The Bacon Bits 'n' Bytes Podcast

Lena is a product manager turned entrepreneur, writer and speaker. After running an innovation lab as a product manager and getting her first taste of entrepreneurship, she quit her job in February 2020 to take a break from the corporate world and test her own ideas. Lena's projects include a self-published book called The Making of Product Managers and a customer interviews tool for venture teams at startup accelerators called Hypothesee. She writes about her entrepreneurial journey on her website - lenasesardic.com and contributes some of her writing to Product Coalition and The Startup, two large Medium publications. In this episode, we chat about her journey into product management and her more recent journey into entrepreneurship. We discuss the importance of building stuff that solves your own problems and why product managers have a critical skillset to become entrepreneurs.

Connect with Lena on Twitter: @lenasesardic

LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/lenasesardic/

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A social media futurist, Eugene's forward thinking attitude towards how we connect using technology has been at the forefront of his mission to connect the world. In 2014 he graduated with a BA in Liberal Arts with an emphasis on "YouTube Studies" from Evergreen State. Upon graduation he went to work at the YouTube consulting Agency, Press Play.

In 2016 he quit his job as an art director to pursue XR social media. Eugene's first project was producing the film "Journey VR". This film became an official selection at SIFF, a staff pick by Adobe and VEER, then would become the number one 360 video download on Steam for 30 days at the time of its release.

A year later he would produce and host GLITCHED, the first in VR talk show to be ordered as if it were a TV show. The show revolved around interviewing large name tech and social media influencers like Barnacules Nerdgasm, iJustine, Jake Roper of Vsauce3, and Gear live. The show ran for a total of 3 seasons.

Since then he has been an avid YouTube creator making 360 animated shorts which have gained millions of views on YouTube as well as making appearances to educate the masses on the evolution of the social media experience.

Instagram: @capondesign Twitter: @CaponDesign Facebook: @eugenecapon Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJw11cfZu-QVR2OfhhIYDPw

UPDATE: The Passionfruit App is now available on both The App Store and Google Play app store and can be found by searching for "Passionfruit."

Trying to connect with people can be quite difficult if your goals are not aligned or you don't share the same passion for something.

Passionfruit is the brainchild of creator Paul Deng who came up with the concept of his social app while volunteering at Toronto Distress Centres, where he realized that there was a need for people to make deep, genuine, and long-lasting connections. Without such connections, individuals can become isolated and may lack an adequate support network.

Existing products and services often highlight superficial qualities like status or looks, which are unreliable when depended upon as foundations for long lasting relationships. In response, Paul's vision is to create an app which helps people meet others on the same wavelength by using words and closeness. If someone near you is thinking about the same topics, the app matches you and gives you a platform to chat and break the ice. Discover what you're passionate about, reach out to others with the same passions, meet, learn, and grow together through those passions and build a strong foundation for relationships.

Sign up to receive updates about the passionfruit app.

Follow passionfruit on Facebook: @passionfruitapp

Instagram: @passionfruit_app

Twitter: @apppassionfruit

Jennifer Hargreaves is the Founder and CEO of tellent. tellent is a flexible work recruitment and social impact organization with a mission to create more equal opportunities for women to lead and earn. Through a job board and virtual networking platform, she supports women on their journeys to finding work that works for them (flexible work). tellent also helps forward-thinking and inclusive businesses to access professional and skilled talent when and how they need it so that they can thrive in our current economic climate and future of work. She was educated in Canada and has lived in worked in New Zealand, New York and London, UK. I had a fantastic discussion with her about her reasons for starting tellent, the benefits of a flexible work culture and how the pandemic caused a seismic shift in the way we work.

Women entrepreneurs account for only 16% of business owners in Canada. It's time to invest in change. ELLA is a community and an accelerator for women, by women. Their mission is to reduce the gap of gender inequality in entrepreneurship. They believe that every woman entrepreneur should have access to the community, information and resources needed to scale their business.

In this episode, I chat with Nicole Troster, the manager of the ELLA accelerator. We chat about ELLA's launch at the beginning of March 2020 and how like so many organizations and businesses, had to quickly pivot their offerings when the pandemic began.

We also discuss the different reasons women want to start a business vs men, how many serial entrepreneurs dabble in and out of entrepreneurship and facing the hard truth of shutting down your business. Learn more about ELLA: https://ella.yorku.ca/

Twitter: @ellawomenyu

IG: @ellawomenyu

"You never know what the market wants until you go and talk to them' - Ardalan Benam, AI scientist and serial entrepreneur. Ardalan is someone who really understands what it means to be an entrepreneur and provides some honest, no BS advice for those who are looking to get into this world. As he puts it, there are so many easier ways to make money and that you shouldn't get into entrepreneurship for the money.

Being a former personal finance blogger, but still a personal finance nerd, I loved having this type of discussion with Sandy Yong, Keynote Speaker and Award-Winning Author of The Money Master Book.

Sandy Yong earned a business degree at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. After graduation, she started her career and began saving her hard-earned money. She naively invested in high-fee, high-risk mutual funds and soon lost thousands with the bumpy roller coaster ride of the stock market. Feeling frustrated and upset, she decided to take her money matters into her own hands and became a self-directed investor. Sandy successfully generated a 6-figure investment portfolio by the age of 27. Since then, she has been an avid real estate investor owning several rental properties with her husband. As a Keynote Speaker, she teaches female millennials how to invest in the stock market and in real estate. With her decade of experience and expertise, Sandy has published her award-winning book, The Money Master: Inside Secrets On How To Make Your Money Grow and Stay Safe. She has been featured in 70+ media outlets including Toronto Star, NBC News and Yahoo! Finance. In addition, Sandy proudly partners with CAMH: The Centre For Addiction and Mental Health. For every book purchase, she personally donates $2 to assist this charity with mental health research. Her vision is to help people feel comfortable conversing about money and mental health, as both can be sensitive subjects and have an impact on our daily lives.

Website: sandyyong.com

FB: @themoneymasterbook

Twitter: @moneymasterbook

IG: @themoneymasterbook

Lee Chambers is one amazing individual. He is a Wellbeing Consultant, Workshop Facilitator and Sleep Specialist. Through relearning how to walk after illness, working in different industries, and building 2 businesses, and studying a number of advanced qualifications, he has now brought all this together to improve wellbeing advancement. He does this by working with organisations to help them become more conscious and purposeful, defining values and communicating them with clarity. Wellbeing strategies are implemented that are measured and embedded. We chat about his entrepreneurial spirit as a child, starting a business during the 2008 Financial Crisis, his new book launching in November and his advice for the graduating class of 2020.

Connect with Lee:

Facebook: @essentialisecoach

Twitter: @essentialise

Instagram: @essentialisecoach

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClTzVmPvXM09HB7uL-gWPag?view_as=subscriber

From online banking to digital payment processing, the fintech industry has evolved and continues to evolve tremendously.

In this episode, I have an open and honest conversation about finances with FinTech entrepreneur, Co-Founder and CEO of Ostrich, William Glass.

His mission is improving financial well-being globally. As founder & CEO of his company, Ostrich, William's mobile app addresses financial literacy deficits by creating social community and accountability around money - think saving & investing with friends. In addition, William hosts the Silicon Alley Podcast providing a platform for entrepreneurs from all industries and backgrounds to tell their stories. William owns rental property and was a successful tech sales rep before starting his own business. He was also a Fulbright Scholar in Thailand. William is originally from Alabama and now resides in New York City.

Site: getostrich.com

Facebook: @williampglass3/@theostrichapp/@siliconalleypodcast

Twitter: @williampglass3/@theostrichapp/@siliconalleypod

Instagram: @williyg_iii/@theostrichapp/@siliconalleypodcast

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSF39MO5e4z1SX9tYZ EhNgA?view_as=subscriber