The Hard Part with Evan McCann

Dylan Itzikowitz is a Principal at South Park Commons . South Park Commons is a community of technologists and builders dedicated to helping each other explore, learn, and figure out what's next—or as they call it, go from -1 to 0. They believe great ideas very rarely come about in isolation. The SPC Fund invests in companies that emerge from their members' explorations, ensuring the commu...

Anton Solonnikov is the Founder and CEO of VitaminLab . VitaminLab is truly personalized supplementation designed by you—custom formulations for practitioners, patients and anyone looking to optimize their wellness. Takeaways - Personalization in Supplements - Building V1 - Manufacturing and Machinery Innovations - Consumer Behavior and Ingredient Transparency - The Wellness Trend and Personalizat...

Izzy Rosenzweig is the Founder and CEO of Portless. Portless fulfills e-commerce orders directly from China, shaving months of time and saving you $$$ along the way. Takeaways - Understanding Portless and the Direct Supply Chain Model - Challenges in Traditional Supply Chain Operations - Localizing the Customer Experience - Navigating Tariffs and Cash Flow - The Evolution of Cash Flow in DTC Brand...

In this episode, host Evan sits down with Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify, to discuss the unique journey of entrepreneurship in Canada. Harley shares insights on the importance of ambition, the role of storytelling in business, and the challenges and opportunities for Canadian entrepreneurs. The conversation also touches on Shopify's growth, the decision to go public, and the cultural...

Prateek Sodhi is the Co-Founder and CEO of Finofo . Automate AP, receive like a local, pay worldwide. Finofo gives you $0 global mass payouts, rules-based approvals, global accounts, bank beating FX, and live ERP sync out of the box, no add-ons and no hidden fees. Takeaways - Their $3.3M Seed Raise - Finding PMF - Understanding Mid-Market Customers - The Shift to B2B FinTech - Team Composition and...

Matt Rendall is the Co-Founder and CEO of OTTO by Rockwell Automation and Clearpath Robotics by Rockwell Automation . OTTO is a leading provider of autonomous material handling solutions in manufacturing and warehouse facilities, trusted in mission-critical operations for some of the world’s most recognized brands. Clearpath Robotics is a global leader in unmanned vehicle robotics for research and...

Prashant Matta is the Managing Partner of Panache Ventures . Panache Ventures is Canada's most active seed-stage venture capital fund. Panache is led by a team of experienced operators, with a strong angel investor track record, years of institutional VC experience and a strong network in Canada, in Silicon Valley and worldwide. Takeaways - Current State of the Canadian Venture Ecosystem - The...

Toronto Tech Week with Mell Truong and Satish Kanwar. Toronto Tech Week is a weeklong citywide collection of events with a shared purpose to connect and celebrate builders, startups, and companies in the tech community. This is not a traditional conference – it’s an open platform for anyone to join or host events to globally showcase Toronto as a city where anything is possible. Toronto Tech Week...

Sameer Dhar is the Co-Founder and CEO of NiaHealth . NiaHealth is a healthtech company focused on preventive healthcare, offering personalized biomarker testing and health analytics. Their services include at-home and in-clinic blood draws, tracking over 50 biomarkers to provide actionable health insights. With a mission to empower individuals, NiaHealth delivers tailored recommendations to optimi...

Rahul Goel is the Founder and CEO of NordSpace . NordSpace is developing an end-to-end responsive space launch system, proudly in Canada, to provide low-cost and rapid access to orbit. By developing not just their workhorse launch vehicle, Tundra, but also Spaceport Canada, their proprietary Athena small satellite bus, and more - their vertically integrated solution will change Earth's relatio...

Alexander Stratmoen is the Co-Founder and CEO of Voltra . The days of endless integrations, siloed data, and disconnected infrastructure are over. Charge by Voltra gives your team direct control over EV and energy systems through a modular suite of APIs and UIs—designed to integrate, extend, or power whatever you're building next. Takeaways - The Founding Story of Voltra - Understanding the Sc...

Melissa Gallagher is the Co-Founder and CEO of Alma Care . Alma Care is on a mission to revolutionize postnatal care in Canada. They offer expert care, premium service and luxurious amenities to normalize rest and recovery. They are putting the focus back on the parents and giving them a safe space to rest, recover, learn and enjoy their first moments as a new family. Takeaways - The Genesis of Al...

Frederic Bastien is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Amiral Ventures . Amiral Ventures is a new venture capital firm whose mission is to empower talented and passionate Canadian founders, arm them with dynamic capital and scaling expertise in order to create the next generation of technology flagships and enduring societal impact. Takeaways - Founder Journey with Mnubo - Three Career Stages...

Afshin Mousavian is the Co-Founder and CEO of Atlas . Atlas centralizes data from systems like point of sale (POS), scheduling & payroll, inventory management, and spreadsheets to provide operators with automation that saves time and recommendations that optimize performance. Chapters - Early experiences at Jet Cooper and Starting a Hospitality Business - Identifying Challenges in the Hospital...

Wayne Pommen is the Chief Revenue Officer at Affirm . Affirm is a fintech company specializing in buy-now-pay-later solutions, enabling consumers to split purchases into affordable installments. Founded in 2012 by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, it partners with thousands of retailers to offer flexible payment plans. Its transparent terms and no-hidden-fee approach aim to provide a consumer-friendl...

Jonathan Metrick is a Partner and the Chief Growth Officer at Sagard . Sagard is a global multi-strategy alternative asset management firm active in venture capital, private equity, private credit, and real estate. Takeaways - The Evolution of Growth Roles - First Steps After Raising Capital for GTM - Balancing Traditional and Digital Marketing Channels - Consumer Attention and Trust in Fintech -...

Tyler Reid is the Co-Founder and CTO of Xona Space Systems . Xona is building the most accurate and secure positioning, navigation, and timing system on Earth. Takeaways - Studies at Stanford and Working at the Autonomous Driving Unit at Ford - The Impact of GPS on Navigation - Transitioning from Academia to Industry - Understanding GPS and Its Evolution - The Future of GPS and Autonomous Systems...

Connor Turland is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ceedar . Ceedar is the last bookkeeper you'll need to hire. It's time to retire the old ways. With Ceedar, you get done-for-you bookkeeping, up-to-date financials and maximized tax deductions, all on a modern platform that integrates well. Takeaways - Early Founder Experiences - When Your Co-Founder is Also Your Spouse - Identifying Gaps in the B...

Kurtis McBride is the Co-Founder and CEO of Miovision . Miovision provides cities with modern tools to fix today's traffic problems. They offer solutions that collect multimodal traffic data and uncover actionable insights, helping municipalities get more out of their road network. The result: streets capable of moving more people – safely and efficiently – whether they are in a car, on a bus,...

Yegor Sak is the Founder of Windscribe. Windscribe is a leading internet security and privacy company. Their goal is to transform the internet with easy-to-use yet powerful tools, that allow anyone to circumvent censorship, access geographically restricted content, and minimize their exposure to marketers, criminals and surveillance dragnets. Takeaways - Understanding VPNs: Basics and Use Cases -...

Frédérick Lavoie is the Co-Founder and President of Deck . Deck is the developer infrastructure to access user-permissioned data simply, and at scale. Takeaways - The Genesis of Flinks - Timing and Tailwinds in Business - Lessons from Flinks and the Transition to Deck - The Role of Technology in Modern Startups - The Drive to Start Again: Reflections on Success - Leadership Lessons from Past Exper...

Eliot Pence is the Founder and General Partner of Tofino Capital . Tofino Capital invests in frontier markets and frontier technologies. Eliot is also the Chief Business Officer of Osmo. Osmo is giving computers a sense of smell. Backed by Lux Capital, Google Ventures, and Two Sigma Ventures. Takeaways - The Evolution of Defense Tech Investing + Dynamism Funds - Anduril's Unique Approach - Why...

The Friday Show Episode 4 with Xavier Hébert-Couturier , Noah Casarotto Dinning and William Johnson . 6:00 - Xavier from Picketa 21:00 - Noah from Arvo 41:50 - William from Overstory

Kevin Callahan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Uniblock . Uniblock is a fully automated orchestration layer that combines 100s of APIs from 50+ partners into a single unified API. Takeaways - Learnings from Wattpad, Twitter/X and Coinbase - Building in the Crypto Space - Nuances of API Companies - Strategic Partnerships and Platform Decisions - Cultivating Company Culture - Companies Are Often Bought...

Farhan Thawar is a VP and Head of Engineering at Shopify . Takeaways - Why Xtreme Labs Was So Special - Why Xtreme Labs Did Almost Zero Interviews - The Role of AI in Engineering - Pair Programming and Collaboration - Story Behind Shopify Being One of The First Companies to Use GitHub Co-Pilot - Why Shopify Uses GitHub Co-Pilot and Cursor - Why Shopify Doesn't Use Jira or Linear - AI and Toil...