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The Unicorn Leaders podcast takes a deep dive into the world of building a billion-dollar company (a unicorn) in every episode. Join us while we explore the leadership and environments that create unicorn startups straight from those with first-hand experience (startup founders, VPs of talent, and more). The podcast is hosted by Fahd Alhattab, the CEO of Unicorn Labs and a millennial workplace expert who specializes in providing transformative leadership and team dynamics training for high-growth startups. Fahd has been researching what creates high-performing teams over the last five years. Join him as he asks his guests the hard questions to uncover what it means to be a leader in our fast-paced, information-based world.
31 Episodes
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In this episode, Fahd sits down with Zak Lefevre, co-founder and CEO of ChargeLab, to unpack a modern David vs. Goliath story in one of the world’s fastest-growing industries—EV infrastructure. Zak started in 2016 with a drill, a parka, and a vision—installing EV chargers in freezing parking lots across Toronto. Today, ChargeLab powers over 15,000 chargers and is on a mission to become the universal software layer behind the future of electric mobility. Zak shares how he pivoted from hardwa...
In this episode, Fahd sits down with Ron Tite—comedian, author, and founder of Church+State—to explore how creative Davids take on industry Goliaths without selling out or burning out. Ron shares how he bootstrapped his agency through speaking gigs, built a brand that stood out by standing for something, and why the smartest move isn’t to play harder—but to play different. He opens up about the early chaos of entrepreneurship, what nearly broke him, and the lessons that helped him lead with...
In this episode, Fahd sits down with Stuart Lombard, founder of Ecobee, to unpack one of the most iconic David vs. Goliath stories in Canadian tech. What started as a personal mission to reduce his carbon footprint led Stuart to invent one of the world’s first smart thermostats—and take on giants like Honeywell and Google Nest in the process. Stuart shares how Ecobee turned clunky hardware into a customer-obsessed experience, why innovation often starts with frustration, and how staying true...
In this episode, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Nora Beatty, VP of People Operations at Cohere, to unpack how small, high-trust teams scale in high-stakes environments. Nora shares her journey from Cohere’s 40-person startup stage to its 500-person rocketship rise—and what she’s learned about leadership, mentorship, and risk along the way. Together, they break down why the “self-made” leader is a myth, how founders can’t outsource culture, and what it really takes to compete for top talen...
In this episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Miranda Pokoy, SVP of People Success at Partnerize, to explore how HR can be a powerful driver of business performance. Miranda shares her journey from administrative assistant to executive leadership, and the strategic mindset shift that took HR from policy enforcer to business partner. They dive into what it really takes to lead through mergers and acquisitions, build culture across global teams, and develop manag...
In this episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Penny Farinha, former VP of People at Ecobee, to unpack what it really takes to scale a mission-driven startup through every phase of growth—without losing your soul (or your best people). Penny shares the behind-the-scenes story of how Ecobee went from 75 employees to a billion-dollar acquisition, all while competing head-to-head with Google Nest. She reveals why values-based hiring (not just skill) helped them bui...
In this episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Adam Gellert, founder of Linkus Group and Hypo, to talk all things hiring—from building high-performing teams to breaking outdated recruitment myths. Adam shares what it really takes to find top-tier talent in startups, why the "hire slow, fire fast" mantra is broken, and how founders can avoid costly mis-hires by aligning on the real business problem behind every role. He opens up about the grit behind building two...
In this high-energy episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd sits down with serial entrepreneur and author Adrian Salamunovic for a raw, real, and wisdom-packed conversation on what it takes to build—and exit—category-defining companies. Adrian shares the behind-the-scenes journey from selling his first business at 21 to founding DNA11 and CanvasPop, exiting for 30x EBITDA, and now launching The Exit podcast and founder community. Together, they unpack what founders get wrong about scalin...
In this episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, host Fahd Alhattab sits down with three-time Chief People Officer Ali Farrell, currently CPO at Apprentice, to unpack what it really takes to build high-performing teams in fast-growth startups. Ali brings a rare blend of corporate, VC-backed, PE-backed, and bootstrapped startup experience—and she’s not afraid to challenge outdated HR norms. From navigating chaos to ditching performance improvement plans, Ali shares hard-won insights on what wo...
In this season opener of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd Alhattab sets the stage for a new narrative—one centered around the underdogs. Drawing inspiration from the classic David vs. Goliath story, Fahd explores why small, scrappy teams often outperform their larger, better-resourced competitors. Using Google's historic win over Overture as a launch point, he teases a season packed with modern business stories—from tech startups to industry disruptors—showcasing how trust, speed, culture, a...
In episode 20, Eva shares her use of a product led mindset for developing new strategies of learning and development at Fullscript with about 800 employees. She dives into how the traditional models of learning and development are not always agile or adaptive especially with the rise of AI, remote and hybrid work environments. Eva dives into a new strategy she used to build community among teams in her current role. She shares the tools, resources, and approach used in developing oppor...
In episode 19, Andre dives into how he found his way into creating a socially impactful business while sharing valuable lessons and principles that he embraced on his journey to success as a leader. From letting go of micro details to building high performing teams and influencing decision making processes, discover some actionable insights that will transform your leadership approach and help you create a meaningful impact. Get ready to unleash the unicorn leader within! Tune i...
In episode 18, Jonah Midanik shares his journey and experience in a growth mindset of recognizing that ‘what got you here won’t get you there. He has been lucky enough to have seen the startup journey from a variety of perspectives: as a successful bootstrapped founder/CEO, having helped launch new corporate divisions at BigCo, and as the founder/CEO of Limelight, a Venture backed company. Jonah currently spends his time helping companies grow with Forum Ventures as the COO and Ge...
Jeanette Dorazio, CEO of Leadpages, a no-code website and landing page builder. She has had various executive-level positions at leading organizations, including Oracle, 8thBridge, Verifone, and Solera. Jeanette’s passion comes from breaking down barriers and championing the inclusion and success of women in STEM fields as female leaders in tech. In episode 17, Jeanette lays out how to reach the next level of your leadership career. She shares 3 lessons gained through her journey: knowing wh...
On this episode we look at organizational systems and how to think when designing the organizational structure. Realizing that it should not be designed from a people centric place but rather around the needs and direction of your business. It’s important to be mindful when you do design around people and whether it is sustainable long term. Krista shares the top two reasons to consider when looking to expand a team. First, think about whether the growth is significant and if in ...
Kyle Racki, the co-founder and CEO of Proposify, Kyle helps thousands of businesses remove the bottleneck of proposals and get more visibility into the close. In true serial entrepreneur form, Kyle also co-host his own podcast, The Racki and Symes Podcast, where he discusses ideas and strategies to push through growth. Kyle got his start in marketing and design, and ran a digital agency for over five years before selling it and starting Proposify. Since then he’s amassed a wealth of ...
Natalie Furness, CEO of RevOps Automated and Revenue Operations Consultant shares her journey and learnings along the way onto remote work and falling into the world of operations. She speaks of finding your people through value alignment for both the work you do and the work environment you prefer. Though she’s the biggest remote work proponent, she acknowledges that its’ not for everyone and a reshuffling can and should naturally occur for the best possible match. She encourages remote in...
Chris Williams, former VP of HR at Microsoft has over 40 years of experience building and leading teams. Through his journey, starting from installing car stereos and while being pulled into firing employees because of his people skills, to eventually transitioning to a computer science and going on to start a consulting business before selling it to Fox Pro before eventually starting his work with Microsoft. At Microsoft he worked in product before stumbling into HR and eventually becoming ...
Florent Schmahl, Chief of Staff of highly purposeful agtech company, Growcer, shares his journey and learnings along the way as he shifted his work from being focused on developing hard skills to now pursuing purposeful work. Over the years he’s has time to gather his insights on finding the work that drives you and how important it is in today’s labour market pressures. Despite this, Florent’s advice releases that pressure from the concept of pursuing purpose and instead reframing it as a ...
Today we have Shawna Stewart on the podcast, VP of People and Operations at Railz Financial. Shawna is truly a people-focused leader, she has extensive background in psychology and organizational behaviour and experience involving performance management, full scope operational effectiveness, succession planning, employee engagement and talent development. I’m so excited for you to listen to her episode because this was one packed full of with incredible insights, the common realities o...
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