Off the Record with Aram

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When starting a company and looking for a co-founder consider these 2 scenarios.

1. I’ve got an idea, come join me as a “co-founder”, but really more like an employee. 

It’s my business that you happen to come join. Feeling excited? 

2. Here’s a a huge issue in the industry and this is how I started thinking about solving it.

Would you like to join me as a co-founder and figure out how to tackle it? 

No one wants to work on someone else’s idea.

It’s like you are not a real co-founder. 

Instead. Start with a problem and you’ll build a team around you. 

Talking points: 

- Two vs Three co-founders dynamic - how does it work

- Why Rachel decided to sell her company, 5Crowd

- What founders need to be aware of before selling their business

- How Rachel kept herself up through ups and downs of running her business

About Rachel:

Rachel is the General Manager of Entrepreneur First, a $140M fund that bets on people first, and then coaches them to find their breakthrough ideas. 

She’s been named Top 30 Under 30 by Marketing Magazine, Young Entrepreneur of the Year by Desjardins Bank and Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year by the Toronto Board of Trade.

She previously started her company, 5Crowd that crowdsourced advertising engagements from fortune 500 marketing departments.

Before you take off...

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What investors often don’t talk about is how we can help underrepresented founders and particularly women entrepreneurs get a fair chunk of the plate. 

if entrepreneurs are truly going to be the change agents of the globe then VC industry have to include everyone, not just the very few.

Talking points: 

• Investment philosophy of Nassir’s fund - how does it work
• What do we need to change about current generation VCs and the industry
• What companies Nassir is the most excited about

About Nassir: 

Nasir is a Founder and Managing Partner at Zeal Capital Partners, an inclusive investment firm. Prior to Zeal, he served as the Associate Director for AT&T's $400 million Aspire Social Investment Fund.

He committed to running 51 full marathons in each US state, including DC, in an effort to raise scholarship funding for first-generation college students. 18 races completed so far. 

Jayesh’s three rules of a startup. 

1. Don’t run out of money
2. Don’t run out of money
3. Don’t run out of money. 

Talking points:

- A story about how Jayesh got sued while being acquired by Eventbrite

- How to get through ups and downs of running your business 

- Work/life balance and how find what works for you

- World’s sexiest tongue scraper - Jayesh’s new company

About Jayesh: 

Jayesh Parmar, the former CEO/Cofounder of Picatic, an event management and ticketing platform that was acquired by Eventbrite in 2018. Jayesh was listed as one of the world's top 10 Tech Entrepreneurs Disrupting The Event Industry.

A serial entrepreneur with over 2 decades of business experience, public speaking and he is a featured personality in the startup documentary DayJob. He's currently co-founding a DTC e-commerce company with his wife.

Before you take off...

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Talking points:

• Biggest misconceptions of how to run PR for tech CEOs
• How CEOs should approach PR if you have a limited number of followers
• How do you get on inc.com or Forbes
• What early stage CEOs should start doing PR-wise tomorrow
• You started a brand new org - start with these PR moves

About Nicole: 

Nicole Rodrigues, founder and CEO of NRPR Group, is a recognized public relations expert, digital and social media marketing pro with 20+ years of experience under her belt. In her tenure, she has developed and successfully executed strategic campaigns for some of the biggest names in business,

including Yahoo!, Dolby, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony PlayStation, Hulu, M-GO, Toon Hero, Demand Media, Heal, MOBITV and the Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders.

Nicole has repeatedly been celebrated as an innovative leader in her industry, most recently as one of PR News’ “Top 50 Game Changers in Public Relations.” She was awarded Bulldog Reporter’s 2017 Gold “Public Relations Professional of the Year” title, along with recognition from the Stevie Awards as “a top female executive in the public relations industry” and “a Business Role Model of the Year” from Women World Awards for Female Achievers. 

Nicole is also the author of Beverly Hills Boss, a business and life skills book aimed at helping others, like herself, who dream of leading despite any humble beginnings or obstacles. 

Before you take off...

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Talking points:

- A story of a pitch Bruce had on Dragon’s Den that wasn’t solving a real problem

- Biggest lesson to VCs and entrepreneurs on hiring people

- Bruce’s philosophy on work/life balance

- Self-awareness breakthrough Bruce had in his early 20s

About Bruce: 

Bruce Croxon made his mark as a digital pioneer by co-founding Lavalife and revolutionizing how people connect. Under his direction, he grew this early tech start-up into the marquee brand in online dating with over two million users. Partner, chairman and CEO, Croxon helped lead the company’s growth from four to 600 employees, while achieving revenue of just under $100 million. Since the sale of Lavalife, Bruce has been active as both an investor and advisor in growth stage companies in the technology sector. As an ex Dragon on CBC’s Dragons’ Den, he added a broad range of businesses and products to his portfolio that tapped into his passion for digital media, health and marketing. Croxon currently helms Round13, a company dedicated to investment in growth stage Canadian tech companies. He also co hosts The Disruptors on BNN and CTV, a weekly show spotlighting Canadian business and believes our entrepreneurs can hold their own with anyone in the world. 

Before you take off...

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Founders, what type of work gives your irreplaceable people energy? It’s one thing that is often overlooked. 

But, it can be a growth loop in itself. Your highest paid people work harder and longer if you give them work they desire. 

Also, consider this.

Does it make sense to give a task nobody likes doing to the most experienced, most highly paid person on the team?

So if they burn out and quit you are screwed. 

Key talking points:

- How to build a pitch deck that passes a drunken investor test

- Advice to early founders how to structure their pitch deck

- Choosing successful revenue stream vs blowing money you invested too quickly
- How to keep your irreplaceable people early on

About Brennan:

Brennan is the CEO of a company called SoapBox. He was 2015’s Ontario Young Entrepreneur of the Year winner. And two years ago his company switched from being a sales-led organization to a product-led one. SoapBox makes software to give employees a voice. They work with folks like Facebook, Intercom, Netflix, Lyft, and Walmart. 

Before you take off...

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There is no book, e-book, MBA that would replace practical experience. 

I did my degree in entrepreneurship and after graduation launched my first e-commerce startup.  

I’ve learned more in those three years than I did in my whole education life. 

The only way to be better at your craft is by living through it.

Talking points: 

- How Aram almost lost his company 8 years into the journey

- On agencies, micro-management, industry bad rep and hard clients

- What drives Aram, his view on the role of the CEO, salaries and shitty days

About Aram 

Aram is a tech serial entrepreneur. He is the CEO and Co-Founder of Crowdinker, a Toronto-based product design and software consultancy that produces world-class design, development, and strategy for mobile, web and other emerging technologies.

He’s been in the tech space for 12 years, co-founded 3 companies, raised capital, scaled teams to 30+ people, and isn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves to help businesses grow. Outside of his day-to-day role, Aram is an avid investor in the technology space as well as an advisor and mentor to dozens of startups through his participation with Acceleprise and Loyal VC.

He recently relocated with his family (wife and 3 kids) to Barcelona in Spain to expand Crowdlinker into Europe. He’s an avid tennis player, movie buff, and loves travelling. 

Before you take off...

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Main talking points: 

- What was it like psychologically to go through a $58 million dollar raise

- How Lucas manages the company along two other Co-CEOs

- What Lucas thinks about the process of going IPO in the future
- Mindset of Canadians and Swiss people - similarities & differences

About Lucas: 

Lucas Martinez is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Talent.com, one of the fastest growing employment websites in the world. They recently raised $53 million from CDPQ to accelerate growth and power expansion. With more than 30 million job vacancies in 77 countries, and with 5,556% growth in 5 years, Talent.com recently ranked 14th in Canadian Business magazine’s 2019 Growth 500.

Before you take off...

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Episode Description:

Choose your investors very very wisely. 

Biggest check and valuation are not the best guiding principles. 

Think about it.

When you are getting ready to exit your company in 10, 15 years, the 5-10% difference in valuation won’t be massively different of how much money you walk away with. 

But if you take onboard the wrong investor, you can end up with zero. 

It's much more important to bring investors asking questions like “what is the personality of the people that are investing”, 

“How am I going to feel when these people call me by surprise every couple of weeks?”

Main talking points: 

• How Dr. Brett has started Maple (getmaple.ca) and built a marketplace 
• Brett’s thoughts on raising money and scaling to a billion dollar “unicorn” type company
• How do you pick the right investors for your company
• How Brett’s company significantly lowered customer acquisition cost by creating a strong inbound lead generation engine

About Dr. Brett:

Dr. Brett Belchetz is the CEO and Co-founder of Maple (getmaple.ca), Canada’s leading virtual care provider connecting patients and healthcare providers like doctors and therapists for online medical visits in minutes. He’s also a practicing physician in Toronto, and a Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute. In addition, Brett’s passion for healthcare communication and policy have led him to work as an on-air medical expert for CTV and Global News, as well as a contributor to outlets such as the National Post. Previously, Brett worked as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.

Before you take off...

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Episode Description:

Admin and operational side of things in a start-up are almost never talked about. 

But of course, it’s nowhere near as thrilling as all these stories in TechCrunch.  

Big founders, big exit. Good looking pay check. The realty is that these CEOs got really good at operational efficiency at scale.

They got a great team in place. 

It’s not about building a fancy feature.It’s about building the right content strategy and onboarding process, drip campaigns/followups. 

Not glamour, no publicity. 

And all of it takes time. Even hiring one great person, takes a while. Once you raise that money you are in the weeds and you are doing the work. And you better enjoy doing it day in and day out.

Key talking points:

• Operational and admin side of running a business
• Main reasons why companies burn through cash and go out of business (what not to do)
• At what point founders should be raising money
• How to put together a comprehensive game plan after you have raised cash

About Craig:

Craig Zingerline is a 6 time founder (4 exits) who has helped dozens of companies scale their growth. He is the Founder of Growth University & Growth Minded, Chief Product Officer @ Sandboxx and was previously Head of Growth at Upside Travel, CEO of Votion, Head of Growth at Red Tricycle, and VP at New Signature.

Craig’s motivation is to help other professionals learn the growth strategies and tactics needed to scale their companies, and to create a structured and organized way for people to get started with growth, which he practices through Growth University.