Let's Grab Coffee Podcast ☕
George Khalife
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Uncovering the entrepreneurial journey's of up and coming startup founders, over coffee
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Aug 2, 2022
#151 - Samir Mirza | The Ups & Downs of Entrepreneurship
Samir Mirza is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Fifth Star Funds - a venture philanthropy fund investing in Black tech entrepreneurs at the pre-seed / "Friends & Family" stage in Chicago. He was formerly the Co-Founder and CTO of TapCommerce (acquired by Twitter for $100M).
He began his career in Chicago consulting for Fortune 500 clients while building robust content management applications, APIs, and backend distributed systems. In 2012, he co-founded TapCommerce in New York and created the industry's first mobile ad retargeting solution. As the Chief Technology Officer, he led the engineering team and built a backend platform that processes over 40 billion ad auctions per day with the ability to show ads to over 1 billion mobile users for the world's top mobile brands.
Samir then lived in Berlin, Germany where he served as a coding instructor at the ReDI School for Refugees and worked as a consultant for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Digital Transformation Team. Samir has a Computer Science degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business.
To connect with Samir: https://www.fifthstarfunds.com/
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Jul 26, 2022
#150 - Dan Zavorotny | leveraging technology to improve global health
Dan is on a mission to personalize nutrition by leveraging CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring) and Machine Learning. In simple terms, Nutrisense helps reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes & heart disease, helping people shed unwanted weight, and advise athletes on how to become the best versions of themselves.
Website: https://www.nutrisense.io/
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May 9, 2022
#149 - Chris Kelly | The Sandler Sales Training Methodology
Chris Kelly is Owner of the Sandler Training® Center located in Toronto.
His firm works with Business Leaders, Sales Leaders, Sellers & Customer Care professionals who are serious about personal and professional success and willing to succeed through ongoing improvement and implementation of growth strategies, structure and skill.
Over the last decade, the typical Toronto based organisation that chooses to begin a conversation with Chris has some business success behind it. The leadership is growth minded and they have a belief that how they sell has a significant impact on their growth success.
Chris' consulting and delivery and process implementation is rooted in the Sandler methodology. Sandler Training is a world leader in innovative sales and sales management training.
You can contact Chris @ ckelly@sandler.com
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May 4, 2022
#148 - Claude Cimeus | Being Authentic & Bringing People Together
Claude Cimeus is a close personal friend and peer within Chicago's entrepreneurial ecosystem. He's currently Director of Platform at P33 Chicago; a non-profit focused on driving inclusive growth for Chicago’s tech sector. Prior to that, Claude worked as a Product Manager at five startups and founded three of his own right out of high school. On the side, Claude enjoys bringing the startup world closer together by hosting fireside night chats with leaders in different industries as well as hosting in-person tech events via ChiTech IRL.
To connect with Claude: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claude-ci
Check out ChiTech IRL events: https://twitter.com/ChiTechIRL
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Apr 30, 2022
#147 - Swapnil Shinde | exiting 2 startups & building AI for finance teams
Swapnil is the CEO & Co-founder of Zeni.ai - Bookkeeping, Tax, and CFO Services Platform designed for Startup Founders. Zeni is his 3rd startup. He has built and sold two startups before. His first startup was Dhingana and his second startup was Mezi.
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Apr 27, 2022
#146 - Mark Achler | How to Sell Your Startup, Maximize Return and Build Legacy
Venture Capital investor, CEO, Serial entrepreneur, a faculty member at the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, and Co-author of Exit Right.
Check out Mark's new book: https://amzn.to/3EGmqPS
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Apr 24, 2022
#145 - Kenny Rose | earning passive income through franchise investing
FranShares is an investment platform that lets anyone diversify their portfolio, hedge against inflation, and earn passive income through franchise investing. Our investors enjoy unparalleled transparency while investing in SEC and FTC regulated real assets that are rigorously-vetted and managed by our world-class team of franchise experts.
Kenny Rose started his career at Merrill Lynch then somehow found his way into the world of franchising. He's written about franchising on Quora (sent to over 35 million readers) and has been featured on Forbes, ABC News, American Express, The Hustle, MarketWatch, and more.
Check it out here: www.franshares.com
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Apr 3, 2022
#144 - Kristel Bechara | Becoming the First Female Artist From the Middle East to Launch NFT’s
Born in Lebanon and based in Dubai, Kristel Bechara is an award-winning contemporary artist who has quickly established herself as the rising star of the Middle Eastern art world.
Recognized for her dynamic patterns and expressive colours, Kristel’s artwork consists of the revolutionary creation of photographic imagery using oil, acrylic and giclée printmaking mediums to depict complex emotions and also portray the human condition. Her artistic process involves creating stencil-like drawings that are combined with modern mixed media lines to form multi-layered fantasy paintings.
Kristel’s work has been displayed around the world to great appreciation and demand, especially from galleries in Tokyo, Milano, Brussels, and France. She has received high acclaim in UAE as well, notably winning the UAE Resident Artist Award at the 2018 World Art Dubai for her collection, Beauty in Diversity.
Kristel has also gained recognition as a pioneer of NFT art in the Middle East, having been one of the first artists in the region to adopt NFT technology to launch her new series, Beauty in DeFi. Inspired by the world of cryptocurrencies, this series of digital paintings has been the subject of much critical acclaim and has been featured in publications across the globe.
As a wife and mother of two, Kristel Bechara is an avid traveller who finds inspiration in exploring cities, art museums and galleries. She dedicates her mornings to creating art in her studio, while her afternoons and evenings are spent with her family.
Kristel currently works on her art from her studio in Onyx Tower, Dubai while her gallery is located at Gate Avenue, Dubai International Financial Centre.
Shop her artwork collection HERE.
Check her digital artwork collection HERE.
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Mar 17, 2022
#143 - Priyanka Jain | Reinventing How We Understand & Treat the Female Body
Evvy is on a mission to radically reinvent how we understand and treat the female body, starting with the vaginal microbiome. Evvy’s first product — the Evvy Vaginal Health Test — is the first-ever at-home vaginal microbiome test to use metagenomic sequencing to tell you what’s up down there, why it matters, and what you can do about it.
Site: https://www.evvy.com/
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Mar 11, 2022
#142 - Daniel Dubois | Co-ownership Platform Providing Access to Real Estate for All
Daniel is a serial entrepreneur and passionate changemaker. He recently sold his last two venture-backed companies and joined Airbnb full-time. Daniel also spoke on stage in front of 20,000 youth at We Day, directed a film series on the sharing economy, received a monthly grant from the Austrian government to conduct research on the European sharing economy, and traveled to over 30 countries. Daniel has been named Top 30 Under 30, a Canadian G20 Delegate and was named the top student entrepreneur in Canada and top three student entrepreneur globally by Entrepreneurs’ Organization. Daniel spoke at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Summit in China, completed a 100km race along the Great Wall, and spoke to both Justin Trudeau and Prince William on the importance of fostering youth innovation.
Site: https://lifeatkey.com/
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Mar 2, 2022
#141 - Amanda Lannert | Vulnerability in Leadership & Daring to Be Great
Amanda Lannert is CEO of Jellyvision and has been a key figure in driving the company since its founding in 2001. Her focus at Jellyvision is on the company’s strategy, improving processes to better scale operations, partnership development, and customer acquisition to continue fueling the company’s growth.
Under Amanda’s leadership, Jellyvision has grown to serve more than 1500 mostly Fortune 1000 clients with ALEX, the most helpful employee decision support platform on the planet. In 2019, 18 million employees and $120 billion dollar’s worth of premium decisions were entrusted to ALEX. Meanwhile, the company has been recognized as the Best Software Company and Best Culture by the Moxies, the Lighthouse winner by the ITA, a top 10 best place to work in Chicago by The Chicago Tribune and the #1 place for millennials to work in Chicago according to Crain’s.
Prior to joining Jellyvision, Amanda managed global brands for Kellogg’s while at Leo Burnett, in addition to spend…
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Feb 24, 2022
#140 - Paul Hsu | Investing in Web3 With a $48.8M Blockchain Venture Fund
Paul Hsu is Founder and CEO of Decasonic, the venture and digital assets fund building blockchain innovation. As a tech investor and operator, Paul partners with outlier founders to accelerate product market fit and systematically scale early stage companies.
Paul’s curiosity and conviction in disruptive technology date back to the dawn of the Internet: first, as a venture investor on Sand Hill Road, then as a senior executive at pre-IPO mobile, social and gaming companies, and today as a founder and investor in blockchain.
Paul has held senior leadership positions at technology companies in Silicon Valley, Tokyo, Chicago and New York City where his expertise in product and growth helped stabilize and systematically scale these companies during periods of exponential growth. His investments in blockchain date as early as 2013.
Paul holds a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University, where his studies concentrated on economics, math, statistics and international politics. He graduate…
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Feb 17, 2022
#139 - Guy Kawasaki | The Art of the Start & Lessons From Steve Jobs
Guy possesses extensive knowledge of innovation, entrepreneurship, social media, podcasting, and marketing. First and foremost, he is an evangelist. The term comes from a Greek word that means "bringing the good news." That's what he does--whether the good news of Macintosh or the good news of Canva, an online graphics-design firm.
In addition to his work at Canva, he is the creator of the Remarkable People podcast where he interviews people such as Jane Goodall, Woz, Stephen Wolfram, Bob Cialdini, Arianna Huffington, and Kristi Yamaguchi.
Thanks to our podcast sponsor @hirect, the #1 hiring app for startups. Check it out on the App Store or Google Play using this link: https://hirectapp.onelink.me/6krZ/GeorgeKhalife
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Feb 10, 2022
#138 - Victor Gutwein | Building One of the Most Active VC Firms in the Midwest at 29
Entrepreneur, economist and strategist aiming to create value in the Midwest by investing in early-stage startups.
https://m25vc.com/
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Feb 3, 2022
#137 - Boyede Sobitan | building a digital marketplace for cultural groceries
Boyede Sobitan is the Co-Founder and CEO of OjaExpress. OjaExpress is a digital marketplace for cultural groceries. OjaExpress seeks to provide a culturally competent service that is reflective and respectful of people's individual cultures.
Check it out: https://ojaexpress.com/
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Jan 27, 2022
#136 - Anoop Gupta | SeekOut crossing unicorn status & lessons from working with Bill Gates
Anoop Gupta is the CEO and Co-Founder of SeekOut, the AI-powered Talent 360 platform. Anoop started SeekOut after a 20-year career at Microsoft, which began with the acquisition of his first startup, VXtreme, in 1997.
During his tenure, Anoop was the Corporate Vice-President of the multibillion-dollar Unified Communications group. He was TA to Bill Gates, advising on technology and product strategy as a Distinguished Scientist at Microsoft Research, leading work on Telepresence and Natural User Interfaces. Prior to Microsoft, Anoop was a tenured professor at Stanford University and he holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University.
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Jan 11, 2022
#135 - Austin Long | Building Community Through Internet Collectibles
Youtooz is a company turning nostalgia and internet culture into amazing products that people love, has grown its online following to 2 million in just two years. It has also seen YoY growth of 600% from 2019 to 2021.
About Austin long: former founder of SquareOne, former SVP of Gaming at Omnia Media, acquired by BlueAntMedia in Jan 2016. Currently the Co-founder of Youtooz. Austin was named one of the most impressive High School Graduates (U.S.) in 2014 by Business Insider and 20 In Their 20s by Los Angeles Business Journal.
Check out the Youtooz collection: https://youtooz.com/
This episode was sponsored by Hirect, the number one hiring app for startups, where job seekers and hiring managers can chat about open positions they're interested in--anytime, anywhere. Download now on the App Store or Google Play: https://bit.ly/34zHE3L
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Dec 15, 2021
#134 - Pete Wilkins | Finding Purpose as an Entrepreneur
Pete Wilkins is a purpose-driven leader committed to creating a positive impact in the world.
Before he was thirty, he was a critical part of two technology startups that sold and IPO’d for more than $2.8 billion. He later went on to lead the turnaround of a medical education company from record losses to record profits and built one of the premier online physician education communities, which was followed by starting a double-bottom line company focused on college attainment for Latino families. Not every step was successful, but they were all purposeful.
Today, Pete leads HPA – one of the most active and successful early-stage venture investor groups in the country. He and his firm have partnered with hundreds of founders to help turn their dreams into reality, helping them scale their business from a startup idea to a global market leader. In the process, he has helped create billions of dollars of value, but more importantly, he has helped these founders manifest their purp…
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Dec 6, 2021
#133 - Lauren Foundos | From Wall St. to Fitness Tech
FORTË is the fitness industry's only turnkey premium live and on-demand streaming white-label digital solution. For more information, please visit https://www.goforte.fit/ or email partnerships@forte.fit
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Dec 3, 2021
#132 - Kyle Nakatsuji | Building a Smarter Choice for Car Insurance
Clearcover offers affordable car insurance that’s smarter, faster and puts your needs above all else, helping you make informed decisions every step of the way.
Prior to starting Clearcover, Kyle helped launch a venture-capital fund at American Family Insurance. He convinced the insurer to invest in video-doorbell startup Ring, which was later acquired by Amazon for $1 billion. He later convinced his former employer to back his car insurance startup, Clearcover, which he co-founded in 2016. Kyle believed he could carve out room for a new car insurance company amid giants such as Allstate, State Farm and Geico by creating a low-cost, low-hassle, millennial-friendly product and a low-touch, high-tech business model. The Chicago-based company has grown to more than 300 employees and sells in 19 states. It has raised $330 million.
Link: https://clearcover.com/
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Nov 20, 2021
#131 - Yuval Brisker | The Emergence of Embedded Finance
About Yuval
Yuval is a serial technology entrepreneur. Prior to founding Alviere, Yuval co-founded TOA Technologies, the leading global provider of field service management SaaS solutions. He led TOA over 40 straight quarters of recurring revenue growth, raising $133m in capital from Draper, Intel Cap & TCV. Oracle acquired TOA in the summer of 2014 for the highest multiple they had paid for a company to date.
About Alviere
Alviere provides the most complete embedded finance platform available today, empowering the world’s most visible, trusted and beloved brands to offer financial services to their customers for the first time. Alviere’s easy, powerful and future-proof platform and associated services allows any business to launch a new financial services line of business to dramatically increase profits, deepen customer relationships and insights, and increase satisfaction and retention. To find out how embedded financial products can take you into the next generation of profi…
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Nov 14, 2021
#130 - Ash Agarwal | Digitally Transforming the Resource Industry
Symboticware is an Operating System of Intelligence that digitally transforms the resource industry in real-time with end-to-end actionable data insights.
Website: http://www.symboticware.com
Ash's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashutoshmagus/
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Oct 28, 2021
#129 - Marc Champagne | Questions That Stimulate Your Mental Fitness
Inspired by Socrates himself, Marc Champagne draws on his interviews with award-winning writers, designers, photographers, strategists, entrepreneurs, technologists, musicians, athletes, and more to provide inspiration and examples as to where and how pointed self-inquiry can help your health, happiness and performance. Readers are guided by powerful reflective questions that can be easily applied to daily life and work for incredible results.
What can you expect after reading Personal Socrates?
- A personalized mental fitness routine
- Morning rituals to win the day
- Calming and clearing evening wind-down practices
- Tools to deescalate emotionally charged situations
- To feel mentally lighter, clearer, focused, and confident
The prompts and mental fitness practices detailed throughout *Personal Socrates* are like having your very own mental fitness coach with you at all times—one who can be used to bring clarity, intentionality, and possibility to every aspect of your li…
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Oct 21, 2021
#128 - Brendan Wallace| Building the Largest Venture Capital Firm Focused on Real Estate Tech
Founded in 2016 and based in Los Angeles, California, Fifth Wall, a Certified B Corporation, is the largest venture capital firm focused on technology-driven innovation for the global real estate industry. With approximately $2.5 billion in commitments and capital under management, Fifth Wall connects many of the world's largest owners and operators of real estate with the entrepreneurs who are redefining the future of the Built World. Fifth Wall is backed by a global mix of more than 70+ investors from 15 countries.
Learn more; https://fifthwall.com/about
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Oct 6, 2021
#127 - Brian Barnes | Personal Finance, Fintech, & Reaching Unicorn Status
M1 is an intelligent personal finance platform. You can invest for free in a custom portfolio, borrow against your portfolio at one of the lowest rates on the market, and spend seamlessly all from one account.
https://www.m1finance.com/
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Sep 24, 2021
#126 - Matt Van Horn | Cofounding Zimride (Now Lyft) & Creating an Intelligent Oven
Matt Van Horn is an American entrepreneur and the CEO and co-founder of June, maker of the June Intelligent Oven. Previously he co-founded Zimride, now called the ride-sharing service Lyft, was Vice President of Business at Path, and ran partnerships at Digg He also worked at Apple while attending college.
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Thanks for your support! Let's Grab Coffee was recently featured on the Top 25 Canadian Business Podcasts list by Feedspot!
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Sep 13, 2021
#125 - Joe Foster | The Founder of Reebok 👟
The remarkable story of how Joe Foster developed Reebok into one of the world's most famous sports brands, having started from a small factory in Bolton.
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Sep 2, 2021
#124 - Kailin Noivo, Co-Founder of Noibu | From Finance to Entrepreneurship, Lessons From the Trenches
Noibu is a SaaS product that allows retailers to detect, prioritize and resolve revenue impacting errors on their ecommerce websites.
Serving some of the largest retail brands in USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Portugal, Mexico and Italy.
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Aug 31, 2021
#123 - Matt Bailey, Founder GameOn | Building the Future of Superfan Engagement
GameOn lets your fans connect, make predictions, track live scores and be rewarded during every moment of their favorite sports, TV shows and live events. Get in touch to give your superfans a super engaging experience.
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Aug 23, 2021
#122 - John Abrams, CEO of Venzee Technologies | Optimizing supply chain with artificial intelligence
Connect with John: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abramsjohn/
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Aug 19, 2021
#121 - Michael Schein, President of MicroFame Media | Lessons From the World’s Greatest Propagandists
He is the author of The Hype Handbook: 12 Indispensable Success Secrets From the World’s Greatest Propagandists, Self-Promoters, Cult Leaders, Mischief Makers, and Boundary Breakers (McGraw Hill, January 12, 2021).
His articles have appeared in Fortune, Forbes, Inc., Huffington Post, and Psychology Today..
He speaks to international audiences spanning from the northeastern United States to the southeastern coast of China.
As founder and president of marketing agency MicroFame Media, he has launched campaigns and created content for companies including eBay, Magento, The Medici Group, University of Pennsylvania, Gordon College, University of California Irvine, United Methodist Publishing House, Ricoh, LinkedIn, and Citrix.
He has also recently begun practice the martial art Wing Chun, giving him yet another similarity with Robert Downey, Jr.
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Aug 12, 2021
#120 - Deon Nicholas, CEO of Forethought | TechCrunch Disrupt winner, the "AI for Customer Support"
Deon is the CEO & Co-founder of TechCrunch Disrupt winner Forethought, the "AI for Customer Support" company.
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Aug 6, 2021
LGC E119 - Jon Cheney | Augmented Reality Meets Commerce
Jon is a visionary leader in the world of augmented reality. SeekView brings augmented reality directly to websites. Augmented reality will be a mainstream component of e-commerce in the next 3 years, and Seek has the world’s most advanced and powerful system to provide a scalable solution for AR in e-commerce on the web.
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Jul 28, 2021
LGC E118 - Rachel Tipograph | Creativity, eCommerce, & Influence
Rachel Tipograph considered herself amongst the digerati since the moment she became an eBay power user at 13. Forbes listed Rachel as one of its “30 under 30 Who Are Changing The World”, Marie Claire named her one of "The 50 Most Influential Women in America," Fast Company named her one of "The Most Creative People in Business", AdAge named her one of "The Most Creative People of The Year," AdWeek named her one of "The Young Influentials Shaping Business and Culture," Entrepreneur named her one of the "50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs," Inc named her to the “Female Founders 100,” Business Insider named her one of “New York Tech’s Coolest People", Refinery29 named her one of its "Rising Female Tech Stars," The Wrap named her one of "The 11 Change Agents Disrupting Hollywood," and LinkedIn named her one of its "Next Wave: Top Professionals 35 & Under." After being the Global Director of Digital and Social Media at Gap where she oversaw strategy, implementation and measurement, R…
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Jun 26, 2021
LGC E117 - Jeff Korzenik | how second chance hiring works for your business and the community
Jeff Korzenik is the Chief Investment Strategist at Fifth Third Bank, one of the country's largest regional banks, and is responsible for the allocation of over $30 billion in client investment. He is also the author of the recently published book "Untapped Talent: How Second Chance Hiring Works for Your Business and the Community."
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Jun 19, 2021
LGC E116 - Tessa Wijaya | building the fastest growing digital payments infrastructure in Southeast Asia
Tessa Wijaya is the Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Xendit, the fastest growing digital payments infrastructure in Southeast Asia. She is responsible for the overall business operations of the company, including service and support, partnerships, government, and public relations, as well as compliance. Tessa co-founded Xendit with a highly diverse international team to build Southeast Asia’s first modern and reliable payments infrastructure, uniquely designed for the complexities of the region. Besides building Xendit, Tessa is also a champion for women entrepreneurs, spearheading the Women in Tech Indonesia platform. Tessa received her undergraduate degree from Syracuse University and her postgraduate degree from the University of Sydney.
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Jun 14, 2021
LGC E115 - Rohan Kapoor | being a houseguest on Big Brother Canada 9 #roshow
Rohan is a good friend of mine, who used to be my colleague at TMX Group. He since left TMX to delve into the startup world and has since joined Gorgias, an integrated helpdesk for e-commerce brands, as a Strategic Partner Manager. He also recently starred on Big Brother Canada 9. We talk about his entire experience in the house and what it was like to switch from corporate to startup world to being on a live TV show with millions of Canadians watching.
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Jun 2, 2021
LGC E114 - Eytan Bensoussan | building the most effective banking experience in the world
Business banking built for America. NorthOne is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank; Member FDIC.
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May 20, 2021
LGC E113 - Naveen Jain | ideas that will push humanity forward 🚀
Naveen is an intensely curious entrepreneur who is focused on ideas that will push humanity forward. He is the author of the award-winning book Moonshots: Creating a World of Abundance. His current moonshot adventures are Viome and Moon Express. As a serial entrepreneur, he previously founded InfoSpace, Intelius, and TalentWise.
Viome’s singular mission is to “make illness optional.” Viome has built an AI-driven platform that analyzes the interaction between food, our microbiome, and our human cells in order to develop precision nutrition to prevent and reverse chronic diseases.
Moon Express is the only company globally with permission to harvest resources from the moon—developing the infrastructure needed to push humanity forward towards a true multi-planetary society.
In addition to his current moonshots, he is the Vice-Chairman of the Board at Singularity University, where he focuses on educating and inspiring leaders to utilize innovative technologies to address human…
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May 13, 2021
LGC E112 - Hardika Shah | Financial Inclusion for Small Business Entrepreneurs
Hardika Shah is the Founder & CEO of Kinara Capital driving financial inclusion for small business entrepreneurs in India. Kinara Capital is ranked 64 out of 500 Top High-Growth Companies in Asia-Pacific by The Financial Times and as India's Growth Champions 2020 by The Economic Times. For its impact on SME Financing, Kinara Capital was one of only two companies in Asia to win the Gold award as 'Bank of the Year-Asia' by the World Bank / IFC at the SME Finance Forum in Amsterdam in 2019.
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May 1, 2021
LGC E111 - Elie Habib | Becoming the First Arab Tech Company to IPO on Nasdaq
Based in Abu Dhabi with offices in Beirut, Dubai, Cairo and Riyadh, Anghami is the leading music streaming venture created by seasoned entrepreneurs, funded by leading firms in the Middle East, with the aim to change the way music is discovered and listened to.
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Apr 24, 2021
LGC E110 - Sean Merat | entrepreneurship, MMA, life & more
Sean is a serial entrepreneur currently focused on the Insurtech space. He co-founded Owl.co in 2017, recognizing the potential to save insurance companies millions of dollars by changing how they approach fraud detection. By leveraging AI and machine learning to manage fraud claims, Owl.co is able to perform greater due diligence at scale, while removing human bias from the process.
Passionate about data privacy and zero knowledge proof, Sean believes tech should be leveraged by consumers and not at their expense. Prior to founding Owl.co, Sean founded, sold and took public a series of tech ventures, which have shaped his progressive views on startup growth, leadership and culture.
He serves as an advisor for Hold Accelerator, an AI Fintech organization that connects Fintech startups with corporate clients and investors and is a proud husband and father.
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Apr 14, 2021
LGC E109 - Ryan Walsh | Shaping the Future of Drone Delivery
Valqari's patented intelligent mailbox accepts manned and unmanned deliveries, such as drones and autonomous vehicles.
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Apr 2, 2021
LGC E108 - Anthony Zhang | Overcoming Tough Times & Building a Platform for Fine Wine
Vinovest is the world’s first platform for investing in fine wine, an asset class that has traditionally only been available to the ultra wealthy and has outperformed the S&P 500 over the last three decades.
Vinovest is supported by leaders in the asset management space, master sommeliers, as well as top-tier VCs.
Disclaimer; I do personally use Vinovest, but this episode is not providing any investment advice nor am I endorsed by the company.
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Mar 19, 2021
LGC E107 - Allen Lau | Building One of the Largest Storytelling Platforms and Getting Acquired for US$600M
Wattpad’s vision is to entertain and connect the world through stories. Wattpad’s flagship app is a leading social storytelling platform, home to a community of more than 90 million people who spend over 23 billion minutes a month engaged in original stories. Wattpad’s Story DNA Machine Learning technology allows the company to discover stand-out stories among more than one billion uploads written on the platform. Wattpad Studios and Wattpad Books are transforming entertainment and publishing, using data-backed insights to turn Wattpad stories into books, films and TV shows. Wattpad Brand Partnerships help brands build deep engagement with Gen Z consumers. The company is proudly based in Toronto, Canada. Learn more at company.wattpad.com.
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Thanks again to our sponsors, YubiKey, for partnering on this episode. If you’re interested in being proactive about keeping your data safe and secure, head over to https://yubi.co/Geroge-Khalife-LI and use ‘GeorgeK10’ to save $10 on…
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Mar 12, 2021
LGC E106 - Kalpesh Kapadia | Creating a digital-first credit card platform for students & immigrants
Deserve is a next generation analytics-based fintech company. Through machine learning and alternative data, Deserve is helping millennials and Gen Z’s, the next wave of credit owners, gain financial independence through access to fair credit products.
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Mar 4, 2021
LGC E105 - Brett Johnson | Professional Soccer Player Turned Startup Founder
SwitchedOn is a Perceptual-Cognitive-Motor (PCM) training app that is designed to take your physical training to the next level by keeping your brain SwitchedOn. Traditional training methods focus on improving either physical or cognitive performance separately, where at SwitchedOn we understand that the brain and body work together and our training must reflect that. This revolutionary method of training is currently being used by professional athletes, US military personnel, and fitness enthusiasts everywhere, and is now available on your mobile device.
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Feb 26, 2021
LGC E104 - Jay Samit | One of the World's Leading Experts on Disruption
International bestselling author Jay Samit, is a dynamic entrepreneur and intrepreneur who is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on disruption and innovation. Described by Wired magazine as “having the coolest job in the industry,” he raises hundreds of millions of dollars for startups, advises Fortune 500 firms, transforms entire industries, revamps government institutions, and for three decades continues to be at the forefront of global trends.
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Feb 15, 2021
LGC E103 - Dr. Shawn Baker | The Carnivore Diet 🥩
Dr. Shawn Baker is the father / establisher of the carnivore diet and the author of the best selling book “The Carnivore Diet”.
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Feb 6, 2021
LGC E102 - Isabelle Kenyon | Changing the way the world treats weight
Isabelle is the Founder & CEO of Calibrate, the modern, medical metabolic health business that is changing the way the world treats weight. Prior to Calibrate, she led the business operations, growth, and strategic partnerships & communications teams at Capsule, a technology business that has raised $270 million to rebuild the pharmacy from the inside out. Before Capsule, Isabelle worked at beloved consumer brands in London and New York and was selected to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Retail & E-commerce list in 2015. She began her career as an investment banker in Hong Kong and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania.
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Jan 29, 2021
LGC E101 - Anshul Pandey, Ph.D. | Day in the life of a CTO building no-code AI
Anshul is the co-founder and CTO of Accern, an NYC-based venture-backed AI startup whose mission is to accelerate AI adoption for enterprises with a no-code development platform.
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Dec 16, 2020
🎊 LGC E100! with Jean Desgagne | Life & career lessons from the C-Suite (a special episode with a friend, and mentor)
Four and a half years later and we're finally at the 100th episode milestone! It's fitting to have, Jean Desgagne, someone I'm grateful to call a friend and a long-standing mentor who played a critical role in my career featured. I'm confident you'll enjoy this episode and get some really strong takeaways from hearing Jean's story with over 20 years of experience leading change in organizations like BMO, UBS, TD, and TMX Group.
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Dec 11, 2020
LGC E99 - Ablorde Ashigbi | Consultant turned VC turned startup founder & building 4Degrees
4Degrees is a Chicago-based startup with a vision to equalize opportunity by enabling you to build stronger professional relationships.
The platform identifies the right connections for you to focus on, works with you to strengthen those relationships over time, and helps you activate your network when you need it.
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Dec 6, 2020
LGC E98 - Cheryl Kemp | Starting a company during COVID after being let go & meeting Co-Founders virtually
IndiFit.co is on a mission to empower fitness instructors & trainers to earn more by building their own independent businesses.
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Dec 1, 2020
LGC E97 - Jared Mattsson | First time founder making networking more efficient
Linq is the fastest way to exchange contact information with someone. No need to download an app — a Linq card and a phone camera are all you need. Curious? Go to linqapp.com/jared to connect with me and get your own Linq card.
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Nov 19, 2020
LGC E96 - Xenia Muntean | Entrepreneurship in Europe, Building Planable, Forbes 30 Under 30
Xenia is the CEO and Co-Founder of Planable, a content review and marketing collaboration platform used by over 5,000 teams behind brands such as Hyundai, Christian Louboutin, Viber, and United Nations. Prior to launching Planable, at 20 y.o. she built a digital marketing agency and led social for clients such as Coca-Cola.
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Nov 19, 2020
LGC E95 - Anshul Ruparell | Disrupting real estate & raising $100M
Anshul Ruparell is the Co-founder & CEO of a tech startup called Properly – which is shaking up the Canadian real estate world with features like ‘buy now, sell later’ — allowing homeowners to move into a new home before even selling the old home. This has especially been taking off during the pandemic. Properly also just announced $100M in financing from Silicon Valley Bank to support the demand for the ‘guaranteed home offer’ they’ve seen since launching.
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Nov 3, 2020
LGC E94 - Tim Schumm | The world of recruiting post pandemic & landing a job effectively
Lucas James Talent Partners is an On-Demand Talent Acquisition Services firm focused on providing clients a high quality, cost-effective, variable, and transparent talent acquisition experience.
http://www.lucasjamestalent.com
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Nov 3, 2020
LGC E93 - Andrew Ostro | Shaking up the life insurance industry
Andrew is the Co-Founder & CEO at PolicyMe, an Intelligent technology and personalized advice platform that recommends the life insurance you need all online.
https://www.policyme.com/
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Oct 21, 2020
LGC E92 - Jake Dunlap | Shaping the Future of Modern Sales
Highlights:
• C-level sales leader and highly sought after industry thought leader, quoted by Forbes, Inc. and Huff Post.
• First VP of Sales at Glassdoor (1.2 billion dollar acquisition - May 2018)
• VP of Sales at NoWait (acquired by Yelp - March 2017)
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Oct 15, 2020
LGC E91 - Jeremie Bacon | Building the world's largest aerial adventure park while being a full-time Tech CEO
Jeremie Bacon is an entrepreneur and CEO in the B2B SaaS and outdoor recreation industries with a 20-year track record of success in organization building, sales & marketing execution, operations, and financial management.
Jeremie served as the CEO of Imagineer Technology Group, which provides software and services that help investment management firms with their investor relations, fund marketing, and communications functions. He also co-founded The Forge Adventure Parks, which designs and builds large-scale outdoor recreation parks to exhilarate, entertain, and educate guests of all ages and abilities.
He proudly sits on the board of 1871, which works with founders, startups, growth-stage, and enterprise companies to explore ideas, build solutions, launch products, and grow.
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Sep 30, 2020
LGC E90 - Loulou Khazen Baz | Exiting Nabbesh.com and becoming an angel investor in the UAE
Baz is a seasoned executive with nearly 2 decades of experience in sales, marketing and management having worked with Accor Group, DaimlerChrysler Financial Services and ActiveM before launching Nabbesh.com in 2011, the region’s first and largest online marketplace connecting 120k independent contractors with 15k businesses. To date, over 20k projects were posted on Nabbesh.com, further cementing its position as a leader in the gig-economy.
In 2017, Baz co-founded Kickstart Studio, an agency with a core team of design and tech experts to help non-tech entrepreneurs and SMEs build their MVPs. Baz also worked over the course of 15 months as a Digital Transformation & E-commerce consultant with Cedar Bridge, a UAE based PE firm with global investments in healthcare, education, beauty and CPG.
In 2018, Baz founded Kickstart Ventures, a network of angel investors looking to invest in early stage startups. Baz is also a mentor for Wamda X, Hult International Business School and most re…
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Sep 15, 2020
LGC E89 - Garry Cooper | Building tech to scale reuse within organizations via Rheaply
Rheaply is a B2B SaaS resource management technology to scale reuse and the circular economy within organizations, helping lower procurement and storage costs and reduce waste
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Sep 3, 2020
LGC E88 - Godard Abel | 2 successful exits (Oracle & Salesforce) to now building G2.com, one of Chicago's top B2B Tech startups
Entrepreneur delivering success to B2B tech buyers and vendors via G2.com marketplace...and supporting ThreeKit in building the world's most amazing 3D visual selling platform.
Previously built cloud CPQ software pioneers BigMachines (acquired by Oracle) and SteelBrick (acquired by Salesforce).
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Aug 27, 2020
LGC E87 - Kieran Mathew | Changing the way brands communicate with youth (Gen Z marketing)
Kieran Mathew is an entrepreneur, startup advisor, sought-out speaker, and leading Gen Z marketer whose insights are featured in Forbes, Inc, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur, Thrive Global, Strategy, Huff Post and many more. He has been referred to as a “Top Gen Z Entrepreneur” by Adweek.
In 2016, Kieran launched Amplify, a data driven marketing firm which helps brands grow and succeed in the youth market.
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Aug 27, 2020
LGC E86 - Jeffrey Doucet | Software to help people advance their careers
Jeffrey is the CEO of CareerJSM and Thrive.
Under CareerJSM, the team builds software that helps job seekers manage their job search. Thrive (a product built by CareerJSM) is a Career Wellness Platform that is transforming the way organizations manage outplacement and career transitions.
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Aug 7, 2020
LGC E85 - Justin Bailie | Running a startup while being a father of four
Justin Bailie is a father of four, with children from two different families. Rose Rocket is a cloud-based Transportation Management Software (TMS) for trucking companies of all sizes. In only five years, they’ve reduced the time it takes for customers to manage their shipment by over 80%, built partnerships with three of the top trucking companies in North America, and saw 300% year-over-year revenue growth.
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Jul 31, 2020
LGC E84 - David Cairns | What offices will look like post-COVID
David is the SVP of Office Leasing at CBRE and the Co-Founder CBRE Forward
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Jul 23, 2020
LGC E83 - Zev Siegl | Starting up the largest coffee company in the world, Starbucks
Co-Founder of Starbucks Coffee Company and is a globally recognized business keynote speaker, consultant, and business start up advisor.
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Jul 9, 2020
LGC E82 - Shrad Rao | "Building the kind of company I've always wanted to work at"
Wagepoint is a simple and fast online payroll app, backed by the world's friendliest team. The app is ideal for small businesses across North America (US & Canada) who are looking to pay their employees easily and quickly.
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Jul 1, 2020
LGC E81 - Sophie Le Ray | Being an entrepreneur & mixing business with family/life
Sophie is an entrepreneur, an author and experienced business facilitator. In 2003, she co-founded Naseba, a business information company specialised in supporting enterprise development in emerging markets. Sophie was appointed CEO in 2009 and was responsible for its strategic development and overseeing its operations worldwide until 2019.
In 2009, Sophie founded the WIL Economic Forum, the first platform for business women leaders in the Middle East and Asia and in 2016, co authored ‘Game Changers: How Women in the Arab World Are Changing the Rules and Shaping the Future’.
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Jun 18, 2020
LGC E80 - Michael Brody-Waite | Great Leaders Do What Drug Addicts Do
Michael’s TEDx Nashville YouTube video “Great Leaders Do What Drug Addicts Do” is the number one talk in the history of TEDx Nashville. It has been seen by over one million people in over twenty-five countries and provides insight into his seventeen-year journey from addiction and near homelessness to CEO and co-founder of an Inc. 500 startup that he sold to a publicly-traded company. This talk sparked the #MaskFreeMovement and brought awareness to Michael’s Mask-Free Program, built on three principles inspired by his recovery, showing leaders how to achieve balance, reclaim energy, and thrive in work and life.
Michael is an acclaimed speaker, entrepreneur, award-winning three-time CEO, leadership coach, and author. His accomplishments include being named a Most Admired CEO, named to the Top 40 Under 40, and being recognized by the Nashville Chamber of Commerce as Healthcare Entrepreneur of the Year.
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Jun 4, 2020
LGC E79 - A'Lelia Bundles | Madam C. J. Walker, the first female self-made millionaire in America
An award-winning journalist and author, A'Lelia founded the Madam Walker Family Archives, is a Columbia University trustee and immediate past chairman of the National Archives Foundation. A former network television news executive and producer, she has appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, C-Span, NPR and BBC and spoken at Harvard Business School, Spelman College and dozens of corporations, book festivals and women’s conferences.
Site: https://aleliabundles.com/
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May 22, 2020
LGC E78 - Coffee Conversations | Sheetal Jaitly, CEO of TribalScale
Sheetal Jaitly is the CEO of TribalScale. He is a charismatic entrepreneur, an avid investor, and a veteran in the tech space. Sheetal is passionate about innovation and digital transformation potential on both organizations. Sheetal lives in the future and takes his unique perspective to support and guide brands through their digital transformations. He works with organizations that range from startups to enterprise, and helps them become innovators in a rapidly changing industry. Sheetal is an active tech investor and works closely with TribalScale Venture Studios. Sheetal breathes and lives innovation, he helps clients create digital solutions that revolutionize their business, and enhance customer experiences. His main goal is to bring capital efficiency and productivity to all of his partners.
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May 14, 2020
LGC E77 - Duncan Wardle | Coffee With the Former Head of Creativity at Disney
Having worked for the Disney for 25 years, most recently as Head of Innovation and Creativity, Duncan now serves as an independent innovation and design thinking consultant, helping companies embed a culture of innovation and creativity across their organizations. Delivering a series of keynotes, training workshops and ideation forums, his unique Design Thinking process helps people capture unlikely connections, leading to both fresh thinking and revolutionary ideas.
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May 7, 2020
LGC E76 - Mashal Waqar | Techie turned entrepreneur, COO of Tempest & Forbes 30 Under 30
The Tempest (thetempest.co) is a premium global media company for women who will.
Reaching millions around the world, The Tempest reaches an audience made up of determined leaders, creators, doers, and dreamers who are smart and passionate, always seeking out the full potential in every aspect of their lives.
The Tempest delivers heart and substance to a highly engaged audience across a variety of devices and destinations, from original video and audio, to live experiences and social storytelling. The Tempest is home to the largest network of brands specifically serving women around the world: https://thetempest.co/advertise/.
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May 1, 2020
LGC E75 - Colin Egglesfield | Life Lessons from Hollywood and Beyond
Colin is an actor, author, motivational speaker and entrepreneur.
In his book book, "Agile Artist: Life Lessons from Hollywood and Beyond", Colin shares personal stories of overcoming two bouts of cancer, living through the world trade center experience and fulfilling his dream of becoming a professional working actor in Hollywood. He has launched two online courses called INSPIRE and CAMERA READY! both of which are designed to help people overcome limiting beliefs to achieve their life goals including becoming an effective and dynamic communicator in front of the camera and live audiences.
Personal site: https://www.colinegglesfield.com/
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Apr 22, 2020
LGC E74 - Marc Randolph | From Startup to IPO, the Early Days of Netflix
Marc Randolph is a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur, advisor and investor. Marc was co-founder of Netflix, serving as their founding CEO, as the executive producer of their web site, and as a member of their board of directors.
Although best known for starting Netflix, Marc’s career as an entrepreneur spans more than four decades. He's founded or co-founded more than half a dozen other successful start-ups, mentored rising entrepreneurs including the co-founders of Looker Data which was recently sold to Google for $2.6B, and invested in numerous successful tech ventures.
He is a frequent speaker at industry events, works extensively with young entrepreneur programs, sits on the board of the environmental advocacy group 1% for the Planet, and chairs the National Outdoor Leadership School’s Board of Trustees.
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Apr 9, 2020
LGC E73 - Justin Thouin | Leaving the corporate world at 34 years old and creating one of the fastest growing companies in North America
Justin Thouin is the Co-Founder and CEO of LowestRates.ca, one of the fastest growing companies in North America. He has been an EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award finalist and under his leadership LowestRates.ca has ranked in the top 50 on Maclean's/Canadian Business' Growth 500 list of Canada's fastest growing companies for four years in a row, most recently placing 15th in 2019. The company has also ranked in the top 25 on Deloitte's Technology Fast 50 the past two years, stemming from its rapid revenue growth. In 2019, LowestRates.ca won Startup Canada's National and Ontario High-Growth Entrepreneurship Awards. Also in 2019, it placed 75th on the Report on Business' List of Canada's Top Growing Companies and 164th on Deloitte's North American Technology Fast 500.
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Apr 5, 2020
LGC E72 - Mark Metry | Dealing with COVID-19, writing a book, podcasting, & more
Bestselling Author of Screw Being Shy, Global Top 100 Humans 2.0 Podcast Host, Amazon Prime's 📺The Social Movement & Speaker
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Apr 1, 2020
LGC E71 - Casanova Brooks | Beating Cancer & Becoming an Award-Winning Real Estate Agent
Casanova Brooks is an award-winning real estate agent, investor, speaker, and CEO.
Who would have thought that a man who once had no home to house his family in and no job to earn income, would’ve locked in 46 real estate deals in his first year as a real estate agent and earn the rookie of the year award in a brand new city with no family, friends, or network? – That’s Casanova Brooks for you! Casanova is a successful entrepreneur, Real Estate agent, investor, influential speaker, and CEO, but most importantly, a Relationship Builder cultivating and transforming young and old minds into productive ones.
Nurturing the ideology – It Starts With Your Mindset – Casanova Brooks held up strong when he hit rock bottom. He learned it the tough way in his early days when he was diagnosed with a life-threatening cancer at the age of 15. Years later, he faced another devastating turning point in his life. Within a one week span, Casanova lost his mom, his home, and his job. Withou…
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Mar 28, 2020
LGC E70 - Danny Read | Becoming Account Executive of the Year
Danny is the Sales Director for a tech startup called Metadata - a platform that helps marketers automate the tedious tasks of setting up & tracking advertising campaigns.
Danny won the 2019 AE Of The Year award in November, 2019 sponsored by Chili Piper. This was a national award open to any AE in the country with a $10,000 prize for first place and a $3,000 team outing all sponsored by Chili Piper.
Today he sits on the board of the Esports Trade Association (ESTA) and supports the growing esports ecosystem.
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Mar 15, 2020
LGC E69 - Sam Bakhtiar | Refugee Turned Entrepreneur & Founder of Camp Transformation Centres
Refugee turned divorcee on the verge of bankruptcy... To multi-millionaire, champion bodybuilder, author, doctor, and CEO of multiple worldwide brands.
Dr. Sam Bakhtiar is an American success story with humble beginnings and a meteoric rise to wealth and influence.
As founder of The Camp Transformation Centres (110+ locations) and the 1%ER Movement, Sam inspires modern adults and youth to discover their 1% potential and excel in the 5 F's - Faith, Family, Fitness, Finance, and Fun.
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Mar 15, 2020
LGC E68 - Nadeem Nathoo | Developing Unicorn People to Solve the World's Most Important Problems
The Knowledge Society is a human accelerator designed for young people (ages 13-17).
Our mission is to build the next-generation of global leaders who have a strong sense of purpose, tenacity, resourcefulness, leadership, and vision. TKS has built a physical environment where participants explore topics such as Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Nanotech, Quantum Computing etc... through collaboration and guidance from world-class mentors. TKS is preparing young people to achieve big things far earlier on and carve out a piece of the future for themselves.
For more information, visit: www.theksociety.com
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Feb 29, 2020
LGC E67 - Stephany Lapierre | Becoming One of the Top 100 Most Influential Women in Supply Chain
Stephany Lapierre is the founder/CEO of Tealbook, a highly coveted supply chain thought leader, and one of the most influential minds in emerging data technologies. She has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Women in Supply Chain, and her company, Tealbook, has both been named a Top 50 company to watch by Spend Matters and won the Cool Vendor Award by Gartner. Prior to Tealbook, Stephany spent 10 years building a successful strategic sourcing and procurement consulting firm focusing on large scale sourcing optimization projects. Given her experience and visibility into the data issues crippling procurement she has made it her mission is to deliver a ‘Trusted Source of Supplier Data’ to an ever-growing eProcurement space. Currently, Tealbook is the only Big Data company that provides a self-enriching and self-maintaining mechanism to fix enterprise supplier data, forever.
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Feb 28, 2020
LGC E66 - Alex Iceman | Building Genium, a Premium Software Engineering Consulting Firm
As Founder and CEO of Genium, a premium software development and agile consulting firm. I bring 10+ years of experience in connecting innovative companies with world-class software engineers globally.
At Genium, I have led more than 100 engineers, developers, and other experts, helping companies to create secure, cutting-edge mobile and web applications as well as to hire and build scalable, talented teams tailored to their project’s needs.
I am an experienced iOS and Android Developer/System Architect/Project Manager who has overseen, designed and developed over 100+ mobile and web products using emerging tech as well as agile development methods that accelerate time to market and ensure quality.
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Feb 21, 2020
LGC E65 - Dr. Chris Stout | The Importance of Mental Health for Success in Life and Work
Dr. Stout’s career includes business, government, and nonprofits, as well as the UN and academia. He’s traveled the world, published 38 books, won a wide range of accolades, including four additional doctorates (honoris causa), and invitations to TEDs, Davos, Renaissance Weekends…
He’s is a licensed clinical psychologist and Founding Director of the Center for Global Initiatives, a Top Rated Healthcare Nonprofit. His entrepreneurial experience is demonstrated in multiple start-ups and serving as an advisory board member, and early-money-in investor. He's been faculty in the University of Illinois' College of Medicine and Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine. He served at the UN and was appointed to the World Economic Forum's Global Leaders of Tomorrow and an Invited Faculty at Davos. He is the founder of GordianKnot, LLC, and is VP of Clinical Research and Data Analytics at ATI.
Dr. Stout is a Fellow in the APA, past-President of the IPA, and is member in the National…
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Feb 11, 2020
LGC E64 - Peter Taunton | From Popcorn Stand to Building One of the Most Iconic Brands in Fitness
Peter Taunton is a pioneer in the fitness industry. In 2003, he had a vision for Snap Fitness: to create an affordable, 24-7, results-driven gym differentiated from the impersonal, expensive big-box experience. Today there are Snap Fitness franchises in 2,500 locations in 26 countries. And Taunton, CEO of Lift Brands, didn’t stop there.
Taunton is an expert at understanding consumer desires and fulfilling them. In recent years, he has acquired and founded several brands to round out the consumer-fitness experience: 9Round, Farrell’s, YogaFit, STEELE Fitness, Fitness On Demand. Together with the Snap Fitness brand they comprise the world’s largest wellness franchise organization, serving 165 million workouts and counting.
Taunton, who prior to founding Snap Fitness owned nine America’s Fitness Centers, has designed a franchise-development operation that is the envy of the industry. He leads with infectious enthusiasm, which attracts prospective owners from all over the world…
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Feb 9, 2020
LGC E63 - Anas Ghazi | From Science to Advertising, and Leading With Gratitude
Anas Ghazi is the Chief Strategy Officer of the Stagwell Group. Anas oversees Stagwell’s client engagement, business development and go-to-market strategy.
Prior to joining the Stagwell Group, Anas was at WPP where he held several executive roles including leading the firm’s global data practice as Chief Executive Officer and Board Director of WPP’s Data Alliance and delivering business growth as Kantar’s Growth Officer. Anas began his career in financial services at TransUnion and American Express.
Anas graduated Summa with a Master of Science in Communication from Northwestern University, in addition to having a graduate degree in Management Information Systems and a Bachelor of Science from Northern Illinois University.
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Jan 11, 2020
Let's Grab Coffee E62 with Andrew Witkin | Building a Business From Selling Stickers
StickerYou is the best platform in the world for custom products that make you stick.
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Nov 27, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E61 with Ralph Kisso | Second Lebanese Person in History to Summit Mt. Everest
On a quest to successfully climb the Seven Summits, Ralph Kisso has completed six so far. One of those was Mt. Everest, which on 22nd of May, 2019 at 4:30 AM, he raised the Lebanese flag and became the second Lebanese person in history to summit the mountain.
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Oct 3, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E60 with David Meltzer | Making Money, Having Fun, Helping People
In his early 20s, David Meltzer quickly rose to the top of his game in the business world, becoming a millionaire. David lectured around the globe and saw rapid success in every business project he touched. But something was missing, and in his 30s as a multimillionaire, he went on a rapid downward spiral that ended in bankruptcy. It was only then that David realized, in order to revive and thrive, he needed to codify what had made him successful in the first place. He has since emerged to realize even more rewarding heights of success in business and life.
David Meltzer has created a platform that uses four overarching principles—gratitude, empathy, accountability, and effective communication—and these principles have allowed him to communicate and mentor everyone from college students to c-suite executives. These four principles in everyday practice allow David to live by his mission to “make a lot of money, help a lot of people, and have a lot of fun.”
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Sep 30, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E59 with Buster Scher | From School Radio Station to Growing Hoops Nation with Millions of Followers
From the beginning of Hoops Nation becoming a real media outlet back in it's early days of reaching 10k people a week where it only existed on Facebook with written content, to being hugely influential across all platforms.
Hoops Nation has gone from reaching 10k a week only on Facebook, to 35m impressions per week on Facebook alone, countless viral original videos and more. That, to growing the Instagram 500k in a year, Snapchat, Twitter and the site.
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Aug 21, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E58 with John Ruffolo | Launching One of the Largest Venture Capital Funds in Canada
John Ruffolo is the Founder of OMERS Ventures, the venture arm of OMERS. John is also the Co-Founder of the Council of Canadian Innovators. John sits on the board of a number of leading innovation based organizations including Hootsuite, Ontario Centres of Excellence, and Ether Capital.
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Aug 19, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E57 with Nadia Genevieve Masri | From Harvard to Starting Perksy - While Battling Meningitis
Perksy is a progressive new marketing technology startup with a fresh, contemporary take on understanding motivations, interests, preferences, and behaviors of Gen Y & Z consumers. By contextually hypertargeting consumers through a rewarding, user-first mobile app, Perksy delivers deeper insights in real-time through innovative technology that evolves at the speed of culture.
Nadia is passionate about marketing, consumer behavior, and human psychology – especially as applied to the fields of emerging platforms and new technology.
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Aug 10, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E56 with Kevwe Mowarin | From Investment Banking to Women's Fashion
Koviem was born out of a simple idea: custom suiting needs a feminine experience. Once reserved for wealthy businessmen, the power suit is now the uniform for the female of the future. Our philosophy is simple…create beautiful pieces for the modern woman! Founded in 2016, Koviem has come a long way from its early stages when we were simply trying to fill a void based on personal needs. We noticed a gap in the market. Although the number of empowered women was increasing, access to the custom suiting market was relatively closed off. We decided to fix that.
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Aug 10, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E55 with Michel Falcon | building businesses that earn over $15 million/year in sales
Michel helps entrepreneurs and professionals build strategies to improve the experience they deliver to their customers and employees.
His businesses earn over $15 million/year in sales and have 150 employees in the ultra competitive hospitality industry.
His book, "People-First Culture: Build a Lasting Company By Shifting Your Focus From Profits to People" is available on Amazon https://tinyurl.com/y8ng9xdm.
For Michel's full-length bio, please visit http://michelfalcon.com/about/.
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Aug 10, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E54 with Swish Goswami | Building Trufan
Intuitive social data powering unforgettable fan experiences. Trufan help brands activate their engaged fans and target new audiences primed for conversion. Create amazing fan moments or let our team conceptualize, produce and distribute them for you.
Trufan’s advisory board includes industry rockstars like Sam Sheffer (YouTuber), Michael Hyatt (Executive Chairman, BlueCat Networks), Ryan Holmes (CEO, Hootsuite), Mark Zablow (CEO, Cogent Marketing), Tim Hyde (CEO & Founder, TWH Media), Eliot Robinson (CEO, Dunk Media), Buster Scher (CEO, Hoopsnation), Diana Day (Founder, Icona Agency), Chuck Figueroa (NBA Comercial Agent), Anthony Ford (CEO & Founder, Ignite Lifestyle), Jeff Rubin (CEO, SportsME), Deepak Anand (CEO, Materia Ventures), Ryan Howes (Creative Director, Lower Level Entertainment).
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Jul 16, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E53 with Aaron Spivak | Selling Anxiety Reducing Blankets and Growing to $50k/month
A serial entrepreneur, at 18 years old Aaron co founded Revitasize, an organic cold pressed juice kitchen serving high quality juices, smoothies, acai bowls and a variety of vegan options. In 3.5 years Revitasize has expanded to 7 locations throughout Toronto and the GTA. Aaron also co founded a recently launched Anxiety blanket company called Hush. Hush blankets are designed to help with sleep anxiety, insomnia, ADHD and more.
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Jul 15, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E52 with Ron Tite | The Unification of Content and Advertising
Ron has been an award-winning advertising writer and Creative Director for some of the world’s most respected brands, including Air France, Evian, Fidelity, Hershey, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft, Intel, Microsoft, Volvo and many others.
His advertising work has been recognized by The London International Advertising Awards, The New York Festivals of Advertising, The Crystals, The Extras, The Canadian Marketing Association, The Advertising & Design Club of Canada and The Marketing Awards, to name just a few.
He is Founder and CEO of Church+State (originally The Tite Group), a Toronto-based content marketing agency and publisher of This is That Travel Guide to Canada – a best-selling, award-winning satirical book from the creators of CBC Radio’s hit show, This Is That.
His past work includes being Executive Producer & Host of the award-winning comedy show Monkey Toast, in addition to writing for a number of television series, penning a children’s book, and writing, performing, and…
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Jul 6, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E51 with Dean Karnazes | 50 Marathons in 50 Days Across 50 States
TIME magazine named Dean Karnazes as one of the "Top 100 Most Influential People in the World." Men's Fitness hailed him as one of the fittest men on the planet. An internationally recognized endurance athlete and NY Times bestselling author, Dean has pushed his body and mind to inconceivable limits. Among his many accomplishments, he has run 350 continuous miles, foregoing sleep for three nights. He's run across Death Valley in 120 degree temperatures, and he's run a marathon to the South Pole in negative 40 degrees. On ten different occasions, he's run a 200-mile relay race solo, racing alongside teams of twelve.
His most recent endeavor was running 50 marathons, in all 50 US states, in 50 consecutive days, finishing with the NYC Marathon, which he ran in three hours flat.
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Jul 6, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E50 with Rachel David | Becoming One of Canada’s Most Sought out Marketers
Rachel David is one of Canada’s most sought out marketers. She built the influencer marketing company Hashtag Communications in 2016 and has since helped market companies like BestBuy, RBC and Google. The company is comprised of 90% women and they recently hit their million dollar milestone. Rachel recently gave a keynote at this year's TEDxVancouver where she discussed "How Influencers Have Transformed Modern Day Marketing"
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Jun 23, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E49 with Shawn Finder | Professional Tennis Player Turned Entrepreneur
Shawn Finder has always been an entrepreneur at heart. At age 24, Shawn entered the entrepreneurial world after competing as one of Canada's top-ranked tennis players. He started out importing packaging from the Orient and selling to top retailers in North America. However, knowing he always loved selling and list building, he founded ExchangeLeads in 2013 which helps his company build quality lists for outreaching new prospects. This was followed by his new venture Autoklose in 2017 that combines both sales engagement and list building all-in-one platform.
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Jun 14, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E48 ft. Director X | Creating Award Winning Music Videos & Encouraging Meditation
Director X (formerly known as Little X) was born on October 31st, 1975 in Toronto, Canada, and is of Trinidadian and Swiss descent. Moving to New York City, he became the protégé of pioneering director Hype Williams. X has been noted for directing high-budget, visually distinctive videos for popular artists, including: Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Fifth Harmony, Wiz Khalifa, Usher, John Mayer, Korn, Iggy Azalea, Sean Paul and many more. His work has been nominated and awarded by the MTV Music Video Awards and Much Music Video Awards. X has directed commercials for Apple Music, Ebay, Virginia Black and Gap’s noteworthy ‘Meet Me In The Gap’ campaign. As a film director, X made his directorial debut in 2014 with an edgy drama titled ACROSS THE LINE which won Best Feature at the Atlantic Film Festival 2015.
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Jun 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E47 with Carol Leaman | Canada's Leading Female Entrepreneur
Carol Leaman (BA, MAcc, FCPA) is an award-winning thought leader with an impressive track record of successfully leading tech companies. Not only is she a disruptor in the corporate learning space, but she’s also the brains behind the Axonify Microlearning Platform. Prior to Axonify, Carol was the CEO of PostRank Inc., a social engagement analytics platform she sold to Google. She was also the CEO at several other technology firms, including RSS Solutions and Fakespace Systems. Carol is a celebrated entrepreneur and trailblazer (Sarah Kirke Award 2010, Waterloo Region Entrepreneur Hall of Fame Intrepid Award 2011 and the Profit500 Award for Canada's Leading Female Entrepreneur 2017) whose articles appear in leading learning, business and technology publications. She also sits on the boards of many organizations and advises a variety of Canadian high-tech firms.
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May 16, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E46 with Bailey Parnell | Social Media, Mental Health, Entrepreneurship
Bailey is the Founder & CEO of SkillsCamp and was named one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women. She is a TEDx speaker with over 1 million views, an award-winning digital marketer, and a businesswoman with a talent for helping people develop the skills they need for success. Her work and expertise have been featured in Forbes, CBC, FOX News, Flare Magazine, and more.
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May 4, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E45 with Ross Paquette | Growing to 180+ Employees Without Ever Raising Funding
Ross founded Maropost in 2011 as a customer-centric ESP, but it quickly grew beyond his original vision. As the capabilities expanded, so did customers, and in a few short years, Maropost became one of the fastest-growing companies in North America, without ever raising funding.
Ross has one goal: to build a better platform by responding to customer needs. With that aim in mind, Maropost has evolved into a fully unified customer engagement platform, designed to provide a single solution for all areas of business—across marketing, commerce, service, clienteling, referral, and more.
Ross is also working to make philanthropy more efficient, by using Maropost's technology to power not-for-profits. This includes MaropostCares, a nonprofit focused on giving endangered species a second chance, restoring ecosystems through conservation initiatives, and giving a voice to the earth and its inhabitants.
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Apr 27, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E44 with Francisco Diaz-Mitoma Jr. | Building an Ecosystem for Personalized Health and Wellness
Francisco is a software architect with over 15 years of experience and was nominated to Forbes 30 under 30. He is currently the Co-Founder and Head of Product at Bowhead Health - a health technology startup focused on removing the pain points and inefficiencies of preventive health management.
Bowhead is launching a connected device that will enable at-home biometric testing of critical nutrients and hormones, real-time recommendations from health care professionals and the dispensing of personalized supplements and vitamins. Bowhead is leveraging blockchain technology to ensure the anonymity and security of medical and health data.
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Apr 27, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E43 with Chris Tester | Making Coffee More Nutrient & Turning It Into a Business
Chris is the Founder of Coffee Booster - a flavourless liquid health supplement you stir into your favourite coffee. Whether you need a pre-workout boost or a solution for aching joints, Coffee Booster delivers a nutritional pick-me-up; sip after sip
Chris is currently building one of Canada's fastest growing CPG companies and is always looking for new opportunities to connect with entrepreneurs alike.
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Apr 27, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E42 with Saad Siddiqui | Creating a Millennial Marketplace for Men's Clothing
Saad is the CEO & Co-Founder of Shop Bonsai - one of Canada’s fastest growing startups. The team is on a mission to build the media app of the future, an app that will forever change the way people shop.
Powered by machine learning, Bonsai brings together leading brands and digital publishers to create the world’s first shoppable-content app. For publishers of digital content, Bonsai represents an incredible opportunity to earn new revenues without playing the pay-per-click, affiliate game. Merchants are using Bonsai's intent-generating platform to drive incremental sales through an engaging and new way to shop on mobile.
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Apr 27, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E41 with Brian Scudamore | Building the World's Largest Junk Removal Service
Brian Scudamore is the founder and CEO of O2E Brands, the banner company for 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, WOW 1 DAY PAINTING, You Move Me, and Shack Shine.
Brian is a serial entrepreneur, known for pioneering the professional junk hauling industry with 1-800-GOT-JUNK?. Since conquering that market, he’s gone on to apply the O2E (ordinary to exceptional) formula to the painting, moving, and home-detailing industry with WOW 1 DAY PAINTING, You Move Me, and Shack Shine.
Currently, he’s at the helm of a burgeoning home-service empire; each brand has franchise locations in every major metro in North America and Australia. He’s a respected industry leader and speaker, well-known in the business community for his belief in people and passion for innovation.
His companies have made celebrated appearances on ABC Nightline, Good Morning America, Dr. Phil, CNN, The Today Show, Oprah, and CNBC. Brian’s story has been featured in Fortune Magazine, The New York Times, Huffington Post, The Wall Street…
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Apr 12, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E40 with David Segal | Building DAVIDsTEA & Starting Mad Radish
David Segal is the founder of Mad Radish, retail thought-leader and speaker. He is best known for bringing radical innovation to a 5,000 year product category with the launch of DAVIDsTEA, the company he co-founded in 2008.
During his time at DAVIDsTEA, Segal grew the company from a single store on Toronto’s Queen Street West to a $200 million retail giant. In June 2015, DAVIDsTEA became a publically-traded company on the NASDAQ, and since launch, the brand has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Women’s Wear Daily, The Globe and Mail, and Fast Company.
DAVIDsTEA was an innovative vision - in fact, Forbes named DAVIDsTEA one of the 25 most innovative consumer and retail brands in the world - but Segal attributes the success of the brand to his passion for building a team of dedicated, smart and passionate people.
Today, Segal is carrying that passion forward to his latest venture, Mad Radish, a new quick service restaurant offering mind blowing salads. Mad Radish was fou…
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Apr 12, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E39 with Claude Silver | Hustle x Heart @ VaynerMedia
Claude Silver is an optimist, coach, manager, and mentor. She's the first ever Chief Heart Officer of VaynerMedia working for 800 humans.
The CHO was created to scale Gary, and to make sure that VaynerMedia’s 800+ employees—and one day it will be 1,000+—have a place they can find a home. Claude's hope is that in her 15-30 minute meetings, people will feel a lot clearer and leave with a newfound path to a solution. That in turn, creates success for them and VaynerMedia.
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Apr 11, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E38 with with Adrian Salamunovic | Using FREE PR to Generate Impressions
Best selling author of FREE PR and one of the world's top experts in earned media and PR. He is a serial entrepreneur and former co-founder of CanvasPop. In his spare time he advises hundreds of companies through San Francisco based 500 Startups and Clarity.fm.
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Apr 4, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E37 with David Priemer | Art & Science of Modern Selling
David Priemer is widely recognized as a thought leader in the area of sales and sales leadership and has been published in MIT Sloan Management Review, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Barrons, and Inc. magazines.
Previously David held several executive leadership positions at leading technology companies including Salesforce, where he was the Vice President of Commercial Sales and creator of the Sales Leadership Academy program. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Smith School of Business at Queen's University.
David holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry and Atmospheric Science from York University and a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto. When he's not thinking about Sales, David loves to cook, write, and spend some quality family time with his wife and three girls.
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Mar 25, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E36 with Dr. Greg Wells | Better Health, Energy and Fitness
Greg Wells is a health and high performance expert who inspires better living through better nutrition and better fitness. As a coach, scientist and physiologist Dr. Wells has amassed more than 20 years of world-class experience with the extremes of human health and performance. As a result, he understands how it is possible for anyone to have better health, energy and fitness.
He has coached, trained and inspired dozens of elite athletes to win medals at the Commonwealth Games, World Championships and the Olympics. He makes regular appearances on national television and radio as a health and performance expert, contributes articles for numerous magazines, research papers for scientific journals and is a high-demand speaker for better health, fitness and performance around the world.
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Mar 21, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E35 with Dr. Paul Ekman | Understanding Micro Expressions & Reading Faces
Dr. Paul Ekman is the co-discoverer of micro expressions, the originator of training tools such as Micro Facial Expressions Training Tool (METT), Subtle Facial Expressions Training Tool (SETT), PEG Interactive (Responding to Micro Facial Expressions), CAP (Capturing your Anger Profile), and is the author, co-author, or editor of 15 books.
Dr. Ekman is recognized as the pioneer in facial expression, deception, and emotion. He was the scientific consultant for the TV series, “Lie to Me,” and appeared in the 2009 TIME 100-- Time magazine's annual list of the "100 most influential people in the world".
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Mar 19, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E34 with Christopher Gimmer | Bootstrapping a SaaS Business to $55K MRR
Chris Gimmer is the co-founder of Snappa - a SaaS app that helps non-designers create online graphics in a snap. Snappa makes it super easy to create graphics for social media, ads, blogs, and more.
Since launching on November 23, 2015 - the startup is now doing over $55K USD in monthly recurring revenue.
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Mar 19, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E33 with Dennis Mortensen | The Future of Artificial Intelligence
Dennis Mortensen is the CEO and co-founder of x.ai. Dennis is an expert in leveraging data to solve enterprise use cases and a serial entrepreneur who’s successfully exited several companies on that theme. His long-term vision of killing the inbox led to the formation of x.ai and the creation of Amy + Andrew, artificially intelligent assistants who schedule meetings.
He speaks frequently to anyone who’ll listen, from the crowds of Web Summit to his building’s doorman, about an optimistic future for AI, productivity, and the future of work. Dennis was also an accredited Associate Analytics Instructor at the University of British Columbia and the author of Data Driven Insights, on collecting and analyzing digital data.
Originally from Denmark (and keeping his accent), Dennis is now a New Yorker for life.
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Mar 18, 2019
Let's Grab coffee E32 with Manny Padda | Canadian Angel Investor of the Year
Manny is the founder of New Avenue Capital (NAC), an investment firm that brings together financial, human and impact capital for high-growth companies. An entrepreneur and philanthropist, he’s “long on people,” with a knack for recognizing talent, cultivating relationships and connecting change makers.
Prior to founding NAC, Manny was a self-made entrepreneur, building his first multi-million dollar company, PM Search Partners, by age 26. Leveraging his powerful network, he made the leap from executive search to investment and currently manages a portfolio of 40+ companies in tech, mining, real estate and more. Manny is also the co-founder of Risetech Capital, a capital pool company established with some of Canada’s top business leaders that gives tech companies an alternative way to raise capital and go public.
As a philanthropist, Manny is passionate about mentorship and education. He currently sits on multiple advisory boards in the not-for-profit sectors, including Roo…
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Feb 25, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E31 with Drew Green | creating the world's largest custom apparel company
Drew Green is an award winning entrepreneur and expert in managing fast-paced, high-growth companies. A visionary leader, Green has created one of the world's fastest growing apparel brands. Since 2015, he has established up to $100M in strategic capital commitments for INDOCHINO. Previously recognized as top 40 under 40, as well as having been nominated for CEO of the year, Green has been recognized for his accomplishments throughout his career. In 2017 Green was awarded the Innovation in Retail award by the University of Alberta. In 2018 he was awarded Breakout Retailer of the Year by Chain Store Age, and in 2018 Green was selected as The Entrepreneur of the Year, by Ernst and Young.
Prior to INDOCHINO, Green founded and was Chief Executive Officer of SHOP.CA, Canada's first multi-merchant marketplace, which is now owned by EMERGE COMMERCE, which he leads as Chairman and major shareholder. In 2018, EMERGE is growing at 250% YOY, and is profitable. Throughout his career, Drew has pla…
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E30 with Jay Rosenzweig | Building a high-end executive search firm
Jay Rosenzweig is the founding partner of Rosenzweig & Company - an expert in designing, building and attracting world class teams. He consults to public and private companies including large global corporations; emerging growth to mid-sized businesses; professional services firms; and private equity and venture capital firms. Prior to joining the search industry, Jay was in the field of law. Jay earned three degrees at McGill University: Philosophy, Civil Law , and Common Law.
Jay is a champion of the cause of gender equality. He has been actively advocating on behalf of women for several decades, most prominently through his highly regarded Rosenzweig Report on the status of women. Jay advises several leading edge businesses, most of them based in California, New York, or Ontario. Jay is active in many social causes, holding board seats on Irwin Cotler's Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights; the Breast Cancer Cabinet of Mount Sinai Hospital; CJPAC; and Genesis Centre…
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E29 with Case Kenny | Creating 150K+ Following Through Quality Content
Case is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of PRSUIT - a top daily email similar to The Skimm but focused exclusively on self development content. Named a top email newsletter by Entrepreneur Mag and features in Inc, Forbes, Chicago Tribune and more. 125K daily email subscribers and growing.
Case is the host of the New Mindset, Who Dis podcast, an iTunes top 50 podcast focused on real and no BS self development content.
Case is the co-host of The Hustle Sold Separately, named a Forbes “Top 7 Podcasts You Should be Listening to Right Now.”
Website: http://prsuit.com/
Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/n...
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E28 with Cassy Aite | Growing Sales from $0M to $1M
On E28 of Let's Grab Coffee, I sit down with Cassy Aite - CEO & Co-Founder of Desk Nibbles, the easiest way for offices to order snacks, beverages and more.
Desk Nibbles is based in Ottawa and in a span of 2 years grew to 20+ employees and $1M in sales! Desk Nibbles was always incubated in Ryerson's DMZ and has been mostly bootstrapped - raising $362,500 (debt financing & angel capital) to expand into the U.S.
Cassy talks about his experience growing Desk Nibbles with his brother Emil Aite and the ups & downs that come with running an startup. An episode for all early-stage founders, and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Visit: https://www.desknibbles.com/
Connect with Cassy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassyaite/
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Get Coffee E27 with Michael Hyatt | Selling BlueCat for $400 million
Michael Hyatt is the co-founder of BlueCat, which was sold to Madison Dearborn Partners, of Chicago, IL. He serves as a director of BlueCat, ranks as one of Canada’s top entrepreneurs, and is a known as a technology visionary. Michael is also a weekly business commentator on CBC and was a celebrated “Dragon” on CBC’s online Dragons’ Den. He is an investor on the hit podcast “The Pitch” and a Founding Partner and Fellow at the Rotman School of Management’s prestigious Creative Destruction Lab. Michael sits on the CEO Board of Advisors of Georgian Partners, one of Canada’s leading venture capital firms and was recently named an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) at Blakes, one of the most successful law firms in the country. Michael also co-founded Dyadem, a highly successful software company which was acquired by IHS (NYSE: IHS). He was a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and was a recipient of the Top 40 Under 40 Award.
Michael is an ac…
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E26 with Marc Champagne | Starting Entrepreneurship Later in Life & Building KYŌ App
Marc is the Co-Founder and Creative Lead of Kyo - an app that fuel people's daily reflection through questions from some of the most inspiring figures in the world.
Get the most out of every day: www.kyoapp.com
Follow Marc on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-cham...
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E25 with Mark Metry | Creating a Top 100 Podcast
Mark is the host of iTunes Top Charts podcast, Humans 2.0. Mark’s show features an innovative and talented guest in every episode available on YouTube, iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher Radio, and iHeart Radio. On the show, Mark converses with CEO’s, entrepreneur’s, authors, and many other inspiring individuals like Jay Samit, Neil Patel, and David Meltzer to educate others to change their own lives and upgrade to the Human version 2.0 that is inside all of us.
Learn More: https://www.markmetry.com/humans-2-0-...
Prior to creating the Humans 2.0 Podcast, Mark was the founder and creative director of PPMC, started in 2013, the #1 Pixelmon Minecraft server in the world. As creative director, Mark grew the company’s website to reach over 10 million users and 10,000 registered premium members. Mark managed a remote staff team of over 40 talented individuals and directed company growth programs. Founded and operating VU Dream currently (started in Dec. 2016), a growing and…
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E24 with Lily Tse | Building Technology for Beauty Shoppers & Brands
Lily is the Founder and CEO of Think Dirty® is a mobile-first, social commerce platform that connects ingredient-conscious beauty shoppers to natural beauty brands. Think Dirty's mission is to make reading cosmetic and personal care product labels simple, easy and fun. Think Dirty is the winner of Mastercard Women Entrepreneurship Competition, a DMZ alumni company, it's also named as one of the Top 25 SheEO Ventures, MaRS JOLT and CFC Ideaboost. Think Dirty was named the best beauty apps by Refinery29 and Brit+ Co. It was also featured on O Magazine, Fast Company, NPR, Huffington Post, TED Blog, Allure Magazine, The Atlantic, PSFK, New York Magazine, Today's Show and Consumer's Report.
Prior to founding Think Dirty, Lily has been an award-winning Art Director in advertising and design for 13 years. She began her career in marketing in the e-commerce department of MoMA, New York. And worked at agencies such as Sid Lee, TAXI, Wunderman and TBWA\Chiat\Day for major internation…
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E23 with Allen Gannett | Starting TrackMaven & writing The Creative Curve
Allen is the Founder and CEO of TrackMaven, a marketing analytics platform that enables creativity. Marketers user TrackMaven to measure and improve performance across every channel - so they can tie the details to the big picture. The platform is used by the NBA, Microsoft, Saks Fifth Avenue, and many more modern marketers.
Allen is also the Author of The Creative Curve - a book that combines findings from the latest science on creativity with findings from interviews with two dozen of the world's modern creative giants ranging from the Broadway team to the founder of Reddit, and many more.
To order Allen's book, visit: https://www.thecreativecurve.com/
Follow Allen on social media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allengann...
Instagram: Allen Gannett
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E22 with Raphael Wong | Startups, Podcasts, Self-Development, and life
Raphael is an adventurer at heart; loves discussing new product/business concepts; and is on a mission to unlock human potential through data, process and technology.
Currently, Raphael is working at ThoughtWire, a Toronto-based technology company looking to disrupt the relationship between humans, devices and information with the goal of making a healthier, safer and cleaner world. Prior to his new role, Raphael was a Senior Associate in PwC's Private Company / SMB Consulting practice where he worked closely with C-suite teams on strategic mandates focused on unlocking levers for growth and operational improvement.
Raphael is also the Host of his own podcast called Canvas Series that looks to provide people with tools to build momentum and design their life the way they want - with a deeper focus on psychology, business, and personal development.
Connect with Raph on social media!
Instagram: canvas.series
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/2JsCTJt
Facebook: https://b…
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E21 with Victoria Pelletier | Women in Leadership, Networking, and Self-Development
Victoria is a dynamic, passionate and disciplined Senior Executive with two decades of progressive experience as a strategic and effective leader with extensive North American and International experience within Professional Corporate Sales and Services Organizations, including the following industries: HR Technology and Human Capital Services & Solutions, Financial Services, Corporate Travel, BPO. Victoria received her degree in Psychology, Law from the University of Calgary and is now a speaker, passionate networker, as well as a fitness enthusiast.
Victoria is currently the Vice President and Lead Account Partner of Global Business Services at IBM.
Connect with Victoria on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriapelletier/
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E20 with Shawn Kanungo | Embracing Change, Keeping Pace with Innovation
Shawn Kanungo is a strategist and keynote speaker who operates at the intersection of creativity, business and technology. He has been recognized nationally and globally for his work in the innovation space after 12 years working at Deloitte. Shawn’s mandate at the firm was to help corporate executives to better understand and plan for the opportunities and threats associated with disruptive innovation.
Now as General Partner of Queen & Rook Capital, he is focused on applying exponential technologies and new business models to mature businesses. Shawn is a practitioner who has worked hand-to-hand with hundreds of organizations on their journey to digital transformation. He has adopted the concepts of behavioural economics, user-centered design, crowdsourcing, artificial intelligence, drones and film to help create world class client experiences.
His work and interviews have been featured in Forbes, The Globe & Mail, The Guardian, CBC and CTV. In 2016, he was recognized as Ave…
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E19 with Mike Smith | Empowering Kids Through Skateboarding
As the Co-Founder of non-profit, Rabble Mill, Mike is working to end generational poverty one young person at a time by empowering kids to discover their passions and build life and professional skills through skateboarding, music and art. One of Rabble Mill's programs, The Bay, is one of the few non-profit skateparks in the country. Through The Bay, Mike works with young people from all walks of life, encouraging them to cultivate their passions and live out their dreams. Since its first inception in 2011, The Bay has grown into more than just a skatepark — it's a 30,000+ square-foot youth outreach center that focuses on skate, art, music, coffee, and community. Another program under Rabble Mill is Skate for Change (SFC), a global youth movement that empowers skateboarders to give back to the homeless in their communities. SFC chapters have now spread to 80+ major cities worldwide.
Mike is also the Co-Founder of Find Your Grind (FYG), a career education platform for schools…
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E18 with Connor Beaton | Unveiling the Mask of Masculinity
A man of many titles who advises men on how to add new chapters to their lives, Connor Beaton is a wellness advocate who turned that advocacy into a business. A CEO, international host, public speaker and podcast host, Connor has used various platforms to spread his message of sustenance and fulfilment.
Connor is the founder of ManTalks; an international organization focused on promoting fitness and success for men. Its mission is to give men a greater, renewed purpose that will help them become more confident, self-aware and impactful both in and outside the business landscape. In trying to enact this mission, ManTalks produces a podcast and video series with outreach in over 150 countries. A series featuring fellow entrepreneurs, athletes, navy seals, sex and relationships experts, and more, who tell their mind-blowing stories of struggle and success. These stories will not only modify your approach to life; it might just inspire you do want to do something to change your life fo…
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E17 with Shauna Arnott | Hosting Big Events & Getting Gary Vee to Speak
Shauna is the Producer and Lead Planner at Haste & Hustle - a 2 day sales and marketing throw-down (or conference) in the heart of Toronto, which features speakers like Gary Vaynerchuk. Shauna creates unforgettable experiences for corporate clients to help connect teams to each other and teams to their clients.
Shauna is a professionally trained corporate event planner with over five years of experience planning everything from music festivals to sales meetings. She also has a travel agent license so she is able to book the travel and accommodations for large events worldwide. This edge allows Shauna to travel the world and provide the most unique opportunities.
Follow Shauna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shauna-ar...
Check out Haste & Hustle: http://hasteandhustle.com/
Subscribe to the Haste & Hustle YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu8W...
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E16 with Sayem Reza | Photography, Cars, Life
Sayem is a Digital Marketing and Communications Manager for Enactus Canada and a Professional Photographer based out of Toronto, Canada.
Sayem also runs his own photography business where his photoshoots have spanned from automotive and travel to portrait and wedding clients. Sayem is proficient in the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite with an emphasis on Lightroom, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro. Sayem has experience with several platforms to manage campaigns, track analytics, and track media hits.
He’s had the pleasure of capturing photos all across Canada and the UK, USA, South Africa, Germany, China, Iceland, and Morocco. See a few of his photos below.
Follow Sayem on Instagram: say_rez
Follow Sayem on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sayemreza/
Check out Sayem's website: sayemreza.com
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E15 with Darrell Pinto | Private Capital, Research, Life
Darrell oversees all data related to Canadian private capital investments, exit and fundraising activities for the CVCA. Darrell has held senior positions at several global organizations including the Toronto Stock Exchange, Institutional Limited Partners Association, Thomson Reuters, Glaxosmithkline and the Interac Association. In between these, he also started his own successful management consulting company. He has worked in New York, London and Shanghai, but Toronto remains his favorite working city.
He brings to the CVCA a passion for telling compelling stories with data. Darrell is currently on the board of a nonprofit social housing in Peel, a member of Volunteer Toronto as well as an active volunteer with Woodgreen Community Services. He holds a BA in Philosophy/History from the University of Western Ontario and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management.
Check out the CVCA website: https://www.cvca.ca/
Follow Darrell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/…
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E14 with Manu "Swish" Goswami | Canada's Top 20 Under 20 & Young Entrepreneur of the Year
Manu (Swish) Goswami, 20, has built a multi-hyphenate career. He is a serial tech entrepreneur (COO & Co-Founder of Dunk), LinkedIn Youth Editor, TEDx speaker (signed with the National Speakers Bureau & The AAT Project), Fortune 500 consultant (for Google and American Express), venture capitalist (at JB Fitzgerald Venture Capital founded by Brooklyn Nets PF Trevor Booker), and UN Youth Ambassador. He has been recognized with the United Nation’s Outstanding Youth Leadership Award, Startup Canada’s Young Entrepreneur Award, and Plan Canada’s Top 20 under 20.
Manu has been quoted and published in over fifty national and international media outlets including Forbes, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur, and Mashable for his entrepreneurial and philanthropic advocacy. He has also been recognized as “one of the world’s most accomplished teenagers” by Future Sharks, “one of ten Gen Z experts to follow” by Forbes and the “Face and Future of Canadian Entrepreneurship” by UPS Ca…
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E13 with Brian Rashid | Building a Brand Through Storytelling
One of the world’s top branding and messaging experts, Brian Rashid has built his career by storytelling and communication.
Brian is the CEO and founder of “A Life in Shorts,” a modern day marketing, digital media, and communications company that tells your story like it’s never been told before. He services clients that range from the biggest brands in the world to the new solo entrepreneur trying to get started.
Brian is asked to speak about branding, brand strategy, and how to monetize your message in front of audiences around the world. Fluent in Spanish, Brian lives between New York City and Medellin, Colombia, but represents clients globally. Prior to launching his company 5 years ago, Brian was a speechwriter in Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s Administration. He also holds a JD from the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law.
Follow Brian on social media!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianrashid/
Instagram: brianrashidglobal
YouTube:…
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E12 with Alan Smithson | The Future & Investment Potential of VR/AR
Virtual & Augmented Reality Expert, Author, Inspirational Speaker, Entrepreneur, Investor, Inventor. Alan is a lot of things, but the one he is most proud of is Dad. Alan and his wife Julie have two daughters, Holly & Abi. Abi invented sandals that leave a heart shaped tan line called Love Sandal. She won Top 20 under 20… when she was 10!
Alan invented the world’s first multitouch DJ & Music Production Tool, Emulator and was featured in WIRED Discovery Channel, G4TV and Dragon’s Den. Alan recently invented the world’s first Virtual Reality Photo Booth™. Alan is a thought leader in Virtual & Augmented Reality (VR/AR) having given talks and lead panels at all the major industry conference in North America (nominated for VR Startup of the Year).
Alan is also Co-Founder of the VR/AR Enterprise Fund (launching Q4 2017), an Investment fund solely focused on investing in products, services, tools and platforms serving enterprise clients. Alan is also board advisor to Shipz.com,…
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E11 with Chuck Garcia | Becoming a Powerful & Persuasive Communicator
Chuck Garcia is an author, executive coach, keynote speaker, and CEO of Climb Leadership International. He coaches executives on public speaking and leadership communication. A 25-year veteran of Wall Street, he spent several of those in leadership positions at Bloomberg, BlackRock, and Citadel. He is also adjunct associate professor at Columbia University where he teaches leadership communication in The Fu Foundation Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Science.
In his book A Climb to the Top, Garcia draws on years of coaching and consulting experience to explain how you can become a powerful and persuasive communicator. His book provides a step-by-step guide for practicing the techniques needed to take an individual’s communication skills and career to new heights. A Climb to the Top is an Amazon best seller in multiple categories and has been translated into Mandarin Chinese.
Chuck is a graduate of Syracuse University and has a Master’s Degree in Organizational Lead…
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E10 with Kimberly Biggs | Co-Founding a Successful Marketing Agency
Kimberly Biggs loves helping small and medium businesses succeed online. Her tagline is: "change the world one local shop at a time!".
Kim is currently the Co-Founder at Agence Pop Inc. France Nadeau and Kimberly Biggs, dynamic founders of Agence POP Inc., aim to become the marketing agency of excellence for Quebec local companies. Their strategy is simple, accompany entrepreneurs in their growth, building a lasting and mutually beneficial relationship.
Fun fact: Kim loves to eat veggies and meditate.
Connect with Kim:
www.facebook.com/kimberlybiggsinc
www.linkedin.com/in/biggskimberly
www.instagram.com/kimberly_biggs
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E9 with James Beattie | Investment Banking, Trading, & Supporting LGBT
James is a Senior Capital Markets Executive with over 25 years of experience in the domestic & international capital markets, in both Investment Banking and Capital Markets Trading roles. His industry experience includes Equity Market Structure, Entrepreneurial Growth Capital focused on Technology (Mobile Messaging), & Non-Bank Financial Services.
James previously held Senior Executive positions on Independent IIROC Broker Dealer Platforms as well as at CIBC WM Inc, RBC CM and BMO Asset Management (formerly BMO Investment Counsel). James is known for driving top results by building motivated, high performance teams on a foundation of operations infrastructure excellence.
James is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, Odette School of Management (University of Windsor) and the Rotman School of Management (University of Toronto), as well as a CFA charter holder and a FCSI.
Check out James on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrbeattie/
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E8 with Jeff Dennis | Strategic Advice for High Growth Companies
Jeff Dennis is a lawyer and serial entrepreneur. He is a “trusted advisor” who works with high growth companies providing strategic advice and financing in their quest to get to the next level. Jeff co-founded the Toronto Chapter of the Young Entrepreneurs Organization, now called the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO).
Through his association with EO and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, he created a series of "Lessons from the Edge" seminars, which have been the highest rated sessions at the EO conventions each year. At these seminars, entrepreneurs share their worst mistakes in business and the lessons that they learned. Jeff’s book, Lessons from the Edge, was inspired by the success of these seminars.
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E7 with Tyson Rigg | From University to Wealth Management
As a relationship manager and team lead, Tyson is responsible for providing investment management and wealth planning services to high-net worth/ultra-net worth families and Institutions at Private Investment Counsel.
Tyson was one of the few candidates selected, competing against individuals from across Canada, to participate in Scotia Wealth Management’s intensive wealth management training program to be one of the most well rounded wealth professionals in today’s financial services industry.
Tyson holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a focus in Finance from the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management where he was awarded the Educator’s Honor Roll and listed on the Deans’ Honor Roll for his contributions and academic achievements. He has earned the right to use the Chartered Investment Manager Designation.
Connect with Tyson on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/tysonrigg
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E6 with Evan Carmichael | Becoming a Successful Youtuber with 1M+ Subscribers
It was a blast having Evan Carmichael on my podcast, where we discussed how to get ahead as an entrepreneur. We covered topics like; taking risks, modelling great leaders, overcoming challenges, staying motivated, following your passion, and much more.
Evan #Believes in entrepreneurs. At 19, he built then sold a biotech software company. At 22, he was a VC helping raise $500k to $15mil. Evan now runs EvanCarmichael.com, a popular website for entrepreneurs. His YouTube channel alone has 500,000 subscribers!
Evan was named one of the Top 100 Great Leadership Speakers for your Next Conference by Inc Magazine. He is considered one of the Top 40 Social Marketing Talents by Forbes.
Check out Evan's website: http://www.evancarmichael.com/
Subscribe to Evan's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Modeling...
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E5 with Randy Thomas | Making It in the Acting Bizz
Had the great pleasure to sit down with Randy Thomas and chat over a nice cup of coffee #khalifestyle.
Randy Thomas moved from Moncton, New Brunswick to Montreal, Quebec in 1996 to pursue a career in acting. After his arrival in Montreal, Randy has studied regularly with acting schools such as the MSOPA, the Actor's Studio, the Ivana Chubbuck Workshops, the Warren Robertson workshops and most recently, the Professional Actors Lab in Toronto. Randy had the opportunity to work Robert Downey Jr. and Halle Berry on the set of Gothika (2003) which was directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Due to conflicting schedules, he was honored to have been asked by Kassovitz to step in and work with Berry on several occasions. It was a truly invaluable experience. Randy was fortunate to portray memorable characters in several award winning productions, most notably, in Armistead Maupin 's _"Further Tales of the City" (2001)(mini)_ and Monk (2002) with Tony Shalhoub. In April of 2006, the theatrical…
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E4 with Mark Bowden | #1 in the World’s Top 30 Body Language Professionals
Mark was voted #1 in the world’s top 30 Body Language Professionals for both 2014 and 2015 by Global Gurus for his world class communication techniques, in which he trains leading business people, teams, presidents and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and Prime Ministers of G8 powers. Mark is honoured to be a member of the TED community, with a highly viewed TEDx Toronto talk, and his YouTube Channel has over 1 million views.
Visit Mark's company website at http://truthplane.com/
Check out his books at http://truthplane.com/home/books/
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E3 with Daryo Cummins | Helping Businesses Scale at Amazon
Daryo Cummins is an Account Executive at Amazon. He is passionate about helping small to large businesses scale and build their brands on and off of Amazon.
On this episode, Daryo and I chat about all sorts of different things including; travelling, technology, social media, digital marketing, entrepreneurship, how to succeed in university, and much much more.
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E2 with Julie Blais Comeau | Etiquette Protocol for Everyday Life
We're back with the second episode of Let's Grab Coffee with Chief Etiquette Officer, Julie Blais Comeau where we discuss professionalism in today's world, digital branding on social media, and maintaining an ethical protocol in every day life.
Check out Julie's website: http://www.etiquettejulie.com/ where you can also purchase her book; Etiquette - Confidence & Credibility.
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Feb 5, 2019
Let's Grab Coffee E1 with Paul Nadeau | Lessons from Crisis Negotiations in Law Enforcement
A decorated former police detective and Hostage Negotiator with more than 31 years of law enforcement experience, Paul has amassed considerable specialized expertise in hostage and crisis negotiations, international peacekeeping, homicide, and sexual assault/child abuse investigations. He has received several noteworthy awards, including recognition by the United Nation’s International Peacekeeping Branch. In 2005, he successfully negotiated the peaceful arrest of a suspected terrorist who had made threats aboard an Air France 747.
Today, Paul is an admired international instructor, major news consultant, lecturer and motivational speaker. He was a featured TEDx Toronto keynote speaker in 2015 and received a standing ovation for his talk on ‘Finding Humanity in Terrorism’.
Buy Paul Nadeau's book here: https://www.amazon.ca/Hostage-Myself-...
Subscribe to Paul's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/jpaulnadeau
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