Startupville

This episode is a compilation of clips from speakers at the UP Conference sharing their tips for building a product that customers can’t live without. Learn from some of Canada and Silicon Valley’s top product experts about building a truly engaging product by listening to your customers and putting that data to work. Uniting the Prairies, or UP, is a new conference in Saskatoon brings together the top prairie Canada startups, VCs and angels, prairie expats, and tech leaders to come together and share knowledge and experience with startups, elevating the prairie tech community.

This episode is a compilation of clips from speakers at the UP Conference sharing their tips for building culture and attracting top talent to your team. With top leaders from billion dollar unicorns, major multinationals and the scrappiest of high-growth startups, this episode is packed full with amazing insights to help you attract and retain top talent! Uniting the Prairies, or UP, is a new conference in Saskatoon brings together the top prairie Canada startups, VCs and angels, prairie expats, and tech leaders to come together and share knowledge and experience with startups, elevating the prairie tech community.

This episode is a compilation of clips from speakers at the UP Conference sharing their tips for raising capital for your startup, from when, to how and everything in between.  Amazing fundraising tips from the best in the business, including Neal Dempsey, one of Starbucks' early investors, Debbie Landa, founder of the Grow Conference, and more! Uniting the Prairies, or UP, is a new conference in Saskatoon brings together the top prairie Canada startups, VCs and angels, prairie expats, and tech leaders to come together and share knowledge and experience with startups, elevating the prairie tech community.

This episode is a compilation of clips from speakers at the UP Conference sharing their tips for nailing your sales funnel and refining your customer journey.  Get great customer acquisition and retention tips from top leaders at Loblaw Digital, Jobber, Vendasta and more! Uniting the Prairies, or UP, is a new conference in Saskatoon brings together the top prairie Canada startups, VCs and angels, prairie expats, and tech leaders to come together and share knowledge and experience with startups, elevating the prairie tech community.

Uniting the Prairies, or UP, is a new conference in Saskatoon brings together the top prairie Canada startups, VCs and angels, prairie expats, and tech leaders to come together and share knowledge and experience with startups, elevating the prairie tech community.  UP was an electric conference that featured dozens of amazing speakers from companies like Shopify, Eventbrite, SingularityU and many more. We've distilled the best of UP into a seven part series giving you the best tips from the best in the business on how to build your tech startup, whether you're in the Canadian prairies, or from a small region anywhere in the world.  This episode is a compilation of clips from speakers at the conference sharing their tips for early-stage founders, and some great startup stories from their lives in the trenches. 

We hosted a special live event at Innovation Place in Saskatoon, interviewing VersaBank’s David Taylor and Gurpreet Sahota in front of a live audience.  VersaBank is a fully digital, branchless bank and FinTech company with offices in Saskatoon and London, Ontario that was founded in 1979 by David Taylor. David has a long history in banking, and has taken multiple companies to IPO, including VersaBank. They recently hired Gurpreet Sahota as their Chief Architect, Cyber Security, who most recently worked at Blackberry leading their cyber security team.  David discusses the history of VersaBank, and why they have chosen to build and keep their company in the small regions of Saskatoon and London. Gurpreet shares some of the exciting new tech they’re working on, and how they’re starting to shake up the FinTech industry. 

Dan interviews Ryan Dumonceaux and Jon Lovering of Deloitte’s Innovation Incentives team, which helps tech startups and firms access government incentives that allow them to limit risk and grow faster.  Ryan and Jon have both repatriated their hometown after working in top tech ecosystems like Kanata and Silicon Valley. Ryan cut his teeth with Nortel during the late-90’s tech boom, and Jon has over a decade’s experience building hardware products for Apple, Google, Amazon, and Lytro.  Ryan and Jon chat with Dan about what drew them back to their home province, and the many things they’ve learned over the years. They also talk about how smaller regions can learn from Silicon Valley and other tech hubs to apply best practices while taking advantages of the strengths your region presents. 

Dan interviews Zaid AlShaddadi, a recent immigrant to Saskatchewan from Saudi Arabia, who made the decision to move across the world for the opportunities in Canadian tech.  Zaid has worked over a decade in tech, most recently from Oracle in a senior sales role. So Dan and Zaid talk about his experience moving to Canada for the opportunities in the growing tech industry, and his first impressions of Saskatchewan’s small but bustling ecosystem.  Zaid is one of many people who have, and will immigrate to the province to grow the tech talent pool, so we get his feedback on how Canadian tech companies can effectively recruit and hire internationally. Plus, with over a decade in tech sales, Zaid shared with us some of his tips and tricks for selling tech to enterprise. 

Co.Launch is Canada’s hottest new accelerator for pre-seed tech startups. Dan talks with the winners of the most recent accelerator cohort, Kristy Ehman of Hyon Consignment, Nelson Wani of Autumn, and Alisha Esmail of Filtr Trade.  Dan and company chat about the crash-course that is the Co.Launch program, and how their experience has shaped their startups moving forward. They each won a cash prize, but more importantly gained a valuable network of mentors, investors and colleagues along the way, which led to many insights that have propelled them forward to the next step.  Co.Launch accepts startups from the idea stage to prototype, so the group discusses what led them to apply for the program, and advice for early founders and others who are dipping their toes in to the world of tech entrepreneurship. 

Dan talks with Kai Charette of Alttra Solutions. In this episode, they discuss the benefits and pitfalls of blockchain technology, and how to cut through the buzz to provide meaningful solutions to problems.  Blockchain is a polarizing technology. With some saying its the future of the internet and others saying it’s an flash in the pan, it can be hard to cut through the jargon and address real problems. Regina’s Alttra Solutions is setting out to do just that, by working with companies to address problems that blockchain is uniquely suited to solve.  Wherever you fall in the debate on blockchain as an underlying tech, its sparked discussion and large existential questions around the world, can make for very interesting conversations. Alttra is making the bet that this will be the case for years to come. 

Dan talks with Jordan Schidlowsky of Noodlecake Games. In this episode, they discuss growing a globally competitive game development and publishing company Jordan talks about the early days of Noodlecake releasing their first game, and how the mobile gaming market, the broader industry, and Noodlecake as a company has changed since 2011. Since releasing their first game Super Stickman Golf, they’ve become one of the most notable mobile publishers, having published or developed over 100 games on mobile platforms.  In 2017, Noodlecake was majority acquired by the Chinese gaming company ZPlay. Dan and Jordan discuss the process of being acquired and becoming a part of a larger global company while continuing to grow in Saskatoon. 

Dan talks with Chad Fischl of Farm Boys Design Corp. In this episode, they discuss how Farm Boys is working to bring locally grown, sustainable food anywhere in the world regardless of climate and growing conditions.  Farm Boys has built a fully automated, self-contained system for growing high-value crops anywhere in the world. The demand for leafy greens and other small crops like tomatoes is high around the world, but unfortunately there are only a few regions on earth where these crops are able to grow. Chad talks more about how their system enables these crops to be grown easily and affordably anywhere in the world.  As a serial entrepreneur, Chad’s path toward solving one of the world’s largest problems is an interesting one. Dan and Chad talk more about how he got where he is today, and where they’re headed in the future. 

Dan talks with Alicia Soulier of SalonScale. In this episode, Alicia shares her story of how she went from salon owner, to tech entrepreneur scaling her business internationally (pun intended).  As an experienced entrepreneur and salon owner, Alicia discovered a problem that is core to the success or failure of a salon business. Her deep knowledge of an industry problem was the secret to building a simple and user-friendly solution that solves a problem that costs salon owners thousands, and sometimes is make-or-break for their business.  Alicia shares how she started SalonScale with no background in tech, and how she is working to save one salon at a time by “scaling” up her company. 

In the first episode to kick off Season 3, Dan talks with Riley Iverson and Davie Lee of Townfolio. In our first season, we talked with Riley in the episode “The $500 Startup,” and learned about their startup story and how they were disrupting economic development.  Since then, Townfolio was accepted into one of the world’s most respected tech accelerators, Techstars in their Kansas City location. Riley and Davie went through their intensive program through the summer, and they’re back to share their experience on the whole rollercoaster ride.  In this episode, we go into detail on what it’s like to go through a Techstars accelerator, how it has impacted Townfolio moving forward, and what’s next for their growing startup. 

In the final episode of Season 2, Dan talks with Krystian Olszanski of Viamo, and Kevin Pierce of Eventbrite. Both Krystian and Kevin are seasoned developers who have been working in tech for a long time and are now in management roles in their specific companies. Viamo is a social enterprise solving communications problems in developing countries, and Picatic is a consumer facing event ticketing platform, and the two talk about how making the lives of your users better is core to success no matter who that user is.  As seasoned developers in management roles, Krystian and Kevin also chat about growing and managing technical teams. From onboarding new employees to making strategic decisions and energizing team members, the two have no shortage of wisdom to share. 

Dan talks with Brett Park, COO & CTO of Shiverware, and Phil Corson, Product Manager with GasBuddy. In this episode, Brett and Phil talk about product management, and some of the cool products they’ve been cooking up at their respective companies. They chat more about their individual approaches product design and how they see an idea through development into a shipped product.  The two also talk about a rising tide of energy in the Regina tech scene and how the city can capitalize on some of that momentum moving forward. 

Dan talks with Serese Selanders, Founder & CEO of ORA, and David Squires, her Silicon Valley mentor. In this episode, Serese and David talk about how they originally met, and how David ended up becoming one of her key mentors as she builds her company. Coming from an executive background in the financial industry, Serese had a lot to learn about hardware startups when she started ORA. From negotiating deals with contractors to planning out the hardware architecture, David has been an invaluable resource along the way. Serese talks more about her journey as a non-technical founder of a tech company, and transitioning important skillsets from the corporate world to a startup. The two also discuss how they manage their mentor-mentee relationship remotely in an effective way.

*Episode note* - we experienced some feedback in the audio in this episode, please accept our apologies! Dan talks with Mike Wesolowski, Founder & CEO of Luxsonic, and Kyle Drever of NC Smart Call. In this episode, Mike and Kyle talk about the complicated landscape of the building and selling tech to the healthcare sector, and what makes that different from other enterprise customers. Mike also shares more about his history in academia, and how that was just the start of a path that led him to start his company, which is using virtual reality (VR) to empower healthcare practitioners with better training and diagnostic tools. Kyle shares more about the story of NC Smart Call and how they are changing the way staff schedules are organized in hospitals.

Dan talks with Jeff Wandzura, Co-founder serial entrepreneur and angel investor, and Jamie Finney, Co-founder of Kokopelli Capital and Western Regional Director of Startup Colorado. In this episode, Jeff and Jamie share their stories and the many startup lessons they’ve learned, the role of universities and other institutional supports in a startup ecosystem, and the challenges and benefits of building in a small region. Jamie shares more about the Colorado tech ecosystem centered around the medium-sized hub of Boulder. From some of the early success stories, to major landmark wins like the a Techstars accelerator in Boulder, a Denver-based Slack office and more. Jeff brings back the knowledge he’s gained for larger cities from his experience in a New York based accelerator and time spent in the Toronto angel investor scene.

Dan talks with Kyle Smyth, CTO of Offstreet, and Jordan McFarlen, Business Incubator Manager at Conexus. Regina is the southward sister-city of Saskatoon, where many of our guests are from. As you’ve heard previous guests discuss, Saskatoon’s tech scene is growing rapidly, and Regina isn’t far behind with exciting scene of its own taking root in the provinces capital. Jordan and Conexus have started Regina’s first business incubator to address the needs of an up-and-coming market. Dan, Jordan, and Kyle discuss starting up in Saskatchewan, and how the two major cities can feed off each other taking a region-wide approach to taking on the world and building a startup ecosystem. Kyle also shares the Offstreet story, how they started, and where they are today.