In this episode, we talk to Sarah Goodman, the founder, and CEO of Chiwis. Chiwis is a natural snack food company based in Squamish, British Columbia.

After making her own kiwi chips to bring camping, hiking, or binging Netflix, Sarah decided to share these healthy treats with friends and family. They were then dubbed as "healthy tasting sour patch kids" and Sarah began the journey to create her brand. Chiwis now has five different flavours of all natural fruit chips. One big goal of the brand is to use as much up-cycled fruit as possible to decrease food waste.

In the two years of growing her company, Sarah has been able to get her product into over a thousand stores and is working in the US markets.

You’ll hear how Sarah started her company, the journey toward her first sale, and how she used the COVID-19 pandemic to pivot. Sarah shared that she raised the majority of the money for Chiwis on Zoom wearing a hoodie!

Her entrepreneurial background in technology has shaped how she is building Chiwis.

This episode dives into the potential of consumer packaged goods, how to build a brand, and how to finance it. 

She shares her experience as a woman in tech and finance. Don’t miss out on this empowering episode.

Check out some of our most popular episodes:

Chicken S#!it CEOs w. Mogens Smed: https://bit.ly/3M7c4xC

Leadership Lessons from Louis Vuitton, Samsonite, and Now, EVCP Growth Equity: https://bit.ly/3LN5Gug

Canada’s Best Venture Partner w. Bruce Croxon: https://bit.ly/3ppCAt9

For more information on our sponsor, please visit Olympia Trust Company

Stay in the know and follow along:

Subscribe to the podcast:

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Spotify - https://spoti.fi/43d7Smr

Connect with our host, Cory Cleveland on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3Lti42o

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Sign up for our free 5-part master class Investor Marketing 2.0: https://bit.ly/42C0FLW

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Subscribe to The Knowledge Bank Letter - a periodic letter of actionable insights, interviews, and quality curations: https://bit.ly/3pgdAVf 

Ryan Tansom is the Co-Founder and CEO of Arkona.

After hard work with his family's company, Ryan and his father turned the struggling business around by upgrading our staff, adding services, and implementing new systems. In 2014, the company sold for eight figures.

Selling the business helped Ryan find his purpose in life. With that, Arkona was born. The company began with the vision to provide owners with the tools to focus on creating a valuable business with the end in mind.

Starting a business from scratch came with its own set of challenges though.

In this episode, Ryan explains why entrepreneurs need more niche-specific learning materials. He also explains the difference between your business as a job versus an asset. Entrepreneurs needing to be well-versed in both finance and operations are often discussed with their clients.

Ryan goes on to illustrate why we should work towards aligning expectations and reality. He shares why podcasting could be a big win for many businesses, and the books he's read that helped him achieve his success.

Check out some of our most popular episodes:

Chicken S#!it CEOs w. Mogens Smed: https://bit.ly/3M7c4xC

Leadership Lessons from Louis Vuitton, Samsonite, and Now, EVCP Growth Equity: https://bit.ly/3LN5Gug

Canada’s Best Venture Partner w. Bruce Croxon: https://bit.ly/3ppCAt9

Stay in the know and follow along:

Subscribe to the podcast:

iTunes - https://apple.co/43d7C6Z

Spotify - https://spoti.fi/43d7Smr

Connect with our host, Cory Cleveland on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3Lti42o

Visit The Insider’s Guide to Finance Website: https://bit.ly/3ANacUr

Sign up for our free 5-part master class Investor Marketing 2.0: https://bit.ly/42C0FLW

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/42grK7w

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/411XXxU

Subscribe to The Knowledge Bank Letter - a periodic letter of actionable insights, interviews, and quality curations: https://bit.ly/3pgdAVf 

Cormac Kinney is the Founder and CEO of Diamond Standard. Cormac has no shortage of achievements! Some noteworthy accomplishments include selling a company to Oracle in his senior year at Carnegie Mellon, coining the phrase “heat maps,” and being a pioneer in the field of financializing diamonds.

For thousands of years, people see diamonds as a valuable store of wealth. The diamond industry today is worth around $60 billion dollars a year.

Yet, the market is notorious for its complications and difficultly quantifying. Through his company, Diamond Standard, Cormac is changing that!

Diamond Standard was created as the world's first and only regulated diamond commodity. The company helps investors access this natural resource by unlocking diamonds as a market-traded asset.

Tune in today to hear about Cormac’s journey with Diamond Standard to date. You'll also learn what the financialization process of diamonds consists of. Cormac provides examples of how this impacts the market value of a commodity, and more! 

Check out some of our most popular episodes:

Chicken S#!it CEOs w. Mogens Smed: https://bit.ly/3M7c4xC

Leadership Lessons from Louis Vuitton, Samsonite, and Now, EVCP Growth Equity: https://bit.ly/3LN5Gug

Canada’s Best Venture Partner w. Bruce Croxon: https://bit.ly/3ppCAt9

Stay in the know and follow along:

Subscribe to the podcast:

iTunes - https://apple.co/43d7C6Z

Spotify - https://spoti.fi/43d7Smr

Connect with our host, Cory Cleveland on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3Lti42o

Visit The Insider’s Guide to Finance Website: https://bit.ly/3ANacUr

Sign up for our free 5-part master class Investor Marketing 2.0: https://bit.ly/42C0FLW

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/42grK7w

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/411XXxU

Subscribe to The Knowledge Bank Letter - a periodic letter of actionable insights, interviews, and quality curations: https://bit.ly/3pgdAVf 

Melissa Widner currently serves as the CEO of Lighter Capital. She has extensive experience as an entrepreneur seeking funding and as a venture capitalist.

When it comes to funding for your business, there is no one-size-fits-all approach.

Melissa is a former venture capitalist and entrepreneur who has facilitated several high-value exits throughout her impressive career. She is also the co-founder of Heads Over Heels. The company helps female entrepreneurs that run high-growth companies connect to resources.

In our conversation, Melissa details Lighter Capital’s approach to financing early-stage companies. As well as how they create conditions for friendly debt funding.

She expands on some of the biggest lessons she’s learned about leadership. Melissa reflects on the challenges of balancing motherhood and professional life.

We discuss the importance of downtime and learn the ways Lighter Capital encourages employees to disconnect and recharge too.

Melissa shares her advice for her early-stage entrepreneurs and how to choose investors with care.

Today’s episode is a must-listen!

Check out some of our most popular episodes:

Chicken S#!it CEOs w. Mogens Smed: https://bit.ly/3M7c4xC

Leadership Lessons from Louis Vuitton, Samsonite, and Now, EVCP Growth Equity: https://bit.ly/3LN5Gug

Canada’s Best Venture Partner w. Bruce Croxon: https://bit.ly/3ppCAt9

For more information on our sponsor, please visit Olympia Trust Company

Stay in the know and follow along:

Subscribe to the podcast:

iTunes - https://apple.co/43d7C6Z

Spotify - https://spoti.fi/43d7Smr

Connect with our host, Cory Cleveland on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3Lti42o

Visit The Insider’s Guide to Finance Website: https://bit.ly/3ANacUr

Sign up for our free 5-part master class Investor Marketing 2.0: https://bit.ly/42C0FLW

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/42grK7w

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/411XXxU

Subscribe to The Knowledge Bank Letter - a periodic letter of actionable insights, interviews, and quality curations: https://bit.ly/3pgdAVf 

Grant Strem, is the CEO of Proton Technologies. The company focuses on combating greenhouse gas emissions by producing hydrogen from end-of-life oil wells. This hydrogen has the potential to be a major source of highly economical energy.

Grant discusses his experiences engaging investors for the company. There is a lot of risk associated with this industry. Grant explains why big players are often conservative and why other energy companies are pushing back against Proton Technologies’ efforts.

You’ll hear about Grant’s career, which led him to take over as CEO of Proton Technologies. We chat about what the company does, and how they achieve its objectives. We discuss how they extract, purify, liquefy, and transport hydrogen through existing infrastructure and delve into the company’s business model.

 Learn how hydrogen could be the sustainable energy source of the future and more in this episode. You won't want to miss out.

Check out some of our most popular episodes:

Chicken S#!it CEOs w. Mogens Smed: https://bit.ly/3M7c4xC

Leadership Lessons from Louis Vuitton, Samsonite, and Now, EVCP Growth Equity: https://bit.ly/3LN5Gug

Canada’s Best Venture Partner w. Bruce Croxon: https://bit.ly/3ppCAt9

Stay in the know and follow along:

Subscribe to the podcast:

iTunes - https://apple.co/43d7C6Z

Spotify - https://spoti.fi/43d7Smr

Connect with our host, Cory Cleveland on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3Lti42o

Visit The Insider’s Guide to Finance Website: https://bit.ly/3ANacUr

Sign up for our free 5-part master class Investor Marketing 2.0: https://bit.ly/42C0FLW

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/42grK7w

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/411XXxU

Subscribe to The Knowledge Bank Letter - a periodic letter of actionable insights, interviews, and quality curations: https://bit.ly/3pgdAVf 

Our host, Cory Cleveland as he reflects on some of the milestones from 2022. There have been many big wins, lessons, and even a few failures that are well worth looking back on.

We've interviewed over 100 CEOs and IR pros and this past year, we published our hundredth episode! An achievement that is still quite amazing to us. There have been some highly accomplished guests on our show and wonderful connections made. 

In today's episode, we reflect on standout moments from the past 12 months and some of the key takeaways.

We also find time to talk about some evergreen and foundational concepts such as preparation, networking, research, and content strategies. To hear all about this, as well as our outlook for 2023, be sure to tune in!

Check out some of our most popular episodes:

Chicken S#!it CEOs w. Mogens Smed: https://bit.ly/3M7c4xC

Leadership Lessons from Louis Vuitton, Samsonite, and Now, EVCP Growth Equity: https://bit.ly/3LN5Gug

Canada’s Best Venture Partner w. Bruce Croxon: https://bit.ly/3ppCAt9

Stay in the know and follow along:

Subscribe to the podcast:

iTunes - https://apple.co/43d7C6Z

Spotify - https://spoti.fi/43d7Smr

Connect with our host, Cory Cleveland on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3Lti42o

Visit The Insider’s Guide to Finance Website: https://bit.ly/3ANacUr

Sign up for our free 5-part master class Investor Marketing 2.0: https://bit.ly/42C0FLW

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/42grK7w

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/411XXxU

Subscribe to The Knowledge Bank Letter - a periodic letter of actionable insights, interviews, and quality curations: https://bit.ly/3pgdAVf 

Gerald Leonard is an accomplished author, jazz musician, and CEO of Principles of Execution.  He helps business leaders build teams that can overcome any challenge. He’s built up his company to serve federal and state governments and multinational corporations including Verizon, Freddie Mac, Hewlett-Packard (HP), GEICO, and many more. 

Now, here’s the catch… Gerald has drawn from his experience as a professional jazz musician to teach business leaders how to build, engage, and sustain high-performing teams.

We unpack what the business world can learn from the music world and learn the recipe for creating the best team in the business. We hear about his unconventional background, the link between jazz and business leaders, submitting to the bigger picture, how to leverage the science of conversation, and the value of routine. 

We also discuss creating a place for constructive feedback in the workplace, why it is vital for team performance, how to do it effectively, and much more.

Check out some of our most popular episodes:

Chicken S#!it CEOs w. Mogens Smed: https://bit.ly/3M7c4xC

Leadership Lessons from Louis Vuitton, Samsonite, and Now, EVCP Growth Equity: https://bit.ly/3LN5Gug

Canada’s Best Venture Partner w. Bruce Croxon: https://bit.ly/3ppCAt9

Stay in the know and follow along:

Subscribe to the podcast:

iTunes - https://apple.co/43d7C6Z

Spotify - https://spoti.fi/43d7Smr

Connect with our host, Cory Cleveland on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3Lti42o

Visit The Insider’s Guide to Finance Website: https://bit.ly/3ANacUr

Sign up for our free 5-part master class Investor Marketing 2.0: https://bit.ly/42C0FLW

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/42grK7w

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/411XXxU

Subscribe to The Knowledge Bank Letter - a periodic letter of actionable insights, interviews, and quality curations: https://bit.ly/3pgdAVf 

David Whyte is the Founder and CEO of Irwin.

Irwin is a leading investor relations platform designed with automation and reduced time-to-insight. Irwin has a goal to unlock and enhance investor and shareholder relationships for various business cases.

The platform services thousands of clients. We get the inside scoop on the philosophy that underpins what they provide and how they are managing their growth.

David discusses his excitement about the increased emphasis on the field of IR. He also chats about how he and the company go about creating and maintaining relationships.

We dive into David's idea of showing investors good deals, how to build trust and gain investment, and the ways in which Irwin enables their clients.

This episode is full of valuable information about raising capital and accelerating growth. Be sure to join us and don't forget to take notes!

Check out some of our most popular episodes:

Chicken S#!it CEOs w. Mogens Smed: https://bit.ly/3M7c4xC

Leadership Lessons from Louis Vuitton, Samsonite, and Now, EVCP Growth Equity: https://bit.ly/3LN5Gug

Canada’s Best Venture Partner w. Bruce Croxon: https://bit.ly/3ppCAt9

For more information on our sponsor, please visit Olympia Trust Company

Stay in the know and follow along:

Subscribe to the podcast:

iTunes - https://apple.co/43d7C6Z

Spotify - https://spoti.fi/43d7Smr

Connect with our host, Cory Cleveland on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3Lti42o

Visit The Insider’s Guide to Finance Website: https://bit.ly/3ANacUr

Sign up for our free 5-part master class Investor Marketing 2.0: https://bit.ly/42C0FLW

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/42grK7w

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/411XXxU

Subscribe to The Knowledge Bank Letter - a periodic letter of actionable insights, interviews, and quality curations: https://bit.ly/3pgdAVf 

Bob Hutchins is a digital marketer with a strong interest in the psychological side of marketing. This episode is a deep dive into the marketing space and, as he puts it, “our digital souls.” Bob has several years of experience working as a CMO and Digital Strategist.

The insights Bob shares in today’s episode are useful across the board from a B2B, B2C, and B2I perspective.

Human behaviour is what drives sales and thus is the factor that handles the success or failures of a business.

The mathematics of marketing comes into play as we look at tracking adverts, building funnels, and measuring KPIs.

We explore concepts such as the human mirror, social proofing, and media theory. Bob shares key pieces of advice on how to build an audience, conversion rates of your marketing messages, and live a more purposeful life.

Check out some of our most popular episodes:

Chicken S#!it CEOs w. Mogens Smed: https://bit.ly/3M7c4xC

Leadership Lessons from Louis Vuitton, Samsonite, and Now, EVCP Growth Equity: https://bit.ly/3LN5Gug

Canada’s Best Venture Partner w. Bruce Croxon: https://bit.ly/3ppCAt9

Stay in the know and follow along:

Subscribe to the podcast:

iTunes - https://apple.co/43d7C6Z

Spotify - https://spoti.fi/43d7Smr

Connect with our host, Cory Cleveland on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3Lti42o

Visit The Insider’s Guide to Finance Website: https://bit.ly/3ANacUr

Sign up for our free 5-part master class Investor Marketing 2.0: https://bit.ly/42C0FLW

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/42grK7w

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/411XXxU

Subscribe to The Knowledge Bank Letter - a periodic letter of actionable insights, interviews, and quality curations: https://bit.ly/3pgdAVf 

Do you want to know why a high percentage of mergers and acquisition deals fail? Kison Patel is the CEO of M&A Science and in this episode, we discuss all things mergers and acquisitions and how to manage investor relationships. Kison emphasizes that closing a deal needs to be more centered around the people aspect than it ever has been before.

Kison explains the issues he sees most frequently in transactions, deals that stick out to him, the most rewarding aspects of his job, and how he selects his employees. 

We delve deep into the importance of a narrative for investor relations and in closing a transaction and how Kison builds one. Next, Kison tells us all about his podcasting journey, how it has amplified his business growth, and why he encourages everyone to do it at some point in their lives.

Finally, Kison shares the importance of taking negative feedback on board in order to improve. 

Check out some of our most popular episodes:

Chicken S#!it CEOs w. Mogens Smed: https://bit.ly/3M7c4xC

Leadership Lessons from Louis Vuitton, Samsonite, and Now, EVCP Growth Equity: https://bit.ly/3LN5Gug

Canada’s Best Venture Partner w. Bruce Croxon: https://bit.ly/3ppCAt9

Stay in the know and follow along:

Subscribe to the podcast:

iTunes - https://apple.co/43d7C6Z

Spotify - https://spoti.fi/43d7Smr

Connect with our host, Cory Cleveland on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3Lti42o

Visit The Insider’s Guide to Finance Website: https://bit.ly/3ANacUr

Sign up for our free 5-part master class Investor Marketing 2.0: https://bit.ly/42C0FLW

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/42grK7w

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/411XXxU

Subscribe to The Knowledge Bank Letter - a periodic letter of actionable insights, interviews, and quality curations: https://bit.ly/3pgdAVf