Sell Me This Podcast

Tech Connect Alberta didn't happen because of a strategy document — it happened because one person decided to show up and keep showing up. Akshay Gulati built one of Alberta's most active tech communities through servant leadership in action, not in theory.

Keith Daser talks with Akshay Gulati, cloud architect and founder of Tech Connect Alberta, about what it looks like to build a genuine technology community from the ground up. Akshay shares his philosophy of servant leadership, how Tech Connect Alberta grew from a small idea into one of the most recognized community platforms in Canadian tech, and what he's learned about what communities actually need to thrive.

Topics covered:

• How Tech Connect Alberta was built and what kept it growing
• What servant leadership means in the context of community building
• The difference between building an audience and building a community
• What Akshay's work as a cloud architect has taught him about technology and leadership
• How community creates career and business value that most people underestimate
• What Alberta's tech community needs to reach its full potential

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If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
https://www.deliverdigital.ca/?utm_source=videodescription&utm_id=youtube

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress.

This episode of the Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires.

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

Support the show

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress. 

If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
www.deliverdigital.ca

This episode of Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires. 

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

Everyone talks about startup culture. Very few people talk honestly about what it actually takes to build a viable business in Canada — the funding realities, the ecosystem gaps, and the founder mistakes that rarely make it into the highlight reel.

Keith Daser talks with Brandy Old and Craig Elias from Alberta Innovates about the real state of entrepreneurship in Canada and what it takes to build something that lasts. This covers the unglamorous parts of startup building — the funding landscape, the support systems that work, the ones that don't, and what Alberta specifically offers founders willing to do the work.

Topics covered:

• What Alberta Innovates does and how it supports early-stage companies
• The honest reality of building a startup in Canada — funding, market, and ecosystem
• What the most successful founders Alberta Innovates has worked with have in common
• Where Canadian entrepreneurs consistently underestimate what they need
• How Alberta's energy heritage is creating unexpected startup opportunities
• What the next five years look like for entrepreneurship and innovation in Alberta

Links to everything mentioned in the show:
https://helpastartupout.com/fridays/
https://helpastartupout.com/resources/
https://helpastartupout.com/3-year-financial-projections-templates/
https://helpastartupout.com/traction-canvas/

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If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
https://www.deliverdigital.ca/?utm_source=videodescription&utm_id=youtube

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress.

This episode of the Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires.

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

Support the show

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress. 

If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
www.deliverdigital.ca

This episode of Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires. 

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

The traditional models of leadership were built for a world that no longer exists. Meghan Donohoe and Alicia Wight built Pebble to help leaders unlearn what's no longer serving them — and rediscover what actually does.

Keith Daser talks with Meghan Donohoe and Alicia Wight, co-founders of Pebble, about why traditional leadership models are breaking down and what it looks like to rebuild leadership practice around genuine human connection. They challenge the assumption that effectiveness comes from control, certainty, and hierarchy — and share what they've learned about the leaders who are actually getting results right now.

Topics covered:

• Why traditional leadership models are breaking down across industries
• What leadership through connection means in practice, not theory
• How Pebble helps leaders unlearn habits that are no longer working
• What the current moment demands of leaders that previous generations didn't face
• The relationship between vulnerability, trust, and organizational performance
• What rethinking leadership looks like at both an individual and cultural level

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
https://www.deliverdigital.ca/?utm_source=videodescription&utm_id=youtube

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress.

This episode of the Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires.

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

Support the show

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress. 

If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
www.deliverdigital.ca

This episode of Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires. 

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

Some of the most important work in a tech ecosystem never shows up in a press release. Philippe Burns has spent years building the connective tissue that makes a real community possible — and Tech Thursday is one of the clearest examples of what consistent, genuine community building actually looks like.

Keith Daser talks with Philippe Burns, co-founder and host of Tech Thursday, a weekly community networking series for Canada's tech ecosystem. Philippe shares his journey from corporate tech roles to community builder, what the weekly cadence has taught him about showing up, and why connection — not content — is what makes a technology community last.

Topics covered:

• How Tech Thursday was built and why the weekly rhythm became its biggest advantage
• What genuine community building looks like vs. performative networking
• The role of connectors in a healthy tech ecosystem
• What Philippe has learned from hundreds of conversations across Canada's tech community
• Why showing up consistently matters more than any single event or announcement
• How to build relationships that create lasting business value

Find Philippe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippe-burns/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
https://www.deliverdigital.ca/?utm_source=videodescription&utm_id=youtube

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress.

This episode of the Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires.

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

Support the show

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress. 

If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
www.deliverdigital.ca

This episode of Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires. 

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

The tech labor market is changing faster than most education systems can keep up with. InceptionU was built on the premise that the answer isn't more of the same training — it's a fundamentally different approach to developing human potential for a world that keeps changing.

Keith Daser talks with Margo Purcell, Co-founder and CEO of InceptionU, about how the tech and labor markets are shifting and what that means for the future of work. Margo shares how InceptionU is rethinking technology education, what she's observed about the growing misalignment between employers and job seekers, and why metaskills — the ability to learn, adapt, and solve novel problems — matter more than any specific technical credential.

Topics covered:

• What InceptionU does and how it differs from traditional tech education models
• What metaskills are and why they're becoming the most valuable career asset
• How the tech labor market in Canada has shifted over the past few years
• What employers are getting wrong about hiring and developing tech talent
• The growing skills gap between what tech education produces and what businesses need
• What the future of work demands — and what it's leaving behind

Support the show

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress. 

If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
www.deliverdigital.ca

This episode of Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires. 

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

Sales is one of the most performance-driven professions in the world — and one of the least equipped to deal with the human cost of that pressure. Matt Riddel has built his coaching work around that gap.

Keith Daser talks with Matt Riddel about what it means to lead and sell in high-pressure environments, why perspective is one of the most underrated tools in a sales professional's toolkit, and what his leadership coaching work has revealed about the difference between managing performance and actually developing people.

Topics covered:

• Why perspective matters more than process in high-performance sales environments
• The mental and emotional demands of sales that most leaders don't talk about
• How leadership coaching is reshaping how sales organizations are built and managed
• The difference between managing performance and genuinely developing people
• What high-performing sales professionals actually need from their leaders
• How to build a sales culture that sustains performance long term

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
https://www.deliverdigital.ca/?utm_source=videodescription&utm_id=youtube

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress.

This episode of the Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires.

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

Support the show

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress. 

If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
www.deliverdigital.ca

This episode of Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires. 

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

Most organizations are rushing to adopt AI without building the internal understanding needed to use it responsibly. The result isn't transformation — it's risk. Dr. Stella Lee has spent years studying what genuine AI readiness actually requires.

Keith Daser talks with Dr. Stella Lee about how organizations can build real AI literacy, why AI policy needs to exist before AI tools are deployed at scale, and what it takes to prepare people — not just processes — for a future increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.

Topics covered:

• What AI literacy means at an organizational level — and how to assess it
• Why AI policy needs to be built before AI tools are deployed at scale
• The human side of AI adoption: fear, resistance, and change management
• How to design AI training programs that change behavior, not just awareness
• What responsible AI governance looks like inside mid-market and enterprise organizations
• Why the people and

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
https://www.deliverdigital.ca/?utm_source=videodescription&utm_id=youtube

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress.

This episode of the Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires.

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

Support the show

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress. 

If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
www.deliverdigital.ca

This episode of Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires. 

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

Most businesses leave significant grant funding on the table — not because they don't qualify, but because the process is overwhelming and the landscape is constantly shifting. Denise Baril built a business to change that.

Keith Daser talks with Denise Baril, founder of The Grant Sherpa, about how she helps organizations navigate the grant funding ecosystem in Canada. But the conversation goes deeper than funding — Denise shares her perspective on the role of community in business, why struggle is an underrated accelerant, and what real human connection looks like in a world that keeps defaulting to digital-first relationships.

Topics covered:

• What The Grant Sherpa does and what grants most businesses are missing
• How to assess whether your business or project qualifies for grant funding
• Common mistakes organizations make when applying for government and private grants
• Why community is a strategic asset, not just a cultural nice-to-have
• The role of resilience and productive struggle in building a sustainable business
• What Denise has learned from building a business in a niche most people underestimate

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
https://www.deliverdigital.ca/?utm_source=videodescription&utm_id=youtube

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress.

This episode of the Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires.

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

Support the show

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress. 

If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
www.deliverdigital.ca

This episode of Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires. 

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

Compliance and security sound complex because they're usually explained by people who aren't thinking about small and medium-sized businesses. Jose Costa and Mark Mandel are.

Keith Daser talks with Jose Costa and Mark Mandel from MHM about how compliance, ethics, and cybersecurity actually work for organizations that don't have a full-time legal or security team. They break down what compliance really means in practice, what the most common security gaps look like in SMBs, and how to think about risk without getting paralyzed by it.

Topics covered:

• What compliance actually means for small and medium-sized businesses
• The most common security and compliance gaps MHM sees in SMB clients
• How to build an ethical framework that shapes behavior — not just policy documents
• Why cybersecurity is fundamentally a human problem, not a technology problem
• How to prioritize security investments when budgets are limited
• What SMBs can do today to meaningfully reduce their risk exposure

Learn more about MHM here: https://www.mhmcpa.ca/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
https://www.deliverdigital.ca/?utm_source=videodescription&utm_id=youtube

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress.

This episode of the Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires.

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

Support the show

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress. 

If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
www.deliverdigital.ca

This episode of Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires. 

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

Most organizations have started using AI. Very few have built the internal literacy needed to use it well — and the difference between those two groups will define competitive advantage over the next decade.

Keith Daser talks with Tim Chan, co-founder of Untapped Energy, about what it really means to build AI literacy and fluency inside organizations and why so many teams struggle to move past surface-level adoption. Tim shares what genuine AI capability looks like at the organizational level and what leaders need to do differently to actually get there.

Topics covered:

• What AI literacy and AI fluency mean — and why the distinction matters
• Why most AI adoption stalls at the tool level and never becomes organizational capability
• How to build an internal culture that learns and adapts alongside AI
• What leaders need to understand before rolling out AI across their teams
• The relationship between AI fluency and sustainable competitive advantage
• Practical steps organizations can take to move from AI curiosity to AI capability

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
https://www.deliverdigital.ca/?utm_source=videodescription&utm_id=youtube

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress.

This episode of the Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires.

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com

Support the show

Sell Me This Podcast is brought to you by the team at Deliver Digital, a Calgary-based consulting organization that guides progressive companies through the selection, implementation, and governance of key technology partnerships. Their work is transforming the technology solution and software provider landscape by helping organizations reduce costs and duplication, enhance vendor alignment, and establish sustainable operating models that empower digital progress. 

If you believe you deserve more from your technology partnerships – connect with the team at:
www.deliverdigital.ca

This episode of Sell Me This Podcast was expertly edited, filmed, and produced by Laila Hobbs and Bretten Roissl of Social Launch Labs, who deliver top-tier storytelling and technical excellence. A special thanks to the entire team for their dedication to crafting compelling content that engages, connects, and inspires. 

Find the team at Social Launch Labs at:
www.sociallaunchlabs.com