pivots and the circumstances that existed at the time. We also cover what the early years of building communities are like, the mistakes he’s learned from, and his own unconventional beliefs. 


]]> Join in for a conversation with Alex Norman, Co-Founder of TechToronto, Head of Canada for AngelList and Partner of N49P Ventures. Through his various ventures and roles, Alex is an investor and tech entrepreneur who is building the Canadian tech ecosystem. TechToronto is on a mission to develop the technology and innovation economy in Canada through its wide-reaching events. AngelList is the startup investing platform that manages $1.8Bn and N49P is a VC fund for early-stage companies in Canada. Prior to these ventures, Alex was an investment banker for Lehman Brothers during the dot-com bubble. He worked in various startups in SF, NY and London, UK. He received his MBA from Wharton, became a management consultant for McKinsey and co-founded Homesav, one of Canada’s largest furniture e-commerce companies, that was later acquired by Rebellion Media. Given how interesting his journey has been, we talk through how he made decisions in each of his career pivots and the circumstances that existed at the time. We also cover what the early years of building communities are like, the mistakes he’s learned from, and his own unconventional beliefs. 


]]> Wed, 12 Feb 2020 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4716 Join in for a conversation with Alex Norman, Co-Founder of TechToronto, Head of Canada for AngelList and Partner of N49P Ventures. Through his various ventures and roles, Alex is an investor and tech entrepreneur who is building the Canadian tech ecosystem. TechToronto is on a mission to develop the technology and innovation economy in Canada through its wide-reaching events. AngelList is the startup investing platform that manages $1.8Bn and N49P is a VC fund for early-stage companies in Canada. Prior to these ventures, Alex was an investment banker for Lehman Brothers during the dot-com bubble. He worked in various startups in SF, NY and London, UK. He received his MBA from Wharton, became a management consultant for McKinsey and co-founded Homesav, one of Canada’s largest furniture e-commerce companies, that was later acquired by Rebellion Media. Given how interesting his journey has been, we talk through how he made decisions in each of his career pivots and the circumstances that existed at the time. We also cover what the early years of building communities are like, the mistakes he’s learned from, and his own unconventional beliefs. Join in for a conversation with Alex Norman, Co-Founder of TechToronto, Head of Canada for AngelList and Partner of N49P Ventures. Through his various ventures and roles, Alex is an investor and tech entrepreneur who is building the Canadian tech ecosyste careers, technology, entrepreneurship Yes #74 - Ben Yoskovitz, CPO and Founding Partner of Highline Beta. From Psychology to 20 years as an entrepreneur, investor, startup executive, author and redesigning the ventu 74 74 #74 - Ben Yoskovitz, CPO and Founding Partner of Highline Beta. From Psychology to 20 years as an entrepreneur, investor, startup executive, author and redesigning the ventu full 39eda3f6-955e-439d-9628-2f1d516a1dd0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/845b3d04 Join in for a conversation with Ben Yoskovitz, CPO and Founding Partner of Highline Beta. Highline Beta is a venture capital and startup co-creation company based in Toronto. In our interview, we pan through Ben’s 20 year career as an entrepreneur, angel investor and startup executive. After graduating with a psychology degree, Ben started by building a web service business then a product based business and one of Canada’s earliest accelerators (where one of its companies was acquired by Airbnb). He then went to become the VP of Product at GoInstant and VarageSale while co-authoring The Lean Analytics book that’s been translated to more than 4 different languages. We go through the major learnings his had from his various ventures, his failures, his philosophy of building organizations and so much more!  


]]> Join in for a conversation with Ben Yoskovitz, CPO and Founding Partner of Highline Beta. Highline Beta is a venture capital and startup co-creation company based in Toronto. In our interview, we pan through Ben’s 20 year career as an entrepreneur, angel investor and startup executive. After graduating with a psychology degree, Ben started by building a web service business then a product based business and one of Canada’s earliest accelerators (where one of its companies was acquired by Airbnb). He then went to become the VP of Product at GoInstant and VarageSale while co-authoring The Lean Analytics book that’s been translated to more than 4 different languages. We go through the major learnings his had from his various ventures, his failures, his philosophy of building organizations and so much more!  


]]> Wed, 05 Feb 2020 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4709 Join in for a conversation with Ben Yoskovitz, CPO and Founding Partner of Highline Beta. Highline Beta is a venture capital and startup co-creation company based in Toronto. In our interview, we pan through Ben’s 20 year career as an entrepreneur, angel investor and startup executive. After graduating with a psychology degree, Ben started by building a web service business then a product based business and one of Canada’s earliest accelerators (where one of its companies was acquired by Airbnb). He then went to become the VP of Product at GoInstant and VarageSale while co-authoring The Lean Analytics book that’s been translated to more than 4 different languages. We go through the major learnings his had from his various ventures, his failures, his philosophy of building organizations and so much more! Join in for a conversation with Ben Yoskovitz, CPO and Founding Partner of Highline Beta. Highline Beta is a venture capital and startup co-creation company based in Toronto. In our interview, we pan through Ben’s 20 year career as an entrepreneur, angel Yes #73 - Daniel Francavilla, Founder & Creative Director of Now Creative Group. Freelancing to Building a Creative Agency to Create Social Change. 73 73 #73 - Daniel Francavilla, Founder & Creative Director of Now Creative Group. Freelancing to Building a Creative Agency to Create Social Change. full fab92a48-12cf-4a69-b741-a94c0c5a7f11 https://share.transistor.fm/s/f08514b5 Join in for a conversation with Daniel Francavilla, Founder and Creative Director of Now Creative Group. Now Creative Group is a creative agency based in Toronto the builds brands and tells stories through impactful design, digital, marketing and media. In our chat, we go through Daniel’s journey from a freelance graphic designer in high school to starting his own agency after graduating from OCAD. We talk about Access, his first entrepreneurial project he started in high school and is in its 13 year of operation to specific pricing and client-related tactics in running a creative agency and his process of focusing on strengths in business and life. Daniel received the 40 under 40 award in 2018 and I could understand why from what he has build in his creative and social impact ventures.  


]]> Join in for a conversation with Daniel Francavilla, Founder and Creative Director of Now Creative Group. Now Creative Group is a creative agency based in Toronto the builds brands and tells stories through impactful design, digital, marketing and media. In our chat, we go through Daniel’s journey from a freelance graphic designer in high school to starting his own agency after graduating from OCAD. We talk about Access, his first entrepreneurial project he started in high school and is in its 13 year of operation to specific pricing and client-related tactics in running a creative agency and his process of focusing on strengths in business and life. Daniel received the 40 under 40 award in 2018 and I could understand why from what he has build in his creative and social impact ventures.  


]]> Wed, 29 Jan 2020 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4472 Join in for a conversation with Daniel Francavilla, Founder and Creative Director of Now Creative Group. Now Creative Group is a creative agency based in Toronto the builds brands and tells stories through impactful design, digital, marketing and media. In our chat, we go through Daniel’s journey from a freelance graphic designer in high school to starting his own agency after graduating from OCAD. We talk about Access, his first entrepreneurial project he started in high school and is in its 13 year of operation to specific pricing and client-related tactics in running a creative agency and his process of focusing on strengths in business and life. Daniel received the 40 under 40 award in 2018 and I could understand why from what he has build in his creative and social impact ventures. Join in for a conversation with Daniel Francavilla, Founder and Creative Director of Now Creative Group. Now Creative Group is a creative agency based in Toronto the builds brands and tells stories through impactful design, digital, marketing and media. I Yes #72 - Jaxson Khan, CEO of Khan & Associates. Building Start-ups to Consulting for AI & FinTech Companies Globally. 72 72 #72 - Jaxson Khan, CEO of Khan & Associates. Building Start-ups to Consulting for AI & FinTech Companies Globally. full 6a816b9f-92ad-4237-a96e-108baf8be851 https://share.transistor.fm/s/5c0eeae1 Join in for a conversation with Jaxson Khan. Jaxson is the CEO of Khan & Associates, a consulting firm that focuses on AI and FinTech. As a result, he also is a co-host of an AI podcast called Ask-AI. I reached out to Jaxson after learning he had left his role as the Head of Marketing at Nudge.ai, a startup in Toronto, to live remotely in Columbia where he was getting paid to write in-depth articles for companies. Needless to say I wasn’t disappointed when we met to have the interview as I learned about Jaxson decision to not take a prestigious consulting offer but take the start up path early to why he started his own consulting firm. We also discuss what the early years of running his own service-based company has been like, the lessons he learned, what he would do if he had to do it all over, and how he builds and strengthens relationships.


]]> Join in for a conversation with Jaxson Khan. Jaxson is the CEO of Khan & Associates, a consulting firm that focuses on AI and FinTech. As a result, he also is a co-host of an AI podcast called Ask-AI. I reached out to Jaxson after learning he had left his role as the Head of Marketing at Nudge.ai, a startup in Toronto, to live remotely in Columbia where he was getting paid to write in-depth articles for companies. Needless to say I wasn’t disappointed when we met to have the interview as I learned about Jaxson decision to not take a prestigious consulting offer but take the start up path early to why he started his own consulting firm. We also discuss what the early years of running his own service-based company has been like, the lessons he learned, what he would do if he had to do it all over, and how he builds and strengthens relationships.


]]> Wed, 22 Jan 2020 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3650 Join in for a conversation with Jaxson Khan. Jaxson is the CEO of Khan & Associates, a consulting firm that focuses on AI and FinTech. As a result, he also is a co-host of an AI podcast called Ask-AI. I reached out to Jaxson after learning he had left his role as the Head of Marketing at Nudge.ai, a startup in Toronto, to live remotely in Columbia where he was getting paid to write in-depth articles for companies. Needless to say I wasn’t disappointed when we met to have the interview as I learned about Jaxson decision to not take a prestigious consulting offer but take the start up path early to why he started his own consulting firm. We also discuss what the early years of running his own service-based company has been like, the lessons he learned, what he would do if he had to do it all over, and how he builds and strengthens relationships. Join in for a conversation with Jaxson Khan. Jaxson is the CEO of Khan & Associates, a consulting firm that focuses on AI and FinTech. As a result, he also is a co-host of an AI podcast called Ask-AI. I reached out to Jaxson after learning he had left Yes #71 - Karm Sumal, CEO and Co-Founder of Daily Hive. Accountant to National Digital Media Entrepreneur. 71 71 #71 - Karm Sumal, CEO and Co-Founder of Daily Hive. Accountant to National Digital Media Entrepreneur. full 40fbaf47-3c70-4a95-984e-212d3105d102 https://share.transistor.fm/s/5a5d4de3 Join in for a conversation with Karm Sumal, CEO and Co-Founder of Daily Hive. Daily Hive is a national news media company that started out in Vancouver as Vancity Buzz and now has offices in Calgary, Montreal and Toronto. As a site that started in 2008 amid a competitive industry with many regional and national giants it garners as much as 17M page views a month. Not too shabby for supporting a country of 30M. Karm did not dream of owning a digital media company. Born to immigrants in the East side of Vancouver, he became a CPA and controller for Blenz Coffee for the stable job. But him and his cofounders felt the Vancouver news media didn’t cater to the Vancouver he saw. The Vancouver that was made up of middle class immigrants that make the city what it is today. This started the 12 year journey of Daily Hive. In our conversation we talk about his early years of starting Daily Hive, what learnings he carried over from large corporation to running his own company, the media landscape and the constant ups and downs of operating a national media company.   


]]> Join in for a conversation with Karm Sumal, CEO and Co-Founder of Daily Hive. Daily Hive is a national news media company that started out in Vancouver as Vancity Buzz and now has offices in Calgary, Montreal and Toronto. As a site that started in 2008 amid a competitive industry with many regional and national giants it garners as much as 17M page views a month. Not too shabby for supporting a country of 30M. Karm did not dream of owning a digital media company. Born to immigrants in the East side of Vancouver, he became a CPA and controller for Blenz Coffee for the stable job. But him and his cofounders felt the Vancouver news media didn’t cater to the Vancouver he saw. The Vancouver that was made up of middle class immigrants that make the city what it is today. This started the 12 year journey of Daily Hive. In our conversation we talk about his early years of starting Daily Hive, what learnings he carried over from large corporation to running his own company, the media landscape and the constant ups and downs of operating a national media company.   


]]> Wed, 15 Jan 2020 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4529 Join in for a conversation with Karm Sumal, CEO and Co-Founder of Daily Hive. Daily Hive is a national news media company that started out in Vancouver as Vancity Buzz and now has offices in Calgary, Montreal and Toronto. As a site that started in 2008 amid a competitive industry with many regional and national giants it garners as much as 17M page views a month. Not too shabby for supporting a country of 30M. Karm did not dream of owning a digital media company. Born to immigrants in the East side of Vancouver, he became a CPA and controller for Blenz Coffee for the stable job. But him and his cofounders felt the Vancouver news media didn’t cater to the Vancouver he saw. The Vancouver that was made up of middle class immigrants that make the city what it is today. This started the 12 year journey of Daily Hive. In our conversation we talk about his early years of starting Daily Hive, what learnings he carried over from large corporation to running his own company, the media landscape and the constant ups and downs of operating a national media company. Join in for a conversation with Karm Sumal, CEO and Co-Founder of Daily Hive. Daily Hive is a national news media company that started out in Vancouver as Vancity Buzz and now has offices in Calgary, Montreal and Toronto. As a site that started in 2008 am Yes #70 - Jim Elli, Powerlifting Coach and Marketing Manager of Reactive Training Systems (RTS). Business Grad turned Remote Powerlifting Coach. 70 70 #70 - Jim Elli, Powerlifting Coach and Marketing Manager of Reactive Training Systems (RTS). Business Grad turned Remote Powerlifting Coach. full d42137fd-db36-4de5-8966-8926c04dae58 https://share.transistor.fm/s/d62e3ad4 Join in for a conversation with Jim Elli. Jim is a powerlifting coach and marketing manager of Reactive Training Systems (RTS). RTS is an online coaching company that leverages its founder, Mike Tucherer’s method of auto-regulated strength training and they’ve trained multiple world champion powerlifters. After reading Mike’s work and following some of their world-level powerlifters, I signed up to work with for the last 2 years as I rehabbed back from my knee surgery. Today conversation isn’t about my journey though but about my coach Jim’s. We go through Jim’s journey of setting up his own online coaching practice prior to RTS, how he dealt with imposter syndrome as a business major who became a powerlifting coach, how he moved from running his own coaching company to join his dream team at RTS and the entrepreneurial journey of being a remote, online powerlifting coach. For those of you who are non-health science folks that are passionate in sports and helping others, this may be right up your alley but even if you aren’t, it will be a story that can inspire you to find the thing you love and do whatever it takes to make it work.   


]]> Join in for a conversation with Jim Elli. Jim is a powerlifting coach and marketing manager of Reactive Training Systems (RTS). RTS is an online coaching company that leverages its founder, Mike Tucherer’s method of auto-regulated strength training and they’ve trained multiple world champion powerlifters. After reading Mike’s work and following some of their world-level powerlifters, I signed up to work with for the last 2 years as I rehabbed back from my knee surgery. Today conversation isn’t about my journey though but about my coach Jim’s. We go through Jim’s journey of setting up his own online coaching practice prior to RTS, how he dealt with imposter syndrome as a business major who became a powerlifting coach, how he moved from running his own coaching company to join his dream team at RTS and the entrepreneurial journey of being a remote, online powerlifting coach. For those of you who are non-health science folks that are passionate in sports and helping others, this may be right up your alley but even if you aren’t, it will be a story that can inspire you to find the thing you love and do whatever it takes to make it work.   


]]> Wed, 08 Jan 2020 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4740 Join in for a conversation with Jim Elli. Jim is a powerlifting coach and marketing manager of Reactive Training Systems (RTS). RTS is an online coaching company that leverages its founder, Mike Tucherer’s method of auto-regulated strength training and they’ve trained multiple world champion powerlifters. After reading Mike’s work and following some of their world-level powerlifters, I signed up to work with for the last 2 years as I rehabbed back from my knee surgery. Today conversation isn’t about my journey though but about my coach Jim’s. We go through Jim’s journey of setting up his own online coaching practice prior to RTS, how he dealt with imposter syndrome as a business major who became a powerlifting coach, how he moved from running his own coaching company to join his dream team at RTS and the entrepreneurial journey of being a remote, online powerlifting coach. For those of you who are non-health science folks that are passionate in sports and helping others, this may be right up your alley but even if you aren’t, it will be a story that can inspire you to find the thing you love and do whatever it takes to make it work. Join in for a conversation with Jim Elli. Jim is a powerlifting coach and marketing manager of Reactive Training Systems (RTS). RTS is an online coaching company that leverages its founder, Mike Tucherer’s method of auto-regulated strength training and th Yes [Replay] #43 - Stephen Shedletzky, Head of Brand Experience and Igniter at Simon Sinek. Finding your calling, building your own MBA, reaching out to your hero and helping others find fulfillment at work. [Replay] #43 - Stephen Shedletzky, Head of Brand Experience and Igniter at Simon Sinek. Finding your calling, building your own MBA, reaching out to your hero and helping others find fulfillment at work. bonus 7bdc6f50-bbbc-4dd3-8ead-f495796e2291 https://share.transistor.fm/s/55de7181 A blast from the past to start the new year.

Join in for a conversation with Stephen Shedletzky, Head of Brand Experience and Igniter at Simon Sinek. If that name is familiar with you it may be because you may have watched Simon Sinek's famous TedTalk or read his first book "Start with Why". Stephen joined Simon Sinek's company, called after his own name, as the 4th employee 7.5 years ago. Stephen's journey to help people feel more fulfilled and engaged by the work they do started when on his first day on his first job at Suncor's leadership program when they fired 1000 people post-merger. This propelled him on a journey to find how he could do his life's work. We chat about the fruitful departure from Suncor, his foray into human capital consulting, why his tenure there was even shorter than at Suncor, starting his own platform for change as a personal 2-year MBA, the 5 paragraph email that got him a call with Simon Sinek and how his journey with Simon started a new chapter in his life. My first meeting with Stephen was when he graciously invited me to attend a talk he was giving at an incubator and though that was a treat it was nothing compared to the intensely fun discussion I got to have with him on the podcast. It was a super fun conversation and we also spoke about maybe even doing a part two in the near future so if you liked it please let me know on my sites contact page.

]]> A blast from the past to start the new year.

Join in for a conversation with Stephen Shedletzky, Head of Brand Experience and Igniter at Simon Sinek. If that name is familiar with you it may be because you may have watched Simon Sinek's famous TedTalk or read his first book "Start with Why". Stephen joined Simon Sinek's company, called after his own name, as the 4th employee 7.5 years ago. Stephen's journey to help people feel more fulfilled and engaged by the work they do started when on his first day on his first job at Suncor's leadership program when they fired 1000 people post-merger. This propelled him on a journey to find how he could do his life's work. We chat about the fruitful departure from Suncor, his foray into human capital consulting, why his tenure there was even shorter than at Suncor, starting his own platform for change as a personal 2-year MBA, the 5 paragraph email that got him a call with Simon Sinek and how his journey with Simon started a new chapter in his life. My first meeting with Stephen was when he graciously invited me to attend a talk he was giving at an incubator and though that was a treat it was nothing compared to the intensely fun discussion I got to have with him on the podcast. It was a super fun conversation and we also spoke about maybe even doing a part two in the near future so if you liked it please let me know on my sites contact page.

]]> Thu, 02 Jan 2020 02:00:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3720 A blast from the past to start the new year. Join in for a conversation with Stephen Shedletzky, Head of Brand Experience and Igniter at Simon Sinek. If that name is familiar with you it may be because you may have watched Simon Sinek's famous TedTalk or read his first book "Start with Why". Stephen joined Simon Sinek's company, called after his own name, as the 4th employee 7.5 years ago. Stephen's journey to help people feel more fulfilled and engaged by the work they do started when on his first day on his first job at Suncor's leadership program when they fired 1000 people post-merger. This propelled him on a journey to find how he could do his life's work. We chat about the fruitful departure from Suncor, his foray into human capital consulting, why his tenure there was even shorter than at Suncor, starting his own platform for change as a personal 2-year MBA, the 5 paragraph email that got him a call with Simon Sinek and how his journey with Simon started a new chapter in his life. My first meeting with Stephen was when he graciously invited me to attend a talk he was giving at an incubator and though that was a treat it was nothing compared to the intensely fun discussion I got to have with him on the podcast. It was a super fun conversation and we also spoke about maybe even doing a part two in the near future so if you liked it please let me know on my sites contact page. A blast from the past to start the new year. Join in for a conversation with Stephen Shedletzky, Head of Brand Experience and Igniter at Simon Sinek. If that name is familiar with you it may be because you may have watched Simon Sinek's famous TedTalk Yes [Replay] #55 - Nadeem Nathoo, Co-Founder and Executive Director at TKS. Building a Social Enterprise, Exploring Exponential Technology and Mining Untapped Human Potential. [Replay] #55 - Nadeem Nathoo, Co-Founder and Executive Director at TKS. Building a Social Enterprise, Exploring Exponential Technology and Mining Untapped Human Potential. bonus 84d8d3ef-62fb-468c-81dd-6ce6c1a510b7 https://share.transistor.fm/s/3c2ab2bf A blast from the past with a replay of the most popular episode of the quarter. 

Join in for a conversation with Nadeem Nathoo, Co-Founder and Executive Director at TKS (The Knowledge Society). The Knowledge Society is an education company that works with 13-17 year-olds to mine human potential to make unicorn people. From cold-emailing his way into an internship with, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunnus' Grameen Bank at 19, to being part of the first cohort of the Next 36, travelling throughout Africa at a young age, entrepreneurship and social impact was a major part of Nadeem's growth. After working as a consultant at McKinsey, Nadeem plunged into the world of entrepreneurship by joining up with his brother in San Francisco. It would be a hypothetical question of what they would do with $10 billion that propelled the creation of TKS back in their hometown, Calgary. Nadeem and his brother created a company that combined their love for learning and exponential technology and it's a journey I've had a lot of fun learning about.

]]> A blast from the past with a replay of the most popular episode of the quarter. 

Join in for a conversation with Nadeem Nathoo, Co-Founder and Executive Director at TKS (The Knowledge Society). The Knowledge Society is an education company that works with 13-17 year-olds to mine human potential to make unicorn people. From cold-emailing his way into an internship with, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunnus' Grameen Bank at 19, to being part of the first cohort of the Next 36, travelling throughout Africa at a young age, entrepreneurship and social impact was a major part of Nadeem's growth. After working as a consultant at McKinsey, Nadeem plunged into the world of entrepreneurship by joining up with his brother in San Francisco. It would be a hypothetical question of what they would do with $10 billion that propelled the creation of TKS back in their hometown, Calgary. Nadeem and his brother created a company that combined their love for learning and exponential technology and it's a journey I've had a lot of fun learning about.

]]> Thu, 26 Dec 2019 02:00:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4695 A blast from the past with a replay of the most popular episode of the quarter. Join in for a conversation with Nadeem Nathoo, Co-Founder and Executive Director at TKS (The Knowledge Society). The Knowledge Society is an education company that works with 13-17 year-olds to mine human potential to make unicorn people. From cold-emailing his way into an internship with, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunnus' Grameen Bank at 19, to being part of the first cohort of the Next 36, travelling throughout Africa at a young age, entrepreneurship and social impact was a major part of Nadeem's growth. After working as a consultant at McKinsey, Nadeem plunged into the world of entrepreneurship by joining up with his brother in San Francisco. It would be a hypothetical question of what they would do with $10 billion that propelled the creation of TKS back in their hometown, Calgary. Nadeem and his brother created a company that combined their love for learning and exponential technology and it's a journey I've had a lot of fun learning about. A blast from the past with a replay of the most popular episode of the quarter. Join in for a conversation with Nadeem Nathoo, Co-Founder and Executive Director at TKS (The Knowledge Society). The Knowledge Society is an education company that works w Yes #69 - Alex Castellani, Co-owner of Boxcar Social. Philosophy to Coffee and Entrepreneurship. 69 69 #69 - Alex Castellani, Co-owner of Boxcar Social. Philosophy to Coffee and Entrepreneurship. full 37aa2a72-27f8-41b3-9d80-6d7dc85a2ec0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/3f93f16d Join in for a conversation with Alex Castellani, Co-owner of Boxcar Social and veteran coffee professional. Boxcar Social is a cafe and bar with 4 locations in Toronto and 1 in Halifax and one of my go to places for some light acidic coffee. Alex got degrees in business and philosophy but instead of embarking on the path of an academic, he would make coffee his career through some fateful encounters from living in Vancouver to taking a break from school. We talk about his journey of building and growing Boxcar Social with his three partners, the state of coffee in Canada, the coffee value chain and more! We touch upon the tactical and philosophical in the world of coffee, food and entrepreneurship. 


]]> Join in for a conversation with Alex Castellani, Co-owner of Boxcar Social and veteran coffee professional. Boxcar Social is a cafe and bar with 4 locations in Toronto and 1 in Halifax and one of my go to places for some light acidic coffee. Alex got degrees in business and philosophy but instead of embarking on the path of an academic, he would make coffee his career through some fateful encounters from living in Vancouver to taking a break from school. We talk about his journey of building and growing Boxcar Social with his three partners, the state of coffee in Canada, the coffee value chain and more! We touch upon the tactical and philosophical in the world of coffee, food and entrepreneurship. 


]]> Wed, 18 Dec 2019 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 6518 Join in for a conversation with Alex Castellani, Co-owner of Boxcar Social and veteran coffee professional. Boxcar Social is a cafe and bar with 4 locations in Toronto and 1 in Halifax and one of my go to places for some light acidic coffee. Alex got degrees in business and philosophy but instead of embarking on the path of an academic, he would make coffee his career through some fateful encounters from living in Vancouver to taking a break from school. We talk about his journey of building and growing Boxcar Social with his three partners, the state of coffee in Canada, the coffee value chain and more! We touch upon the tactical and philosophical in the world of coffee, food and entrepreneurship. Join in for a conversation with Alex Castellani, Co-owner of Boxcar Social and veteran coffee professional. Boxcar Social is a cafe and bar with 4 locations in Toronto and 1 in Halifax and one of my go to places for some light acidic coffee. Alex got degr Yes #68 - Anonymous UX Designer Part 2: Q&A 68 68 #68 - Anonymous UX Designer Part 2: Q&A full c915088a-9871-4f0b-9972-9b9238000f31 https://share.transistor.fm/s/c46080cd Join in for my second anonymous conversation with the accountant turned UX designer from episode 60. Thanks to you my listeners writing in: we answer questions on whether having a bootcamp credential adds any value if your portfolio is already good, difference between college programs vs. Bootcamps vs. doing it by yourself, skills to prioritize to set yourself apart, why there are more senior design positions vs. junior ones, whether the guest would do the bootcamp again and learnings to make the process smoother. 


]]> Join in for my second anonymous conversation with the accountant turned UX designer from episode 60. Thanks to you my listeners writing in: we answer questions on whether having a bootcamp credential adds any value if your portfolio is already good, difference between college programs vs. Bootcamps vs. doing it by yourself, skills to prioritize to set yourself apart, why there are more senior design positions vs. junior ones, whether the guest would do the bootcamp again and learnings to make the process smoother. 


]]> Wed, 11 Dec 2019 23:35:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3274 Join in for my second anonymous conversation with the accountant turned UX designer from episode 60. Thanks to you my listeners writing in: we answer questions on whether having a bootcamp credential adds any value if your portfolio is already good, difference between college programs vs. Bootcamps vs. doing it by yourself, skills to prioritize to set yourself apart, why there are more senior design positions vs. junior ones, whether the guest would do the bootcamp again and learnings to make the process smoother. Join in for my second anonymous conversation with the accountant turned UX designer from episode 60. Thanks to you my listeners writing in: we answer questions on whether having a bootcamp credential adds any value if your portfolio is already good, diffe Yes #67 - Hans Arijanto, Product Engineer at Angelist. Running a Board Game Cafe, Tech in Toronto/SF/Jakarta and Culture at Toronto vs. Jakarta 67 67 #67 - Hans Arijanto, Product Engineer at Angelist. Running a Board Game Cafe, Tech in Toronto/SF/Jakarta and Culture at Toronto vs. Jakarta full 5b8ef069-b045-4aae-9811-393b334814e0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/280d0fdd Join in for a conversation with Hans Arijanto, Product Engineer at Angelist. We have a dual segment episode today. The first half talks about Hans’ career from working in startups in Toronto to Silicon Valley to Jakarta and back to Toronto. We dive into the various transition points in his career, why he left Facebook for a startup, how he ended up working for the Tokopedia, Amazon of Southeast Asia, and owns a board games cafe. Then, we go into a second part that is a new concept I’m trying out called Uncommon Sense. It’s a segment where I hope to have friends on and we talk about things that may be common sense to us but not others. With Hans, we go through philosophy and the cultural differences between Jakarta, Indonesia and Toronto, Canada.  


]]> Join in for a conversation with Hans Arijanto, Product Engineer at Angelist. We have a dual segment episode today. The first half talks about Hans’ career from working in startups in Toronto to Silicon Valley to Jakarta and back to Toronto. We dive into the various transition points in his career, why he left Facebook for a startup, how he ended up working for the Tokopedia, Amazon of Southeast Asia, and owns a board games cafe. Then, we go into a second part that is a new concept I’m trying out called Uncommon Sense. It’s a segment where I hope to have friends on and we talk about things that may be common sense to us but not others. With Hans, we go through philosophy and the cultural differences between Jakarta, Indonesia and Toronto, Canada.  


]]> Wed, 04 Dec 2019 22:00:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4702 Join in for a conversation with Hans Arijanto, Product Engineer at Angelist. We have a dual segment episode today. The first half talks about Hans’ career from working in startups in Toronto to Silicon Valley to Jakarta and back to Toronto. We dive into the various transition points in his career, why he left Facebook for a startup, how he ended up working for the Tokopedia, Amazon of Southeast Asia, and owns a board games cafe. Then, we go into a second part that is a new concept I’m trying out called Uncommon Sense. It’s a segment where I hope to have friends on and we talk about things that may be common sense to us but not others. With Hans, we go through philosophy and the cultural differences between Jakarta, Indonesia and Toronto, Canada. Join in for a conversation with Hans Arijanto, Product Engineer at Angelist. We have a dual segment episode today. The first half talks about Hans’ career from working in startups in Toronto to Silicon Valley to Jakarta and back to Toronto. We dive into t Yes #66 - AMA on My Podcasting Experience 66 66 #66 - AMA on My Podcasting Experience full ea3a4f64-776a-4f6f-8fd0-2e0c295535ae https://share.transistor.fm/s/fbe1e8c2 Join in for an AMA episode on Podcasting. From the numerous chats I’ve had related to my podcasting experience, I decided to answer the most commonly asked questions in a full episode. Here are the questions I cover:  

  • How much does the equipment cost?  
  • How did I find the equipment and what to use? 
  • How do you host and what analytics do you do? 
  • What software/tools do you use? 
  • What marketing do you do for the podcast? 
  • Why did you start the podcast? 
  • What’s kept you going for the last year? 
  • How do you get your guests? 
  • What would you do differently if you had to start it over again? 
  • What have you learned from doing the podcast? 
  • Do you make any money on the podcast? Have you tried? 
  • Why don’t you do video?  



]]> Join in for an AMA episode on Podcasting. From the numerous chats I’ve had related to my podcasting experience, I decided to answer the most commonly asked questions in a full episode. Here are the questions I cover:  

  • How much does the equipment cost?  
  • How did I find the equipment and what to use? 
  • How do you host and what analytics do you do? 
  • What software/tools do you use? 
  • What marketing do you do for the podcast? 
  • Why did you start the podcast? 
  • What’s kept you going for the last year? 
  • How do you get your guests? 
  • What would you do differently if you had to start it over again? 
  • What have you learned from doing the podcast? 
  • Do you make any money on the podcast? Have you tried? 
  • Why don’t you do video?  



]]> Wed, 27 Nov 2019 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3223 Join in for an AMA episode on Podcasting. From the numerous chats I’ve had related to my podcasting experience, I decided to answer the most commonly asked questions in a full episode. Join in for an AMA episode on Podcasting. From the numerous chats I’ve had related to my podcasting experience, I decided to answer the most commonly asked questions in a full episode. Yes #65 - Shawn Huang, Founder and CEO of 36paths. Finance to Building a Career Accelerator and Darkside of Solopreneurship. 65 65 #65 - Shawn Huang, Founder and CEO of 36paths. Finance to Building a Career Accelerator and Darkside of Solopreneurship. full 51c3cd13-41fc-414d-851f-55b93eecdeb9 https://share.transistor.fm/s/e8798b6b Join in for a conversation with Shawn Huang, Founder and CEO of 36paths, a career accelerator based in Toronto. Shawn immigrated to Canada as an international student from a city 2 hours outside of Shanghai China. Despite having a family tree filled with academics in all subjects of science, Shawn decided to study business to chase an internal entrepreneurial fire that had him sell soda cans as a kid and drop ship shoes as a kid. After building a career in finance as an investment banker and product manager of a FinTech startup in Toronto, he made the leap to go full-time into his career accelerator that helps international students, like himself, get jobs in various business careers. In our chat, we talk about his journey to starting 36paths, the cultural differences between Shanghai and Toronto, and what the first 6 months of solopreneurship has been like. It’s a conversation I really enjoyed having and we get quite deep and real as we share the shit sandwich we each ate in the first 6 months of our respective journey.   


]]> Join in for a conversation with Shawn Huang, Founder and CEO of 36paths, a career accelerator based in Toronto. Shawn immigrated to Canada as an international student from a city 2 hours outside of Shanghai China. Despite having a family tree filled with academics in all subjects of science, Shawn decided to study business to chase an internal entrepreneurial fire that had him sell soda cans as a kid and drop ship shoes as a kid. After building a career in finance as an investment banker and product manager of a FinTech startup in Toronto, he made the leap to go full-time into his career accelerator that helps international students, like himself, get jobs in various business careers. In our chat, we talk about his journey to starting 36paths, the cultural differences between Shanghai and Toronto, and what the first 6 months of solopreneurship has been like. It’s a conversation I really enjoyed having and we get quite deep and real as we share the shit sandwich we each ate in the first 6 months of our respective journey.   


]]> Wed, 20 Nov 2019 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 5550 Join in for a conversation with Shawn Huang, Founder and CEO of 36paths, a career accelerator based in Toronto. Shawn immigrated to Canada as an international student from a city 2 hours outside of Shanghai China. Despite having a family tree filled with academics in all subjects of science, Shawn decided to study business to chase an internal entrepreneurial fire that had him sell soda cans as a kid and drop ship shoes as a kid. After building a career in finance as an investment banker and product manager of a FinTech startup in Toronto, he made the leap to go full-time into his career accelerator that helps international students, like himself, get jobs in various business careers. In our chat, we talk about his journey to starting 36paths, the cultural differences between Shanghai and Toronto, and what the first 6 months of solopreneurship has been like. It’s a conversation I really enjoyed having and we get quite deep and real as we share the shit sandwich we each ate in the first 6 months of our respective journey. Join in for a conversation with Shawn Huang, Founder and CEO of 36paths, a career accelerator based in Toronto. Shawn immigrated to Canada as an international student from a city 2 hours outside of Shanghai China. Despite having a family tree filled with Yes #64 - Carolyn Plater, Co-Founder of Hoame & Ease. Psychotherapist and Mental Health Clinicians Entrepreneurial Journey to Building North America's Largest Meditation Studio. 64 64 #64 - Carolyn Plater, Co-Founder of Hoame & Ease. Psychotherapist and Mental Health Clinicians Entrepreneurial Journey to Building North America's Largest Meditation Studio. full ec61da45-20bb-4cf9-b208-043d923eeeb3 https://share.transistor.fm/s/c304828e Join in for a conversation with Carolyn Plater, a psychotherapist and mental health clinician who is the Co-founder of Hoame (North America's largest meditation studio) and Ease (Corporate Wellness Consulting Company). Before starting Hoame and East 2 years ago, Carolyn spent 10+ years in the mental health space as a therapist, clinician and crisis worker who worked with various mental health patients in schools, foster homes, and hospitals. Though her mother's nursing career had influenced her to dream about a career of helping people in the future, it would be a pivotal decision to transfer out of her English major that sends her down the world of psychology and mental health. Her frustration with the reactionary nature of mental health care led to starting Ease with her current co-founder, Steph, and they ventured out to create a state of the art meditation studio in downtown Toronto. In our chat, we go in-depth into Carolyn's journey, her experience with meditation, how people could get started, the entrepreneurial journey of starting a meditation studio and more.


]]> Join in for a conversation with Carolyn Plater, a psychotherapist and mental health clinician who is the Co-founder of Hoame (North America's largest meditation studio) and Ease (Corporate Wellness Consulting Company). Before starting Hoame and East 2 years ago, Carolyn spent 10+ years in the mental health space as a therapist, clinician and crisis worker who worked with various mental health patients in schools, foster homes, and hospitals. Though her mother's nursing career had influenced her to dream about a career of helping people in the future, it would be a pivotal decision to transfer out of her English major that sends her down the world of psychology and mental health. Her frustration with the reactionary nature of mental health care led to starting Ease with her current co-founder, Steph, and they ventured out to create a state of the art meditation studio in downtown Toronto. In our chat, we go in-depth into Carolyn's journey, her experience with meditation, how people could get started, the entrepreneurial journey of starting a meditation studio and more.


]]> Wed, 13 Nov 2019 12:00:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3951 Join in for a conversation with Carolyn Plater, a psychotherapist and mental health clinician who is the Co-founder of Hoame (North America's largest meditation studio) and Ease (Corporate Wellness Consulting Company). Before starting Hoame and East 2 years ago, Carolyn spent 10+ years in the mental health space as a therapist, clinician and crisis worker who worked with various mental health patients in schools, foster homes, and hospitals. Though her mother's nursing career had influenced her to dream about a career of helping people in the future, it would be a pivotal decision to transfer out of her English major that sends her down the world of psychology and mental health. Her frustration with the reactionary nature of mental health care led to starting Ease with her current co-founder, Steph, and they ventured out to create a state of the art meditation studio in downtown Toronto. In our chat, we go in-depth into Carolyn's journey, her experience with meditation, how people could get started, the entrepreneurial journey of starting a meditation studio and more. Join in for a conversation with Carolyn Plater, a psychotherapist and mental health clinician who is the Co-founder of Hoame (North America's largest meditation studio) and Ease (Corporate Wellness Consulting Company). Before starting Hoame and East 2 yea careers, entrepreneurship, startup, toronto, canada, business Yes #63 - [Semi-Anonymous] Accountant turned Software Developer w/ Bootcamps. 63 63 #63 - [Semi-Anonymous] Accountant turned Software Developer w/ Bootcamps. full afc1394b-5ab0-4a64-9461-9db2c9b6aa90 https://share.transistor.fm/s/f19f2470 Today is a little different. A semi-anonymous podcast. I say semi because the guest wanted to keep his identity open in case people had follow-up questions for him. My guest today is Vince and we explore his journey from the world of Big 4 audit to transitioning to be a software developer by going through a bootcamp. In our conversation we go through his process of making the jump, why he decided to do a bootcamp, the assumption vs. reality of bootcamps, the surprises in the transition and what life is like after accounting. 


]]> Today is a little different. A semi-anonymous podcast. I say semi because the guest wanted to keep his identity open in case people had follow-up questions for him. My guest today is Vince and we explore his journey from the world of Big 4 audit to transitioning to be a software developer by going through a bootcamp. In our conversation we go through his process of making the jump, why he decided to do a bootcamp, the assumption vs. reality of bootcamps, the surprises in the transition and what life is like after accounting. 


]]> Thu, 07 Nov 2019 14:00:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4292 Today is a little different. A semi-anonymous podcast. I say semi because the guest wanted to keep his identity open in case people had follow-up questions for him. My guest today is Vince and we explore his journey from the world of Big 4 audit to transitioning to be a software developer by going through a bootcamp. In our conversation we go through his process of making the jump, why he decided to do a bootcamp, the assumption vs. reality of bootcamps, the surprises in the transition and what life is like after accounting. Today is a little different. A semi-anonymous podcast. I say semi because the guest wanted to keep his identity open in case people had follow-up questions for him. My guest today is Vince and we explore his journey from the world of Big 4 audit to transi Yes #62 - [Anonymous] Back-End Software Engineer & Remote 4-Hour Work Weeks 62 62 #62 - [Anonymous] Back-End Software Engineer & Remote 4-Hour Work Weeks full e61d08fa-ba0c-4259-90b6-2e5cb9d63953 https://share.transistor.fm/s/c2974914 Today is another anonymous podcast. We go deep into the life of an experienced back-end software engineer. The interview gets quite technical as I have my guest go deep into explaining what software engineers do so that a non-engineer like me can understand. We also talk about how the guest hires and interviews engineers, the industry, and how my guest has managed to create a situation of remote working with 4 hour work weeks (quite literally at times). 


]]> Today is another anonymous podcast. We go deep into the life of an experienced back-end software engineer. The interview gets quite technical as I have my guest go deep into explaining what software engineers do so that a non-engineer like me can understand. We also talk about how the guest hires and interviews engineers, the industry, and how my guest has managed to create a situation of remote working with 4 hour work weeks (quite literally at times). 


]]> Wed, 30 Oct 2019 19:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 5275 Today is another anonymous podcast. We go deep into the life of an experienced back-end software engineer. The interview gets quite technical as I have my guest go deep into explaining what software engineers do so that a non-engineer like me can understand. We also talk about how the guest hires and interviews engineers, the industry, and how my guest has managed to create a situation of remote working with 4 hour work weeks (quite literally at times). Today is another anonymous podcast. We go deep into the life of an experienced back-end software engineer. The interview gets quite technical as I have my guest go deep into explaining what software engineers do so that a non-engineer like me can understa Yes #61 - George Khalife, Head of Marketing & Business Development at owl.co. A Background in Finance, DNA of an Entrepreneur and an Unconventional Path. 61 61 #61 - George Khalife, Head of Marketing & Business Development at owl.co. A Background in Finance, DNA of an Entrepreneur and an Unconventional Path. full 16cf37c3-b82d-4dba-af5f-fbb005d812c3 https://share.transistor.fm/s/28626736 Join in for a conversation with George Khalife, Head of Marketing & Business Development at owl.co, Host of Let's Grab a Coffee podcast and Co-founder of BookBack app. Having grown up in the middle east from Lebanon to Bahrain, the merchant blood and a passion for building relationships was rooted in his upbringing. Seeing the world through his father's career in finance brought him to be a finance major in university and start the student investment club at University of Ottawa. However, instead of pursuing traditional investment banking careers like his peers he went into sales and marketing. Pursuing a career in the realm of business development, sales and marketing was not a conventional option discussed in university but from listening to colleagues and observing what gave him energy George moved down the unconventional path where he saw an opportunity to merge his interests in Finance, and a newly growing one in technology as he saw the big wave of Tech IPOs in Toronto. We go through his various transitions from working at the TMX Group to investment banking and a startup as well as what someone actually does in business development. I hope my conversation with George adds value to your own career journey.  


]]> Join in for a conversation with George Khalife, Head of Marketing & Business Development at owl.co, Host of Let's Grab a Coffee podcast and Co-founder of BookBack app. Having grown up in the middle east from Lebanon to Bahrain, the merchant blood and a passion for building relationships was rooted in his upbringing. Seeing the world through his father's career in finance brought him to be a finance major in university and start the student investment club at University of Ottawa. However, instead of pursuing traditional investment banking careers like his peers he went into sales and marketing. Pursuing a career in the realm of business development, sales and marketing was not a conventional option discussed in university but from listening to colleagues and observing what gave him energy George moved down the unconventional path where he saw an opportunity to merge his interests in Finance, and a newly growing one in technology as he saw the big wave of Tech IPOs in Toronto. We go through his various transitions from working at the TMX Group to investment banking and a startup as well as what someone actually does in business development. I hope my conversation with George adds value to your own career journey.  


]]> Wed, 23 Oct 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4515 Join in for a conversation with George Khalife, Head of Marketing & Business Development at owl.co, Host of Let's Grab a Coffee podcast and Co-founder of BookBack app. Having grown up in the middle east from Lebanon to Bahrain, the merchant blood and a passion for building relationships was rooted in his upbringing. Seeing the world through his father's career in finance brought him to be a finance major in university and start the student investment club at University of Ottawa. However, instead of pursuing traditional investment banking careers like his peers he went into sales and marketing. Pursuing a career in the realm of business development, sales and marketing was not a conventional option discussed in university but from listening to colleagues and observing what gave him energy George moved down the unconventional path where he saw an opportunity to merge his interests in Finance, and a newly growing one in technology as he saw the big wave of Tech IPOs in Toronto. We go through his various transitions from working at the TMX Group to investment banking and a startup as well as what someone actually does in business development. I hope my conversation with George adds value to your own career journey. Join in for a conversation with George Khalife, Head of Marketing & Business Development at owl.co, Host of Let's Grab a Coffee podcast and Co-founder of BookBack app. Having grown up in the middle east from Lebanon to Bahrain, the merchant blood and Yes #60 - [Anonymous] UX/UI Design Bootcamp & Transition From Accounting & Tax 60 60 #60 - [Anonymous] UX/UI Design Bootcamp & Transition From Accounting & Tax full b47dbc00-d4e9-4425-8014-5c4b3b27b2df https://share.transistor.fm/s/dfea88c3 Today is another anonymous podcast. In this episode, I dig into my guest's journey of leaving the world of accounting and tax to Product UX/UI Design at a Startup. For those unfamiliar with product design, I would recommend listening to episode 20 with Jason Li who now runs a product design agency called TomYum. In this conversation, we talk about my guest's experience leaving the coveted professional service world with a manager's title, the decision making process behind it and what it was like taking a jump to the unknown without any prior background in 'creative' fields. We talk deeper in the guest's honest experience with bootcamps, the design job market in Toronto and more!


]]> Today is another anonymous podcast. In this episode, I dig into my guest's journey of leaving the world of accounting and tax to Product UX/UI Design at a Startup. For those unfamiliar with product design, I would recommend listening to episode 20 with Jason Li who now runs a product design agency called TomYum. In this conversation, we talk about my guest's experience leaving the coveted professional service world with a manager's title, the decision making process behind it and what it was like taking a jump to the unknown without any prior background in 'creative' fields. We talk deeper in the guest's honest experience with bootcamps, the design job market in Toronto and more!


]]> Wed, 16 Oct 2019 09:00:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4493 Today is another anonymous podcast. In this episode, I dig into my guest's journey of leaving the world of accounting and tax to Product UX/UI Design at a Startup. For those unfamiliar with product design, I would recommend listening to episode 20 with Jason Li who now runs a product design agency called TomYum. In this conversation, we talk about my guest's experience leaving the coveted professional service world with a manager's title, the decision making process behind it and what it was like taking a jump to the unknown without any prior background in 'creative' fields. We talk deeper in the guest's honest experience with bootcamps, the design job market in Toronto and more! Today is another anonymous podcast. In this episode, I dig into my guest's journey of leaving the world of accounting and tax to Product UX/UI Design at a Startup. For those unfamiliar with product design, I would recommend listening to episode 20 with Ja Yes [Replay] #25 - Tom Lowden, Labs Manager of WeWork Toronto. Operating Coffee Shops, Startup Incubators and Co-working spaces. [Replay] #25 - Tom Lowden, Labs Manager of WeWork Toronto. Operating Coffee Shops, Startup Incubators and Co-working spaces. bonus 3638e4ed-f189-4614-8243-48b1e93a6561 https://share.transistor.fm/s/7bb58fc4 Another blast from the past. Join in for a conversation with Tom Lowden, the Labs Manager of WeWork Toronto. Prior to WeWork, Tom build out a skill set in fundraising for the public sector after having explored a number of different opportunities. After that experience he was the inaugural, I daresay the 'founding' team, of Toronto's Creative Destruction Lab incubator and he went on to become an investor and operator with Boat Rocker Ventures where he brought to life the Dineen coffee shops. Tom's fascinating career is one filled with entrepreneurial spirit and I hope you find it as enjoyable and exciting as I did.  


]]> Another blast from the past. Join in for a conversation with Tom Lowden, the Labs Manager of WeWork Toronto. Prior to WeWork, Tom build out a skill set in fundraising for the public sector after having explored a number of different opportunities. After that experience he was the inaugural, I daresay the 'founding' team, of Toronto's Creative Destruction Lab incubator and he went on to become an investor and operator with Boat Rocker Ventures where he brought to life the Dineen coffee shops. Tom's fascinating career is one filled with entrepreneurial spirit and I hope you find it as enjoyable and exciting as I did.  


]]> Wed, 09 Oct 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4282 Another blast from the past. Join in for a conversation with Tom Lowden, the Labs Manager of WeWork Toronto. Prior to WeWork, Tom build out a skill set in fundraising for the public sector after having explored a number of different opportunities. After that experience he was the inaugural, I daresay the 'founding' team, of Toronto's Creative Destruction Lab incubator and he went on to become an investor and operator with Boat Rocker Ventures where he brought to life the Dineen coffee shops. Tom's fascinating career is one filled with entrepreneurial spirit and I hope you find it as enjoyable and exciting as I did. Another blast from the past. Join in for a conversation with Tom Lowden, the Labs Manager of WeWork Toronto. Prior to WeWork, Tom build out a skill set in fundraising for the public sector after having explored a number of different opportunities. After t Yes [Replay] - #1 - Ian Weng. Big 4 Audit, Entrepreneurship to Operations and Marketplace at UberEats [Replay] - #1 - Ian Weng. Big 4 Audit, Entrepreneurship to Operations and Marketplace at UberEats bonus cacf77f5-d90a-4f5d-86fb-a2ccec231429 https://share.transistor.fm/s/70830c18 Join in for a conversation with Ian Weng, an operations and logistics manager and Vancouver market lead for UberEats. Ian and I met at the University of Waterloo and we both started our career in Audit at KPMG. Since then Ian has taken a unique journey through infrastructure investing, a food startup and then to his current role at UberEats where he has noted that Uber's unique business model makes the role very different from his counterparts in other big tech firms like Google or Facebook. 

]]> Join in for a conversation with Ian Weng, an operations and logistics manager and Vancouver market lead for UberEats. Ian and I met at the University of Waterloo and we both started our career in Audit at KPMG. Since then Ian has taken a unique journey through infrastructure investing, a food startup and then to his current role at UberEats where he has noted that Uber's unique business model makes the role very different from his counterparts in other big tech firms like Google or Facebook. 

]]> Wed, 02 Oct 2019 09:00:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3485 A blast from the past. Join in for a conversation with Ian Weng, an operations and logistics manager and Vancouver market lead for UberEats. Ian and I met at the University of Waterloo and we both started our career in Audit at KPMG. Since then Ian has taken a unique journey through infrastructure investing, a food startup and then to his current role at UberEats where he has noted that Uber's unique business model makes the role very different from his counterparts in other big tech firms like Google or Facebook. A blast from the past. Join in for a conversation with Ian Weng, an operations and logistics manager and Vancouver market lead for UberEats. Ian and I met at the University of Waterloo and we both started our career in Audit at KPMG. Since then Ian has ta careers, technology, entrepreneurship, startup, uber Yes #59 - Shubha Dasgupta, President and CEO of Capital Lending Centre. Trucking to Mortgages, Tackling and Changing Old Industries. 59 59 #59 - Shubha Dasgupta, President and CEO of Capital Lending Centre. Trucking to Mortgages, Tackling and Changing Old Industries. full f42c0a4c-9d9f-40d9-8c99-2251ca6f3d08 https://share.transistor.fm/s/760e4c4a Join in for a conversation with Shubha Dasgupta, President, and CEO at Capital Lending Centre (CLC). CLC is a brokerage house for mortgage brokers in Canada that grew from just 6 in 2017 to 160+ in 2019 and is one of the fastest-growing mortgage brokers in the country. Shubha and his partner, Kendall, started CLC to be a new kind of mortgage brokerage house, one they wish they had when they started. Shubha's been in the mortgage industry for more than 10 years and before this part of his career, he started a transportation logistics business with a friend right out of high school. He entered the old trucking business as a wide-eyed 18-year-old and build a business that would be transporting toys made in Toronto all the way down to Disney World in Florida. In our chat, we go talk through Shubha's entrepreneurial journey in two old industries: trucking and mortgages, the lessons he had from starting the different businesses and how two pivotal moments that involving his grandmother and his mother altered his career and his passion for philanthropy.  


]]> Join in for a conversation with Shubha Dasgupta, President, and CEO at Capital Lending Centre (CLC). CLC is a brokerage house for mortgage brokers in Canada that grew from just 6 in 2017 to 160+ in 2019 and is one of the fastest-growing mortgage brokers in the country. Shubha and his partner, Kendall, started CLC to be a new kind of mortgage brokerage house, one they wish they had when they started. Shubha's been in the mortgage industry for more than 10 years and before this part of his career, he started a transportation logistics business with a friend right out of high school. He entered the old trucking business as a wide-eyed 18-year-old and build a business that would be transporting toys made in Toronto all the way down to Disney World in Florida. In our chat, we go talk through Shubha's entrepreneurial journey in two old industries: trucking and mortgages, the lessons he had from starting the different businesses and how two pivotal moments that involving his grandmother and his mother altered his career and his passion for philanthropy.  


]]> Wed, 25 Sep 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4386 Join in for a conversation with Shubha Dasgupta, President, and CEO at Capital Lending Centre (CLC). CLC is a brokerage house for mortgage brokers in Canada that grew from just 6 in 2017 to 160+ in 2019 and is one of the fastest-growing mortgage brokers in the country. Shubha and his partner, Kendall, started CLC to be a new kind of mortgage brokerage house, one they wish they had when they started. Shubha's been in the mortgage industry for more than 10 years and before this part of his career, he started a transportation logistics business with a friend right out of high school. He entered the old trucking business as a wide-eyed 18-year-old and build a business that would be transporting toys made in Toronto all the way down to Disney World in Florida. In our chat, we go talk through Shubha's entrepreneurial journey in two old industries: trucking and mortgages, the lessons he had from starting the different businesses and how two pivotal moments that involving his grandmother and his mother altered his career and his passion for philanthropy. Join in for a conversation with Shubha Dasgupta, President, and CEO at Capital Lending Centre (CLC). CLC is a brokerage house for mortgage brokers in Canada that grew from just 6 in 2017 to 160+ in 2019 and is one of the fastest-growing mortgage brokers i careers, entrepreneurship, mortgage Yes #58 - Graeme Moffat, Chief Scientist and VP of Regulatory Affairs at Interaxon. PhD's Global Journey in NeuroTech Startups. 58 58 #58 - Graeme Moffat, Chief Scientist and VP of Regulatory Affairs at Interaxon. PhD's Global Journey in NeuroTech Startups. full 77750faa-6fcc-41be-b5cf-b6c823d34832 https://share.transistor.fm/s/1f183d3d Join in for a conversation with Graeme Moffat, Chief Scientist and VP of Regulatory Affairs at Interaxon. Interaxon is a neurotech company based out of Toronto. They are the creators of the Muse headband where it uses technology and neuroscience to help you meditate effectively, one of the world-leading companies making this happen. Graham earned his PhD in neuroscience at Universite Aix-Marseille in France but he had his sights set on joining the private sector during his early neuroscience education at McMaster university. He was bit by the startup bug whilst building the largest neuroscience publication platform in Switzerland and that led him to become the Chief Scientist at Meta, a NeuroTech company that got acquired by the Chan-Zuckerburg Foundation, and later to become the Chief Scientist at Interaxon. In our chat we cover Graham's fascinating global journey as a neuroscientist, the academic world, the childhood that started his fascination with the human brain and much more. I should also add that I selfishly wanted to learn more about neuroscience and meditation so we also geek out about all of that in the episode as well!  


]]> Join in for a conversation with Graeme Moffat, Chief Scientist and VP of Regulatory Affairs at Interaxon. Interaxon is a neurotech company based out of Toronto. They are the creators of the Muse headband where it uses technology and neuroscience to help you meditate effectively, one of the world-leading companies making this happen. Graham earned his PhD in neuroscience at Universite Aix-Marseille in France but he had his sights set on joining the private sector during his early neuroscience education at McMaster university. He was bit by the startup bug whilst building the largest neuroscience publication platform in Switzerland and that led him to become the Chief Scientist at Meta, a NeuroTech company that got acquired by the Chan-Zuckerburg Foundation, and later to become the Chief Scientist at Interaxon. In our chat we cover Graham's fascinating global journey as a neuroscientist, the academic world, the childhood that started his fascination with the human brain and much more. I should also add that I selfishly wanted to learn more about neuroscience and meditation so we also geek out about all of that in the episode as well!  


]]> Wed, 18 Sep 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3387 Join in for a conversation with Graeme Moffat, Chief Scientist and VP of Regulatory Affairs at Interaxon. Interaxon is a neurotech company based out of Toronto. They are the creators of the Muse headband where it uses technology and neuroscience to help you meditate effectively, one of the world-leading companies making this happen. Graham earned his PhD in neuroscience at Universite Aix-Marseille in France but he had his sights set on joining the private sector during his early neuroscience education at McMaster university. He was bit by the startup bug whilst building the largest neuroscience publication platform in Switzerland and that led him to become the Chief Scientist at Meta, a NeuroTech company that got acquired by the Chan-Zuckerburg Foundation, and later to become the Chief Scientist at Interaxon. In our chat we cover Graham's fascinating global journey as a neuroscientist, the academic world, the childhood that started his fascination with the human brain and much more. I should also add that I selfishly wanted to learn more about neuroscience and meditation so we also geek out about all of that in the episode as well! Join in for a conversation with Graeme Moffat, Chief Scientist and VP of Regulatory Affairs at Interaxon. Interaxon is a neurotech company based out of Toronto. They are the creators of the Muse headband where it uses technology and neuroscience to help y career, technology, neuroscience, startup, entrepreneurship Yes #57 - Henry Shi, Co-Founder and CTO of SnapTravel. Leaping From The Google Sabbatical To Build A Global Travel Company. 57 57 #57 - Henry Shi, Co-Founder and CTO of SnapTravel. Leaping From The Google Sabbatical To Build A Global Travel Company. full 4c1be952-1597-4ba5-9517-29e99076a953 https://share.transistor.fm/s/805ea9e0 Join in for a conversation with Henry Shi, Co-Founder and CTO of SnapTravel. As the name implies, SnapTravel is a travel company headquartered in Toronto that creates a seamless experience for you to book your hotel accommodating through easy instant messaging apps. Henry and SnapTravel made the news rounds when they raised their Series A round with Golden State's Steph Curry and Henry's acceptance onto the Forbes 30 under 30 list. SnapTravel is Henry's third startup company after having created two others while at the University of Waterloo's Velocity student incubator and Canada's Next 36 program. After his first two startups, Henry decided to take a startup sabbatical by getting a low-stress job at Google. In our conversation we go through the learning Henry had from his first two startups, the decision behind working at Google, the early years of starting SnapTravel and the major mental model he uses for many of his decision makings.


]]> Join in for a conversation with Henry Shi, Co-Founder and CTO of SnapTravel. As the name implies, SnapTravel is a travel company headquartered in Toronto that creates a seamless experience for you to book your hotel accommodating through easy instant messaging apps. Henry and SnapTravel made the news rounds when they raised their Series A round with Golden State's Steph Curry and Henry's acceptance onto the Forbes 30 under 30 list. SnapTravel is Henry's third startup company after having created two others while at the University of Waterloo's Velocity student incubator and Canada's Next 36 program. After his first two startups, Henry decided to take a startup sabbatical by getting a low-stress job at Google. In our conversation we go through the learning Henry had from his first two startups, the decision behind working at Google, the early years of starting SnapTravel and the major mental model he uses for many of his decision makings.


]]> Wed, 11 Sep 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4417 Join in for a conversation with Henry Shi, Co-Founder and CTO of SnapTravel. As the name implies, SnapTravel is a travel company headquartered in Toronto that creates a seamless experience for you to book your hotel accommodating through easy instant messaging apps. Henry and SnapTravel made the news rounds when they raised their Series A round with Golden State's Steph Curry and Henry's acceptance onto the Forbes 30 under 30 list. SnapTravel is Henry's third startup company after having created two others while at the University of Waterloo's Velocity student incubator and Canada's Next 36 program. After his first two startups, Henry decided to take a startup sabbatical by getting a low-stress job at Google. In our conversation we go through the learning Henry had from his first two startups, the decision behind working at Google, the early years of starting SnapTravel and the major mental model he uses for many of his decision makings. Join in for a conversation with Henry Shi, Co-Founder and CTO of SnapTravel. As the name implies, SnapTravel is a travel company headquartered in Toronto that creates a seamless experience for you to book your hotel accommodating through easy instant mess Careers, technology, startup, entrepreneurship, travel Yes #56 - Eric Arnold, Co-Founder and CEO of Planswell. A $100K dream, 10 startups, and building a transparent fintech company. 56 56 #56 - Eric Arnold, Co-Founder and CEO of Planswell. A $100K dream, 10 startups, and building a transparent fintech company. full f1404319-3bb5-4a73-b818-1038c5544729 https://share.transistor.fm/s/a483ba8a Join in for a conversation with Eric Arnold, Co-Founder and CEO of Planswell. Planswell is a fintech company based in Toronto that is a one-stop shop for financial information and advice to Canadians. On his journey of starting Planswell Eric had nine other businesses. His entrepreneurial push started early with a desire to make $100,000 as a young teenager and a school environment where he constantly felt misunderstood propelled him down this path. We explore what this $100,000 goal meant for Eric, how it propelled him on his entrepreneurial journey, the key learnings he had from each venture, going without a mentor, proving naysayers at his financial job wrong, and the financial roller coaster of building Planswell. I mean, will you rack up $250K in personal credit card debt to not miss your own team's payroll? Eric has focused on creating a transparent company where he values inclusivity for his people as we discuss not only his journey but philosophy on creating a company for his people.  


]]> Join in for a conversation with Eric Arnold, Co-Founder and CEO of Planswell. Planswell is a fintech company based in Toronto that is a one-stop shop for financial information and advice to Canadians. On his journey of starting Planswell Eric had nine other businesses. His entrepreneurial push started early with a desire to make $100,000 as a young teenager and a school environment where he constantly felt misunderstood propelled him down this path. We explore what this $100,000 goal meant for Eric, how it propelled him on his entrepreneurial journey, the key learnings he had from each venture, going without a mentor, proving naysayers at his financial job wrong, and the financial roller coaster of building Planswell. I mean, will you rack up $250K in personal credit card debt to not miss your own team's payroll? Eric has focused on creating a transparent company where he values inclusivity for his people as we discuss not only his journey but philosophy on creating a company for his people.  


]]> Wed, 04 Sep 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4294 Join in for a conversation with Eric Arnold, Co-Founder and CEO of Planswell. Planswell is a fintech company based in Toronto that is a one-stop shop for financial information and advice to Canadians. On his journey of starting Planswell Eric had nine other businesses. His entrepreneurial push started early with a desire to make $100,000 as a young teenager and a school environment where he constantly felt misunderstood propelled him down this path. We explore what this $100,000 goal meant for Eric, how it propelled him on his entrepreneurial journey, the key learnings he had from each venture, going without a mentor, proving naysayers at his financial job wrong, and the financial roller coaster of building Planswell. I mean, will you rack up $250K in personal credit card debt to not miss your own team's payroll? Eric has focused on creating a transparent company where he values inclusivity for his people as we discuss not only his journey but philosophy on creating a company for his people. Join in for a conversation with Eric Arnold, Co-Founder and CEO of Planswell. Planswell is a fintech company based in Toronto that is a one-stop shop for financial information and advice to Canadians. On his journey of starting Planswell Eric had nine oth Yes #55 - Nadeem Nathoo, Co-Founder and Executive Director at TKS. Building a Social Enterprise, Exploring Exponential Technology and Mining Untapped Human Potential. 55 55 #55 - Nadeem Nathoo, Co-Founder and Executive Director at TKS. Building a Social Enterprise, Exploring Exponential Technology and Mining Untapped Human Potential. full 6b63f5e7-3c87-48d1-9963-14d08bb31899 https://share.transistor.fm/s/aab8f55b Join in for a conversation with Nadeem Nathoo, Co-Founder and Executive Director at TKS (The Knowledge Society). The Knowledge Society is an education company that works with 13-17 year-olds to mine human potential to make unicorn people. From cold-emailing his way into an internship with, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunnus' Grameen Bank at 19, to being part of the first cohort of the Next 36, traveling throughout Africa at a young age, entrepreneurship and social impact was a major part of Nadeem's growth. After working as a consultant at McKinsey, Nadeem plunged into the world of entrepreneurship by joining up with his brother in San Francisco. It would be a hypothetical question of what they would do with $10 billion that propelled the creation of TKS back in their hometown, Calgary. Nadeem and his brother created a company that combined their love for learning and exponential technology and it's a journey I've had a lot of fun learning about.


]]> Join in for a conversation with Nadeem Nathoo, Co-Founder and Executive Director at TKS (The Knowledge Society). The Knowledge Society is an education company that works with 13-17 year-olds to mine human potential to make unicorn people. From cold-emailing his way into an internship with, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunnus' Grameen Bank at 19, to being part of the first cohort of the Next 36, traveling throughout Africa at a young age, entrepreneurship and social impact was a major part of Nadeem's growth. After working as a consultant at McKinsey, Nadeem plunged into the world of entrepreneurship by joining up with his brother in San Francisco. It would be a hypothetical question of what they would do with $10 billion that propelled the creation of TKS back in their hometown, Calgary. Nadeem and his brother created a company that combined their love for learning and exponential technology and it's a journey I've had a lot of fun learning about.


]]> Wed, 28 Aug 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4695 Join in for a conversation with Nadeem Nathoo, Co-Founder and Executive Director at TKS (The Knowledge Society). The Knowledge Society is an education company that works with 13-17 year-olds to mine human potential to make unicorn people. From cold-emailing his way into an internship with, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunnus' Grameen Bank at 19, to being part of the first cohort of the Next 36, traveling throughout Africa at a young age, entrepreneurship and social impact was a major part of Nadeem's growth. After working as a consultant at McKinsey, Nadeem plunged into the world of entrepreneurship by joining up with his brother in San Francisco. It would be a hypothetical question of what they would do with $10 billion that propelled the creation of TKS back in their hometown, Calgary. Nadeem and his brother created a company that combined their love for learning and exponential technology and it's a journey I've had a lot of fun learning about. Join in for a conversation with Nadeem Nathoo, Co-Founder and Executive Director at TKS (The Knowledge Society). The Knowledge Society is an education company that works with 13-17 year-olds to mine human potential to make unicorn people. From cold-emaili careers, entrepreneurship, technology, canada Yes #54 - Rob Catalano, Co-Founder and Chief Engagement Officer at WorkTango. Passion-Driven Journey to Bootstrap and Improve Work Lives. 54 54 #54 - Rob Catalano, Co-Founder and Chief Engagement Officer at WorkTango. Passion-Driven Journey to Bootstrap and Improve Work Lives. full 3c3daf3e-e9f5-458a-98eb-9b6988133d85 https://share.transistor.fm/s/98ec9f1d Join in for a conversation with Rob Catalano, Co-Founder and CEO (Chief Engagement Officer) at WorkTango. WorkTango is an HR software company based out of Toronto with a passion to improve work lives. Rob started out his career in the world of traditional marketing for consumer goods and quickly got interested in what drove human behaviour. He became one of the early employees at Achievers, the employee rewards program. This was not the master plan. Rob had left the marketing world to start his next venture but it was a fateful application to a bootstrapped startup he didn't know about that propelled a 10-year career into the world of HR and changing workplaces. After Achievers was acquired Rob had the choice of staying on as a C-suite executive with a very cushy compensation package but he left it to pursue his passion. He left Achievers with his co-founder to bootstrap WorkTango and it's been a 4-year journey of building a company with a passion, not a mission. We cover Rob's various inflection points in his journey, making tough but obvious decisions, and following a passion. 


]]> Join in for a conversation with Rob Catalano, Co-Founder and CEO (Chief Engagement Officer) at WorkTango. WorkTango is an HR software company based out of Toronto with a passion to improve work lives. Rob started out his career in the world of traditional marketing for consumer goods and quickly got interested in what drove human behaviour. He became one of the early employees at Achievers, the employee rewards program. This was not the master plan. Rob had left the marketing world to start his next venture but it was a fateful application to a bootstrapped startup he didn't know about that propelled a 10-year career into the world of HR and changing workplaces. After Achievers was acquired Rob had the choice of staying on as a C-suite executive with a very cushy compensation package but he left it to pursue his passion. He left Achievers with his co-founder to bootstrap WorkTango and it's been a 4-year journey of building a company with a passion, not a mission. We cover Rob's various inflection points in his journey, making tough but obvious decisions, and following a passion. 


]]> Wed, 21 Aug 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4255 Join in for a conversation with Rob Catalano, Co-Founder and CEO (Chief Engagement Officer) at WorkTango. WorkTango is an HR software company based out of Toronto with a passion to improve work lives. Rob started out his career in the world of traditional marketing for consumer goods and quickly got interested in what drove human behaviour. He became one of the early employees at Achievers, the employee rewards program. This was not the master plan. Rob had left the marketing world to start his next venture but it was a fateful application to a bootstrapped startup he didn't know about that propelled a 10-year career into the world of HR and changing workplaces. After Achievers was acquired Rob had the choice of staying on as a C-suite executive with a very cushy compensation package but he left it to pursue his passion. He left Achievers with his co-founder to bootstrap WorkTango and it's been a 4-year journey of building a company with a passion, not a mission. We cover Rob's various inflection points in his journey, making tough but obvious decisions, and following a passion. Join in for a conversation with Rob Catalano, Co-Founder and CEO (Chief Engagement Officer) at WorkTango. WorkTango is an HR software company based out of Toronto with a passion to improve work lives. Rob started out his career in the world of traditional technology, careers, entrepreneurship, self-improvement, personal development Yes #53 - The 52 Episode Journey. Reflections on Learnings and Experiences in 1st Year of Accounted For 53 53 #53 - The 52 Episode Journey. Reflections on Learnings and Experiences in 1st Year of Accounted For full 44e891f5-e31a-4803-b45a-4b711ccd9209 https://share.transistor.fm/s/0c41bfe8 It's been 52 episodes. That's 52 new conversations with 51 different guests (one of the 52 was my first solo episode on my journey). This is another solo episode where I talk about what I've learned in the year of building Accounted For. I cover the challenges in the early days, philosophy on moonlighting, handling advice, art of questioning, plans never working out, surviving, the future of Accounted For and more.


]]> It's been 52 episodes. That's 52 new conversations with 51 different guests (one of the 52 was my first solo episode on my journey). This is another solo episode where I talk about what I've learned in the year of building Accounted For. I cover the challenges in the early days, philosophy on moonlighting, handling advice, art of questioning, plans never working out, surviving, the future of Accounted For and more.


]]> Wed, 14 Aug 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3676 It's been 52 episodes. That's 52 new conversations with 51 different guests (one of the 52 was my first solo episode on my journey). This is another solo episode where I talk about what I've learned in the year of building Accounted For. I cover the challenges in the early days, philosophy on moonlighting, handling advice, art of questioning, plans never working out, surviving, the future of Accounted For and more. It's been 52 episodes. That's 52 new conversations with 51 different guests (one of the 52 was my first solo episode on my journey). This is another solo episode where I talk about what I've learned in the year of building Accounted For. I cover the chall Careers, entrepreneurship, journey, personal development Yes #52 - Ben Tam, Founder and CEO of Rizound. Journey to Make Affordable Housing and PhD Education for Children a Reality. 52 52 #52 - Ben Tam, Founder and CEO of Rizound. Journey to Make Affordable Housing and PhD Education for Children a Reality. full eb4cb36e-92a1-443b-92e8-5812a9ed9d59 https://share.transistor.fm/s/7f9e5472 Join in for a conversation with Ben Tam, Founder and CEO of Rizound. Ben has been on his entrepreneurial journey for the last 7 years and he's on a mission to help each child get a PhD level education. Ben's passion for human development and education started from his childhood in Singapore. His original plan to make an impact through politics changed from his time at UBC where he studied political science and philosophy. This pushed him into an entrepreneurial journey in the financial market to start a quant fund, then moved into neuroscience, affordable housing and measuring emotions with facial data with Rizound. Our conversation touch upon various pivots and turns in Ben's wide-ranging journey and interesting would be an understatement to the path he has taken.

]]> Join in for a conversation with Ben Tam, Founder and CEO of Rizound. Ben has been on his entrepreneurial journey for the last 7 years and he's on a mission to help each child get a PhD level education. Ben's passion for human development and education started from his childhood in Singapore. His original plan to make an impact through politics changed from his time at UBC where he studied political science and philosophy. This pushed him into an entrepreneurial journey in the financial market to start a quant fund, then moved into neuroscience, affordable housing and measuring emotions with facial data with Rizound. Our conversation touch upon various pivots and turns in Ben's wide-ranging journey and interesting would be an understatement to the path he has taken.

]]> Wed, 07 Aug 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4215 Join in for a conversation with Ben Tam, Founder and CEO of Rizound. Ben has been on his entrepreneurial journey for the last 7 years and he's on a mission to help each child get a PhD level education. Ben's passion for human development and education started from his childhood in Singapore. His original plan to make an impact through politics changed from his time at UBC where he studied political science and philosophy. This pushed him into an entrepreneurial journey in the financial market to start a quant fund, then moved into neuroscience, affordable housing and measuring emotions with facial data with Rizound. Our conversation touch upon various pivots and turns in Ben's wide ranging journey and interesting would be an understatement to the path he has taken. Join in for a conversation with Ben Tam, Founder and CEO of Rizound. Ben has been on his entrepreneurial journey for the last 7 years and he's on a mission to help each child get a PhD level education. Ben's passion for human development and education sta technology, career, entrepreneurship, social, enterprise, neuroscience Yes #51 - Cyrus Moradian, CEO and Co-Founder of Wize. Bootstrapping vs. Fundraising, 7 Years in EdTech, and Building Teams. 51 51 #51 - Cyrus Moradian, CEO and Co-Founder of Wize. Bootstrapping vs. Fundraising, 7 Years in EdTech, and Building Teams. full e5472094-3594-47b9-a834-5c0bfaa74b23 https://share.transistor.fm/s/5fdd95b8 Join in for a conversation with Cyrus Moradian, CEO and Co-Founder of Wize. Wize is an exam test prep platform based out of Vancouver that services universities throughout Canada and the US. He bootstrapped his first company, Beat Your Course and the precursor to Wize, to help university students based on his own experience as a 1st-year student who struggled in university despite having all-star grades in high school. To Cyrus, going to university was a contrarian move as he comes from a house of entrepreneurs from his parents to his siblings and he is the only member of his family who has pursued post-secondary education. Needless to say, unlike his fellow finance majors who went into fields like investment banking, Cyrus went straight into entrepreneurship out of university. In our chat, we look into when it is time to go from a bootstrapped company to one that fundraises, what Cyrus believes is required to be an entrepreneur for 7 years and how he has thought about building a team where no one has left and much more!


]]> Join in for a conversation with Cyrus Moradian, CEO and Co-Founder of Wize. Wize is an exam test prep platform based out of Vancouver that services universities throughout Canada and the US. He bootstrapped his first company, Beat Your Course and the precursor to Wize, to help university students based on his own experience as a 1st-year student who struggled in university despite having all-star grades in high school. To Cyrus, going to university was a contrarian move as he comes from a house of entrepreneurs from his parents to his siblings and he is the only member of his family who has pursued post-secondary education. Needless to say, unlike his fellow finance majors who went into fields like investment banking, Cyrus went straight into entrepreneurship out of university. In our chat, we look into when it is time to go from a bootstrapped company to one that fundraises, what Cyrus believes is required to be an entrepreneur for 7 years and how he has thought about building a team where no one has left and much more!


]]> Wed, 31 Jul 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3598 Join in for a conversation with Cyrus Moradian, CEO and Co-Founder of Wize. Wize is an exam test prep platform based out of Vancouver that services universities throughout Canada and the US. He bootstrapped his first company, Beat Your Course and the precursor to Wize, to help university students based on his own experience as a 1st-year student who struggled in university despite having all-star grades in high school. To Cyrus, going to university was a contrarian move as he comes from a house of entrepreneurs from his parents to his siblings and he is the only member of his family who has pursued post-secondary education. Needless to say, unlike his fellow finance majors who went into fields like investment banking, Cyrus went straight into entrepreneurship out of university. In our chat, we look into when it is time to go from a bootstrapped company to one that fundraises, what Cyrus believes is required to be an entrepreneur for 7 years and how he has thought about building a team where no one has left and much more! Join in for a conversation with Cyrus Moradian, CEO and Co-Founder of Wize. Wize is an exam test prep platform based out of Vancouver that services universities throughout Canada and the US. He bootstrapped his first company, Beat Your Course and the prec careers, entrepreneurship, technology, education, finance Yes #50 - Drew Green, CEO of Indochino. From Sports, Technology, Entrepreneurship to Building a Bespoke Suit Empire. 50 50 #50 - Drew Green, CEO of Indochino. From Sports, Technology, Entrepreneurship to Building a Bespoke Suit Empire. full c3a7b23d-3bb7-4a6a-a5ea-95f68647dbcc https://share.transistor.fm/s/205b2a68 Join in for a conversation with Drew Green, CEO of Indochino. Indochino is a Vancouver based bespoke suit company and it's actually where yours truly got his first bespoke suit as well! But enough about me. So how does one become the CEO of a fast-growing suit company? Well, Drew started his journey as a kinesiology student with a love for basketball. He immediately took an entrepreneurial path to starting a personal training business which he later sold to travel the world and enter into the world of technology companies. A material influence to Drew's unique career journey has been Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, a fiction book like no other. I personally love this book as well and we go through the various elements of the book that influenced Drew on his journey and his current philosophies on business and life. Though this was a short interview we try to traverse through the very windy journey Drew went through from his athletic years to technology, his current focus with Indochino and more.


]]> Join in for a conversation with Drew Green, CEO of Indochino. Indochino is a Vancouver based bespoke suit company and it's actually where yours truly got his first bespoke suit as well! But enough about me. So how does one become the CEO of a fast-growing suit company? Well, Drew started his journey as a kinesiology student with a love for basketball. He immediately took an entrepreneurial path to starting a personal training business which he later sold to travel the world and enter into the world of technology companies. A material influence to Drew's unique career journey has been Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, a fiction book like no other. I personally love this book as well and we go through the various elements of the book that influenced Drew on his journey and his current philosophies on business and life. Though this was a short interview we try to traverse through the very windy journey Drew went through from his athletic years to technology, his current focus with Indochino and more.


]]> Wed, 24 Jul 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 2644 Join in for a conversation with Drew Green, CEO of Indochino. Indochino is a Vancouver based bespoke suit company and it's actually where yours truly got his first bespoke suit as well! But enough about me. So how does one become the CEO of a fast-growing suit company? Well, Drew started his journey as a kinesiology student with a love for basketball. He immediately took an entrepreneurial path to starting a personal training business which he later sold to travel the world and enter into the world of technology companies. A material influence to Drew's unique career journey has been Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, a fiction book like no other. I personally love this book as well and we go through the various elements of the book that influenced Drew on his journey and his current philosophies on business and life. Though this was a short interview we try to traverse through the very windy journey Drew went through from his athletic years to technology, his current focus with Indochino and more. Join in for a conversation with Drew Green, CEO of Indochino. Indochino is a Vancouver based bespoke suit company and it's actually where yours truly got his first bespoke suit as well! But enough about me. So how does one become the CEO of a fast-growing career, ecommerce, indochino, self-improvement Yes #49 - AnonymousCast, Infrastructure Investing in Canada 49 49 #49 - AnonymousCast, Infrastructure Investing in Canada full dab99371-9060-434a-87af-72da62723307 https://share.transistor.fm/s/cbe1735e Join in for another anonymous episode. I experimented with a number of anonymous episodes in the past where I get someone in various professions like hedge funds, management consulting and we sit down to have candid conversations with what these people actually do. Today is about infrastructure investing. It's a field I've personally had a brief exposure to but it's also a place I've been recommending people look into if they like investing but want something with low volatility and a career that is excel and data-heavy for the meticulous folk. My surface-level knowledge was that infrastructure investing was all about investing in hospitals and solar panels. But we go deep into how that works, what you would do most of the day and more about what this field is like. 


]]> Join in for another anonymous episode. I experimented with a number of anonymous episodes in the past where I get someone in various professions like hedge funds, management consulting and we sit down to have candid conversations with what these people actually do. Today is about infrastructure investing. It's a field I've personally had a brief exposure to but it's also a place I've been recommending people look into if they like investing but want something with low volatility and a career that is excel and data-heavy for the meticulous folk. My surface-level knowledge was that infrastructure investing was all about investing in hospitals and solar panels. But we go deep into how that works, what you would do most of the day and more about what this field is like. 


]]> Wed, 17 Jul 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4223 Join in for another anonymous episode. I experimented with a number of anonymous episodes in the past where I get someone in various professions like hedge funds, management consulting and we sit down to have candid conversations with what these people actually do. Today is about infrastructure investing. It's a field I've personally had a brief exposure to but it's also a place I've been recommending people look into if they like investing but want something with low volatility and a career that is excel and data-heavy for the meticulous folk. My surface-level knowledge was that infrastructure investing was all about investing in hospitals and solar panels. But we go deep into how that works, what you would do most of the day and more about what this field is like. Join in for another anonymous episode. I experimented with a number of anonymous episodes in the past where I get someone in various professions like hedge funds, management consulting and we sit down to have candid conversations with what these people ac career, investing, infrastructure, anonymous Yes [Replay] #12 - Sam Restagno, Managing Director of Golden Spruce Capital. Perseverance to I-Banking, Starting a Fund and Investing in Small Businesses [Replay] #12 - Sam Restagno, Managing Director of Golden Spruce Capital. Perseverance to I-Banking, Starting a Fund and Investing in Small Businesses bonus 3418910e-559f-4845-962d-1cba614df58e https://share.transistor.fm/s/a4d1b712 Join in for a conversation with Sam Restagno, Managing Director at Golden Spruce Capital, a private investment company that focuses on buying small businesses with an EBITDA of 1-5MM. In our chat Sam takes me through how he persevered through to get into investment banking, and the process of making the decision to leave the plush expense account and comfy banking world to ultimately start a 2 person fund with his business partner. We go through the world of small company investing, the importance of relationship building, the opportunity size, the various funding options and the frugality and hustle you need as founders. I personally got a lot of value out of this chat and even if you aren't someone who isn't hell-bent on running your own investment company in the future I think you'll be able to extract lot's of value out of my chat with Sam. Hope you enjoy. 


]]> Join in for a conversation with Sam Restagno, Managing Director at Golden Spruce Capital, a private investment company that focuses on buying small businesses with an EBITDA of 1-5MM. In our chat Sam takes me through how he persevered through to get into investment banking, and the process of making the decision to leave the plush expense account and comfy banking world to ultimately start a 2 person fund with his business partner. We go through the world of small company investing, the importance of relationship building, the opportunity size, the various funding options and the frugality and hustle you need as founders. I personally got a lot of value out of this chat and even if you aren't someone who isn't hell-bent on running your own investment company in the future I think you'll be able to extract lot's of value out of my chat with Sam. Hope you enjoy. 


]]> Wed, 10 Jul 2019 11:00:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 5250 Join in for a conversation with Sam Restagno, Managing Director at Golden Spruce Capital, a private investment company that focuses on buying small businesses with an EBITDA of 1-5MM. In our chat Sam takes me through how he persevered through to get into investment banking, and the process of making the decision to leave the plush expense account and comfy banking world to ultimately start a 2 person fund with his business partner. We go through the world of small company investing, the importance of relationship building, the opportunity size, the various funding options and the frugality and hustle you need as founders. I personally got a lot of value out of this chat and even if you aren't someone who isn't hell-bent on running your own investment company in the future I think you'll be able to extract lot's of value out of my chat with Sam. Hope you enjoy. Join in for a conversation with Sam Restagno, Managing Director at Golden Spruce Capital, a private investment company that focuses on buying small businesses with an EBITDA of 1-5MM. In our chat Sam takes me through how he persevered through to get into careers, investment, investing, private equity, banking Yes [Replay] #8 - Armin Yassaie, Co-Owner of Mos Mos Coffee. From Public Accounting to Building a Coffee Franchise [Replay] #8 - Armin Yassaie, Co-Owner of Mos Mos Coffee. From Public Accounting to Building a Coffee Franchise bonus 376d06f5-8e7f-44ae-a950-75db9a39b696 https://share.transistor.fm/s/2e5c7563 Join in for a conversation with Armin Yassaie, co-owner of Mos Mos Coffee. Armin takes us into the competitive world of "third wave" coffee shops and we dive into the depths of what it takes to operate and grow a coffee franchise. We also explore the mental model for starting your own coffee shop and explore how Armin's experience from a family construction business played a factor to his jump to the world of coffee.


]]> Join in for a conversation with Armin Yassaie, co-owner of Mos Mos Coffee. Armin takes us into the competitive world of "third wave" coffee shops and we dive into the depths of what it takes to operate and grow a coffee franchise. We also explore the mental model for starting your own coffee shop and explore how Armin's experience from a family construction business played a factor to his jump to the world of coffee.


]]> Wed, 03 Jul 2019 15:00:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 5289 Join in for a conversation with Armin Yassaie, co-owner of Mos Mos Coffee. Armin takes us into the competitive world of "third wave" coffee shops and we dive into the depths of what it takes to operate and grow a coffee franchise. We also explore the mental model for starting your own coffee shop and explore how Armin's experience from a family construction business played a factor to his jump to the world of coffee. Join in for a conversation with Armin Yassaie, co-owner of Mos Mos Coffee. Armin takes us into the competitive world of "third wave" coffee shops and we dive into the depths of what it takes to operate and grow a coffee franchise. We also explore the ment Coffee, Career, Accounting Yes #48 - Marie Chevrier, Founder and CEO of Sampler. Leading with Honesty, Leaping into the Unknown, and Recruiting Cheerleaders 48 48 #48 - Marie Chevrier, Founder and CEO of Sampler. Leading with Honesty, Leaping into the Unknown, and Recruiting Cheerleaders full c23b0376-5c58-4b7f-a6f8-cdcce2f58dfe https://share.transistor.fm/s/623d7af7 Join in for a conversation with Marie Chevrier, Founder and CEO of Sampler. Sampler is a Toronto-based startup on a mission to transform the way consumer packaged goods companies distribute product samples. Starting from creating her own idol competition in school to an OG hustler grandmother, Marie had planted the seeds to be an entrepreneur early. However, it would be at the crossroads of forgoing her London MBA and joining an incubator from a single cold email that would take her down the road to seven years in the startup world. Like many mission-driven entrepreneurs, Marie saw a problem that many CPG companies faced from her advertising days and she had found a way to transition that to what is Sampler today. But what many don't think about is the sudden move to New York, the sketchy apartment outside Harlem, the consulting days as she sketched and pitched the ideas for Sampler and the various ups and downs Marie had to persevere through to build a company focused on honesty.  


]]> Join in for a conversation with Marie Chevrier, Founder and CEO of Sampler. Sampler is a Toronto-based startup on a mission to transform the way consumer packaged goods companies distribute product samples. Starting from creating her own idol competition in school to an OG hustler grandmother, Marie had planted the seeds to be an entrepreneur early. However, it would be at the crossroads of forgoing her London MBA and joining an incubator from a single cold email that would take her down the road to seven years in the startup world. Like many mission-driven entrepreneurs, Marie saw a problem that many CPG companies faced from her advertising days and she had found a way to transition that to what is Sampler today. But what many don't think about is the sudden move to New York, the sketchy apartment outside Harlem, the consulting days as she sketched and pitched the ideas for Sampler and the various ups and downs Marie had to persevere through to build a company focused on honesty.  


]]> Wed, 26 Jun 2019 04:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4026 Join in for a conversation with Marie Chevrier, Founder and CEO of Sampler. Sampler is a Toronto-based startup on a mission to transform the way consumer packaged goods companies distribute product samples. Starting from creating her own idol competition in school to an OG hustler grandmother, Marie had planted the seeds to be an entrepreneur early. However, it would be at the crossroads of forgoing her London MBA and joining an incubator from a single cold email that would take her down the road to seven years in the startup world. Like many mission-driven entrepreneurs, Marie saw a problem that many CPG companies faced from her advertising days and she had found a way to transition that to what is Sampler today. But what many don't think about is the sudden move to New York, the sketchy apartment outside Harlem, the consulting days as she sketched and pitched the ideas for Sampler and the various ups and downs Marie had to persevere through to build a company focused on honesty. Join in for a conversation with Marie Chevrier, Founder and CEO of Sampler. Sampler is a Toronto-based startup on a mission to transform the way consumer packaged goods companies distribute product samples. Starting from creating her own idol competition entrepreneur, career, business, startup Yes #47 - David Cairns, VP of Office Leasing at CBRE Canada and Co-Founder of CBRE Forward. Professional Poker Player Turned Real Estate Intrapreneur 47 47 #47 - David Cairns, VP of Office Leasing at CBRE Canada and Co-Founder of CBRE Forward. Professional Poker Player Turned Real Estate Intrapreneur full ba19fe5e-fb57-488f-bd41-30f225a899ff https://share.transistor.fm/s/627aab0f Join in for a conversation with David Cairns, VP of Office Leasing at CBRE Canada and Co-Founder of CBRE Forward. CBRE is a commercial real estate service company and with my own limited experience of commercial real estate, David thankfully creates a picture of the real estate value chain for me early in the podcast. Prior to his successful real estate career, David was a professional poker player. Having been raised by a single-parent household with an entrepreneurial father, David learned to be an independent competitor early. This transpired from being a competitive skier to the competitive world of poker where he earned $200K+ while in university. We explore the 16 hour daily grinds that people don't see on TV, the emotional roller coaster that resembles a venture capital career on steroids and how this experience prepared David to rise from an administrative position to a successful VP in real estate and an intrapreneur.  


]]> Join in for a conversation with David Cairns, VP of Office Leasing at CBRE Canada and Co-Founder of CBRE Forward. CBRE is a commercial real estate service company and with my own limited experience of commercial real estate, David thankfully creates a picture of the real estate value chain for me early in the podcast. Prior to his successful real estate career, David was a professional poker player. Having been raised by a single-parent household with an entrepreneurial father, David learned to be an independent competitor early. This transpired from being a competitive skier to the competitive world of poker where he earned $200K+ while in university. We explore the 16 hour daily grinds that people don't see on TV, the emotional roller coaster that resembles a venture capital career on steroids and how this experience prepared David to rise from an administrative position to a successful VP in real estate and an intrapreneur.  


]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2019 04:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4365 Join in for a conversation with David Cairns, VP of Office Leasing at CBRE Canada and Co-Founder of CBRE Forward. CBRE is a commercial real estate service company and with my own limited experience of commercial real estate, David thankfully creates a picture of the real estate value chain for me early in the podcast. Prior to his successful real estate career, David was a professional poker player. Having been raised by a single-parent household with an entrepreneurial father, David learned to be an independent competitor early. This transpired from being a competitive skier to the competitive world of poker where he earned $200K+ while in university. We explore the 16 hour daily grinds that people don't see on TV, the emotional roller coaster that resembles a venture capital career on steroids and how this experience prepared David to rise from an administrative position to a successful VP in real estate and an intrapreneur. Join in for a conversation with David Cairns, VP of Office Leasing at CBRE Canada and Co-Founder of CBRE Forward. CBRE is a commercial real estate service company and with my own limited experience of commercial real estate, David thankfully creates a pic Yes #46 - Marc Champagne, Co-Founder of Kyo 46 46 #46 - Marc Champagne, Co-Founder of Kyo full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5d0019530eea6d00016789be https://share.transistor.fm/s/b7ba9ba4 Join in for a conversation with Marc Champagne, Co-Founder of Kyo. Kyo is a wellness company based in Toronto. It's currently an app that provides prompts to help you with your mental fitness, a simple way I think about it is as a live, digital journal. Marc also has a podcast called Kyo Conversations where he and his guest explore the impact of mental fitness in their lives. I'm a big believer in the mind and body connection and just as much as I'm obsessed with my powerlifting training I am also obsessed with my mental training as well. So needless to say, I was very excited to chat with Marc. You might wonder whether Marc's career started in a spiritual field but it actually started in the world of pharmaceutical drugs. After a decade in the big pharma industry, Marc decided to take the leap with his brother-in-law to "scratch his own itch" by transforming his own 10 years of journaling practices into Kyo. Turns out, being a product manager of mental health drugs can prepare you well to be an app launching entrepreneur as Kyo continues to be a globally ranked top app with influencer content from people like Kevin Rose and Leo Babauta. This was a fun and exciting conversation into Marc's journey of creating a wellness company and I came out of it with personal mindfulness practices for myself and some more perspectives.  

Support the podcast by becoming a stakeholder of the community. How? Donate a coffee to me here: https://www.oldmandan.com/stakeholder

Help me improve the podcast by filling out the listener survey here: https://forms.gle/FdnaqQPViDgx43hS8

Find the vlog documenting the journey of OMD Ventures here:  https://www.youtube.com/user/d56lee

Special thanks to Icons8.com for the podcast theme music, Tiny People. 

]]> Join in for a conversation with Marc Champagne, Co-Founder of Kyo. Kyo is a wellness company based in Toronto. It's currently an app that provides prompts to help you with your mental fitness, a simple way I think about it is as a live, digital journal. Marc also has a podcast called Kyo Conversations where he and his guest explore the impact of mental fitness in their lives. I'm a big believer in the mind and body connection and just as much as I'm obsessed with my powerlifting training I am also obsessed with my mental training as well. So needless to say, I was very excited to chat with Marc. You might wonder whether Marc's career started in a spiritual field but it actually started in the world of pharmaceutical drugs. After a decade in the big pharma industry, Marc decided to take the leap with his brother-in-law to "scratch his own itch" by transforming his own 10 years of journaling practices into Kyo. Turns out, being a product manager of mental health drugs can prepare you well to be an app launching entrepreneur as Kyo continues to be a globally ranked top app with influencer content from people like Kevin Rose and Leo Babauta. This was a fun and exciting conversation into Marc's journey of creating a wellness company and I came out of it with personal mindfulness practices for myself and some more perspectives.  

Support the podcast by becoming a stakeholder of the community. How? Donate a coffee to me here: https://www.oldmandan.com/stakeholder

Help me improve the podcast by filling out the listener survey here: https://forms.gle/FdnaqQPViDgx43hS8

Find the vlog documenting the journey of OMD Ventures here:  https://www.youtube.com/user/d56lee

Special thanks to Icons8.com for the podcast theme music, Tiny People. 

]]> Wed, 12 Jun 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4188 Join in for a conversation with Marc Champagne, Co-Founder of Kyo. Kyo is a wellness company based in Toronto. It's currently an app that provides prompts to help you with your mental fitness, a simple way I think about it is as a live, digital journal. Marc also has a podcast called Kyo Conversations where he and his guest explore the impact of mental fitness in their lives. I'm a big believer in the mind and body connection and just as much as I'm obsessed with my powerlifting training I am also obsessed with my mental training as well. So needless to say, I was very excited to chat with Marc. You might wonder whether Marc's career started in a spiritual field but it actually started in the world of pharmaceutical drugs. After a decade in the big pharma industry, Marc decided to take the leap with his brother-in-law to "scratch his own itch" by transforming his own 10 years of journaling practices into Kyo. Turns out, being a product manager of mental health drugs can prepare you well to be an app launching entrepreneur as Kyo continues to be a globally ranked top app with influencer content from people like Kevin Rose and Leo Babauta. This was a fun and exciting conversation into Marc's journey of creating a wellness company and I came out of it with personal mindfulness practices for myself and some more perspectives. Join in for a conversation with Marc Champagne, Co-Founder of Kyo. Kyo is a wellness company based in Toronto. It's currently an app that provides prompts to help you with your mental fitness, a simple way I think about it is as a live, digital journal. M Yes #45 - Norm Cappell, Co-Founder of Savvyy 45 45 #45 - Norm Cappell, Co-Founder of Savvyy full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5cf72290342c7a00014dc8d6 https://share.transistor.fm/s/f5ee0396 Join in for a conversation with Norm Cappell, Co-Founder of Savvyy. Savvyy is a fintech company based in Toronto that is building a digital lending platform. So how does one go from studying English literature to Harvard Law School, capital markets law, investment banking and to building a fintech company? Well, if it includes losing out on a law job in San Fran because of the bursting of the dot com bubble, losing a job in investment banking because of 9/11, breaking into investment banking again only at the top of the real estate bubble to then take a 80% pay cut to join a fintech startup then this is the story you want to hear. Norm has had a fascinating career journey and we go deeper into the world of debt finance and corporate law to educate my own limited knowledge of the realm. It's a journey that spans multiple countries, career fields and economic events and one I hope you enjoy.

Help me improve the podcast by filling out the listener survey here: https://forms.gle/FdnaqQPViDgx43hS8

Find the vlog documenting the journey of OMD Ventures here:  https://www.youtube.com/user/d56lee

Become a subscriber and join the intellectually curious community here: omdventures.com/subscribe 

]]> Join in for a conversation with Norm Cappell, Co-Founder of Savvyy. Savvyy is a fintech company based in Toronto that is building a digital lending platform. So how does one go from studying English literature to Harvard Law School, capital markets law, investment banking and to building a fintech company? Well, if it includes losing out on a law job in San Fran because of the bursting of the dot com bubble, losing a job in investment banking because of 9/11, breaking into investment banking again only at the top of the real estate bubble to then take a 80% pay cut to join a fintech startup then this is the story you want to hear. Norm has had a fascinating career journey and we go deeper into the world of debt finance and corporate law to educate my own limited knowledge of the realm. It's a journey that spans multiple countries, career fields and economic events and one I hope you enjoy.

Help me improve the podcast by filling out the listener survey here: https://forms.gle/FdnaqQPViDgx43hS8

Find the vlog documenting the journey of OMD Ventures here:  https://www.youtube.com/user/d56lee

Become a subscriber and join the intellectually curious community here: omdventures.com/subscribe 

]]> Wed, 05 Jun 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4937 Join in for a conversation with Norm Cappell, Co-Founder of Savvyy. Savvyy is a fintech company based in Toronto that is building a digital lending platform. So how does one go from studying English literature to Harvard Law School, capital markets law, investment banking and to building a fintech company? Well, if it includes losing out on a law job in San Fran because of the bursting of the dot com bubble, losing a job in investment banking because of 9/11, breaking into investment banking again only at the top of the real estate bubble to then take a 80% pay cut to join a fintech startup then this is the story you want to hear. Norm has had a fascinating career journey and we go deeper into the world of debt finance and corporate law to educate my own limited knowledge of the realm. It's a journey that spans multiple countries, career fields and economic events and one I hope you enjoy. Join in for a conversation with Norm Cappell, Co-Founder of Savvyy. Savvyy is a fintech company based in Toronto that is building a digital lending platform. So how does one go from studying English literature to Harvard Law School, capital markets law, i Yes #44 - Marcus Rader, Co-Founder and CEO of Hostaway 44 44 #44 - Marcus Rader, Co-Founder and CEO of Hostaway full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5cedf228fa0d6052c58d583e https://share.transistor.fm/s/eb0518ce Join in for a conversation with Marcus Rader, Co-Founder and CEO of Hostaway. Hostaway is a global property management software company and it's no surprise that this podcast focuses on Marcus' global career and Finnish background. In our conversation we start with epilepsy killing a dream to be a pilot, to running his own loan business at age 11 and the various trials and tribulations of a decade long career in the startup world that eventually led to the creation of Hostaway. We also talk in-depth into various cultural nuances, especially the difference between Finland and Canada. I for one had no idea what it meant to culturally embrace honesty until I spoke with Marcus and also came away with some new found knowledge I hope to utilize in my future visit to Finland.  

Help me improve the podcast by filling out the listener survey here: https://forms.gle/FdnaqQPViDgx43hS8

Find the vlog documenting the journey of OMD Ventures here:  https://www.youtube.com/user/d56lee

Become a subscriber and join the intellectually curious community here: omdventures.com/subscribe 

]]> Join in for a conversation with Marcus Rader, Co-Founder and CEO of Hostaway. Hostaway is a global property management software company and it's no surprise that this podcast focuses on Marcus' global career and Finnish background. In our conversation we start with epilepsy killing a dream to be a pilot, to running his own loan business at age 11 and the various trials and tribulations of a decade long career in the startup world that eventually led to the creation of Hostaway. We also talk in-depth into various cultural nuances, especially the difference between Finland and Canada. I for one had no idea what it meant to culturally embrace honesty until I spoke with Marcus and also came away with some new found knowledge I hope to utilize in my future visit to Finland.  

Help me improve the podcast by filling out the listener survey here: https://forms.gle/FdnaqQPViDgx43hS8

Find the vlog documenting the journey of OMD Ventures here:  https://www.youtube.com/user/d56lee

Become a subscriber and join the intellectually curious community here: omdventures.com/subscribe 

]]> Wed, 29 May 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 5177 Join in for a conversation with Marcus Rader, Co-Founder and CEO of Hostaway. Hostaway is a global property management software company and it's no surprise that this podcast focuses on Marcus' global career and Finnish background. In our conversation we start with epilepsy killing a dream to be a pilot, to running his own loan business at age 11 and the various trials and tribulations of a decade long career in the startup world that eventually led to the creation of Hostaway. We also talk in-depth into various cultural nuances, especially the difference between Finland and Canada. I for one had no idea what it meant to culturally embrace honesty until I spoke with Marcus and also came away with some new found knowledge I hope to utilize in my future visit to Finland. Join in for a conversation with Marcus Rader, Co-Founder and CEO of Hostaway. Hostaway is a global property management software company and it's no surprise that this podcast focuses on Marcus' global career and Finnish background. In our conversation we Yes #43 - Stephen Shedletzky, Head of Brand Experience and Igniter at Simon Sinek 43 43 #43 - Stephen Shedletzky, Head of Brand Experience and Igniter at Simon Sinek full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5ce454e3456b8f0001560f85 https://share.transistor.fm/s/edb5956c Join in for a conversation with Stephen Shedletzky, Head of Brand Experience and Igniter at Simon Sinek. If that name is familiar with you it may be because you may have watched Simon Sinek's famous TedTalk or read his first book "Start with Why". Stephen joined Simon Sinek's company, called after his own name, as the 4th employee 7.5 years ago. Stephen's journey to help people feel more fulfilled and engaged by the work they do started when on his first day on his first job at Suncor's leadership program when they fired 1000 people post-merger. This propelled him on a journey to find how he could do his life's work. We chat about the fruitful departure from Suncor, his foray into human capital consulting, why his tenure there was even shorter than at Suncor, starting his own platform for change as a personal 2-year MBA, the 5 paragraph email that got him a call with Simon Sinek and how his journey with Simon started a new chapter in his life. My first meeting with Stephen was when he graciously invited me to attend a talk he was giving at an incubator and though that was a treat it was nothing compared to the intensely fun discussion I got to have with him on the podcast. It was a super fun conversation and we also spoke about maybe even doing a part two in the near future so if you liked it please let me know on my sites contact page.

Help me improve the podcast by filling out the listener survey here: https://forms.gle/FdnaqQPViDgx43hS8

Find the vlog documenting the journey of OMD Ventures here:  https://www.youtube.com/user/d56lee

Become a subscriber and join the intellectually curious community here: omdventures.com/subscribe 

]]> Join in for a conversation with Stephen Shedletzky, Head of Brand Experience and Igniter at Simon Sinek. If that name is familiar with you it may be because you may have watched Simon Sinek's famous TedTalk or read his first book "Start with Why". Stephen joined Simon Sinek's company, called after his own name, as the 4th employee 7.5 years ago. Stephen's journey to help people feel more fulfilled and engaged by the work they do started when on his first day on his first job at Suncor's leadership program when they fired 1000 people post-merger. This propelled him on a journey to find how he could do his life's work. We chat about the fruitful departure from Suncor, his foray into human capital consulting, why his tenure there was even shorter than at Suncor, starting his own platform for change as a personal 2-year MBA, the 5 paragraph email that got him a call with Simon Sinek and how his journey with Simon started a new chapter in his life. My first meeting with Stephen was when he graciously invited me to attend a talk he was giving at an incubator and though that was a treat it was nothing compared to the intensely fun discussion I got to have with him on the podcast. It was a super fun conversation and we also spoke about maybe even doing a part two in the near future so if you liked it please let me know on my sites contact page.

Help me improve the podcast by filling out the listener survey here: https://forms.gle/FdnaqQPViDgx43hS8

Find the vlog documenting the journey of OMD Ventures here:  https://www.youtube.com/user/d56lee

Become a subscriber and join the intellectually curious community here: omdventures.com/subscribe 

]]> Wed, 22 May 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3720 Join in for a conversation with Stephen Shedletzky, Head of Brand Experience and Igniter at Simon Sinek. If that name is familiar with you it may be because you may have watched Simon Sinek's famous TedTalk or read his first book "Start with Why". Stephen joined Simon Sinek's company, called after his own name, as the 4th employee 7.5 years ago. Stephen's journey to help people feel more fulfilled and engaged by the work they do started when on his first day on his first job at Suncor's leadership program when they fired 1000 people post-merger. This propelled him on a journey to find how he could do his life's work. We chat about the fruitful departure from Suncor, his foray into human capital consulting, why his tenure there was even shorter than at Suncor, starting his own platform for change as a personal 2-year MBA, the 5 paragraph email that got him a call with Simon Sinek and how his journey with Simon started a new chapter in his life. My first meeting with Stephen was when he graciously invited me to attend a talk he was giving at an incubator and though that was a treat it was nothing compared to the intensely fun discussion I got to have with him on the podcast. It was a super fun conversation and we also spoke about maybe even doing a part two in the near future so if you liked it please let me know on my sites contact page. Join in for a conversation with Stephen Shedletzky, Head of Brand Experience and Igniter at Simon Sinek. If that name is familiar with you it may be because you may have watched Simon Sinek's famous TedTalk or read his first book "Start with Why". Stephen Yes #42 - Sagar Malhi, Co-founder of Switchboard 42 42 #42 - Sagar Malhi, Co-founder of Switchboard full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5cdb008f9140b721c6fb9227 https://share.transistor.fm/s/666527e1 Join in for a conversation with Sagar Malhi, Co-Founder of Switchboard. Talk about a flashback to the past! Sagar and I went to high school together and re-connected for the first time in nine years last Christmas. Sagar and the Switchboard team had just been admitted to the esteem start-up incubator, Y-combinator, and he connected in Toronto after his three months in San Francisco to dive through his journey. Sagar's entrepreneurial journey started right after university after working in top tech firms like Apple, Intel and Blackberry. We talk about the role of a hardware vs. software engineer, the decision to not pursue a lucrative career in the big tech firms, his short romance for wall street's quant trading world and the trials and tribulations of building a start-up pre and post Y-Combinator.

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]]> Join in for a conversation with Sagar Malhi, Co-Founder of Switchboard. Talk about a flashback to the past! Sagar and I went to high school together and re-connected for the first time in nine years last Christmas. Sagar and the Switchboard team had just been admitted to the esteem start-up incubator, Y-combinator, and he connected in Toronto after his three months in San Francisco to dive through his journey. Sagar's entrepreneurial journey started right after university after working in top tech firms like Apple, Intel and Blackberry. We talk about the role of a hardware vs. software engineer, the decision to not pursue a lucrative career in the big tech firms, his short romance for wall street's quant trading world and the trials and tribulations of building a start-up pre and post Y-Combinator.

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]]> Wed, 15 May 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4069 Join in for a conversation with Sagar Malhi, Co-Founder of Switchboard. Talk about a flashback to the past! Sagar and I went to high school together and re-connected for the first time in nine years last Christmas. Sagar and the Switchboard team had just been admitted to the esteem start-up incubator, Y-combinator, and he connected in Toronto after his three months in San Francisco to dive through his journey. Sagar's entrepreneurial journey started right after university after working in top tech firms like Apple, Intel and Blackberry. We talk about the role of a hardware vs. software engineer, the decision to not pursue a lucrative career in the big tech firms, his short romance for wall street's quant trading world and the trials and tribulations of building a start-up pre and post Y-Combinator. Join in for a conversation with Sagar Malhi, Co-Founder of Switchboard. Talk about a flashback to the past! Sagar and I went to high school together and re-connected for the first time in nine years last Christmas. Sagar and the Switchboard team had just Yes #41 - Marlon Rodrigues, Head of Product at Flexday 41 41 #41 - Marlon Rodrigues, Head of Product at Flexday full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5cd2474dee6eb021746c385c https://share.transistor.fm/s/ad876ac2 Join in for a conversation with Marlon Rodrigues, Head of Product at Flexday. If you heard Justin Raymond, Founder of Flexday on episode 19 then you'll be very familiar with the company. If you haven't, then fret not as this is about Marlon's unique journey and we give an overview of the company here too. Marlon's journey traverses through the world of marketing, business development and product throughout a decade in Toronto's start up ecosystem. But, we start earlier to how he delayed graduation to explore accounting then to operating a hostel in a remote region of Peru without knowing a word of Spanish. This became an inflection point that catapulted Marlon into the start up world but this was still a 10 year journey of him following his curiosity and embracing the uncertainty and the feeling of not knowing exactly what he wanted to do. It's a feeling I know all too well and one I think everyone experiences but is afraid to be okay with. Maybe after hearing Marlon's story you will change your mind or if you're going through it now, maybe you'll feel the comfort I felt.

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]]> Join in for a conversation with Marlon Rodrigues, Head of Product at Flexday. If you heard Justin Raymond, Founder of Flexday on episode 19 then you'll be very familiar with the company. If you haven't, then fret not as this is about Marlon's unique journey and we give an overview of the company here too. Marlon's journey traverses through the world of marketing, business development and product throughout a decade in Toronto's start up ecosystem. But, we start earlier to how he delayed graduation to explore accounting then to operating a hostel in a remote region of Peru without knowing a word of Spanish. This became an inflection point that catapulted Marlon into the start up world but this was still a 10 year journey of him following his curiosity and embracing the uncertainty and the feeling of not knowing exactly what he wanted to do. It's a feeling I know all too well and one I think everyone experiences but is afraid to be okay with. Maybe after hearing Marlon's story you will change your mind or if you're going through it now, maybe you'll feel the comfort I felt.

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]]> Wed, 08 May 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4184 Join in for a conversation with Marlon Rodrigues, Head of Product at Flexday. If you heard Justin Raymond, Founder of Flexday on episode 19 then you'll be very familiar with the company. If you haven't, then fret not as this is about Marlon's unique journey and we give an overview of the company here too. Marlon's journey traverses through the world of marketing, business development and product throughout a decade in Toronto's start up ecosystem. But, we start earlier to how he delayed graduation to explore accounting then to operating a hostel in a remote region of Peru without knowing a word of Spanish. This became an inflection point that catapulted Marlon into the start up world but this was still a 10 year journey of him following his curiosity and embracing the uncertainty and the feeling of not knowing exactly what he wanted to do. It's a feeling I know all too well and one I think everyone experiences but is afraid to be okay with. Maybe after hearing Marlon's story you will change your mind or if you're going through it now, maybe you'll feel the comfort I felt. Join in for a conversation with Marlon Rodrigues, Head of Product at Flexday. If you heard Justin Raymond, Founder of Flexday on episode 19 then you'll be very familiar with the company. If you haven't, then fret not as this is about Marlon's unique journ Yes #40 - Megan Tong, the Co-founder of Kanga Aussie Meat Pies 40 40 #40 - Megan Tong, the Co-founder of Kanga Aussie Meat Pies full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5cc900bcd90fb200016387e6 https://share.transistor.fm/s/fb34ecff Join in for a conversation with Megan Tong, the Co-founder of Kanga Aussie Meat Pies. If you don't know what a Australian meat pie is I suggest you Google it and immediately eat one. If you're a Toronto listener you're in luck because Kanga's Aussie Meat Pies is based out of Toronto and they are awesome. Megan started her journey as an accountant. Though she found her way to her passion of microfinance early, she left it all to take on the entrepreneur's journey of opening a restaurant. I've been a big fan of Kanga long before I knew Megan and our chat goes through the full story of how she started the company, operated it and to selling it. We also touch upon how Kanga is not how she "retired" but was actually through her side hustle to her entrepreneurship: real estate. This was a very insightful conversation into the restaurant business and how to just focus on having fun.

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]]> Join in for a conversation with Megan Tong, the Co-founder of Kanga Aussie Meat Pies. If you don't know what a Australian meat pie is I suggest you Google it and immediately eat one. If you're a Toronto listener you're in luck because Kanga's Aussie Meat Pies is based out of Toronto and they are awesome. Megan started her journey as an accountant. Though she found her way to her passion of microfinance early, she left it all to take on the entrepreneur's journey of opening a restaurant. I've been a big fan of Kanga long before I knew Megan and our chat goes through the full story of how she started the company, operated it and to selling it. We also touch upon how Kanga is not how she "retired" but was actually through her side hustle to her entrepreneurship: real estate. This was a very insightful conversation into the restaurant business and how to just focus on having fun.

Help me improve the podcast by filling out the listener survey here: https://forms.gle/FdnaqQPViDgx43hS8

Find the vlog documenting the journey of OMD Ventures here: https://www.youtube.com/user/d56lee

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]]> Wed, 01 May 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3143 Join in for a conversation with Megan Tong, the Co-founder of Kanga Aussie Meat Pies. If you don't know what a Australian meat pie is I suggest you Google it and immediately eat one. If you're a Toronto listener you're in luck because Kanga's Aussie Meat Pies is based out of Toronto and they are awesome. Megan started her journey as an accountant. Though she found her way to her passion of microfinance early, she left it all to take on the entrepreneur's journey of opening a restaurant. I've been a big fan of Kanga long before I knew Megan and our chat goes through the full story of how she started the company, operated it and to selling it. We also touch upon how Kanga is not how she "retired" but was actually through her side hustle to her entrepreneurship: real estate. This was a very insightful conversation into the restaurant business and how to just focus on having fun. Join in for a conversation with Megan Tong, the Co-founder of Kanga Aussie Meat Pies. If you don't know what a Australian meat pie is I suggest you Google it and immediately eat one. If you're a Toronto listener you're in luck because Kanga's Aussie Meat Yes #39 - Larry Lau, Founder of Eighty8 Ventures 39 39 #39 - Larry Lau, Founder of Eighty8 Ventures full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5cbfa2bd08522976a3640e1f https://share.transistor.fm/s/6b3a7834 Join in for a conversation with Larry Lau, the Founder of Eighty8 Ventures. Eighty8 Ventures is a venture studio in Toronto and London that helps entrepreneurs build digital products with the help of an in-house development team. Though he runs a venture studio that develops technical products, Larry started out as an entrepreneur in digital marketing. His foray in entrepreneurship began with building a globally ranked top Pokemon community site that later got acquired by IGN. Yet, he didn't pursue his next venture till much later after graduating after nearly getting kicked out of university with a medical science dream left in the past. Since then, he built a marketing agency became of an angel investor and venture founder who is focused on helping startups and creating brands. This was an extremely fun episode and given how gangster this guy is, we weren't able to cover his full story so I may have to have him come on again in the near future but until then please enjoy my fun chat with Larry Lau.

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]]> Join in for a conversation with Larry Lau, the Founder of Eighty8 Ventures. Eighty8 Ventures is a venture studio in Toronto and London that helps entrepreneurs build digital products with the help of an in-house development team. Though he runs a venture studio that develops technical products, Larry started out as an entrepreneur in digital marketing. His foray in entrepreneurship began with building a globally ranked top Pokemon community site that later got acquired by IGN. Yet, he didn't pursue his next venture till much later after graduating after nearly getting kicked out of university with a medical science dream left in the past. Since then, he built a marketing agency became of an angel investor and venture founder who is focused on helping startups and creating brands. This was an extremely fun episode and given how gangster this guy is, we weren't able to cover his full story so I may have to have him come on again in the near future but until then please enjoy my fun chat with Larry Lau.

Help me improve the podcast by filling out the listener survey here: https://forms.gle/FdnaqQPViDgx43hS8

Find the vlog documenting the journey of OMD Ventures here: https://www.youtube.com/user/d56lee

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]]> Wed, 24 Apr 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4155 Join in for a conversation with Larry Lau, the Founder of Eighty8 Ventures. Eighty8 Ventures is a venture studio in Toronto and London that helps entrepreneurs build digital products with the help of an in-house development team. Though he runs a venture studio that develops technical products, Larry started out as an entrepreneur in digital marketing. His foray in entrepreneurship began with building a globally ranked top Pokemon community site that later got acquired by IGN. Yet, he didn't pursue his next venture till much later after graduating after nearly getting kicked out of university with a medical science dream left in the past. Since then, he built a marketing agency became of an angel investor and venture founder who is focused on helping startups and creating brands. This was an extremely fun episode and given how gangster this guy is, we weren't able to cover his full story so I may have to have him come on again in the near future but until then please enjoy my fun chat with Larry Lau. Join in for a conversation with Larry Lau, the Founder of Eighty8 Ventures. Eighty8 Ventures is a venture studio in Toronto and London that helps entrepreneurs build digital products with the help of an in-house development team. Though he runs a venture Yes #38 - Aron Levitz, General Manager of Wattpad Studios 38 38 #38 - Aron Levitz, General Manager of Wattpad Studios full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5cb69d45a4222f60ea13b1d5 https://share.transistor.fm/s/df3d127a Join in for a conversation with Aron Levitz, the general manager of Wattpad Studios. How can I explain Aron? Simply put he is a person who went from dreaming about designing Ferraris to producing movies. A mechanical engineer by trade, he quickly pivoted from automobiles to fuel cell technology. A job he got while playing beach volleyball. Fast forward that to working at a trivia startup in the mid 2000s and making partnerships with NBC to stream the olympics to being let go from a dream job and finding his way to creating the Spotify equivalent at Blackberry and acquiring media content. This just became the start of his media journey as he now produces live action movies for the largest social network in the world for fiction writers. This was a fascinating story of someone following his north star of media and technology.  

Help me improve the podcast by filling out the listener survey here: https://forms.gle/FdnaqQPViDgx43hS8

Find the vlog documenting the journey of OMD Ventures here:  https://www.youtube.com/user/d56lee

Become a subscriber and join the intellectually curious community here: omdventures.com/subscribe 

]]> Join in for a conversation with Aron Levitz, the general manager of Wattpad Studios. How can I explain Aron? Simply put he is a person who went from dreaming about designing Ferraris to producing movies. A mechanical engineer by trade, he quickly pivoted from automobiles to fuel cell technology. A job he got while playing beach volleyball. Fast forward that to working at a trivia startup in the mid 2000s and making partnerships with NBC to stream the olympics to being let go from a dream job and finding his way to creating the Spotify equivalent at Blackberry and acquiring media content. This just became the start of his media journey as he now produces live action movies for the largest social network in the world for fiction writers. This was a fascinating story of someone following his north star of media and technology.  

Help me improve the podcast by filling out the listener survey here: https://forms.gle/FdnaqQPViDgx43hS8

Find the vlog documenting the journey of OMD Ventures here:  https://www.youtube.com/user/d56lee

Become a subscriber and join the intellectually curious community here: omdventures.com/subscribe 

]]> Wed, 17 Apr 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4542 Join in for a conversation with Aron Levitz, the general manager of Wattpad Studios. How can I explain Aron? Simply put he is a person who went from dreaming about designing Ferraris to producing movies. A mechanical engineer by trade, he quickly pivoted from automobiles to fuel cell technology. A job he got while playing beach volleyball. Fast forward that to working at a trivia startup in the mid 2000s and making partnerships with NBC to stream the olympics to being let go from a dream job and finding his way to creating the Spotify equivalent at Blackberry and acquiring media content. This just became the start of his media journey as he now produces live action movies for the largest social network in the world for fiction writers. This was a fascinating story of someone following his north star of media and technology. Join in for a conversation with Aron Levitz, the general manager of Wattpad Studios. How can I explain Aron? Simply put he is a person who went from dreaming about designing Ferraris to producing movies. A mechanical engineer by trade, he quickly pivoted Yes #37 - Jamie Rosenblatt, Principal at Golden Ventures 37 37 #37 - Jamie Rosenblatt, Principal at Golden Ventures full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5cad0a8f4785d311f507a4da https://share.transistor.fm/s/6e601f28 Join in for a conversation with Jamie Rosenblatt, Principal at Golden Ventures. Jamie started his journey as a philosophy major and got hooked into the world of capitalism whilst at the JD/MBA program at Rotman. He actually planned on being a professor of philosophy. Instead, he became an unintended capitalist who became a technology lawyer by bringing in a client. We cover how he decided take the unpopular jump of joining a startup, how it really isn't as scary as people make it seem to be, the dirty secret of venture capital and how he builds relationships. This was a really fun conversation and it was great speaking with someone like Jamie who had such a clear thinking process. 

Help me improve the podcast by filling out the listener survey here: oldmandan.com/podcasts.

Become a subscriber and join the intellectually curious community here: oldamandan.com/subscribe 

]]> Join in for a conversation with Jamie Rosenblatt, Principal at Golden Ventures. Jamie started his journey as a philosophy major and got hooked into the world of capitalism whilst at the JD/MBA program at Rotman. He actually planned on being a professor of philosophy. Instead, he became an unintended capitalist who became a technology lawyer by bringing in a client. We cover how he decided take the unpopular jump of joining a startup, how it really isn't as scary as people make it seem to be, the dirty secret of venture capital and how he builds relationships. This was a really fun conversation and it was great speaking with someone like Jamie who had such a clear thinking process. 

Help me improve the podcast by filling out the listener survey here: oldmandan.com/podcasts.

Become a subscriber and join the intellectually curious community here: oldamandan.com/subscribe 

]]> Wed, 10 Apr 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3481 Join in for a conversation with Jamie Rosenblatt, Principal at Golden Ventures. Jamie started his journey as a philosophy major and got hooked into the world of capitalism whilst at the JD/MBA program at Rotman. He actually planned on being a professor of philosophy. Instead, he became an unintended capitalist who became a technology lawyer by bringing in a client. We cover how he decided take the unpopular jump of joining a startup, how it really isn't as scary as people make it seem to be, the dirty secret of venture capital and how he builds relationships. This was a really fun conversation and it was great speaking with someone like Jamie who had such a clear thinking process. Help me improve the podcast by filling out the listener survey here: oldmandan.com/podcasts. Become a subscriber and join the intellectually curious community here: oldamandan.com/subscribe Join in for a conversation with Jamie Rosenblatt, Principal at Golden Ventures. Jamie started his journey as a philosophy major and got hooked into the world of capitalism whilst at the JD/MBA program at Rotman. He actually planned on being a professor of Yes #36 - Jason Zan, Fractional CFO of 4 Startups 36 36 #36 - Jason Zan, Fractional CFO of 4 Startups full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5ca4161a9b747a7f8a5ef5fb https://share.transistor.fm/s/5c01aca4 Join in for a conversation with Jason Zan, the fractional CFO of 4 startup companies. Jason has had more than a decade's experience in Toronto's tech ecosystem starting in the hot 90s period where he started a website agency to then starting a global voip, voice-over internet protocol, company. In between his entrepreneurial ventures Jason and I quote him "ping-pong'd" from being an early stage venture capital investor to being the CFO of early stage startups. Despite being a CFO he does not have an accounting background and we talk about how the CFO role is evolving and its not just for the traditional accountant. We also talk about entrepreneurship, how raising money isn't success, what the 3 duties of the CEO are and how after his 3rd foray into VC helped him figure out he wanted to be a CFO.

]]> Join in for a conversation with Jason Zan, the fractional CFO of 4 startup companies. Jason has had more than a decade's experience in Toronto's tech ecosystem starting in the hot 90s period where he started a website agency to then starting a global voip, voice-over internet protocol, company. In between his entrepreneurial ventures Jason and I quote him "ping-pong'd" from being an early stage venture capital investor to being the CFO of early stage startups. Despite being a CFO he does not have an accounting background and we talk about how the CFO role is evolving and its not just for the traditional accountant. We also talk about entrepreneurship, how raising money isn't success, what the 3 duties of the CEO are and how after his 3rd foray into VC helped him figure out he wanted to be a CFO.

]]> Wed, 03 Apr 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3315 Join in for a conversation with Jason Zan, the fractional CFO of 4 startup companies. Jason has had more than a decade's experience in Toronto's tech ecosystem starting in the hot 90s period where he started a website agency to then starting a global voip, voice-over internet protocol, company. In between his entrepreneurial ventures Jason and I quote him "ping-pong'd" from being an early stage venture capital investor to being the CFO of early stage startups. Despite being a CFO he does not have an accounting background and we talk about how the CFO role is evolving and its not just for the traditional accountant. We also talk about entrepreneurship, how raising money isn't success, what the 3 duties of the CEO are and how after his 3rd foray into VC helped him figure out he wanted to be a CFO. Join in for a conversation with Jason Zan, the fractional CFO of 4 startup companies. Jason has had more than a decade's experience in Toronto's tech ecosystem starting in the hot 90s period where he started a website agency to then starting a global voip Yes #35 - Francisco Lung, Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager of Coin Capital 35 35 #35 - Francisco Lung, Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager of Coin Capital full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c9a364a8d1d4f0001a2e671 https://share.transistor.fm/s/a30f7b2f Join in for a conversation with Francisco Lung, the Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager of Coin Capital. Coin Capital is he investment management arm of Coinsquare and they're creating products where retail investors like you and I can invest in companies that are utilizing blockchain technology and are in other forefronts of technology. Francisco's career story is one about tenacity and perseverance. He started out in computer science and joined IBM after the pop of dotcom bubble, for 6 years until deciding to do his MBA to enter the capital markets and the world of stock investing. He did this amid the financial real estate bubble popped in 2008. He learned to effectively leverage the Rotman MBA alumni network to grab as many as 120 coffees in 3 months. We talk about the value of building relationships and how continuing to focus on cultivating such meaningful relationships helped him become a portfolio manager in his dream role. We also talk about his decision process in leaving the high-paying world of finance to enter the ambiguous world of startups and cryptocurrency and what propelled him to make such an uncommon and difficult decision.

]]> Join in for a conversation with Francisco Lung, the Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager of Coin Capital. Coin Capital is he investment management arm of Coinsquare and they're creating products where retail investors like you and I can invest in companies that are utilizing blockchain technology and are in other forefronts of technology. Francisco's career story is one about tenacity and perseverance. He started out in computer science and joined IBM after the pop of dotcom bubble, for 6 years until deciding to do his MBA to enter the capital markets and the world of stock investing. He did this amid the financial real estate bubble popped in 2008. He learned to effectively leverage the Rotman MBA alumni network to grab as many as 120 coffees in 3 months. We talk about the value of building relationships and how continuing to focus on cultivating such meaningful relationships helped him become a portfolio manager in his dream role. We also talk about his decision process in leaving the high-paying world of finance to enter the ambiguous world of startups and cryptocurrency and what propelled him to make such an uncommon and difficult decision.

]]> Wed, 27 Mar 2019 09:03:30 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4526 Join in for a conversation with Francisco Lung, the Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager of Coin Capital. Coin Capital is he investment management arm of Coinsquare and they're creating products where retail investors like you and I can invest in companies that are utilizing blockchain technology and are in other forefronts of technology. Francisco's career story is one about tenacity and perseverance. He started out in computer science and joined IBM after the pop of dotcom bubble, for 6 years until deciding to do his MBA to enter the capital markets and the world of stock investing. He did this amid the financial real estate bubble popped in 2008. He learned to effectively leverage the Rotman MBA alumni network to grab as many as 120 coffees in 3 months. We talk about the value of building relationships and how continuing to focus on cultivating such meaningful relationships helped him become a portfolio manager in his dream role. We also talk about his decision process in leaving the high-paying world of finance to enter the ambiguous world of startups and cryptocurrency and what propelled him to make such an uncommon and difficult decision. Join in for a conversation with Francisco Lung, the Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager of Coin Capital. Coin Capital is he investment management arm of Coinsquare and they're creating products where retail investors like you and I can invest in compan Yes #34 - Raphael Wong, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Thoughtwire 34 34 #34 - Raphael Wong, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Thoughtwire full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c919ac6971a1827dbc8249a https://share.transistor.fm/s/9447b4b6 Join in for a conversation with Raphael Wong, the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Thoughtwire. On top of his role at Thoughtwire, Raph is the founder of myTechne.io a company with a mission to create the tools to help you succeed in what matters most in your life. He is also the host of a monthly podcast called the Canvas Series where he explores creating systems for success with his guests. I met Raph through our past podcast guest Luki from episode 23 who thought Raph and I would have a fun conversation and we did just that on this podcast. In this episode we bounce around on how Raph was able to build the role he wanted at Thoughtwire, why he felt he left consulting too soon, what led to him create myTechne, building a system focused on curiosity and much more.

Help me improve the podcast by filling out the listener survey here: oldmandan.com/podcasts.

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]]> Join in for a conversation with Raphael Wong, the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Thoughtwire. On top of his role at Thoughtwire, Raph is the founder of myTechne.io a company with a mission to create the tools to help you succeed in what matters most in your life. He is also the host of a monthly podcast called the Canvas Series where he explores creating systems for success with his guests. I met Raph through our past podcast guest Luki from episode 23 who thought Raph and I would have a fun conversation and we did just that on this podcast. In this episode we bounce around on how Raph was able to build the role he wanted at Thoughtwire, why he felt he left consulting too soon, what led to him create myTechne, building a system focused on curiosity and much more.

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]]> Wed, 20 Mar 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4087 Join in for a conversation with Raphael Wong, the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Thoughtwire. On top of his role at Thoughtwire, Raph is the founder of myTechne.io a company with a mission to create the tools to help you succeed in what matters most in your life. He is also the host of a monthly podcast called the Canvas Series where he explores creating systems for success with his guests. I met Raph through our past podcast guest Luki from episode 23 who thought Raph and I would have a fun conversation and we did just that on this podcast. In this episode we bounce around on how Raph was able to build the role he wanted at Thoughtwire, why he felt he left consulting too soon, what led to him create myTechne, building a system focused on curiosity and much more. Join in for a conversation with Raphael Wong, the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Thoughtwire. On top of his role at Thoughtwire, Raph is the founder of myTechne.io a company with a mission to create the tools to help you succeed in what matters most Yes #33 - Marsha Druker, Founder of Fuckup Nights Toronto 33 33 #33 - Marsha Druker, Founder of Fuckup Nights Toronto full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c87ff8b15fcc0d5a8028384 https://share.transistor.fm/s/fb9f0756 Join in for a conversation with Marsha Druker, the Founder of Fuckup Nights Toronto. Fuckup nights is an international movement that started in Mexico City by 5 entrepreneurs who got together to share their fuck up and in 5 years it's spread throughout the globe. Marsha started her career in the world of corporate marketing. As the atypical high achiever she didn't think twice about joining the corporate world until she began to wonder if there could be something else out there. In our chat she takes us on a ride to her move to Tel Aviv, Israel to join a startup in the hot tech scene there and how that experience eventually led to Fuckup nights toronto. We go through the non-linear journey Marsha took to run a community business as well as her own fuckups en route to where she is now.

The website to link to is www.fuckupnightsto.ca 

Twitter/Insta is @FuckupNightsTO 

Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/FUNightsTO

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/27176253

]]> Join in for a conversation with Marsha Druker, the Founder of Fuckup Nights Toronto. Fuckup nights is an international movement that started in Mexico City by 5 entrepreneurs who got together to share their fuck up and in 5 years it's spread throughout the globe. Marsha started her career in the world of corporate marketing. As the atypical high achiever she didn't think twice about joining the corporate world until she began to wonder if there could be something else out there. In our chat she takes us on a ride to her move to Tel Aviv, Israel to join a startup in the hot tech scene there and how that experience eventually led to Fuckup nights toronto. We go through the non-linear journey Marsha took to run a community business as well as her own fuckups en route to where she is now.

The website to link to is www.fuckupnightsto.ca 

Twitter/Insta is @FuckupNightsTO 

Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/FUNightsTO

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/27176253

]]> Wed, 13 Mar 2019 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3650 Join in for a conversation with Marsha Druker, the Founder of Fuckup Nights Toronto. Fuckup nights is an international movement that started in Mexico City by 5 entrepreneurs who got together to share their fuck up and in 5 years it's spread throughout the globe. Marsha started her career in the world of corporate marketing. As the atypical high achiever she didn't think twice about joining the corporate world until she began to wonder if there could be something else out there. In our chat she takes us on a ride to her move to Tel Aviv, Israel to join a startup in the hot tech scene there and how that experience eventually led to Fuckup nights toronto. We go through the non-linear journey Marsha took to run a community business as well as her own fuckups en route to where she is now. Join in for a conversation with Marsha Druker, the Founder of Fuckup Nights Toronto. Fuckup nights is an international movement that started in Mexico City by 5 entrepreneurs who got together to share their fuck up and in 5 years it's spread throughout th Yes #32 - Peter Sum, Patient Acquisition Lead at Opencare. 32 32 #32 - Peter Sum, Patient Acquisition Lead at Opencare. full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c7c8f26e79c70579f3eab02 https://share.transistor.fm/s/899f86e4 Join in for a conversation with Peter Sum. Peter is the patient acquisition lead at Opencare, a Toronto-based healthcare marketplace. Peter is the first person I've met who switched his major 4 times in university. I was quite envious that he had the self-awareness and maturity at such a young age to go against the grain and explore to see really drove him. Peter has been traversing through the world of startups as one of the early business hires of each company, really embracing the definition of startups. We also go into how one would position him or herself for a position in growth and performance marketing at a startup.

]]> Join in for a conversation with Peter Sum. Peter is the patient acquisition lead at Opencare, a Toronto-based healthcare marketplace. Peter is the first person I've met who switched his major 4 times in university. I was quite envious that he had the self-awareness and maturity at such a young age to go against the grain and explore to see really drove him. Peter has been traversing through the world of startups as one of the early business hires of each company, really embracing the definition of startups. We also go into how one would position him or herself for a position in growth and performance marketing at a startup.

]]> Wed, 06 Mar 2019 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3805 Join in for a conversation with Peter Sum. Peter is the patient acquisition lead at Opencare, a Toronto-based healthcare marketplace. Peter is the first person I've met who switched his major 4 times in university. I was quite envious that he had the self-awareness and maturity at such a young age to go against the grain and explore to see really drove him. Peter has been traversing through the world of startups as one of the early business hires of each company, really embracing the definition of startups. We also go into how one would position him or herself for a position in growth and performance marketing at a startup. Join in for a conversation with Peter Sum. Peter is the patient acquisition lead at Opencare, a Toronto-based healthcare marketplace. Peter is the first person I've met who switched his major 4 times in university. I was quite envious that he had the self Yes #31 - Martin Hauck, Head of Talent at Coinsquare 31 31 #31 - Martin Hauck, Head of Talent at Coinsquare full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c75ee79ec212dc47c63b0f1 https://share.transistor.fm/s/771fa0be Join in for a conversation with Martin Hauck, Head of Talent at Coinsquare. Coinsquare is a cryptocurrency in Toronto most commonly known for its cryptocurrency exchange but the company has been growing rapidly and adding more services and we look at the man who has helped it scale from 40 to 100+. When I first met Martin he hooked me with telling me he dropped out of high school at grade 10. That peaked my interest and we dig into his journey today. Martin's journey begins with being misunderstood in high school and learning business by actually operating a nuts and bolts business. We go through why he changed plans to pursue broadcasting at a university to breaking into tech with an industrial goods background by starting with slapping stickers on his laptop. Martin has gone through a very unique journey that focused on having a 'great conversation' and we learn why he does what he does today.

]]> Join in for a conversation with Martin Hauck, Head of Talent at Coinsquare. Coinsquare is a cryptocurrency in Toronto most commonly known for its cryptocurrency exchange but the company has been growing rapidly and adding more services and we look at the man who has helped it scale from 40 to 100+. When I first met Martin he hooked me with telling me he dropped out of high school at grade 10. That peaked my interest and we dig into his journey today. Martin's journey begins with being misunderstood in high school and learning business by actually operating a nuts and bolts business. We go through why he changed plans to pursue broadcasting at a university to breaking into tech with an industrial goods background by starting with slapping stickers on his laptop. Martin has gone through a very unique journey that focused on having a 'great conversation' and we learn why he does what he does today.

]]> Wed, 27 Feb 2019 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4084 Join in for a conversation with Martin Hauck, Head of Talent at Coinsquare. Coinsquare is a cryptocurrency in Toronto most commonly known for its cryptocurrency exchange but the company has been growing rapidly and adding more services and we look at the man who has helped it scale from 40 to 100+. When I first met Martin he hooked me with telling me he dropped out of high school at grade 10. That peaked my interest and we dig into his journey today. Martin's journey begins with being misunderstood in high school and learning business by actually operating a nuts and bolts business. We go through why he changed plans to pursue broadcasting at a university to breaking into tech with an industrial goods background by starting with slapping stickers on his laptop. Martin has gone through a very unique journey that focused on having a 'great conversation' and we learn why he does what he does today. Join in for a conversation with Martin Hauck, Head of Talent at Coinsquare. Coinsquare is a cryptocurrency in Toronto most commonly known for its cryptocurrency exchange but the company has been growing rapidly and adding more services and we look at the Yes #30 - Inside Management Consulting in Canada (McKinsey, BCG, Bain edition) - Anonymous-cast 30 30 #30 - Inside Management Consulting in Canada (McKinsey, BCG, Bain edition) - Anonymous-cast full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c69a47aeb39312979d611d0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/7f0c01b5 This is the third episode of the anonymous podcast series I'm experimenting with. The field we will be exploring today is management consulting in Canada, specifically if you were in the MBB firms (aka mckinsey, BCG or Bain). We talk about the various projects one might experience, the realities of travel projects, the MBA culture and more. To allow for candidness of conversation we've made the guest's identity anonymous and I've also changed up the person's voice and given them a gender-neutral name. Trust me that this individual is very well acquainted to this world and is a veteran.

]]> This is the third episode of the anonymous podcast series I'm experimenting with. The field we will be exploring today is management consulting in Canada, specifically if you were in the MBB firms (aka mckinsey, BCG or Bain). We talk about the various projects one might experience, the realities of travel projects, the MBA culture and more. To allow for candidness of conversation we've made the guest's identity anonymous and I've also changed up the person's voice and given them a gender-neutral name. Trust me that this individual is very well acquainted to this world and is a veteran.

]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2019 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4999 This is the third episode of the anonymous podcast series I'm experimenting with. The field we will be exploring today is management consulting in Canada, specifically if you were in the MBB firms (aka mckinsey, BCG or Bain). We talk about the various projects one might experience, the realities of travel projects, the MBA culture and more. To allow for candidness of conversation we've made the guest's identity anonymous and I've also changed up the person's voice and given them a gender-neutral name. Trust me that this individual is very well acquainted to this world and is a veteran. This is the third episode of the anonymous podcast series I'm experimenting with. The field we will be exploring today is management consulting in Canada, specifically if you were in the MBB firms (aka mckinsey, BCG or Bain). We talk about the various pro Yes #29 - Anonymous-cast Series - Inside Hedge Funds (aka public equity investing) in Canada 29 29 #29 - Anonymous-cast Series - Inside Hedge Funds (aka public equity investing) in Canada full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c61b0dc085229cacdaf9be8 https://share.transistor.fm/s/39d24b27 This is the second episode of the anonymous podcast series. The field we will be exploring today is public equity investing in Canada, generally referred to as the buy-side or hedge funds for simplicity. We talk about the path to getting a seat as an investor, the changes in the industry with the growth of robo-advisors, a PM's personal portfolio vs. what they sell to their clients and more. We even jump around on general equity investing and you will definitely be able to hear our guest's passion for investing on today's episode for sure. To allow for candidness of conversation we've made the guest's identity anonymous and I've also changed up the person's voice and given them a gender-neutral name.

]]> This is the second episode of the anonymous podcast series. The field we will be exploring today is public equity investing in Canada, generally referred to as the buy-side or hedge funds for simplicity. We talk about the path to getting a seat as an investor, the changes in the industry with the growth of robo-advisors, a PM's personal portfolio vs. what they sell to their clients and more. We even jump around on general equity investing and you will definitely be able to hear our guest's passion for investing on today's episode for sure. To allow for candidness of conversation we've made the guest's identity anonymous and I've also changed up the person's voice and given them a gender-neutral name.

]]> Wed, 13 Feb 2019 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 5141 This is the second episode of the anonymous podcast series. The field we will be exploring today is public equity investing in Canada, generally referred to as the buy-side or hedge funds for simplicity. We talk about the path to getting a seat as an investor, the changes in the industry with the growth of robo-advisors, a PM's personal portfolio vs. what they sell to their clients and more. We even jump around on general equity investing and you will definitely be able to hear our guest's passion for investing on today's episode for sure. To allow for candidness of conversation we've made the guest's identity anonymous and I've also changed up the person's voice and given them a gender-neutral name. This is the second episode of the anonymous podcast series. The field we will be exploring today is public equity investing in Canada, generally referred to as the buy-side or hedge funds for simplicity. We talk about the path to getting a seat as an inve Yes #28 - Anonymous-cast Series - Inside Venture Capital Investing in Canada 28 28 #28 - Anonymous-cast Series - Inside Venture Capital Investing in Canada full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c5870d2eb39310f54cd8007 https://share.transistor.fm/s/25399833 This is the first episode of an anonymous-cast series I'm doing. So in the past podcast episodes we explored the career journey of many different professionals but today we're going to be looking at what someone actually does in their role in a particular field. The field we will be exploring today is venture capital investing in Canada. To allow for candidness of conversation we've made the guest's identity anonymous and I've also changed up the person's voice and given them a gender-neutral name. Some of you may be wondering how you would know to trust this person or not. For that, I guess I would be your filter and you'll have to trust me to bring in guests who I feel can deliver a level of candidness and knowledge to that particular field. Rest assure that I am doing my best in that realm. I'll be doing a series of these episodes to test them out so if you end up enjoying this different style and want more then shoot me a note in the "reach out" tab on my site, oldmandan.com.

]]> This is the first episode of an anonymous-cast series I'm doing. So in the past podcast episodes we explored the career journey of many different professionals but today we're going to be looking at what someone actually does in their role in a particular field. The field we will be exploring today is venture capital investing in Canada. To allow for candidness of conversation we've made the guest's identity anonymous and I've also changed up the person's voice and given them a gender-neutral name. Some of you may be wondering how you would know to trust this person or not. For that, I guess I would be your filter and you'll have to trust me to bring in guests who I feel can deliver a level of candidness and knowledge to that particular field. Rest assure that I am doing my best in that realm. I'll be doing a series of these episodes to test them out so if you end up enjoying this different style and want more then shoot me a note in the "reach out" tab on my site, oldmandan.com.

]]> Wed, 06 Feb 2019 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3698 This is the first episode of an anonymous-cast series I'm doing. So in the past podcast episodes we explored the career journey of many different professionals but today we're going to be looking at what someone actually does in their role in a particular field. The field we will be exploring today is venture capital investing in Canada. To allow for candidness of conversation we've made the guest's identity anonymous and I've also changed up the person's voice and given them a gender-neutral name. Some of you may be wondering how you would know to trust this person or not. For that, I guess I would be your filter and you'll have to trust me to bring in guests who I feel can deliver a level of candidness and knowledge to that particular field. Rest assure that I am doing my best in that realm. I'll be doing a series of these episodes to test them out so if you end up enjoying this different style and want more then shoot me a note in the "reach out" tab on my site, oldmandan.com This is the first episode of an anonymous-cast series I'm doing. So in the past podcast episodes we explored the career journey of many different professionals but today we're going to be looking at what someone actually does in their role in a particular Yes #27 - Natasha Jung, Executive Producer & Co-Founder of Cold Tea Collective 27 27 #27 - Natasha Jung, Executive Producer & Co-Founder of Cold Tea Collective full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c4e1c9b8a922d088108df09 https://share.transistor.fm/s/a6d0a730 Join in for a conversation with Natasha Jung, the co-founder and executive producer of Cold Tea Collective. Cold Tea Collective is a media company that focuses on telling the stories of Asian-American millennials and Natasha's own story is one I got to highlight on Accounted For. Natasha's journey started with a dream of media production that was derailed with the allure of a 'stable career' in marketing. All until a fateful letter to herself from the past that reignited the fire to pursue her media dream. An overarching theme in Natasha's journey has been a passion for community service and throughout her entrepreneurial journey, her continued dedication to community service pays off in unforeseen ways. This has been a conversation where I sought to learn more about growing my own media company but I've come out of it with more learnings in other areas as well.

]]> Join in for a conversation with Natasha Jung, the co-founder and executive producer of Cold Tea Collective. Cold Tea Collective is a media company that focuses on telling the stories of Asian-American millennials and Natasha's own story is one I got to highlight on Accounted For. Natasha's journey started with a dream of media production that was derailed with the allure of a 'stable career' in marketing. All until a fateful letter to herself from the past that reignited the fire to pursue her media dream. An overarching theme in Natasha's journey has been a passion for community service and throughout her entrepreneurial journey, her continued dedication to community service pays off in unforeseen ways. This has been a conversation where I sought to learn more about growing my own media company but I've come out of it with more learnings in other areas as well.

]]> Wed, 30 Jan 2019 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 5458 Join in for a conversation with Natasha Jung, the co-founder and executive producer of Cold Tea Collective. Cold Tea Collective is a media company that focuses on telling the stories of Asian-American millennials and Natasha's own story is one I got to highlight on Accounted For. Natasha's journey started with a dream of media production that was derailed with the allure of a 'stable career' in marketing. All until a fateful letter to herself from the past that reignited the fire to pursue her media dream. An overarching theme in Natasha's journey has been a passion for community service and throughout her entrepreneurial journey, her continued dedication to community service pays off in unforeseen ways. This has been a conversation where I sought to learn more about growing my own media company but I've come out of it with more learnings in other areas as well. Join in for a conversation with Natasha Jung, the co-founder and executive producer of Cold Tea Collective. Cold Tea Collective is a media company that focuses on telling the stories of Asian-American millennials and Natasha's own story is one I got to hi Yes #26 - Bob Wang, Founder of Legacy Advantage 26 26 #26 - Bob Wang, Founder of Legacy Advantage full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c45f3f921c67cc78dc59e20 https://share.transistor.fm/s/226a24f5 Join in for a conversation with Bob Wang, the Founder of Legacy Advantage and the BC Region Leader of Deloitte Ctrl. Legacy Advantage was a bookkeeping company for small businesses in BC and it was acquired by Deloitte to become part the engine of Ctrl's BC business. But Bob is no ordinary bookkeeper. In our conversation we delve through Bob's background of growing up in the Czech Republic, his entrepreneurial father fleeing the Czech mafia to Vancouver and how this upbringing fostered a passion for helping small businesses in his accounting career at KPMG to his own company, Legacy Advantage. Bob grew his company to about $2MM in revenue within the first 3 years through a method of partnering with the 'would-be' competition and creating an organization build around 'common sense'.

]]> Join in for a conversation with Bob Wang, the Founder of Legacy Advantage and the BC Region Leader of Deloitte Ctrl. Legacy Advantage was a bookkeeping company for small businesses in BC and it was acquired by Deloitte to become part the engine of Ctrl's BC business. But Bob is no ordinary bookkeeper. In our conversation we delve through Bob's background of growing up in the Czech Republic, his entrepreneurial father fleeing the Czech mafia to Vancouver and how this upbringing fostered a passion for helping small businesses in his accounting career at KPMG to his own company, Legacy Advantage. Bob grew his company to about $2MM in revenue within the first 3 years through a method of partnering with the 'would-be' competition and creating an organization build around 'common sense'.

]]> Wed, 23 Jan 2019 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 2916 Join in for a conversation with Bob Wang, the Founder of Legacy Advantage and the BC Region Leader of Deloitte Ctrl. Legacy Advantage was a bookkeeping company for small businesses in BC and it was acquired by Deloitte to become part the engine of Ctrl's BC business. But Bob is no ordinary bookkeeper. In our conversation we delve through Bob's background of growing up in the Czech Republic, his entrepreneurial father fleeing the Czech mafia to Vancouver and how this upbringing fostered a passion for helping small businesses in his accounting career at KPMG to his own company, Legacy Advantage. Bob grew his company to about $2MM in revenue within the first 3 years through a method of partnering with the 'would-be' competition and creating an organization build around 'common sense'. Join in for a conversation with Bob Wang, the Founder of Legacy Advantage and the BC Region Leader of Deloitte Ctrl. Legacy Advantage was a bookkeeping company for small businesses in BC and it was acquired by Deloitte to become part the engine of Ctrl's Yes #25 - Tom Lowden, Labs Manager of WeWork Toronto 25 25 #25 - Tom Lowden, Labs Manager of WeWork Toronto full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c3ba05588251b8b3c6e36f5 https://share.transistor.fm/s/ec308742 Join in for a conversation with Tom Lowden, the Labs Manager of WeWork Toronto. Prior to WeWork, Tom build out a skill set in fundraising for the public sector after having explored a number of different opportunities. After that experience he was the inaugural, I daresay the 'founding' team, of Toronto's Creative Destruction Lab incubator and he went on to become an investor and operator with Boat Rocker Ventures where he brought to life the Dineen coffee shops. Tom's fascinating career is one filled with entrepreneurial spirit and I hope you find it as enjoyable and exciting as I did.

]]> Join in for a conversation with Tom Lowden, the Labs Manager of WeWork Toronto. Prior to WeWork, Tom build out a skill set in fundraising for the public sector after having explored a number of different opportunities. After that experience he was the inaugural, I daresay the 'founding' team, of Toronto's Creative Destruction Lab incubator and he went on to become an investor and operator with Boat Rocker Ventures where he brought to life the Dineen coffee shops. Tom's fascinating career is one filled with entrepreneurial spirit and I hope you find it as enjoyable and exciting as I did.

]]> Wed, 16 Jan 2019 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4264 Join in for a conversation with Tom Lowden, the Labs Manager of WeWork Toronto. Prior to WeWork, Tom build out a skill set in fundraising for the public sector after having explored a number of different opportunities. After that experience he was the inaugural, I daresay the 'founding' team, of Toronto's Creative Destruction Lab incubator and he went on to become an investor and operator with Boat Rocker Ventures where he brought to life the Dineen coffee shops. Tom's fascinating career is one filled with entrepreneurial spirit and I hope you find it as enjoyable and exciting as I did. Join in for a conversation with Tom Lowden, the Labs Manager of WeWork Toronto. Prior to WeWork, Tom build out a skill set in fundraising for the public sector after having explored a number of different opportunities. After that experience he was the ina Yes #24 - Marty Kratky-Katz Co-founder and CEO of Blockthrough 24 24 #24 - Marty Kratky-Katz Co-founder and CEO of Blockthrough full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c32ce07b8a0455ef9d4e867 https://share.transistor.fm/s/b24a8fc8 Join in for a conversation with Marty Kratky-Katz, the co-founder and CEO of Blockthrough. Blockthrough is a Toronto based startup that helps web publishers recoup some of the advertising dollars they lose out to adblockers whilst creating an ad-friendly experience for the site's customers. Marty has been an entrepreneur for close to 9 years and Blockthrough is his 3rd company. In our conversation we go through each of Marty's startups, the learnings associated with each, the bumps and bruises and the reality of what it's like to be a founder and how it's definitely not for the faint of heart. We cover everything from finding investors, surviving as a company, parting ways with your co-founder, withstanding parental pressures to be a doctor and more!

]]> Join in for a conversation with Marty Kratky-Katz, the co-founder and CEO of Blockthrough. Blockthrough is a Toronto based startup that helps web publishers recoup some of the advertising dollars they lose out to adblockers whilst creating an ad-friendly experience for the site's customers. Marty has been an entrepreneur for close to 9 years and Blockthrough is his 3rd company. In our conversation we go through each of Marty's startups, the learnings associated with each, the bumps and bruises and the reality of what it's like to be a founder and how it's definitely not for the faint of heart. We cover everything from finding investors, surviving as a company, parting ways with your co-founder, withstanding parental pressures to be a doctor and more!

]]> Wed, 09 Jan 2019 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3502 Join in for a conversation with Marty Kratky-Katz, the co-founder and CEO of Blockthrough. Blockthrough is a Toronto based startup that helps web publishers recoup some of the advertising dollars they lose out to adblockers whilst creating an ad-friendly experience for the site's customers. Marty has been an entrepreneur for close to 9 years and Blockthrough is his 3rd company. In our conversation we go through each of Marty's startups, the learnings associated with each, the bumps and bruises and the reality of what it's like to be a founder and how it's definitely not for the faint of heart. We cover everything from finding investors, surviving as a company, parting ways with your co-founder, withstanding parental pressures to be a doctor and more! Join in for a conversation with Marty Kratky-Katz, the co-founder and CEO of Blockthrough. Blockthrough is a Toronto based startup that helps web publishers recoup some of the advertising dollars they lose out to adblockers whilst creating an ad-friendly Yes #23 - Chief Career Catalyst of Focus.Inspired with Luki Danukarjanto 23 23 #23 - Chief Career Catalyst of Focus.Inspired with Luki Danukarjanto full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c2acb09cd836676a1b1e092 https://share.transistor.fm/s/b936b2b3 Join in for a conversation with Luki Danukarjanto, the Chief Career Catalyst at Focus.Inspired and the author of a career book titled: Stuff I Wish I Knew Earlier. Luki is on a mission to help millennials redefine their career journey as a coach but with aspirations to create a new form of education in the future. Luki's story is one filled with cultivating humility through disappointment and making decisions following his curiosity. We journey his personal development and rebranding through an almost 13 year career in consulting to taking the leap of entrepreneurship whilst having a wife and 2 kids. We talk about his early years starting Focus.Inspired and what it's like now 3 years later with the various learnings he experienced as an operator.

]]> Join in for a conversation with Luki Danukarjanto, the Chief Career Catalyst at Focus.Inspired and the author of a career book titled: Stuff I Wish I Knew Earlier. Luki is on a mission to help millennials redefine their career journey as a coach but with aspirations to create a new form of education in the future. Luki's story is one filled with cultivating humility through disappointment and making decisions following his curiosity. We journey his personal development and rebranding through an almost 13 year career in consulting to taking the leap of entrepreneurship whilst having a wife and 2 kids. We talk about his early years starting Focus.Inspired and what it's like now 3 years later with the various learnings he experienced as an operator.

]]> Wed, 02 Jan 2019 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 5762 Join in for a conversation with Luki Danukarjanto, the Chief Career Catalyst at Focus.Inspired and the author of a career book titled: Stuff I Wish I Knew Earlier. Luki is on a mission to help millennials redefine their career journey as a coach but with aspirations to create a new form of education in the future. Luki's story is one filled with cultivating humility through disappointment and making decisions following his curiosity. We journey his personal development and rebranding through an almost 13 year career in consulting to taking the leap of entrepreneurship whilst having a wife and 2 kids. We talk about his early years starting Focus.Inspired and what it's like now 3 years later with the various learnings he experienced as an operator. Join in for a conversation with Luki Danukarjanto, the Chief Career Catalyst at Focus.Inspired and the author of a career book titled: Stuff I Wish I Knew Earlier. Luki is on a mission to help millennials redefine their career journey as a coach but with Yes #22 - Daniel Lee, Your Host's Personal Story (Holiday Special) 22 22 #22 - Daniel Lee, Your Host's Personal Story (Holiday Special) full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c22eb9fcd8366c2078fa57f https://share.transistor.fm/s/f7f9a2a7 Join in for a conversation with myself! This is a solo-cast episode where I go through my own career journey. If you want to hear me ramble about the trials and tribulations I experienced in my own unorthodox journey through accounting, consulting and finance then please tune in! It may look obvious to some but I can tell you for a fact that it was nothing of the sort when I was going through it. 

]]> Join in for a conversation with myself! This is a solo-cast episode where I go through my own career journey. If you want to hear me ramble about the trials and tribulations I experienced in my own unorthodox journey through accounting, consulting and finance then please tune in! It may look obvious to some but I can tell you for a fact that it was nothing of the sort when I was going through it. 

]]> Wed, 26 Dec 2018 20:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4232 Join in for a conversation with myself! This is a solo-cast episode where I go through my own career journey. If you want to hear me ramble about the trials and tribulations I experienced in my own unorthodox journey through accounting, consulting and finance then please tune in! It may look obvious to some but I can tell you for a fact that it was nothing of the sort when I was going through it. Join in for a conversation with myself! This is a solo-cast episode where I go through my own career journey. If you want to hear me ramble about the trials and tribulations I experienced in my own unorthodox journey through accounting, consulting and fin Yes #21 - Matt O'Leary, Chief Partnership Officer at Carrot Rewards 21 21 #21 - Matt O'Leary, Chief Partnership Officer at Carrot Rewards full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c181e9c1ae6cfff4b507faa https://share.transistor.fm/s/ad89709a Join in for a conversation with Matt O'Leary. Matt is the Chief Partnership Officer at Carrott Rewards. Carrott Rewards is an app that helps people meet their personal health and fitness goals using a habit based system. Matt has had an international journey starting in PR and Lobbying in London, UK then moving over to Singapore then creating a venture lab for the billionaire Air Asia founder and ex-virgin executive Tony Fernandes in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He then returned to Canada to continue his journey in the startup ecosystem by focusing on business development roles and we actually go through what business development is and just how his lobbying for international government organizations and product management led to how he leads partnerships at Carrot.

]]> Join in for a conversation with Matt O'Leary. Matt is the Chief Partnership Officer at Carrott Rewards. Carrott Rewards is an app that helps people meet their personal health and fitness goals using a habit based system. Matt has had an international journey starting in PR and Lobbying in London, UK then moving over to Singapore then creating a venture lab for the billionaire Air Asia founder and ex-virgin executive Tony Fernandes in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He then returned to Canada to continue his journey in the startup ecosystem by focusing on business development roles and we actually go through what business development is and just how his lobbying for international government organizations and product management led to how he leads partnerships at Carrot.

]]> Wed, 19 Dec 2018 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3261 Join in for a conversation with Matt O'Leary. Matt is the Chief Partnership Officer at Carrott Rewards. Carrott Rewards is an app that helps people meet their personal health and fitness goals using a habit based system. Matt has had an international journey starting in PR and Lobbying in London, UK then moving over to Singapore then creating a venture lab for the billionaire Air Asia founder and ex-virgin executive Tony Fernandes in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He then returned to Canada to continue his journey in the startup ecosystem by focusing on business development roles and we actually go through what business development is and just how his lobbying for international government organizations and product management led to how he leads partnerships at Carrot. Join in for a conversation with Matt O'Leary. Matt is the Chief Partnership Officer at Carrott Rewards. Carrott Rewards is an app that helps people meet their personal health and fitness goals using a habit based system. Matt has had an international jour Yes #20 - Jason Li, Co-founder of TomYum Designs 20 20 #20 - Jason Li, Co-founder of TomYum Designs full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c10fc5e4d7a9cec045e597f https://share.transistor.fm/s/3851e919 Join in for a conversation with Jason Li, one of the Co-Founders of TomYum Design. As Jason puts it Tom Yum is a design partnership that is working its way to become a product design agency. Jason is a fellow accounting alum from the University of Waterloo but unlike many in our program, like myself, he did not pursue the accountant's path. He had initially intended to but he started listening to his heart and pursued product design after graduating. Many of my fellow business friends think a transition to a designer without an artistic or technical background is not possible but Jason has done it. We talk about how he built up a portfolio, what he had in the portfolio, his experience working at Thanx, a Sequoia backed startup, and his experience coming back to Toronto and building a design agency. If you're an aspiring designer this is definitely the chat for you but even if you are not (like me) this will continue to be a fun and eye-opening conversation to breaking into the field of product design so I hope you enjoy my chat with Jason Li.

]]> Join in for a conversation with Jason Li, one of the Co-Founders of TomYum Design. As Jason puts it Tom Yum is a design partnership that is working its way to become a product design agency. Jason is a fellow accounting alum from the University of Waterloo but unlike many in our program, like myself, he did not pursue the accountant's path. He had initially intended to but he started listening to his heart and pursued product design after graduating. Many of my fellow business friends think a transition to a designer without an artistic or technical background is not possible but Jason has done it. We talk about how he built up a portfolio, what he had in the portfolio, his experience working at Thanx, a Sequoia backed startup, and his experience coming back to Toronto and building a design agency. If you're an aspiring designer this is definitely the chat for you but even if you are not (like me) this will continue to be a fun and eye-opening conversation to breaking into the field of product design so I hope you enjoy my chat with Jason Li.

]]> Wed, 12 Dec 2018 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3502 Join in for a conversation with Jason Li, one of the Co-Founders of TomYum Design. As Jason puts it Tom Yum is a design partnership that is working its way to become a product design agency. Jason is a fellow accounting alum from the University of Waterloo but unlike many in our program, like myself, he did not pursue the accountant's path. He had initially intended to but he started listening to his heart and pursued product design after graduating. Many of my fellow business friends think a transition to a designer without an artistic or technical background is not possible but Jason has done it. We talk about how he built up a portfolio, what he had in the portfolio, his experience working at Thanx, a Sequoia backed startup, and his experience coming back to Toronto and building a design agency. If you're an aspiring designer this is definitely the chat for you but even if you are not (like me) this will continue to be a fun and eye-opening conversation to breaking into the field of product design so I hope you enjoy my chat with Jason Li. Join in for a conversation with Jason Li, one of the Co-Founders of TomYum Design. As Jason puts it Tom Yum is a design partnership that is working its way to become a product design agency. Jason is a fellow accounting alum from the University of Waterlo Yes #19 - Justin Raymond, CEO of Flexday 19 19 #19 - Justin Raymond, CEO of Flexday full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5c076206562fa79618e50343 https://share.transistor.fm/s/f3a2a3f5 Join in for a conversation with Justin Raymond, the Founder and CEO of Flexday. Flexday is a Toronto-based startup that is looking to create a community of office-free workers where nomads alike can work from environments that energize them. I'm a happy consumer of Flexday and have been nomading through their 20 different locations as my office throughout the week. Justin has had a fascinating career journey where he has gone about creating 3 successful companies that are still in operation today. He was also the North American president of Hailo, the UK-based taxi app company that competed in the rideshare market with Uber and Lyft in the early days. Justin's story was just a fascinating one of constantly listening to your gut and sticking to the mental model of always building a company with a mission of social responsibility at its core.

]]> Join in for a conversation with Justin Raymond, the Founder and CEO of Flexday. Flexday is a Toronto-based startup that is looking to create a community of office-free workers where nomads alike can work from environments that energize them. I'm a happy consumer of Flexday and have been nomading through their 20 different locations as my office throughout the week. Justin has had a fascinating career journey where he has gone about creating 3 successful companies that are still in operation today. He was also the North American president of Hailo, the UK-based taxi app company that competed in the rideshare market with Uber and Lyft in the early days. Justin's story was just a fascinating one of constantly listening to your gut and sticking to the mental model of always building a company with a mission of social responsibility at its core.

]]> Wed, 05 Dec 2018 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4447 Join in for a conversation with Justin Raymond, the Founder and CEO of Flexday. Flexday is a Toronto-based startup that is looking to create a community of office-free workers where nomads alike can work from environments that energize them. I'm a happy consumer of Flexday and have been nomading through their 20 different locations as my office throughout the week. Justin has had a fascinating career journey where he has gone about creating 3 successful companies that are still in operation today. He was also the North American president of Hailo, the UK-based taxi app company that competed in the rideshare market with Uber and Lyft in the early days. Justin's story was just a fascinating one of constantly listening to your gut and sticking to the mental model of always building a company with a mission of social responsibility at its core. Join in for a conversation with Justin Raymond, the Founder and CEO of Flexday. Flexday is a Toronto-based startup that is looking to create a community of office-free workers where nomads alike can work from environments that energize them. I'm a happy c Yes #18 - Jordan Hill, VP of Finance at #paid 18 18 #18 - Jordan Hill, VP of Finance at #paid full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5bfb81f2032be491101e68d0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/7d767726 Join in for a conversation with Jordan Hill, the VP of Finance & Operations at #paid. #paid is a company that helps social media influencers get paid by matching them up with companies who want to advertise via influencers. With the continued polarization in the marketing world where we are seeing more leaders that dominate small niches this is a really interesting space to play in. Before #paid Jordan was a fellow Big 4 auditor but like many he knew this wasn't for him, in fact his partner told him this wasn't for him. After which, he went to be a career development coach. He was first solo then he teamed up with a partner to develop a product to essentially make a licensing product for organizations. We go through all the trial and tribulations of entrepreneurship ins these varying stages and also dig into what he actually does and why he actually wouldn't be doing what he is doing now if he tried to jump straight from accounting.

]]> Join in for a conversation with Jordan Hill, the VP of Finance & Operations at #paid. #paid is a company that helps social media influencers get paid by matching them up with companies who want to advertise via influencers. With the continued polarization in the marketing world where we are seeing more leaders that dominate small niches this is a really interesting space to play in. Before #paid Jordan was a fellow Big 4 auditor but like many he knew this wasn't for him, in fact his partner told him this wasn't for him. After which, he went to be a career development coach. He was first solo then he teamed up with a partner to develop a product to essentially make a licensing product for organizations. We go through all the trial and tribulations of entrepreneurship ins these varying stages and also dig into what he actually does and why he actually wouldn't be doing what he is doing now if he tried to jump straight from accounting.

]]> Wed, 28 Nov 2018 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4176 Join in for a conversation with Jordan Hill, the VP of Finance & Operations at #paid. #paid is a company that helps social media influencers get paid by matching them up with companies who want to advertise via influencers. With the continued polarization in the marketing world where we are seeing more leaders that dominate small niches this is a really interesting space to play in. Before #paid Jordan was a fellow Big 4 auditor but like many he knew this wasn't for him, in fact his partner told him this wasn't for him. After which, he went to be a career development coach. He was first solo then he teamed up with a partner to develop a product to essentially make a licensing product for organizations. We go through all the trial and tribulations of entrepreneurship ins these varying stages and also dig into what he actually does and why he actually wouldn't be doing what he is doing now if he tried to jump straight from accounting. Join in for a conversation with Jordan Hill, the VP of Finance & Operations at #paid. #paid is a company that helps social media influencers get paid by matching them up with companies who want to advertise via influencers. With the continued polariza Yes #17 - Ricky Zhang, Founder of Prince of Travel 17 17 #17 - Ricky Zhang, Founder of Prince of Travel full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5bf4ac1ff950b7ad7190efe3 https://share.transistor.fm/s/9d44a695 Join in for a conversation with Ricky Zhang, the founder of Prince of Travel. Prince of travel is a travel company that started off as a blog where Ricky writes posts on ways Canadians can hack and earn ways to travel in luxury for low costs whether it's getting business class flights and/or staying in luxurious hotels on trips throughout the world. We discuss Ricky's journey of turning a passion project into a full-time business and how he transitioned from building the company over a year until he was ready to quit his accounting/finance job at a bank to taking on the path as a full-time entrepreneur. This was a super fun conversation where Ricky shared some basic tactics where a travel credit card noob like me got some actionable steps to start my journey of accumulating huge points to schedule my first luxury travel trip. 

]]> Join in for a conversation with Ricky Zhang, the founder of Prince of Travel. Prince of travel is a travel company that started off as a blog where Ricky writes posts on ways Canadians can hack and earn ways to travel in luxury for low costs whether it's getting business class flights and/or staying in luxurious hotels on trips throughout the world. We discuss Ricky's journey of turning a passion project into a full-time business and how he transitioned from building the company over a year until he was ready to quit his accounting/finance job at a bank to taking on the path as a full-time entrepreneur. This was a super fun conversation where Ricky shared some basic tactics where a travel credit card noob like me got some actionable steps to start my journey of accumulating huge points to schedule my first luxury travel trip. 

]]> Wed, 21 Nov 2018 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4616 Join in for a conversation with Ricky Zhang, the founder of Prince of Travel. Prince of travel is a travel company that started off as a blog where Ricky writes posts on ways Canadians can hack and earn ways to travel in luxury for low costs whether it's getting business class flights and/or staying in luxurious hotels on trips throughout the world. We discuss Ricky's journey of turning a passion project into a full-time business and how he transitioned from building the company over a year until he was ready to quit his accounting/finance job at a bank to taking on the path as a full-time entrepreneur. This was a super fun conversation where Ricky shared some basic tactics where a travel credit card noob like me got some actionable steps to start my journey of accumulating huge points to schedule my first luxury travel trip. Join in for a conversation with Ricky Zhang, the founder of Prince of Travel. Prince of travel is a travel company that started off as a blog where Ricky writes posts on ways Canadians can hack and earn ways to travel in luxury for low costs whether it's Yes #16 - Natalie Festa, Co-Founder of Boro 16 16 #16 - Natalie Festa, Co-Founder of Boro full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5be8bc17c2241bb5cb813894 https://share.transistor.fm/s/ecd65c04 Join in for a conversation with Natalie Festa, Co-founder of Boro - a peer-to-peer clothing rental marketplace. Natalie is a fellow KPMG audit alum. From there she got a sabbatical to work as a managing director of a local fashion company in Tanzania where she was also the roommate of Lucas Perlman, who came on as a guest on episode 11 of the podcast! We go through Natalie's journey of listening to your gut and getting off that hedonistic career treadmill, seeing the fashion supply chain in the developing world, quitting with nothing but an idea and the entrepreneurial journey she has embarked on. We go discuss ways of starting a company without VC funding but bootstrapping, the day to day realities and more! Stay on and listen to my interview with Natalie. 

]]> Join in for a conversation with Natalie Festa, Co-founder of Boro - a peer-to-peer clothing rental marketplace. Natalie is a fellow KPMG audit alum. From there she got a sabbatical to work as a managing director of a local fashion company in Tanzania where she was also the roommate of Lucas Perlman, who came on as a guest on episode 11 of the podcast! We go through Natalie's journey of listening to your gut and getting off that hedonistic career treadmill, seeing the fashion supply chain in the developing world, quitting with nothing but an idea and the entrepreneurial journey she has embarked on. We go discuss ways of starting a company without VC funding but bootstrapping, the day to day realities and more! Stay on and listen to my interview with Natalie. 

]]> Wed, 14 Nov 2018 08:30:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4643 Join in for a conversation with Natalie Festa, Co-founder of Boro - a peer-to-peer clothing rental marketplace. Natalie is a fellow KPMG audit alum. From there she got a sabbatical to work as a managing director of a local fashion company in Tanzania where she was also the roommate of Lucas Perlman, who came on as a guest on episode 11 of the podcast! We go through Natalie's journey of listening to your gut and getting off that hedonistic career treadmill, seeing the fashion supply chain in the developing world, quitting with nothing but an idea and the entrepreneurial journey she has embarked on. We go discuss ways of starting a company without VC funding but bootstrapping, the day to day realities and more! Stay on and listen to my interview with Natalie. Join in for a conversation with Natalie Festa, Co-founder of Boro - a peer-to-peer clothing rental marketplace. Natalie is a fellow KPMG audit alum. From there she got a sabbatical to work as a managing director of a local fashion company in Tanzania wher Yes #15 - Upkar Arora, CEO of Purpose Capital 15 15 #15 - Upkar Arora, CEO of Purpose Capital full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5bdf95c24d7a9c04ee4ed421 https://share.transistor.fm/s/e4cb7a44 Join in for a conversation with Upkar Arora, the CEO of Purpose Capital. Man, where to begin. Upkar's had a fascinating career journey. He is both a University of Waterloo Accounting graduate and KPMG alum like myself but his journey takes him to the Canadian Google of the 2000s, Nortel, then to various executive roles, even in a company that files with bankruptcy. We dive into his transition to a private equity investor, creating his own consulting company that essentially starts buying businesses and then to his current passion of impact investing with purpose capital. He is also super passionate about career development and overall life design so we go deeper into his perspective, his learnings, the popular career class he teaches at Waterloo and much more. This is a talk where we don't go into the nitty gritty of a specific role but actually go through how Upkar found his north star, his "why", his purpose and how that helps guide his decision making process. I really do hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Here is Upkar Arora.   

]]> Join in for a conversation with Upkar Arora, the CEO of Purpose Capital. Man, where to begin. Upkar's had a fascinating career journey. He is both a University of Waterloo Accounting graduate and KPMG alum like myself but his journey takes him to the Canadian Google of the 2000s, Nortel, then to various executive roles, even in a company that files with bankruptcy. We dive into his transition to a private equity investor, creating his own consulting company that essentially starts buying businesses and then to his current passion of impact investing with purpose capital. He is also super passionate about career development and overall life design so we go deeper into his perspective, his learnings, the popular career class he teaches at Waterloo and much more. This is a talk where we don't go into the nitty gritty of a specific role but actually go through how Upkar found his north star, his "why", his purpose and how that helps guide his decision making process. I really do hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Here is Upkar Arora.   

]]> Wed, 07 Nov 2018 08:45:00 -0500 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4264 Join in for a conversation with Upkar Arora, the CEO of Purpose Capital. Man, where to begin. Upkar's had a fascinating career journey. He is both a University of Waterloo Accounting graduate and KPMG alum like myself but his journey takes him to the Canadian Google of the 2000s, Nortel, then to various executive roles, even in a company that files with bankruptcy. We dive into his transition to a private equity investor, creating his own consulting company that essentially starts buying businesses and then to his current passion of impact investing with purpose capital. He is also super passionate about career development and overall life design so we go deeper into his perspective, his learnings, the popular career class he teaches at Waterloo and much more. This is a talk where we don't go into the nitty gritty of a specific role but actually go through how Upkar found his north star, his "why", his purpose and how that helps guide his decision making process. I really do hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Here is Upkar Arora. Join in for a conversation with Upkar Arora, the CEO of Purpose Capital. Man, where to begin. Upkar's had a fascinating career journey. He is both a University of Waterloo Accounting graduate and KPMG alum like myself but his journey takes him to the Cana Yes #14 - Greg Duggan, VP at Alignvest (Part 2 of 2) 14 14 #14 - Greg Duggan, VP at Alignvest (Part 2 of 2) full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5bd5fabca4222f4430a2a2fb https://share.transistor.fm/s/d37f256d Listen in on the second part of the two part series of my interview with Greg Duggan. If you missed the first part then I advise you start from there and then come back to this episode. But just as a refresher, Greg's the VP at Alignvest management corporation where he is in the private equity investing arm. He was previously at Onex and graduated from harvard business school with an MBA. In the second part of the interview we dive deeper into the private equity process, what greg actually does everyday, mistakes he made in university, values of a MBA and more. Hope you enjoy my conversation with Greg Duggan. 

]]> Listen in on the second part of the two part series of my interview with Greg Duggan. If you missed the first part then I advise you start from there and then come back to this episode. But just as a refresher, Greg's the VP at Alignvest management corporation where he is in the private equity investing arm. He was previously at Onex and graduated from harvard business school with an MBA. In the second part of the interview we dive deeper into the private equity process, what greg actually does everyday, mistakes he made in university, values of a MBA and more. Hope you enjoy my conversation with Greg Duggan. 

]]> Wed, 31 Oct 2018 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3819 Listen in on the second part of the two part series of my interview with Greg Duggan. If you missed the first part then I advise you start from there and then come back to this episode. But just as a refresher, Greg's the VP at Alignvest management corporation where he is in the private equity investing arm. He was previously at Onex and graduated from harvard business school with an MBA. In the second part of the interview we dive deeper into the private equity process, what greg actually does everyday, mistakes he made in university, values of a MBA and more. Hope you enjoy my conversation with Greg Duggan. Listen in on the second part of the two part series of my interview with Greg Duggan. If you missed the first part then I advise you start from there and then come back to this episode. But just as a refresher, Greg's the VP at Alignvest management corpor Yes #13 - Greg Duggan, VP at Alignvest (Part 1) 13 13 #13 - Greg Duggan, VP at Alignvest (Part 1) full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5bcfd447104c7b8dc21cd181 https://share.transistor.fm/s/0e018715 Today's interview is with a good friend of mine, Greg Duggan. Greg is currently the Vice President at Alignvest Management Corporation, and Investment management firm and he is in the private capital, aka private equity team there. Greg has what I consider to be the "poster-child" resume for someone in private equity where he started his journey in investment banking in Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, then went to do private equity at the Canadian giant Onex Corporation and then went onto get his MBA from Harvard Business School before joining alignvest. I've known Greg throughout his journey and as we get deeper into his story we showcase how it was anything but linear. This is part 1 of a 2 part series where we were having so much fun we decided to chat for a full 3 hours. In part 1 we dig into his earlier career journey and the various decisions and obstacles he faced in each transition that creates the current illusion of the linear career path in private equity. Here is my conversation with Greg Duggan. 

]]> Today's interview is with a good friend of mine, Greg Duggan. Greg is currently the Vice President at Alignvest Management Corporation, and Investment management firm and he is in the private capital, aka private equity team there. Greg has what I consider to be the "poster-child" resume for someone in private equity where he started his journey in investment banking in Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, then went to do private equity at the Canadian giant Onex Corporation and then went onto get his MBA from Harvard Business School before joining alignvest. I've known Greg throughout his journey and as we get deeper into his story we showcase how it was anything but linear. This is part 1 of a 2 part series where we were having so much fun we decided to chat for a full 3 hours. In part 1 we dig into his earlier career journey and the various decisions and obstacles he faced in each transition that creates the current illusion of the linear career path in private equity. Here is my conversation with Greg Duggan. 

]]> Tue, 23 Oct 2018 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 5011 Today's interview is with a good friend of mine, Greg Duggan. Greg is currently the Vice President at Alignvest Management Corporation, and Investment management firm and he is in the private capital, aka private equity team there. Greg has what I consider to be the "poster-child" resume for someone in private equity where he started his journey in investment banking in Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, then went to do private equity at the Canadian giant Onex Corporation and then went onto get his MBA from Harvard Business School before joining alignvest. I've known Greg throughout his journey and as we get deeper into his story we showcase how it was anything but linear. This is part 1 of a 2 part series where we were having so much fun we decided to chat for a full 3 hours. In part 1 we dig into his earlier career journey and the various decisions and obstacles he faced in each transition that creates the current illusion of the linear career path in private equity. Here is my conversation with Greg Duggan. Today's interview is with a good friend of mine, Greg Duggan. Greg is currently the Vice President at Alignvest Management Corporation, and Investment management firm and he is in the private capital, aka private equity team there. Greg has what I conside Yes #12 - Sam Restagno, Managing Director at Golden Spruce Capital 12 12 #12 - Sam Restagno, Managing Director at Golden Spruce Capital full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5bc633ace5e5f0e806a5d923 https://share.transistor.fm/s/b4719e37 Join in for a conversation with Sam Restagno, Managing Director at Golden Spruce Capital, a private investment company that focuses on buying small businesses with an ebitda of 1-5MM. In our chat Sam takes me through how he persevered through to get into investment banking, and the process of making the decision to leave the plush expense account and comfy banking world to ultimately start a 2 person fund with his business partner. We go through the world of small company investing, the importance of relationship building, the opportunity size, the various funding options and the frugality and hustle you need as founders. I personally got a lot of value out of this chat and even if you aren't someone who isn't hell bent on running your own investment company in the future I think you'll be able to extract lot's of value out of my chat with Sam. Hope you enjoy. 

]]> Join in for a conversation with Sam Restagno, Managing Director at Golden Spruce Capital, a private investment company that focuses on buying small businesses with an ebitda of 1-5MM. In our chat Sam takes me through how he persevered through to get into investment banking, and the process of making the decision to leave the plush expense account and comfy banking world to ultimately start a 2 person fund with his business partner. We go through the world of small company investing, the importance of relationship building, the opportunity size, the various funding options and the frugality and hustle you need as founders. I personally got a lot of value out of this chat and even if you aren't someone who isn't hell bent on running your own investment company in the future I think you'll be able to extract lot's of value out of my chat with Sam. Hope you enjoy. 

]]> Wed, 17 Oct 2018 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 5079 Join in for a conversation with Sam Restagno, Managing Director at Golden Spruce Capital, a private investment company that focuses on buying small businesses with an ebitda of 1-5MM. In our chat Sam takes me through how he persevered through to get into investment banking, and the process of making the decision to leave the plush expense account and comfy banking world to ultimately start a 2 person fund with his business partner. We go through the world of small company investing, the importance of relationship building, the opportunity size, the various funding options and the frugality and hustle you need as founders. I personally got a lot of value out of this chat and even if you aren't someone who isn't hell bent on running your own investment company in the future I think you'll be able to extract lot's of value out of my chat with Sam. Hope you enjoy. Join in for a conversation with Sam Restagno, Managing Director at Golden Spruce Capital, a private investment company that focuses on buying small businesses with an ebitda of 1-5MM. In our chat Sam takes me through how he persevered through to get into Yes #11 - Lucas Perlman, Partnerships at MaRS Discovery District 11 11 #11 - Lucas Perlman, Partnerships at MaRS Discovery District full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5bbcce0724a6946397f9702e https://share.transistor.fm/s/24cf338a Join in for a conversation with Lucas Perlman, International Partnership Manager at MaRS Discovery District. I've had a lot of friends in the professional services field like accounting, consulting and finance tell me about how they want to do work that is more impactful and meaningful to them. Some have even told me about wanting to take some time off to go on a trip to a developing country to help out the local businesses there. Well, today's guest did just that. Lucas left audit to go help out local businesses in Tanzania through a corporation called Anza, which is practically the Mars discovery district of Tanzania. We go through the decision making process he had in taking the leap, the value of taking career risks earlier on and what he does in his new business development role at MaRS. For those who want to try something similar to what Lucas did he discusses a partnership program you can take part in over a 3 month period and he has also given me links to other programs he wanted to share with you. I've included these links in the shownotes so check them out after listening to the interview. So without further adieu here is my conversation with Lucas.

Volunteer Opportunities:

Anza’s International Professional Program ~3 month in-country assignments working with Anza supported entrepreneurs - http://anza.co.com/international-professionals/

CUSO ~ 6+ month engagements across the world - https://cusointernational.org/

Escape the City ~ Job board used by a lot of startups/NGOs in emerging markets - https://www.escapethecity.org/

]]> Join in for a conversation with Lucas Perlman, International Partnership Manager at MaRS Discovery District. I've had a lot of friends in the professional services field like accounting, consulting and finance tell me about how they want to do work that is more impactful and meaningful to them. Some have even told me about wanting to take some time off to go on a trip to a developing country to help out the local businesses there. Well, today's guest did just that. Lucas left audit to go help out local businesses in Tanzania through a corporation called Anza, which is practically the Mars discovery district of Tanzania. We go through the decision making process he had in taking the leap, the value of taking career risks earlier on and what he does in his new business development role at MaRS. For those who want to try something similar to what Lucas did he discusses a partnership program you can take part in over a 3 month period and he has also given me links to other programs he wanted to share with you. I've included these links in the shownotes so check them out after listening to the interview. So without further adieu here is my conversation with Lucas.

Volunteer Opportunities:

Anza’s International Professional Program ~3 month in-country assignments working with Anza supported entrepreneurs - http://anza.co.com/international-professionals/

CUSO ~ 6+ month engagements across the world - https://cusointernational.org/

Escape the City ~ Job board used by a lot of startups/NGOs in emerging markets - https://www.escapethecity.org/

]]> Wed, 10 Oct 2018 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3292 Join in for a conversation with Lucas Perlman, International Partnership Manager at MaRS Discovery District. I've had a lot of friends in the professional services field like accounting, consulting and finance tell me about how they want to do work that is more impactful and meaningful to them. Some have even told me about wanting to take some time off to go on a trip to a developing country to help out the local businesses there. Well, today's guest did just that. Lucas left audit to go help out local businesses in Tanzania through a corporation called Anza, which is practically the Mars discovery district of Tanzania. We go through the decision making process he had in taking the leap, the value of taking career risks earlier on and what he does in his new business development role at MaRS. For those who want to try something similar to what Lucas did he discusses a partnership program you can take part in over a 3 month period and he has also given me links to other programs he wanted to share with you. I've included these links in the shownotes so check them out after listening to the interview. So without further adieu here is my conversation with Lucas. Join in for a conversation with Lucas Perlman, International Partnership Manager at MaRS Discovery District. I've had a lot of friends in the professional services field like accounting, consulting and finance tell me about how they want to do work that i No #10 - Conrad McGee-Stocks, Growth Lead at Uken Games 10 10 #10 - Conrad McGee-Stocks, Growth Lead at Uken Games full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5bb3c66ceef1a178f7f9ab16 https://share.transistor.fm/s/2c6816e9 Join in for a conversation with Conrad McGee-Stocks, Growth Lead at Uken Games in Toronto. Conrad started his foray into the world of design thinking and growth marketing with the decision to drop out of business school and it has been a fun journey to hear about. We delve into the world of growth marketing to understand what Conrad does, how his role evolved and how the role tailors specifically for a mobile gaming company. Additionally, we explore habit-forming design principles Uken considers for games, in their marketing and how Conrad uses them in his own life.

]]> Join in for a conversation with Conrad McGee-Stocks, Growth Lead at Uken Games in Toronto. Conrad started his foray into the world of design thinking and growth marketing with the decision to drop out of business school and it has been a fun journey to hear about. We delve into the world of growth marketing to understand what Conrad does, how his role evolved and how the role tailors specifically for a mobile gaming company. Additionally, we explore habit-forming design principles Uken considers for games, in their marketing and how Conrad uses them in his own life.

]]> Wed, 03 Oct 2018 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4300 Join in for a conversation with Conrad McGee-Stocks, Growth Lead at Uken Games in Toronto. Conrad started his foray into the world of design thinking and growth marketing with the decision to drop out of business school and it has been a fun journey to hear about. We delve into the world of growth marketing to understand what Conrad does, how his role evolved and how the role tailors specifically for a mobile gaming company. Additionally, we explore habit-forming design principles Uken considers for games, in their marketing and how Conrad uses them in his own life. Join in for a conversation with Conrad McGee-Stocks, Growth Lead at Uken Games in Toronto. Conrad started his foray into the world of design thinking and growth marketing with the decision to drop out of business school and it has been a fun journey to he No #9 - Lessons from a 20 year journey in Asset Management with Anish Chopra 9 9 #9 - Lessons from a 20 year journey in Asset Management with Anish Chopra full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5baa54c6085229e608f95409 https://share.transistor.fm/s/7b3a1c40 Join in for a conversation with Anish Chopra, a managing director at Portfolio Management Corporation (PMC). I met Anish at University of Waterloo's stock pitching competition where we sat on the judges panel together and hearing about his journey from audit to banking to investing I knew I had to have him on the podcast. In our chat Anish unveils the evolution the asset management industry has gone through over his multi-decade period at Toronto Dominion (TD) Bank. We go through the difference of managing money for a multi-billion dollar bank vs. a small hedge fund that serves high net worth individuals as well as the most common "regret" Anish's peer group has when they look back on their career. 

]]> Join in for a conversation with Anish Chopra, a managing director at Portfolio Management Corporation (PMC). I met Anish at University of Waterloo's stock pitching competition where we sat on the judges panel together and hearing about his journey from audit to banking to investing I knew I had to have him on the podcast. In our chat Anish unveils the evolution the asset management industry has gone through over his multi-decade period at Toronto Dominion (TD) Bank. We go through the difference of managing money for a multi-billion dollar bank vs. a small hedge fund that serves high net worth individuals as well as the most common "regret" Anish's peer group has when they look back on their career. 

]]> Wed, 26 Sep 2018 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4266 Join in for a conversation with Anish Chopra, a managing director at Portfolio Management Corporation (PMC). I met Anish at University of Waterloo's stock pitching competition where we sat on the judges panel together and hearing about his journey from audit to banking to investing I knew I had to have him on the podcast. In our chat Anish unveils the evolution the asset management industry has gone through over his multi-decade period at Toronto Dominion (TD) Bank. We go through the difference of managing money for a multi-billion dollar bank vs. a small hedge fund that serves high net worth individuals as well as the most common "regret" Anish's peer group has when they look back on their career. Join in for a conversation with Anish Chopra, a managing director at Portfolio Management Corporation (PMC). I met Anish at University of Waterloo's stock pitching competition where we sat on the judges panel together and hearing about his journey from au No #8 - Audit to owning and growing the Mos Mos coffee franchise with Armin Yassaie 8 8 #8 - Audit to owning and growing the Mos Mos coffee franchise with Armin Yassaie full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5ba17834f950b7e33f47d1a4 https://share.transistor.fm/s/64931acb Join in for a conversation with Armin Yassaie, co-owner of Mos Mos Coffee. Armin takes us into the competitive world of "third wave" coffee shops and we dive into the depths of what it takes to operate and grow a coffee franchise. We also explore the mental model for starting your own coffee shop and explore how Armin's experience from a family construction business played a factor to his jump to the world of coffee. 

]]> Join in for a conversation with Armin Yassaie, co-owner of Mos Mos Coffee. Armin takes us into the competitive world of "third wave" coffee shops and we dive into the depths of what it takes to operate and grow a coffee franchise. We also explore the mental model for starting your own coffee shop and explore how Armin's experience from a family construction business played a factor to his jump to the world of coffee. 

]]> Wed, 19 Sep 2018 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 5102 Join in for a conversation with Armin Yassaie, co-owner of Mos Mos Coffee. Armin takes us into the competitive world of "third wave" coffee shops and we dive into the depths of what it takes to operate and grow a coffee franchise. We also explore the mental model for starting your own coffee shop and explore how Armin's experience from a family construction business played a factor to his jump to the world of coffee. Join in for a conversation with Armin Yassaie, co-owner of Mos Mos Coffee. Armin takes us into the competitive world of "third wave" coffee shops and we dive into the depths of what it takes to operate and grow a coffee franchise. We also explore the ment No #7 - Audit to Fintech and Kindness to Venture Capital with Ricky Lai 7 7 #7 - Audit to Fintech and Kindness to Venture Capital with Ricky Lai full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5b97e077cd8366a2f070ca0e https://share.transistor.fm/s/e7ff98d0 Join in for a conversation with Ricky Lai, Senior Associate at Portage Ventures. Follow Ricky's journey from an accountant's path to making incremental changes to transition to roles in Peter Thiel's Mithril Fund, a fintech company and finally to his current position at Portage. Ricky's journey to Portage is an example of how a habit of giving can create great opportunities. 

]]> Join in for a conversation with Ricky Lai, Senior Associate at Portage Ventures. Follow Ricky's journey from an accountant's path to making incremental changes to transition to roles in Peter Thiel's Mithril Fund, a fintech company and finally to his current position at Portage. Ricky's journey to Portage is an example of how a habit of giving can create great opportunities. 

]]> Wed, 12 Sep 2018 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3616 * Join in for a conversation with Ricky Lai, Senior Associate at Portage Ventures. Follow Ricky's journey from an accountant's path to making incremental changes to transition to roles in Peter Thiel's Mithril Fund, a fintech company and finally to his current position at Portage. Ricky's journey to Portage is an example of how a habit of giving can create great opportunities. * Join in for a conversation with Ricky Lai, Senior Associate at Portage Ventures. Follow Ricky's journey from an accountant's path to making incremental changes to transition to roles in Peter Thiel's Mithril Fund, a fintech company and finally to his c No #6 - Law to Kenya to Tech. Defining Chief of Staff and Growth Executive with David Axler 6 6 #6 - Law to Kenya to Tech. Defining Chief of Staff and Growth Executive with David Axler full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5b8ed1a31ae6cfb0c921ee57 https://share.transistor.fm/s/9ea4ac26 Join in for a conversation with David Axler, Head of Growth and Business Development at Wave Financial. Follow along as David describes how experiencing a rigged election and national uprising in Kenya influenced his decision to pursue a career in technology. Listen in on the path of one of Influitive's Chief of Staffs and how he designed his mental model for his career starting from working with Facebook ads in 2008 to eventually become the growth lead at an accounting software company.   

]]> Join in for a conversation with David Axler, Head of Growth and Business Development at Wave Financial. Follow along as David describes how experiencing a rigged election and national uprising in Kenya influenced his decision to pursue a career in technology. Listen in on the path of one of Influitive's Chief of Staffs and how he designed his mental model for his career starting from working with Facebook ads in 2008 to eventually become the growth lead at an accounting software company.   

]]> Wed, 05 Sep 2018 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 2766 Join in for a conversation with David Axler, Head of Growth and Business Development at Wave Financial. Follow along as David describes how experiencing a rigged election and national uprising in Kenya influenced his decision to pursue a career in technology. Listen in on the path of one of Influitive's Chief of Staffs and how he designed his mental model for his career starting from working with Facebook ads in 2008 to eventually become the growth lead at an accounting software company. Join in for a conversation with David Axler, Head of Growth and Business Development at Wave Financial. Follow along as David describes how experiencing a rigged election and national uprising in Kenya influenced his decision to pursue a career in technol No #5 - Consultant, Y-combinator alum, to investor and executive with Vikram Somasundaran 5 5 #5 - Consultant, Y-combinator alum, to investor and executive with Vikram Somasundaran full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5b8564e24d7a9c619995276d https://share.transistor.fm/s/a1078fe9 Join in for a conversation with Vikram Somasundaran, Y-combinator alum and VP of CPA Ontario. Vikram began his professional career in audit and traversed into consulting where he met his co-founder for their company: Edusight. We go through the journey of Edusight from inception whilst moonlighting, to transitioning full time, winning a pitch contest with no product, joining Y-combinator, the process of selling your company and how the journey continues afterwards.   

]]> Join in for a conversation with Vikram Somasundaran, Y-combinator alum and VP of CPA Ontario. Vikram began his professional career in audit and traversed into consulting where he met his co-founder for their company: Edusight. We go through the journey of Edusight from inception whilst moonlighting, to transitioning full time, winning a pitch contest with no product, joining Y-combinator, the process of selling your company and how the journey continues afterwards.   

]]> Wed, 29 Aug 2018 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 4784 Join in for a conversation with Vikram Somasundaran, Y-combinator alum and VP of CPA Ontario. Vikram began his professional career in audit and traversed into consulting where he met his co-founder for their company: Edusight. We go through the journey of Edusight from inception whilst moonlighting, to transitioning full time, winning a pitch contest with no product, joining Y-combinator, the process of selling your company and how the journey continues afterwards. Join in for a conversation with Vikram Somasundaran, Y-combinator alum and VP of CPA Ontario. Vikram began his professional career in audit and traversed into consulting where he met his co-founder for their company: Edusight. We go through the journey of No #4 - Audit, counter-terrorism to co-founder of Luminari with Michael Kravshik 4 4 #4 - Audit, counter-terrorism to co-founder of Luminari with Michael Kravshik full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5b7b0cf1575d1fcc49293b3e https://share.transistor.fm/s/6fce0e59 Join in for a conversation with Michael Kravshik, the co-founder of Luminari. Luminari has emerged as the preeminent company that's been focused on helping career development for accountants in Canada. As a former accountant I dig into how Michael took the journey to entrepreneurship and we go though how a love for politics and counter-terrorism led to his first taste of startups. We then dig into the realities of starting a company and the process by which Luminari became the company it is today.  

]]> Join in for a conversation with Michael Kravshik, the co-founder of Luminari. Luminari has emerged as the preeminent company that's been focused on helping career development for accountants in Canada. As a former accountant I dig into how Michael took the journey to entrepreneurship and we go though how a love for politics and counter-terrorism led to his first taste of startups. We then dig into the realities of starting a company and the process by which Luminari became the company it is today.  

]]> Wed, 22 Aug 2018 08:30:00 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3249 Join in for a conversation with Michael Kravshik, the co-founder of Luminari. Luminari has emerged as the preeminent company that's been focused on helping career development for accountants in Canada. As a former accountant I dig into how Michael took the journey to entrepreneurship and we go though how a love for politics and counter-terrorism led to his first taste of startups. We then dig into the realities of starting a company and the process by which Luminari became the company it is today. Join in for a conversation with Michael Kravshik, the co-founder of Luminari. Luminari has emerged as the preeminent company that's been focused on helping career development for accountants in Canada. As a former accountant I dig into how Michael took th No #3 - Tax Accountant to Product Manager of WealthSimple with William Hillock 3 3 #3 - Tax Accountant to Product Manager of WealthSimple with William Hillock full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5b6b6bed758d46d43a2494f4 https://share.transistor.fm/s/eb271655 Join in for a conversation with Will Hillock, a product manager at WealthSimple. I first met Will when he kindly agreed to chat with me from a cold email. Our first conversation explored more of the product manager world but I wanted to use the podcast to dig deeper into what his mindset was like when he moved to Canada's two hottest tech companies: Shopify and WealthSimple. We also expand on the discussion of how his role in these technology companies evolved and what it is like now at WealthSimple. 

]]> Join in for a conversation with Will Hillock, a product manager at WealthSimple. I first met Will when he kindly agreed to chat with me from a cold email. Our first conversation explored more of the product manager world but I wanted to use the podcast to dig deeper into what his mindset was like when he moved to Canada's two hottest tech companies: Shopify and WealthSimple. We also expand on the discussion of how his role in these technology companies evolved and what it is like now at WealthSimple. 

]]> Tue, 14 Aug 2018 12:24:58 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3326 Join in for a conversation with Will Hillock, a product manager at WealthSimple. I first met Will when he kindly agreed to chat with me from a cold email. Our first conversation explored more of the product manager world but I wanted to use the podcast to dig deeper into what his mindset was like when he moved to Canada's two hottest tech companies: Shopify and WealthSimple. We also expand on the discussion of how his role in these technology companies evolved and what it is like now at WealthSimple. Join in for a conversation with Will Hillock, a product manager at WealthSimple. I first met Will when he kindly agreed to chat with me from a cold email. Our first conversation explored more of the product manager world but I wanted to use the podcast to No #2 - The Before and After of Big 4 Partnership with Chris Cornell 2 2 #2 - The Before and After of Big 4 Partnership with Chris Cornell full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5b6b6bde4ae2379bc4dc9821 https://share.transistor.fm/s/441feb31 Join me in a conversation with Chris Cornell, a partner and people leader at KPMG's financial institutions audit practice. Chris was my former boss in my first job as an auditor and he continued to be a mentor that I confided in over the years. In this episode we take a look into what Chris' journey into partnership was like and how you end up embarking on a completely different journey as a partner and why he continues to stay in his role. 

]]> Join me in a conversation with Chris Cornell, a partner and people leader at KPMG's financial institutions audit practice. Chris was my former boss in my first job as an auditor and he continued to be a mentor that I confided in over the years. In this episode we take a look into what Chris' journey into partnership was like and how you end up embarking on a completely different journey as a partner and why he continues to stay in his role. 

]]> Sat, 11 Aug 2018 14:04:46 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3929 Join me in a conversation with Chris Cornell, a partner and people leader at KPMG's financial institutions audit practice. Chris was my former boss in my first job as an auditor and he continued to be a mentor that I confided in over the years. In this episode we take a look into what Chris' journey into partnership was like and how you end up embarking on a completely different journey as a partner and why he continues to stay in his role. Join me in a conversation with Chris Cornell, a partner and people leader at KPMG's financial institutions audit practice. Chris was my former boss in my first job as an auditor and he continued to be a mentor that I confided in over the years. In this ep No #1 - Audit to Operations at UberEats with Ian Weng 1 1 #1 - Audit to Operations at UberEats with Ian Weng full 5a9ecfb28f51300c4f718f1f:5b590933562fa7a417985b0d:5b5a2cb70e2e728eeeaa4a7e https://share.transistor.fm/s/de742a51 Join in for a conversation with Ian Weng, an operations and logistics manager and Vancouver market lead for UberEats. Ian and I met at the University of Waterloo and we both started our career in Audit at KPMG. Since then Ian has taken a unique journey through infrastructure investing, a food startup and then to his current role at UberEats where he has noted that Uber's unique business model makes the role very different from his counterparts in other big tech firms like Google or Facebook.

]]> Join in for a conversation with Ian Weng, an operations and logistics manager and Vancouver market lead for UberEats. Ian and I met at the University of Waterloo and we both started our career in Audit at KPMG. Since then Ian has taken a unique journey through infrastructure investing, a food startup and then to his current role at UberEats where he has noted that Uber's unique business model makes the role very different from his counterparts in other big tech firms like Google or Facebook.

]]> Tue, 07 Aug 2018 08:39:49 -0400 Daniel Lee Daniel Lee 3528 Join in for a conversation with Ian Weng, an operations and logistics manager and Vancouver market lead for UberEats. Ian and I met at the University of Waterloo and we both started our career in Audit at KPMG. Since then Ian has taken a unique journey through infrastructure investing, a food startup and then to his current role at UberEats where he has noted that Uber's unique business model makes the role very different from his counterparts in other big tech firms like Google or Facebook. Join in for a conversation with Ian Weng, an operations and logistics manager and Vancouver market lead for UberEats. Ian and I met at the University of Waterloo and we both started our career in Audit at KPMG. Since then Ian has taken a unique journey th No