Flagship Podcast

On this week’s show, we spoke with Marie-Josée Gagnon, CEO @ Casacom

Marie-Josée Gagnon.

She is the CEO and Founder of Casacom, a Canadian integrated data-driven public relations & strategic communication firm founded in 2001 that helps clients thrive in the digital era.

They are a multi-channel and multi-disciplinary approach gives their clients a unique marketplace advantage. Known for their strategic thinking and award-winning campaigns, their ‘house’ is home to dedicated professionals who consistently aim high – for themselves and their clients.

Their mission is to elevate. They have ambitious clients that challenge them to elevate their brand and their business.

On the show, we spoke about:

• How she went from journalism to politics
• Her journey across the globe meeting world leaders
• Starting her own company and the process behind it
• Building her public relations firm
• Her personal purpose (which I loved)
• Why she decided to start Brave – an interview series showcasing the bold experiences of women who dared to be brave

Marie-Josée’s story is remarkable and has had an impressive career. Her outlook on life and business is quite refreshing. I hope that you enjoy today’s episode.

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

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On this week’s show, we spoke with Sam Kawtharani, Co-Founder & CEO @ Corl

Sam is the Co-Founder & CEO of Corl, the world’s first revenue-sharing token designed to support and participate in the growth of emerging companies. Most recently he served as the Head of Product at IOU Financial, a leading FinTech SMB marketplace lender based out of Montreal. With an extensive background in product strategy and development, he supported the company to originate over $500mm in loan originations across the United States & Canada through continuous product development and innovation.

On the show, we spoke about:

• How Sam got into FinTech
• How scuba diving can be useful in business
• His journey to entrepreneurship
• Corl’s mission to democratize funding
• The regulatory environment in Canada
• The future use cases of blockchain

I had been waiting for a long time for this conversation with Sam and he did not disappoint. I learned a ton about the early stage investing space as well blockchain. I hope that you enjoy the show!

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

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On this week’s show, we spoke with Anthony Rjeily, Partner - National Leader, Digital Transformation and Innovation @ EY.

Anthony is the National Leader for EY Canada's Digital Transformation and Innovation practice, responsible for the business across all industry segments. In this capacity, he is responsible for designing and architecting digital and innovation solutions for clients to deliver superior customer experiences, to drive operational efficiencies and to create innovative capabilities.

In his market facing role, Anthony provides digital transformation advice for many of EY's clients that are looking to drive growth through digital innovation, transform the enterprise through digital enablement and create disruptive innovation capabilities with new business models.

On the show, we spoke about:

• How Anthony got started in consulting
• The challenge his customers are facing
• How he defines digital transformation
• Open banking and the government’s role
• The role of capital and talent innovation

Anthony is an industry veteran with a wealth of experience. I learned a lot by talking to him, I hope that you do as well.

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

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On this week’s show, we spoke with Anna Chif, Co-Founder and COO @ Dialogue

Anna Chif is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Dialogue, a telemedicine provider founded in 2016. In less than two years, Dialogue has established itself as the Canadian leader in its field and now serves nearly 150 companies as its clients across the country. The Dialogue platform allows employees of client companies to quickly reach excellent nurses and doctors via chat and video for any medical question.

Dialogue has received over $15 million in venture capital since its launch and is among the fastest growing technology companies in Canada. Anna studied finance and international business at McGill and worked at McKinsey for a few years before founding her company.

On the show, we spoke about:

• Her interest in wellness and healthcare
• How she left McKinsey to launch Dialogue
• The mission driven nature of the company
• What she learned by being in a hyper growth startup
• The massive opportunity in her space
• The future of healthcare

Anna is a remarkable entrepreneur and I’m glad that she took the time out of her busy schedule. I hope that you enjoy the conversation!

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

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On this week’s show, we spoke with Dominique Laverdure, General Director @ Rouge Marketing.

Dominique Laverdure is Chief Executive Officer and Partner at Rouge Marketing and Communications Inc., an integrated marketing and communications agency that she co-founded in 2004.

She was president of the Grand Mont-Tremblant Chamber of Commerce for three years and a member of the board of directors for six years. In addition to this role, she is also a Director of the Laurentian Local Development Center (CLD), President of the Cabinet Centraide Hautes-Laurentides and Director of the Mont-Tremblant Strategic Action Committee. Formerly director of chamber of commerce in western Quebec, she also acted as board director of the Quebec Federation of Chambers of Commerce.

Ms. Laverdure holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University as well as a major in Entrepreneurship and a minor in Human Resources from McGill University.

On the show, we spoke about:

• How she started her career in marketing at L’Oréal
• Launching her own agency and positioning in a crowded market
• Her philosophy on remote working and the business benefit
• Going back to basics with marketing
• The future of brands

Dominique has a unique view of the marketing space and a very interesting point of view. Her depth of experience is incredible. I hope that you enjoy the conversation!

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

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On this week’s show, we spoke with Luke Finney, Co-Founder and Head of Operations @ Terminal. Luke spent 7 years in the US Navy, working with a variety of small teams in the US and overseas. Upon leaving the military, he attended the Stanford IGNITE program, then worked as an associate for the Glenfarne Group, a private equity firm in NYC focused on developing, owning and operating energy and infrastructure assets in Latin America. In 2017 he started Terminal in San Francisco, pursuing a vision of a world where productive, long-term access to incredible companies is easy for people in disparate geographies. He graduated from the US Naval Academy (BSc, Aerospace Engineering/Russian) and LSE (MSc, Development Economics) before heading into the military. He’s a private pilot, enjoys diving, endurance events, and any high adrenaline activity.

On the show, we spoke about:

• How he went from the military to the startup world
• Lessons he took from his service career
• The idea and vision behind Terminal
• How he obtained financing from some of the world’s most important investors

Luke is building an interesting startup in a competitive industry. His insights and experience are remarkable. I hope that you enjoy the conversation.

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

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On this week’s show, we spoke with Alex Manea, Chief Security and Privacy Officer @ Georgian Partners. Alex uses his detailed knowledge of security and privacy concepts to help portfolio companies identify opportunities to build and monetize technologies that protect assets and build trust. Alex is also responsible for Georgian’s internal policies and infrastructure.

Prior to joining Georgian Partners, Alex spent 12 years working at BlackBerry, most recently as Chief Security Officer. As a founding member of BlackBerry Security, he has worked to protect mobile, desktop and IoT devices, networks and infrastructure for over a decade, helping to transform BlackBerry from a mobile hardware vendor to the world's leading provider of enterprise software and security solutions. Alex regularly writes on security and has been published in dozens of international publications in multiple languages.

Alex was recently named one of Canada’s smartest people by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He has traveled to 22 countries and can speak or understand 7 different languages. He loves learning about cultures around the world, visiting local landmarks and trying new types of food.

On the show, we spoke about:

• How he got started in engineering
• The evolution of his role at Blackberry that led him to becoming Chief Security Officer
• How he became an investor at Georgian Partners
• His thoughts on security vs. privacy
• The new technologies he’s excited about notably blockchain and quantum computing
• The rise of IOT and the danger it poses

Alex is a world class expert in his field and I was thrilled to have him on the show. I hope that you enjoy the conversation!

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

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On this week’s show, I spoke with Frederic Guarino. We held a lively debate on the techlash of 2018 and where we’re headed next year. Frédéric Guarino is a growth hacker for Grey Juice Lab, a leading global service provider of content and services for multiscreen TV and VOD.

Previously he was a business developer for Zone3&co-founded VR Valley, an inter-industry professional group to develop collaborations between large corporations & startups in the VR space. He co-organized with MUTEK Montréal’s VR Salons (3 editions 2015-2017). Frédéric is also a strategist for brands and large corporations and a startup advisor/mentor. He guest programmed a VR Summit for the CFC’s IDEABOOST accelerator. Frédéric writes for the Canada Media Fund’s Trends blog, the HuffingtonPost (in Québec, Canada and the US) and is the editor of the Mediaquake.co blog

On the show, we spoke about:

• Techlash in 2018 and the changing sentiment around technology
• Data ownership and privacy
• The coming IPO fever
• Consumerization of enterprise tech in 2019

Fred is deeply knowledgeable about the tech space and we had a great debate where we actually disagreed on many points! I hope that you enjoy the conversation.

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

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On this week’s show, we spoke with Alex Langshur, Founder and CEO @ Cardinal Path. Alex is Founder and co-CEO of Cardinal Path, a premier digital data analytics firm working with the world’s leading organizations to create, implement and advanced analytics. He previously founded and led PublicInsite, an analytics firm, prior to its merger to form Cardinal Path.

Alex is the past-President and Director Emeritus of the Digital Analytics Association (DAA), teaches digital marketing optimization for the University of British Columbia, and is on the Board of Advisors for McMaster University Analytics Program. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and has been published in journals and magazines including Government IT Week, Government Executive, CNN Money and others.

Alex lives in Boston with his wife, two sons and golden retriever.

On the show, we spoke about:

• How he transferred his love of science, non-profit work into a career in digital marketing
• The importance of personalized and engaged conversations at scale
• The peaks and valleys of running a business
• Growing and scaling Cardinal Path to exit
• Why Facebook is potentially in trouble and the future of martech

Alex is an inspiring entrepreneur that built an impressive analytics company. He shared some amazing insights on entrepreneurship and the analytics space. I hope that you enjoy the conversation.

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

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On this week’s show, we spoke with David Marotte, President and CEO @ FX Innovation. He leads the company in a perspective of innovation and achievement of excellence in the delivery of services to the customer. As a mentor and coach for his employees, David has developed an innovative and deeply human corporate culture: transparency, trust, commitment are the unifying values.

Since its creation in a garage in 2002, FX innovation has experienced tremendous growth and now has more than 600 people in Quebec and Northeastern USA.

Highly focused on innovation and skill development, David has always made a point of differentiating himself from his competition with a strong business model and an extraordinary customer experience.

He holds a master's degree in science, specialized in international management from the University of Sherbrooke, as well as a master's degree in management from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Poitiers (France), as well as having graduated from the elite program of the EEB, David likes to share his passion for entrepreneurship and his love of technology. David is known for his generosity and his involvement, especially for the Alzheimer Society of Quebec. Since 2011, he has also been Honorary Patron of the Grand Chefs Gala for the Canadian Cancer Society.

On the show, we spoke about:

• How he launched FX Innovation from his garage
• How he struggled in the early days and how they broke through
• The importance of culture in building a large organization (their culture handbook)
• Focusing on customer experience as a competitive advantage
• The cloud wars and how he thinks about the future

David has built a remarkable organization and thinks deeply about important issues like culture and strategy. I hope that you enjoy the conversation!

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

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