Unicorn Leaders

In this episode, Fahd sits down with Chris Grimes, founder and CEO of Fundmore, to explore his journey from 20-year mortgage industry veteran to building one of Canada's fastest-growing fintech companies. Chris shares how firsthand frustration with a slow, paperwork-heavy mortgage system led him to walk away from a secure career and take on the entrenched Goliaths of banking and lending as a...

In this episode, Fahd sits down with Nic Beique, founder and CEO of Helcim, to explore his journey from self-taught programmer to building one of Canada's leading fintech companies. Nic shares how a commitment to solving real problems for small businesses led him to challenge the traditional payments industry with a transparent, people-first approach. From bootstrapping a startup to scaling a...

In this episode, Fahd sits down with Rick Hunter, a former Canadian National Ski Team racer who made the leap from the slopes to the waterslide industry. Rick shares the lessons he learned from competing at the highest level of sport and how those same principles of passion, innovation, and relentless self-improvement fueled his success as an entrepreneur. From chasing excellence on the mountain t...

Samuel Witherspoon was a lawyer who walked away from a safe career to co-found a tech company. The first thing he built? A platform for selling divorces online. He was ashamed to tell people what he did for a living. So he sat in a boardroom with his co-founders and asked a dangerous question: what if we burned it all down and started over? That question launched a 12-year grind into one of the mo...

In this episode, Fahd sits down with Vincent Ircandia, CEO of Stellar Algo, a Canadian startup that’s revolutionizing the sports industry with data-driven fan engagement solutions. Vincent takes us through his journey of building a product that gives sports teams and leagues the power to understand their fans on a deeper level, moving beyond simple metrics to actionable insights that fuel growth a...

In this episode, Fahd sits down with Ray Newal—startup advisor, ex-Microsoft and Yahoo exec, and a founder who moved across the world to build tech that mattered. Ray’s journey spans from selling ads for AltaVista to leading Techstars India, but it’s his time building in emerging markets that shaped his sharpest lessons. They explore what makes the real difference in David vs. Goliath battles: cho...

In this episode, Fahd sits down with Zak Lefevre, co-founder and CEO of ChargeLab, to unpack a modern David vs. Goliath story in one of the world’s fastest-growing industries—EV infrastructure. Zak started in 2016 with a drill, a parka, and a vision—installing EV chargers in freezing parking lots across Toronto. Today, ChargeLab powers over 15,000 chargers and is on a mission to become the univers...

In this episode, Fahd sits down with Ron Tite—comedian, author, and founder of Church+State—to explore how creative Davids take on industry Goliaths without selling out or burning out. Ron shares how he bootstrapped his agency through speaking gigs, built a brand that stood out by standing for something, and why the smartest move isn’t to play harder—but to play different. He opens up about the ea...

In this episode, Fahd sits down with Stuart Lombard, founder of Ecobee, to unpack one of the most iconic David vs. Goliath stories in Canadian tech. What started as a personal mission to reduce his carbon footprint led Stuart to invent one of the world’s first smart thermostats—and take on giants like Honeywell and Google Nest in the process. Stuart shares how Ecobee turned clunky hardware into a...

In this episode, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Nora Beatty, VP of People Operations at Cohere, to unpack how small, high-trust teams scale in high-stakes environments. Nora shares her journey from Cohere’s 40-person startup stage to its 500-person rocketship rise—and what she’s learned about leadership, mentorship, and risk along the way.  Together, they break down why the “self-made” leader is a m...

In this episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Miranda Pokoy, SVP of People Success at Partnerize, to explore how HR can be a powerful driver of business performance. Miranda shares her journey from administrative assistant to executive leadership, and the strategic mindset shift that took HR from policy enforcer to business partner. They dive into what it really take...

In this episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Penny Farinha, former VP of People at Ecobee, to unpack what it really takes to scale a mission-driven startup through every phase of growth—without losing your soul (or your best people). Penny shares the behind-the-scenes story of how Ecobee went from 75 employees to a billion-dollar acquisition, all while competing hea...

In this episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Adam Gellert, founder of Linkus Group and Hypo, to talk all things hiring—from building high-performing teams to breaking outdated recruitment myths. Adam shares what it really takes to find top-tier talent in startups, why the "hire slow, fire fast" mantra is broken, and how founders can avoid costly mis-hires...

In this high-energy episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd sits down with serial entrepreneur and author Adrian Salamunovic for a raw, real, and wisdom-packed conversation on what it takes to build—and exit—category-defining companies. Adrian shares the behind-the-scenes journey from selling his first business at 21 to founding DNA11 and CanvasPop, exiting for 30x EBITDA, and now launching T...

In this episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, host Fahd Alhattab sits down with three-time Chief People Officer Ali Farrell, currently CPO at Apprentice, to unpack what it really takes to build high-performing teams in fast-growth startups. Ali brings a rare blend of corporate, VC-backed, PE-backed, and bootstrapped startup experience—and she’s not afraid to challenge outdated HR norms. From nav...

In this season opener of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd Alhattab sets the stage for a new narrative—one centered around the underdogs. Drawing inspiration from the classic David vs. Goliath story, Fahd explores why small, scrappy teams often outperform their larger, better-resourced competitors. Using Google's historic win over Overture as a launch point, he teases a season packed with mod...

In episode 20, Eva shares her use of a product led mindset for developing new strategies of learning and development at Fullscript with about 800 employees. She dives into how the traditional models of learning and development are not always agile or adaptive especially with the rise of AI, remote and hybrid work environments.  Eva dives into a new strategy she used to build community among teams...

In episode 19, Andre dives into how he found his way into creating a socially impactful business while sharing valuable lessons and principles that he embraced on his journey to success as a leader.  From letting go of micro details to building high performing teams and influencing decision making processes, discover some actionable insights that will transform your leadership approach and help yo...

In episode 18,  Jonah Midanik shares his journey and experience in a growth mindset of recognizing that ‘what got you here won’t get you there. He has been lucky enough to have seen the startup journey from a variety of perspectives: as a successful bootstrapped founder/CEO, having helped launch new corporate divisions at BigCo, and as the founder/CEO of Limelight, a Venture backed company.  Jonah...

Jeanette Dorazio, CEO of Leadpages, a no-code website and landing page builder. She has had various executive-level positions at leading organizations, including Oracle, 8thBridge, Verifone, and Solera. Jeanette’s passion comes from breaking down barriers and championing the inclusion and success of women in STEM fields as female leaders in tech. In episode 17, Jeanette lays out how to reach the n...

On this episode we look at organizational systems and how to think when designing the organizational structure. Realizing that it should not be designed from a people centric place but rather around the needs and direction of your business. It’s important to be mindful when you do design around people and whether it is sustainable long term.  Krista shares the top two reasons to consider when look...

Kyle Racki, the co-founder and CEO of Proposify, Kyle helps thousands of businesses remove the bottleneck of proposals and get more visibility into the close.  In true serial entrepreneur form, Kyle also co-host his own podcast, The Racki and Symes Podcast, where he discusses ideas and strategies to push through growth. Kyle got his start in marketing and design, and ran a digital agency for over...

Natalie Furness, CEO of RevOps Automated and Revenue Operations Consultant shares her journey and learnings along the way onto remote work and falling into the world of operations. She speaks of finding your people through value alignment for both the work you do and the work environment you prefer. Though she’s the biggest remote work proponent, she acknowledges that its’ not for everyone and a r...

Chris Williams, former VP of HR at Microsoft has over 40 years of experience building and leading teams. Through his journey, starting from installing car stereos and while being pulled into firing employees because of his people skills, to eventually transitioning to a computer science and going on to start a consulting business before selling it to Fox Pro before eventually starting his work wit...

Florent Schmahl, Chief of Staff of highly purposeful agtech company, Growcer, shares his journey and learnings along the way as he shifted his work from being focused on developing hard skills to now pursuing purposeful work. Over the years he’s has time to gather his insights on finding the work that drives you and how important it is in today’s labour market pressures. Despite this, Florent’s ad...