The StartWell Podcast

You're in for a fascinating conversation about rethinking startup strategy with Alistair Croll. For this episode of the StartWell Podcast , we dive deep into his new book " Just Evil Enough ," which took seven years to write and challenges everything you thought you knew about building successful startups. This isn't your typical business chat. Alistair brings an incredibly fresh perspective on wh...

For this second conversation with Carbon6 - 2 years after we last had them in studio, you'll get an insider's look at one of the most dynamic success stories in the Amazon seller software space. Carbon6's journey from ambitious startup to industry powerhouse unfolds through candid discussions with its co-founders, who share both the triumphs and challenges of building a tech company through acquis...

For this episode of the StartWell Podcast, James McKay shares his path from film studies to RevOps consulting in this straight-talking conversation about the Canadian startup ecosystem. If you work in tech or are curious about how Canadian business really operates, there's plenty here to dig into. The chat starts with a clear-eyed look at how Canadian and American entrepreneurship differ, especial...

For this episode of the StartWell Podcast, we discover how StackAdapt grew from a 3-person startup to a global force in programmatic advertising, now operating in 16 countries. CEO Vitaly Pecherskiy shares insights on bootstrap funding, sustainable growth, and building a customer-centric global tech company. --- The interview offers fascinating insights into the early days of bootstrapping a tech...

In this episode, we explored the transformative work King's Trust Canada is pursuing to improve youth employment outcomes with the organization’s CEO Farah Mohammed. Our conversation traced the Trust's remarkable ~50-year evolution - including the recent transitions as Prince Charles III became the King of England, highlighting their innovative approaches to tackling youth unemployment in Canada. ...

Companies need to focus on more understanding their customers - a great way to achieve this understanding is for sales and customer support to be integrated functions. Kyle Norton joined us for this episode of the StartWell Podcast to explain his perspective on the best way to develop revenue operations with systems and a team that is truly committed to holistically helping customers through the p...

70% of people in Canada don't feel like they have the skills to be successful at their job. That number is massive - and is one of the motivating factors behind Mac Gebara's work with Emma-Jean Pride at  Atrium ; a boutique consultancy focused on developing leaders at fast-growing companies. According to Atrium's market research, over $300B is spent annually on corporate training yet 75% of manage...

There are few people in Canada more knowledgeable about employment in Canada's tech sector than  Lighthouse Labs ' co-founder and CEO Jeremy Shaki. Jeremy joined us for this episode of the  StartWell podcast  to recap changes in tech since the pandemic - how education has shifted online and how companies are actively pursuing up-skilling and re-skilling workers to future-proof their existing workf...

For this episode of the StartWell Podcast , 5andVine founder Rahul Raj and Qasim Virjee (CEO, StartWell) engage in a thought-provoking conversation about challenging traditional views of capitalism, emphasizing the importance of caring deeply about how one wins and balancing profit with ethical considerations. They discuss the impact of social media on consumer behavior and the need for a more hol...

Mark Evans is a Fractional CMO and advisor to scale startups. He's previously been a news reporter and launched his career as a consultant since 2008. For any online marketer, this episode will definitely be insightful and fun! *For the full video version of the interview, check out the StartWell Magazine

For over 15 years Jean has worked on Strategy and Marketing - at agencies (incl BBDO, Cheil, Taxi, VML and most recently at  The Hive ) and for startups. In this episode of the  StartWell Podcast  we hear Jean's career history (which began in fashion) and perspectives informed by her work driving strategic approaches in advertising - including anecdotes from client work; including a recent project...

In the post-pandemic era, marketing faces challenges such as declining efficacy and escalating costs. Brands must take calculated risks and create spectacles to capture attention. Differentiation and establishing an identity are crucial, as is prioritizing customer needs. For this episode of the  StartWell Podcast,  we sat down with Saul Colt of the  Idea Integration Company  - and discussed the c...

Dan Park has had a colourful career so far - 20 years ago he was at McGill with Qasim, StartWell's founder/CEO, and since then has worked in investment banking and venture capital before taking the helm at Uber to define their UberEats business across Canada. Through his experience at Uber, Dan learned a lot about transportation and when he was approached to further develop Canada's first online r...

Roy Pereira's history in tech started in the 1990s - he saw the first boom-bust cycle and has since founded and exited a few startups. For this, the 59th episode of the StartWell (https://startwell.co/) Podcast, Roy shares his experiences and perspectives as a startup founder, tech innovator, investor and Torontonian. His current occupation is as a cofounder of https://unified.to/ - a simple way f...

At this roundtable we feature the perspectives of three guests who work within the Canadian cannabis industry - including a grower and two gentlemen who have previously owned a production/processing facility and now help new brands enter the market working with Wellcann - the only cannabis gum manufacturer in Ontario. Startwell Podcast Episode 57 is hosted by Qasim Virjee as always - this time wit...

Cato Pastoll is the co-founder and CEO of a Toronto based fintech startup called Loop . Loop bills itself as Canada's #1 bank for entrepreneurs - with a cross border banking platform that includes corporate cards, payments, FX, capital and more in multiple currencies. Founded about a decade ago as Lending Loop - the company launched as a platform for equity crowdfunding, before pivoting to focus o...

Andrew Ingham has had an interesting career - he started working in his youth in plumbing and then spent years building markets for beer companies before becoming an alcohol buyer for large grocery chains and hospitality companies around the world. Recently, his conscience weighed on him and he decided to roll up his sleeves - reducing the wine industry's massive carbon footprint became his goal a...

Jasmine Daya developed a successful injury law practice in downtown Toronto leading up to the pandemic - in the down-time when courts were closed and business was slow, her entrepreneurial spirit saw opportunity in hospitality. Today, Jasmine still practices the law but has reduced her hours on cases to focus on her nightlife establishments, and she's actively developing new projects in real estat...

Nick DenBoer is a film and music video director based in Toronto who has worked with a wide array of high profile clients - including ad agencies like Wieden+Kennedy, media personalities like Conan O'Brien and artists like deadmau5, The Neptunes and even Tommy Lee. His creative style remixes aesthetic elements to craft new narratives and on this episode of the StartWell podcast, filmed at our Even...

Alan Smithson co-invented the world’s first touchscreen DJ system called 'Emulator'  - an award winning piece of performance kit used by some of the top DJs on the global dance music circuit. In a twist of fate, the company was taken from him the night his pitch on Dragon's Den for it aired. Since Emulator, Alan has built a company to make XR experiences more easily available to anyone, anywhere i...

For the 51st episode of StartWell's Podcast, we sat down with Lisa Mattam - the Toronto based founder of Sahajan . This unique clean skincare company develops Ayurveda based products with the rigor of scientific testing to ensure best in class performance from plant based ingredients. Inspired when her daughter covered herself in makeup one day, Lisa's entrepreneurial journey has seen the foundati...

As with most pharmaceutical drugs, Adderall comes with side-effects which make it undesirable for a lot of people - including addictiveness, something which inspired the team behind Gwella , a Toronto based company to launch vegan non-prescription edibles that boost energy levels, focus, mental clarity and positivity. Founded in the pandemic, Gwella is a remote-first company with 3 co-founders. We...

Originally a written series of interviews with male celebrities and athletes published online through a website called Gents Post, Gents Talk was launched in 2022 as a video podcast to better articulate the depth of experiences interviewees were expressing to Samir Mourani. Now joined by podcast cohost Matthew Chapman, Gents Talk is shot at StartWell and published weekly - featuring well known men...

Accomplished Toronto Chef Jagger Gordon joined us in studio to share the inspiration behind his philanthropic endeavours to battle food insecurity and reduce food waste. In this engaging conversation you'll hear about a new app which lets people share extra food with people in need as well as how Jagger made his way to the Ukraine through Poland recently and fed citizen soldiers fighting Russian f...

Entrepreneurs come from all backgrounds - so it was refreshing this time around to take a break from high tech startups and hear the story of this award winning Toronto based makeup and hair artist. Elizabeth Taylor, works for personal and commercial clients under the company name ' Faces by Pureness .'