The Unlikely Innovators

On this week’s episode, Mike and Steve welcomed Dr. Roseann O’Reilly Runte, President and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). Roseann talked about her journey from French literature to the innovation ecosystem, the role that CFI plays in supporting R&D across the country, and how proud she is of the countless women across Canada who enable innovation.

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve welcomed Dom Kwong, co-founder and COO of Damon Motors , an electric motorcycle startup. Dom talked about his journey from radio engineer and tech consultant to bike enthusiast and motorcycle entrepreneur. He also talked about all of the cutting-edge technology and intuitive design that goes into a Damon motorcycle; making it the safest high-performance motor...

On this week’s episode, Mike and Steve were pleased to be joined by Ontario’s Minister of Colleges and Universities, Jill Dunlop. Minister Dunlop talked about her own education, the importance of experiential learning, and the role that the province’s college play in closing the skills gap and meeting the innovation needs of industry partners.

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve welcomed Steven Salz, co-founder and CEO of Rivalry Corp, an internationally-regulated sports betting and media company. Steven talked about his passion for gaming, how Rivalry is disrupting the world of internet gaming and sports betting, and where he sees the company going in the next few years. 

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve welcomed Tim Borgares, co-founder and CTO of 54e Dev Studios. Tim talked about the company's origins in ag tech and how it led to the development of OneShot Golf, a skill-based mobile game that allows users to control real-world golfing robots for a true-to-life eSports experience. He also talked about the essential qualities that he looks for in new game des...

On this week’s episode, Mike and Steve welcomed Chris McCasland and Mike Opalski, the co-founders of City Bonfires, a portable, mini bonfire that is handmade in the United States. Chris and Mike talked about how the pandemic sparked their business, some of the things they’ve learned about bringing a product to market, and what’s next for the company. 

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve welcomed Sheri Tomchick, founder and president of Plan A , powered by StaffStat . Sheri talked about what led to the founding of Plan A in 2011, how she has adapted her business during the pandemic, and some of the opportunities she sees for StaffStat in other sectors. 

On this week’s episode, Mike and Steve were joined by former astronaut Colonel Chris Hadfield. Colonel Hadfield talked about his distinguished career, which included flying three space missions, building two space stations, and conducting two spacewalks. Colonel Hadfield also talked about his ongoing efforts to make space more accessible to millions and his latest book, The Apollo Murders .

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve welcomed Amber Mac, President of AmberMac Media Inc . Amber went from attending a two-room country schoolhouse and sharing a party telephone line with neighboring houses on rural Prince Edward Island to becoming an internationally recognized innovation and technology leader. She talked about starting her career during the dot-com boom in San Francisco and how...

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve were joined by none other than Peter Mansbridge. Peter talked about his unlikely journey from Churchill airport baggage handler to chief correspondent for the CBC, his new book, Off the Record, and some of the highlights from his illustrious career. 

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve welcomed Tim McRoberts, Director of Canada's Smartest Kitchen at Holland College. Tim talked about his career as a chef, going from the kitchen to the classroom and earning his PhD, and some of the innovative food science work happening at CSK.

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve welcomed Meagan Simpson, Associate Editor at BetaKit , where she covers all things in the Canadian tech startup space. Meagan talked about her role at BetaKit, some of the trends she is seeing in the Canadian tech ecosystem, and how the country's vibrant tech pockets should resist the "Silicon Valley North" moniker. 

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve welcomed Terry O'Reilly, host of CBC's incredibly popular radio show, Under the Influence . Terry talked about his career as an award-winning advertiser and some of the notable campaigns he worked on. He also shared some advice on how to protect your pitch in the board room and his latest book, My Best Mistake . 

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve were joined by Emma Jarratt, Managing Editor of Electric Autonomy Canada, an independent news platform reporting on Canada's transition to electric vehicles, autonomous transportation, and new mobility services. Emma talked about her role at Electric Autonomy and some of the trends she is seeing in the shift to electric and autonomous vehicles. Emma also talk...

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve welcomed Samantha Kuula, Chief Business Officer at SNOLAB . Located 2km underground in Vale's Creighton Mine, SNOLAB is the deepest clean lab in the world. Samantha explained dark matter to the guys and then talked about some of the groundbreaking experiments happening at SNOLAB, the importance of science communication, and some of the lesser known facts abou...

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve welcomed Vineet Johnson, founder and CEO of IRegained , an innovative medical device company that accelerates rehabilitation for stroke patients. Vineet talked about the story of how IRegained came to be, how the MyHand system changes lives, and how the product has evolved over the years. Vineet also talked about the uniqueness of the innovation ecosystems in...

For this week's episode, Mike and Steve are rebroadcasting their chat with Gabrielle Roy, founder and owner of Stitch & Stone, which originally aired in July 2021. It was the most popular episode this past year, so if you haven’t listened to it yet there’s no better time to catch up than this week. Gabrielle talked about how she realized her dreams of owning her own retail store, how she adapted h...

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve welcomed Callen McGibbon, co-founder of REPerformance, a digital physical education startup. Callen talked about how REPerformance differentiates itself by focusing on education, his experience in the prestigious Canadian Technology Accelerator (CTA) in Silicon Valley, and even offered some advice on how to achieve your New Year's resolutions.

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve chatted with Kevin Dagenais, CEO of Cascadia Scientific . Cascadia has propelled itself from a fuel measurement tech start-up to an AI firm serving the mining sector. Mike and Steve talked to Kevin about that journey and what's next for the company.

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve spoke with Anthony Prenol, a lawyer, patent agent, and trademark agent with the firm CPST Intellectual Property in Toronto. Anthony talked about different kinds of intellectual property (IP), best practices for companies, and common pitfalls to avoid when commercializing IP. 

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve are joined by Michael Leckie, founder of Leckie Studio Architecture + Design . Michael is an architect and entrepreneur working to evolve the traditional boundaries of architectural practice as a catalyst for cultural change. Michael talked about how spending time in nature informed his approach to architectural design and also discussed some of his other ven...

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve are joined by Scott Everett, co-founder and CEO of Eigen Innovations , a machine vision company focused on providing deep AI solutions for process and quality control. Scott talked about how his passion for engineering started on the farm, his time at the Creative Destruction Lab at the University of Toronto, how Eigen uses AI to solve manufacturing challenge...

On this week’s episode, Mike and Steve welcome Ash Argawal, CEO of Symboticware Inc . Ash chatted about how his early days working in the mining sector influenced his intuitive approach to solving complex problems. Ash also provided some great insights around strategies for adopting transformative technologies such as AI and machine learning in the mining sector.

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve welcome Saleema Vellani, founder and CEO of Ripple Impact and author of Innovation Starts with I . During their conversation, Saleema talked about founding her company, the launch of her new book, what the term "hybridpreneurship" means, and the advice she would have for aspiring entrepreneurs. 

On this week's episode, Mike and Steve welcome Ellie Ardakani, co-founder and CEO of Meta Innovations Technologies . Ellie talked about her journey to Canada from Iran, her transition from academia to industry, and launching her first tech startup.