On this latest episode of What The Tech, we welcome seasoned product executive and award-winning founder of Lodestone, Dennis Chow!  

At Lodestone, Dennis and his team have built a product management software platform that helps busy product teams move faster and get more of their product work done. Ultimately, Lodestone helps teams drive towards comprehensive discovery and successful delivery of the right thing, for the right customers, at the right time.  

Recently, Lodestone’s bona fides were on display when they took home the Judge’s Choice award at the 2024 CodeLaunch Accelerator event in Toronto, where our team was absolutely pumped to cheer on Dennis from the front row!  

But this is hardly Dennis’s first go-round as an entrepreneur or lending support to the Canadian tech ecosystem. He’s currently on his fifth year as a Volunteer Advisor for the MaRS Discovery District out of Toronto, and has played a part in numerous successful startups over the course of his career to date.   

I can’t wait to pick Dennis’s brain on his path into entrepreneurship, his philosophy as a product developer and creator, and what’s in store for 2025.

Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence.

Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth.

Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

Driving innovation that truly revolutionizes sectors is a team effort. That’s exactly what Acto Co-Founder and CTO Kumar Erramilli is looking to do in the realm of biopharma, and he’s working with the team here at Boast to maximize his innovation potential and build one of the fastest-growing startups in all of Canada in the process. 

ACTO is an AI-powered Intelligent Field Excellence (IFE) platform built for Life Sciences that helps Sales, Marketing, and Medical teams improve customer engagement and brand performance by turning field professionals into “Masters of the Message” who engage HCPs and their support teams with authority and impact.

With ACTO, biopharma companies can ensure field professionals are always competent, confident, and credible, delivering the right message to HCPs in face-to-face interactions, while providing senior leaders and frontline managers with the insight they need to drive continuous field force effectiveness.

While all of this is impressive on its own, Kumar has a wealth of experience across the North American tech ecosystem, having played a role in numerous startups and tech-centric organizations in his career to date. He’s a passionate inventor of AI and software technologies that are looking to change the way Life Sciences industry consumes technology, and I can’t wait to pick his brain on what’s in store for Acto and his take on the state of startups in 2024. 

Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence.

Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth.

Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

Today’s guest on What The Tech is Styx Intelligence Co-Founder Santosh Nair! Styx Intelligence is a next-generation platform helping organizations manage Digital Risk. In his role at Styx Intelligence , Santosh leads the overall product vision and long-term strategy and development of its StyxView platform. 

Their Mission is to protect organizations’ digital assets and data with a platform that provides visibility while actually supporting remediation against threats. Their platform is also key to helping businesses manage risk associated with digital transformations across various areas including cyber, privacy, regulatory compliance, third party, and brand.

Along with founding Styx Intelligence, however, Santosh has a lengthy background in the Cyber Risk space, as well as a founder building new solutions in Canada and beyond. We at Boast first met Santosh through our friends at GetFresh Ventures, and I can’t wait to hear from Santosh the role that community connections can play in building great products and achieving growth. 

Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence.

Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth.

Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

Building a purpose-driven business isn’t easy. But when you start developing new technology that tackles a specific, pressing problem with a focus on the customers who most acutely need your solution, a wealth of support systems will open up to help your product take flight. 

To share their journey through Canada’s innovation ecosystem, we welcome onto the podcast Climative CEO Winston Morton. 

Climative is a clean tech company using AI-assisted digital energy assessments and blockchain to accelerate the decarbonization of the built environment. They create low-carbon plans for every building, which can be securely shared and updated by homeowners and those who support them to make better, faster decisions to reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment.

Winston started as Climative’s CTO before taking on the CEO mantle almost 2 years back, but his experience and expertise in the tech space is extensive. He’s an active member of the Futurpreneur and Volta communities, for instance, serving as a mentor for founders out of Halifax and beyond, while helping steer the tech trajectory of many innovative businesses over the past two decades.

It’s an impressive track record, and we pick Winston’s brain on what it takes to build a successful cleantech business in 2024 and what’s on deck as Climative grows!

Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence.

Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth.

Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

At FMRK, Faisal and his team are developing a Rapid Urinary Tract Infection Antibiotic Susceptibility Test for the elderly and people with spinal cord injuries. Their technology is rooted in decentralized diagnostic testing solutions, making medical diagnostics easy to use, quick, and reliable. 

Their first-of-a-kind, near-patient Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing Device was designed exclusively for community healthcare settings—deriving results in 6 hours or less—making the entire process easy, simple and faster than the traditional methods. 

Along with driving this incredible diagnostic innovation, Faisal is also a member of the GetFresh Ventures community and has been making his mark in the BC tech and startup ecosystem. I’m excited to pick his brains on what’s next for FMRK, hear about his path as an entrepreneur, and learn about what’s in store for the rest of 2024.

Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence.

Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth.

Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

On the latest episode of What The Tech we welcome Hudhaifah Zahid, Co-Founder and CEO of econommi. 

At econommi, Hudhaifah and his team are  building a new generation of interest-free models that revolutionize private markets by digitizing real-world assets. Their unique technology can tokenize almost any asset — that includes cars today, and maybe rockets tomorrow. 

With over a decade of experience in economics, finance, and blockchain technology, Hudhaifah has a proven track record of developing cutting-edge risk scoring algorithms and creating efficient, debt-free financial systems, with expertise in enhancing liquidity, transparency, and returns for investors.

He is passionate about transitioning to an asset-based economy, addressing wealth inequality, and leveraging technology to create sustainable financial solutions.

It’s quite the mission, and I’m excited to pick his brain on what it takes to build a successful business in 2024! Without further ado, welcome to the show!

Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence.

Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth.

Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

On this bonus episode we welcome a return guest onto the What The Tech podcast: Our pal Ilya Brotzky, CEO of VanHack. Ilya’s team just celebrated 9 years of success helping to create a borderless world for tech talent, with more than more than 450,000 members having joined the VanHack community from over 100 countries since VanHack’s inception. 

Ilya and his team are taking their on-demand staffing solution to the next level with the launch of VanHack’s SR&ED Unlocked program. In partnership with Boast, this new program is a boon for CCPCs—specifically, dev shops—throughout Canada by giving them an opportunity to unlock higher annual SR&ED claims while supporting some of the world’s top software engineering, design, and digital marketing talent in relocation. 

It’s an exciting program and opportunity, and we pick Ilya’s brain on how teams can take advantage and play a role in driving global innovation. 

Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence.

Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth.

Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

On this special episode, we welcome a member of the Boast team onto the show, Mr. Shahed Khalili! Shahed is Boast’s Chief Product and Technical Officer, where he’s leading the team that’s building our award-winning, data-driven R&D intelligence platform, using the latest in AI and ML to help our clients accelerate their innovation and extend their product runways. 

At his core, Shahed is a dreamer, builder, and a seasoned operator who has made strides in the B2B SaaS space before joining Boast. Most recently, he helped grow Galvanize to unicorn status on its April 2021 sale to Diligent for $1B USD. He’s also been a two-time co-founder, an engineer, and a product manager throughout his career, and has gained a lot of insights about building powerful solutions that I can’t wait for him to share. 

In this conversation, we dive in and understand where Boast has been and what’s in store as we continue to grow and help even more innovative businesses maximize their investments into critical R&D. 

Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence.

Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth.

Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

Today we welcome onto the show Developa Founder Beth Nevins. Developa is a people and talent consultancy with deep expertise and experience operating in and supporting start-ups backed by Tiger Global, Sequoia, Target Global, Balderton, and Atomico. As experts in People & Talent, Beth and her team work as advisors, coaches, and consultants to help startups accelerate and realize their vision.

Outside of Developa, Beth has extensive experience at tech-driven startups helping steer people ops and strategy at business from seed stage to commercial growth, international expansion, and following investment rounds.

In this interview, we pick Beth’s brain on what skills and strategies founders can leverage as they navigate the various stages of startup life (and eventually march toward the CEO mantle), how teams should build their C-Suite in the first place, and common challenges facing startups when it comes to People and Talent in 2024.

Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence.

Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth.

Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.

We welcome to the show product development mastermind and tech guru Mathew Mozaffari of Speer. At Speer, Matthew and his team help startups and institutions build tools with proprietary tech, while assisting with end-to-end product development. 

At the same time, they’re also building apps and tools aimed to help improve our day-to-day lives, working beyond the technological nitty-gritty with a team of artists, designers, engineers and developers who strive to impact the world with their work.

Along with establishing a standardized practice for software development  for accreditation standards in North America and Europe, Mathew has led the expansion of Speer's technical practice and business markets to bring in over $5 million in revenue.

But beyond his business credentials, Mathew has been a major voice in Canada’s tech ecosystem, having traveled to 6 different countries for various competitions while being selected as a Top 30 Developer Under 30 in Canada already in his career. 

We're thrilled to learn more about the work Mathew is doing in the space, his strategies for success to date, and what’s in store for 2024. 

Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence.

Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth.

Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.