The Hard Part with Evan McCann

Landseer Enga is the Co-Founder of Revyl . Revyl is an observability platform that catches and fixes bugs before they get into production. Takeaways The genesis of Revyl stemmed from a successful internal project at Uber. Why there is space for disruption in observability space with companies like DataDog and Splunk. Coinbase spent $65M in 2021 on their DataDog bill. End-to-end testing is crucial...

Cynthia Arscott is the Founder & CEO of Goldminds . Goldminds is a kids' meditation app that provides research-backed meditations, sleep stories and mindfulness classes. We teach kids how to productively manage stress, regulate emotions and sleep better. With lifelong mental health being formed in early childhood, our mission is simple - give kids the top tools to take care of their emotional...

Ruslan is a Co-Founder of Float . He started the business in 2020 while studying computer science at the University of Waterloo and Business at Wilfrid Laurier University. Previously he worked at Uber ATG as a perception engineer and Shopify as a data scientist. Float is complete business finance for Canadian companies. We offer modern financial services, powerful software and industry-leading sup...

Scott Langille is the Founder of V2 . V2 supports ambitious people who are building the future in Vancouver. Takeaways Scott's upbringing in a small town shaped his entrepreneurial spirit. The role of ambition and how it is influenced. The crucial role that community plays in fostering innovation. Socratica and launching the node Atelier at UBC. Vancouver startup scenes's opportunities and challen...

Kyle Braatz is the Co-Founder and CEO of Fullscript . Fullscript believes in the power of whole-person care and is fully committed to helping all providers deliver it. They help create an ongoing cycle of whole-person care by giving providers a single platform that brings together industry-leading labs, clinically effective supplements, and an intuitive suite of tools to promote adherence and outc...

Aswinkumar Rajendiran is the Co-Founder of Maple . Maple is an all-in-one revenue management platform that streamlines sales-led and product-led billing workflows and tracks holistic revenue metrics as quickly as deals are signed without weeks of reconciliation. Maple can be leveraged in no-code or low-code mode by enabling quick experimentation-ready basic, credits-based, usage-based or seat-base...

Callum Woznow is the Co-founder of Slate . Slate is building the next-generation mobile keyboard. Takeaways Working in different cultures (Singapore and Germany) provides unique insights into startup ecosystems. The keyboard is an underexplored product with massive potential. AI can revolutionize how we interact with keyboards and the purpose of keyboards. Consumer behaviour around keyboards. Lack...

Paul Lee is the CEO & Co-Founder of Patlytics . Patlytics is a state-of-the-art patent intelligence platform powered by a generative AI engine. Their cutting-edge LLMs and advanced techniques are bespoke to intellectual property and drive 80% more efficiency for IP workflows including patent generation, claim charts, infringement detection, classification and more. Patlytics recently announced...

Lars Leckie is the Managing Director of Aspenwood Ventures . Aspenwood Ventures is a SF-based venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments, particularly from pre-seed to Series A. It focuses on B2B software companies and is led by Lars Leckie and Steve Kishi, who previously worked at Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. Aspenwood Ventures continues the legacy of Hummer Winblad, a promi...

Patrick Chung is the Managing General Partner of Xfund . Xfund is an early-stage venture capital firm built to back entrepreneurs who think laterally and experiment across disciplines. They are a pioneering partnership between some of the country’s most successful venture capital firms and some of the world’s best research universities in the United States and abroad. Patrick's bio is fascinating!...

Saam Mashhad is the Co-Founder and Chief of Product & Legal Operations at EvenUp . EvenUp uses data and technology to help plaintiffs and attorneys achieve better legal outcomes. EvenUp recently announced a $135M Series D which brings their valuation to over $1B. The round was led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Premji Invest, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Par...

Jonathan Bronfman is the CEO of Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies (MARZ) . MARZ is an AI-enabled VFX company dedicated to democratizing the world of visual effects. They are the creators of Vanity AI and LipDub AI. Some notable collaborations include The Umbrella Academy S3 on Netflix, Moon Knight and WandaVision from Marvel, Ms. Marvel, The Flight Attendant on HBO Max, Invasion on Apple TV+, Wednesd...

Gaurav Jain is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Afore Capital . Afore is a $300M fund to support product-oriented founders at the very earliest stage (pre-seed). Their sweet spot is the $1-3M round, where they can lead the pre-seed round as an institutional investor alongside high-value angels. They look for companies that are product-led and are built by founders with non-obvious insights a...

Raymond Chik is the Co-Founder and Board Chair of Hepzibah . Hepzibah is a 'full-stack' AI compute architecture startup; full-stack as in "From Models to Metals". Raymond's other work includes: Co-Founder and Board Chair of Kapik Integration which has spun out Star IC , Hepzibah, Untether AI and other companies Co-Founder of Untether AI which has raised $150M+ from Intel Capital, Radical Ventures...

Daniel Saks is the CEO and the Co-Founder of Landbase . Landbase is the world's first AI action model for GTM. Intelligently automate your go-to-market, powered by GTM-1 Omni. Join the movement to reclaim your day. Takeaways How Daniel co-founded AppDirect Why the wave of cloud was a driving force for AppDirect Scaling to 1000+ people and maintaining the culture Why Agentic AI is the next exciting...

David Gaylord is the Co-Founder and CEO of Bushbalm . Takeaways Growing up in a family business and jumping into e-commerce early Working at Shopify and learnings there Genesis story behind Bushbalm Going full-time with Bushbalm after a few years and over $4M in revenue Why salons/professional channel has been so powerful for the brand Advantages of wholesale from distribution and beyond Effective...

Mike Gozzo is the Chief Product and Technology Officer (CPTO) at Ada . Mike is also an Operating Advisor at Bessemer Venture Partners. Previously Mike founded Smooch.io which Zendesk acquired. He then worked as SVP of Product at Zendesk. Takeaways Smooch.io was born from a unique incubation experience. The story behind the acquisition by Zendesk for $80M. Cultural alignment was a key factor in cho...

Gregory Macdonald is the Founder and CEO of Bathorium . Bathorium was founded on the concept of benefits based on bathing; bath soaks that invigorate, restore and rejuvenate the end user. From day one this Canadian company's mandate is to create a truly memorable bath experience focusing on the bathers' well-being. Takeaways Bathorium was inspired by a transformative bath experience in Italy The c...

Xavier Hébert-Couturier is the CEO and Co-Founder of Picketa Systems . Picketa Systems offers real-time plant tissue sampling for growers and agri-businesses to conduct nutrient analyses rapidly and independently. An online platform informs farmers instantly of nutrient deficiencies, enables agronomists to tailor nutrient critical levels and delivers a comprehensive overview of crop needs at the g...

Paige Cey is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Benny . Benny is a new take on energy drinks. Takeaways The idea for Benny emerged from a shared love for adaptogens. The adaptogen trend and tailwind. Where the name Benny came from. The brand targets a millennial and Gen Z audience. In-person events. Building community for Benny. Social media strategy. Wholesale distribution. Flavor decisions. Relationsh...

Yuri Sagalov is the Managing Partner of Wayfinder Ventures . Takeaways Yuri's immigrant experience includes stops in Russia, Israel, Canada and now the US. Getting into YC S10 and how YC has changed. His startup AeroFS's acquisition process. Joining YC as a Part-Time Partner. Why startups have become a mainstream career path. Why it is more glamorous to be a founder versus an investor. His start i...

Gennady Pekhimenko is the CEO and Co-Founder of CentML . Gennady is also an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto and a Faculty Member at Vector Institute . Takeaways Genesis of CentML - from academia to industry Commercializing university research Tailwinds behind AI and market opportunities Three Pillars of AI - models, data and hardware Enterprise adoption of AI - trends and insights...

Olivia Steedman is the Executive Managing Director and Global Head of Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG). Olivia joined Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in 2002 as a founding member of the Infrastructure and Natural Resources group, where she served in various senior roles before standing up TVG in 2019. Teachers’ Venture Growth is the late-stage venture and growth investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pe...

Brook Papau is the Co-Founder and CEO of Orennia . Orennia is your all-in-one platform for accurate data, predictive analytics and actionable insights across the energy transition. Make more efficient capital-allocation decisions and maximize returns across the solar, wind, storage, power, RNG, CCUS, clean fuels and hydrogen sectors. The technology that powers Orennia’s platform delivers an unpara...

Neil Grunberg is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Storytime Capital . Storytime Capital is a VC focused on early-stage (Pre-Seed & Seed) investments. They primarily focus on technology solving the Future of Work. Previously Neil was a Co-Founder at AlayaCare (~$300M raised) and was at Workbrain and part of the "Workbrain Mafia". Takeaways What made Workbrain so special and Neil's experie...