In this episode, I dive into a wonderful conversation with Katie Ko. Katie is an investor at Ripple Ventures, which is an early-stage venture fund focused on leading pre-seed and seed stage investments ($250K to $2M USD) into B2B SaaS (enterprise software, AI, and developer tools). Prior to joining Ripple Ventures, Katie Co-Founded SINGLA, a startup focused on investing in nnovative materials to make all-lace lingerie, hence revitalising the myth that sustainable fashion must compromise on design and style. Katie completed her Bachelor's in Management from Western University along with an exchange program at University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

We hope you enjoyed today's episode of The Inflection Point! There are  a lot of exciting episodes coming up as I dive into  deep conversations around starting a company from an entrepreneur's point of view and the ups and downs that come along with it in the process. You can check us out on LinkedIn @ The Inflection Point. Please leave us a comment with your thoughts and you can send your questions to ⁠[email protected]⁠ so that I can ask those questions to our guests and spark insightful conversations around entrepreneurship. You can also follow us on instagram @theinflectionpointwithshaan and if you leave today with one message I hope it is this- “Change is inevitable; embrace it if you can!” See you all next time!

In this episode, I dive into a wonderful conversation with Dr. Fiona Simpson. Dr. Fiona is a research scientist and entrepreneur who wants to democratize regenerative medicine. She is the co-founder and CEO of BioMimir, a medical device startup that uses biomaterials to streamline wound healing. Fiona’s team develops biosynthetic polymers to expand the accessibility and affordability of innovative therapies for complex wounds. Fiona is a Life Science Innovation Fellow at Innovate Calgary. She received her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the Université de Montréal and her BSc from McMaster University. Danse Macabre by Ghost is a song that tops the charts for her.

We hope you enjoyed today's episode of The Inflection Point! There are  a lot of exciting episodes coming up as I dive into  deep conversations around starting a company from an entrepreneur's point of view and the ups and downs that come along with it in the process. You can check us out on LinkedIn @ The Inflection Point. Please leave us a comment with your thoughts and you can send your questions to [email protected] so that I can ask those questions to our guests and spark insightful conversations around entrepreneurship. You can also follow us on instagram @theinflectionpointwithshaan and if you leave today with one message I hope it is this- “Change is inevitable; embrace it if you can!” See you all next time!

After a short break, we are back!

In this episode, I dive into a wonderful conversation with Izabella Roth. Isabella is a Registered Nurse by background. She started her nursing career doing First Nations Nursing up North in High Level, Alberta. Since then, she continued her educational efforts and pursued getting her MBA in Healthcare Management. She has lived in High Level, Grande Prairie, Paris, Versailles (in France), and Connecticut, giving her a rare perspective of healthcare in different countries. Since her travels, Izabella saw the importance of customer service and how important it was to include that in healthcare. Since starting Infinity Healthcare in 2020, almost 4 years ago, she’s been trying to implement customer service to every aspect of care her clients go through. Her superpower is being able to network in any situation.

We hope you enjoy listening to today's episode of The Inflection Point! There are  a lot of exciting episodes coming up as I dive into  deep conversations around starting a company from an entrepreneur's point of view and the ups and downs that come along with it in the process. You can check us out on LinkedIn @ The Inflection Point. Please leave us a comment with your thoughts and you can send your questions to [email protected] so that I can ask those questions to our guests and spark insightful conversations around entrepreneurship. You can also follow us on instagram @theinflectionpointwithshaan and if you leave today with one message I hope it is this- “Change is inevitable; embrace it if you can!” See you all next time!

In this episode, I dive into an emotional conversation with Cliff Turner. Cliff is an Entrepreneur Ecosystem Strategist at ATB Financial, dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs throughout Alberta. His passion lies in supporting entrepreneurs in navigating the challenges and changes they encounter throughout all stages of their business journey. Cliff  has been a part of the small business ecosystem since 2005. 

He has founded and operated two business ventures, helped operate an educational mission effort in eastern Europe and worked with a national small business advocacy group to support Canadian small businesses. Now, as an Entrepreneur Ecosystem Strategist for ATB Financial, Cliff functions as a thinking partner, guide and connection to resources for small businesses. With a strategic and creative approach, he helps entrepreneurs deal with the challenges their business must face and the opportunities before them.

We hope you enjoyed listening to today's episode of The Inflection Point! There are  a lot of exciting episodes coming up as I dive into  deep conversations around starting a company from an entrepreneur's point of view and the ups and downs that come along with it in the process. You can check us out on LinkedIn @ The Inflection Point. Please leave us a comment with your thoughts and you can send your questions to [email protected] so that I can ask those questions to our guests and spark insightful conversations around entrepreneurship. You can also follow us on instagram @theinflectionpointwithshaan and if you leave today with one message I hope it is this- “Change is inevitable; embrace it if you can!” See you all next time!

In this episode, I dive into an amazing conversation with Marc Tomlinson. Marc is currently the Director of Business Relationship Management at AIMCo. He oversees procurement, supplier relationship management, market data, and AIMCo's global office network leasing. With over 25 years in procurement and contract management, Marc's unique experiences have shaped his strategic perspective and continually pushed him to implement new thinking to solve complex and challenging problems.

He is passionate about serving differently. As a builder, he enjoys creating new processes, models, and systems to positively impact the end user. Marc has worked at every level of government and, for ten years, led a Canadian charity dedicated to improving the lives of those with limb loss. Dedicated to supplier diversity and social procurement as an enabler, Marc is part of AIMCo's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council, fostering new relationships with disadvantaged businesses.

Marc is also credited with creating the first e-commerce application for the NATO Alliance in 1999, which is still in service today. He designed the procurement module for an integrated application that allowed 48 Armed Forces from 21 nations to redistribute military parts and components amongst themselves - think eBay for NATO. When buyers could not be matched with sellers, Marc created NATO-wide contracts that the Armed Forces could order against - a process that took 60 seconds. He created a new business model for NATO's largest agency and changed procurement laws in five countries.

Over the past two years, Marc has traveled extensively to establish AIMCo's new global network, which includes offices in Calgary, Singapore, Luxembourg, and New York and expansions in Toronto and London. He secures and negotiates the office space, creating and designing each space to reflect the office's unique needs. He blends hospitality elements and original indigenous art from Canadian artists to create modern and functional spaces in a post-pandemic world.

We hope you enjoy listening to today's episode of The Inflection Point! There are  a lot of exciting episodes coming up as I dive into  deep conversations around starting a company from an entrepreneur's point of view and the ups and downs that come along with it in the process. You can check us out on LinkedIn @ The Inflection Point. Please leave us a comment with your thoughts and you can send your questions to [email protected] so that I can ask those questions to our guests and spark insightful conversations around entrepreneurship. You can also follow us on instagram @theinflectionpointwithshaan and if you leave today with one message I hope it is this- “Change is inevitable; embrace it if you can!” See you all next time!

In this episode, I dive into a beautiful conversation with Amir Reshef. Amir was a corporate lawyer practicing at Dentons, the largest law firm in the world by number of lawyers. After a few years of practice, he had a classic “there has to be a better way” moment and co-founded Dealcloser, a legal technology company that focused on modernizing the M&A process. Amir grew Dealcloser over the last 7 years and it is now a successful technology company working with some of the biggest law firms in the world. The legal tech world is ruthlessly competitive and with Amir’s guidance and industry knowledge, Dealcloser built the leading tech platform of its kind in the industry, beating out significantly larger and better funded competitors. Amir led Dealcloser through its early stage growth and capital raises. Amir left Dealcloser at the end of 2023. 

Amir recently joined Fairly Staffing as co-CEO.

Fairly Staffing is a software platform that connects temporary dental professionals (“Temps”) with dental clinics looking for Temps. Staffing is the number one issue faced by clinics and there is a shortage of dental professionals. By providing an easy to use, always available and on-demand platform to find Temps to cover when permanent staff at a clinic is sick, on vacation, or otherwise unavailable (sometimes very suddenly so), Fairly Staffing directly solves the number one issue in the dental industry today.

We hope you enjoyed listening to today's episode of The Inflection Point! There are  a lot of exciting episodes coming up as I dive into  deep conversations around starting a company from an entrepreneur's point of view and the ups and downs that come along with it in the process. You can check us out on LinkedIn @ The Inflection Point. Please leave us a comment with your thoughts and you can send your questions to [email protected] so that I can ask those questions to our guests and spark insightful conversations around entrepreneurship. You can also follow us on instagram @theinflectionpointwithshaan and if you leave today with one message I hope it is this- “Change is inevitable; embrace it if you can!” See you all next time!

In this episode, I dive into a wonderful conversation with Jessica Hajsan. Jessica is now the Managing Partner for Toronto with Eleven Eleven Talent Collective and CEO and Founder of Hire Mint Inc., two boutique Global recruitment firms with industry focuses in retail, tech and financial services. She is also a thought leader and avid speaker in the recruitment industry with the intention of making a positive global impact in the areas of closing the gender pay gap, ending structural inequality and unconscious bias in the recruitment industry. 

Prior to her venture into entrepreneurship, Jessica was the CHRO for H&M Canada where she was able to transform H&Ms culture which led to H&M being awarded as the first fashion retailer in Canada to be named one of the top 50 of Great Places to Work in Canada. 

With over 10 years of talent and executive HR experience, she is a passionate strategic and business-focused HR executive who believes that wholeheartedly understanding her clients’ organization, their vision and values is the key to allowing their talent capabilities to grow and scale. 

With a strong foundation in HR strategy and operations, she specializes in aligning talent initiatives with business objectives to drive organizational success. Her approach is holistic, focusing not only on attracting top talent but also on cultivating a culture of engagement Diversity and Inclusion. 

Outside of her working life, Jessica is a mom to a fun loving 3 year old boy named Wes and is also an avid dodgeball player, rapper and tarot card (Taro-o card) reader.

We hope you enjoy listening to today's episode of The Inflection Point! There are  a lot of exciting episodes coming up as I dive into  deep conversations around starting a company from an entrepreneur's point of view and the ups and downs that come along with it in the process. You can check us out on LinkedIn @ The Inflection Point. Please leave us a comment with your thoughts and you can send your questions to [email protected] so that I can ask those questions to our guests and spark insightful conversations around entrepreneurship. You can also follow us on instagram @theinflectionpointwithshaan and if you leave today with one message I hope it is this- “Change is inevitable; embrace it if you can!” See you all next time!

In this episode, I dive into a wonderful conversation with Daniel Cabral. Daniel, also known by Daniel Moroni,  is a young and driven finance professional with a passion for mergers and acquisitions. After obtaining his finance degree from the University of Alberta in 2023, Daniel started his career as an analyst intern in KV Capital’s private equity team. Recently, he embraced a new chapter as a Transactions Associate at Grant Thornton.

Throughout his tenure at the Alberta School of Business, Daniel maximized his academic experience while actively engaging in extracurricular pursuits. Whether competing or hosting case competitions, participating in intramural sports, or serving as the treasurer for his fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha, Daniel consistently sought avenues to foster meaningful connections and growth. 

Adding to Daniel's narrative is his journey of moving to Canada as an international student from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the age of 18. Lastly, when he's not buried in CFA exam prep or diving into financial models, he enjoys exercising, reading, watching NBA basketball and spending quality time with friends and family.

We hope you enjoyed today's episode of The Inflection Point! There are  a lot of exciting episodes coming up as I dive into  deep conversations around starting a company from an entrepreneur's point of view and the ups and downs that come along with it in the process. You can check us out on LinkedIn @ The Inflection Point. Please leave us a comment with your thoughts and you can send your questions to [email protected] so that I can ask those questions to our guests and spark insightful conversations around entrepreneurship. You can also follow us on instagram @theinflectionpointwithshaan and if you leave today with one message I hope it is this- “Change is inevitable; embrace it if you can!” See you all next time!

In this episode, I dive into a wonderful conversation with Jennifer McClure. Jennifer is the CEO of Unbridled Talent LLC. She is a professional speaker, trainer, and executive coach, and my focus is on equipping leaders to thrive in the future of work, so they can unleash the power and potential of their people. She is also the Chief Excitement Officer of DisruptHR LLC, which is a global community of people who are interested in sharing and hearing new ideas to shape the future of work. I support local organizers in planning and hosting events in their community where people share their ideas in 5-minute Talks, using only 20 slides that are set to advance automatically every 15 seconds. Disrupt HR currently has 150 licensed cities holding events in 35 countries around the world.

We hope you enjoyed today's episode of The Inflection Point! There are  a lot of exciting episodes coming up as I dive into  deep conversations around starting a company from an entrepreneur's point of view and the ups and downs that come along with it in the process. You can check us out on LinkedIn @ The Inflection Point. Please leave us a comment with your thoughts and you can send your questions to [email protected] so that I can ask those questions to our guests and spark insightful conversations around entrepreneurship. You can also follow us on Instagram @theinflectionpointwithshaan and if you leave today with one message I hope it is this- “Change is inevitable; embrace it if you can!” See you all next time!

In this episode, I dive into an amazing episode with Karsten Kuhrmeier. Karsten is the Director and Head of the Enterprise Project Management Office at AIMCo. His role is centered around maximizing the value and impact of projects and initiatives, optimizing resource utilization, and mitigating risks. Before joining AIMCo in May of the previous year, he served as a Director at PwC, where he led the Transformation Risk & Advisory practice in Western Canada. In this position, he closely collaborated with C-Level executives, Boards, and Program Leaders to mature EPMOs, develop Transformation Offices, and provide advice on effective decision-making to ensure the realization of program benefits.

Before his move to Canada, Karsten was a part of PwC Germany, serving as the Head of RAS Middle Market Hannover. In this role, he spearheaded a cross-functional team of Assurance professionals and held the position of a national leader for PwC’s Accounting Change Practice in IT & Process Services. He played a pivotal role in implementing various cloud and on-prem solutions and introduced them to global clients. His contributions also extend to thought leadership pieces and his input in the latest edition of Brightlines' The Digital Transformation Playbook, a book published late last year. It's worth mentioning that he co-founded a couple of companies where he experienced several inflection points along the way.

Karsten's leadership style is defined by empowerment, guiding his teams with trust, and promoting both personal and team growth by eliminating obstacles. His extensive experience, derived from working in various countries such as Russia, France, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Austria, the Netherlands, the USA, and Canada, has emphasized the potential of diversity. It has also highlighted the critical role leaders play in establishing effective communication to form high-performing teams.