In episode 04 of season 02, we sit down with Natasha Dhayagude, 2015 Fellow, CEO, and Co-Founder of Chinova Bioworks, and we get👏🏼 into 👏🏼 it.👏🏼 ⁠⁠

A biochemist and entrepreneur, Natasha built a company that develops natural preservatives extracted from mushrooms for use in food and beverages. She gets real about what it’s been like for her to be a woman of colour in a male-dominated space (& how to own your adaptive-alpha), how networks are essential to propelling your startup in the early days, and how she helped her family glamping business take-off during a global pandemic (takes notes ✍🏼).

⁠⁠If you’re breaking down glass ceilings, then let Natasha ignite your journey.

In episode 03 of season 02, we sit down with Zameer Masjedee, 2018 Fellow, and the man who’s trying to revolutionize podcasts and redesign commerce.

Zameer is a Sr. Solutions Engineer at Shopify by day, and the Co-Founder of LISN, a platform helping to organize and highlight the best clips from a podcast by night. He gets real about having tough conversations about goals with your team, the unexpected hurdles that come with starting a business, and how focusing on the right things like your mission can help you make fast and appropriate decisions for the growth of your business. Shopify has taught him how to scale a company, and how as an individual you can strive towards always having a positive impact.

If you’re looking to put your podcast or business on the map, then let Zameer teach you a little something.

In Episode 02 of Season 02, we sit down with Susie Pan all the way from New Zealand.

A leader of many talents, a product manager, a scout, a coach and currently an On Deck Fellow, Susie chats about shifting one’s mindset and gifts us her newfound equation to joy. Understanding why rules exist, discovering her gift of being curious, and the importance of constantly redefining her “normal” has opened up unexpected career opportunities.

If you’re looking for career guidance and motivation, let Susie take the lead.

Season 02, Episode 02 with Susie Pan is available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Anchor and wherever you listen.

In Episode 02 of Season 02, we sit down with Susie Pan all the way from New Zealand.

A leader of many talents, a product manager, a scout, a coach, and currently an On Deck Fellow, Susie chats about shifting one’s mindset and gifts us her newfound equation to joy. Understanding why rules exist, discovering her gift of being curious, and the importance of constantly redefining her “normal” has opened up unexpected career opportunities.

If you’re looking for career guidance and motivation, let Susie take the lead.

In Episode 01 of Season 2, we sit down with Kelsey Burdett (2016 Fellow), a lover of everything digital, dot-connector, podcaster, and she talks about the importance of supporting entrepreneurs.

From transferring her journalism and reporting basketball games background to sales at Shopify to being a Senior Partnerships Manager at #Paid, Kelsey helps brands receive funding from incubators like Clearco and strategizes how brands can connect with the right content creators. Her main marketing advice? Move away from social media numbers, focus on your brand’s direct impact and message, and outsource Influencers as a collaboration opportunity to make your brand look more appealing.

If you’re interested in content creation, influencer marketing, and building your personal or company brand image, let Kelsey guide you through insider tips and tricks.

Scott Stirrett, Founder and CEO of Venture for Canada, chats with Lateefa Farah, Marketing and Content Coordinator at VFC, about the key lessons from Season 1 of A New Wave of Entrepreneurship.

In the seven episodes, Scott spoke to ambitious leaders from the VFC Alumni community about their career trajectories and aspirations. Common themes like dealing with failure, the importance of mentorship, and creating space to find their own purpose in life surfaced in all of our recordings. In this episode, we reflect on these key lessons with featured snippets from recordings of Danny Williams 2015 Fellow Alumni and Senior Product Designer @Shopify, David Kantanka 2016 Fellow Alumni and Chief Operating Officer @ RapTV, Dessie Maliaka 2018 Fellow Alumni and Co-Founder at Sustainability Stocked.

Josh MacIntyre, 2015 Fellow Alumni & Head of Revenue Operations at Grammarly, which provides digital writing assistance tools, sits down with Scott to discuss how Canadian Tire helped him direct his career impact and provided career clarity.

Going back and forth between business school and work, Josh was able to gain a clearer understanding of the type of management role he wanted to step into. 

From building relationships to managers setting clear expectations for their employees, finding the right mentor to help with your career or professional growth, and providing value to others, Josh gives us an insight into his career progression and the significance of enjoying what you do.

Chris Grouchy, 2016 Fellow Alumni & Co-Founder of Convictional, 2.2M seed round enterprise B2C YC graduate company, talks to Scott about how a twice-rejection from Mckinsey sparked his founding journey.

Mastering sales as a rep at Shopify Plus and an internship at Cisco unblocked the conventional possibilities that were traditionally encouraged in the world of commerce and business grads.

From crafting the perfect cold email to land a job, building networks, and coaching other Y Combinator founders on the art and science of sales, Chris gives us an insight into the success and learnings of his journey so far.

Is what it takes to thrive at a startup the same as building a startup? A thick skin, persuasion, and accepting failure are key characteristics for Micha in her journey as a strategist at Fiix and Careguide in Toronto and now as the COO and Co-Founder at Namstetics. Micha Saade, 2017 VFC Fellow, talks about her early career in sales and marketing at start-ups and gives us tips about how we can have an impact on a company’s overall success.

Micha’s mind, body, and soul approach to health has a direct influence on her yoga-apparel brand. Finding balance through yoga and reiki, Micha shares the economics of her business and gives us an insider's take on influencer marketing, quality control, dealing with difficult customers and employing people internationally.

Leaning on collaboration and expertise of designers and suppliers, having an insider-man, and asking yourself if you truly believe in what you're doing, have been essential for her success.

Celebrating your small wins will motivate you toward bigger accomplishments.

When it comes to customer feedback and satisfaction, the people you hear from are the typically loudest. Are they the ones you should listen to? Ben Winn, Community and Events Manager at Catalyst Software, Editor and Chief at the Unicornian and 2016 Fellow Alumni, shares his insights on why having an open space for feedback is essential for startups to thrive.

He gives us the ins-and-outs of Customer Success Management, how to structure customer-centric teams, and how hiring your People person (Human Resources) will pay dividends down the road. Having dealt with many new hires, Ben suggests that you need to be upfront about your weaknesses in interviews, find the balance between humble brags but not underselling your accomplishments, and doubling on your strengths. Admit your blind spots...that goes a long way for many other things in life.