Launch AMA

Today our guest is Reza Sanaie, who was the co-founder and CTO at Beanworks, an accounts payable (AP) automation company. His contribution led to Beanworks’ CAD 106 million acquisition by global giant, Quadient, in 2021. The acquisition marks one of the largest tech exits for a Vancouver-based start-up. In this episode, Reza, currently Interim CTO at Craver Solutions and Launch mentor, talks about what it was like to have one of the largest tech exits in Vancouver, what mistakes brands make when talking to customers, and how companies can combine in-person and remote work for the best results.

In this episode, you will meet Ali Adab, Chief Content Officer at SoleSavy, an end-to-end sneaker platform where he oversees Marketing & Content, drives Web3 and NFT strategy and leads strategic business development initiatives. Ali has built, led and grown ventures at the intersection of entertainment and technology for nearly two decades, helping both startups and enterprises find success in the explosive creator economy, and now shares his vision on growth in the digital age. Listen to his advice on growing your brand over social media and finding your niche, audience, and digital content creators to partner with.

Vik Kambli is a SaaS, digital media and eCommerce operator with 20+ years of experience. He provisions advisory services and capital to technology companies through Diaspora Ventures. Most recently, he was the Chief Marketing Officer at Clearly, a D2C division of EssilorLuxottica. Previously, Vik served on the Canadian executive team of Facebook/Instagram as Head of Western Canada, where he built the commercial business and team in the region. He led the retail, eCommerce, SaaS, FinTech, tourism, and education verticals during his tenure. Before Facebook, he led Strategy at Mobify and was VP of Marketing and Strategy at Monexa. In this episode, Vik explains two jobs that your marketing needs to do, why most startups die, and what marketing strategy the company should choose if it plans to expand into the North American market.

David Abbey and Maria Osipova are CEO and CMO of Penny AI, a global leader in data-driven social commerce enablement. In this episode, they share what helped the company to raise $27 million in the Series B after 62 “no’s” from investors. They'll also talk about what is the most effective approach to building a network when fundraising, and how Penny AI enables thousands of small businesses scale sales through AI.

Amit Klein has worked with a wide variety of startups and international brands to bring new products to market, find early traction and scale growth. He is currently helping people change their relationship with alcohol as the Co-Founder and CPO at Monument. Previously he was head of product at Nexar in Tel Aviv and co-founded a product studio which was acquired by Samsung. In this episode, Amit talks about Monument’s story, building startups in New York, and the power of community. Find Amit on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitjklein/ Connect with us online! Twitter: https://twitter.com/launchacademyhq LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/launchacademyhq/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/launchacademyhq/

Charles Ilya Krempeaux is the CEO at Railtown and Sparkscience. He has over 25 years of professional experience in tech and has created more than a dozen startups. Some of these startups are now well-known and valued close to $1 billion. Others ended up being sold to the largest well-known, top 100, companies in the world. He talks about the history of Vancouver tech, starting from the early 90s to web3 nowadays, and his long-term journey in tech. Find Charles on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesiliyakrempeaux/?originalSubdomain=ca Connect with us online! Twitter: https://twitter.com/launchacademyhq LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/launchacademyhq/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/launchacademyhq/

Sanket Chauhan is the Co-founder of Dots, the command center for communities, helping automate tasks and understand member insights. He shares how he left McKinsey to work on his first project, what it’s like to build a team with friends and colleagues, how to start an online community and which mistakes to avoid.  Find Sanket on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanketchauhan/ Connect with us online! Twitter: https://twitter.com/launchacademyhq LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/launchacademyhq/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/launchacademyhq/

Khurram Virani is the Co-founder & Chief Education Officer of Lighthouse Labs, one of Canada's first coding bootcamps. In this episode, he talks about what it's like being a pioneer in the field, his personal journey back to education, and how they utilized Launch Academy as their accelerator. Find Khurram Virani on LinkedIn. Connect with us online! Twitter: https://twitter.com/launchacademyhq LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/launchacademyhq/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/launchacademyhq/

Raymond Luk joins us for Launch Ask Me Anything. Raymond Luk is the founder of Hockeystick, a matchmaking system for startups and funders; Flow Ventures, a financial consultancy for startups; Year One Labs, an early-stage micro-VC fund, and others. He is passionate about entrepreneurship and removing barriers to raising capital through technology. Raymond is also the author of Pitching a Leap of Faith, a free ebook on how to pitch. He also hosts 'Pitch Lab', an online webinar where entrepreneurs practice their pitches and gain valuable feedback from others. Find Raymond Luk on LinkedIn. Connect with us online! Twitter: https://twitter.com/launchacademyhq LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/launchacademyhq/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/launchacademyhq/ Find out more at https://launch-ama.pinecast.co

Launch's VP of Programs Sam Chan interviews Lloyed Lobo on what he thinks makes a great startup network. Lloyed Lobo is the Co-founder of Boast.AI, a fintech platform that automates access to billions in R&D tax credits and government funding to help innovative companies fuel their growth. He also co-chairs Traction, a non-profit community of +100k innovators where leaders from the fastest growing companies share learnings on building, growing, and scaling companies via weekly webinars, regular meetups, and conferences. Lloyed has been covered in Forbes, TechCrunch, Fox Business, SF Biz Journals, and VentureBeat. He has also been featured on reputed podcasts including Entrepreneurs on Fire, Marketing School, Mixergy, SaaStr, 1Mby1M, Business Infrastructure Podcast, Martech Podcast, Minority Report, Leveling Up, and Rocketship.fm. Connect with us online! Twitter: https://twitter.com/launchacademyhq LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/launchacademyhq/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/launchacademyhq/ Find out more at https://launch-ama.pinecast.co

Michael Lazar is a Partner at McKinsey & Company where he provides management consulting services to the firm’s clients, with a focus on strategy, growth, and transformation for clients in the tech and public sectors. Outside of work, he has spent time building the NFT space and looking at how traditional brands can use Web3 to deliver on community engagement and value creation. Find Michael on LinkedIn. Find out more at https://launch-ama.pinecast.co

Episode Notes Do you have questions about the Vancouver tech ecosystem? Fundraising in the Americas? An insight what industries established advisors and investors are looking into? In addition to being a long-time friend of Launch Academy, Bernd Petak is an investment partner and co-founder at Northmark Ventures, a VC firm investing in tech-driven growth companies throughout the Americas. Bernd is a multi-time startup founder and CEO, CFO, COO in a number of companies ranging from FinTech to gaming, SaaS and many more. Not only is he a former software engineer, Bernd is also an active advisor and mentor for companies of all sizes. Bernd will be answering all your questions on these topics and more during this session. Bernd Petak's Twitter and LinkedIn Find out more at https://launch-ama.pinecast.co

Serial entrepreneur and investor Shafin Diamond Tejani joined us recently for our ‘Ask Me Anything’ session. As the CEO of Victory Square Technologies (VST), Tejani has pioneered a unique venture-build model to support startup growth — offering not just funding, but his unique expertise and leadership advice. Tejani has won numerous awards including Prime Minister's Volunteer Award, EY’s Tech Entrepreneur of the Year, Person of the Year by BC Tech Association & Canadian Angel Investor of the Year. In this AMA session, Tejani shared his entrepreneurial journey and answered questions from Launch’s Maple Program members about venture capital, funding, public markets, and Web3. Twitter & LinkedIn: @shafindiamond Find out more at https://launch-ama.pinecast.co

Ganesh is the CEO of Covalent, which is a Blockchain company that started out at Launch Academy a few years ago. Ganesh and Covalent are on a mission to solve the data infrastructure problems preventing the blockchain industry from growing and becoming widely adopted. Some of their biggest milestones lately: a billion-dollar valuation and the recent launch of their DAO. Social Media: Twitter: @gane5h @Covalent_HQ Follow Launch Academy on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram for more start-up content.

Networking expert, J. Kelly Hoey is the author of Build Your Dream Network: Forging Powerful Relationships In A Hyper-Connected World (Tarcher Perigee/Penguin Random House) and hosts the Build Your Dream Network podcast. A frequent speaker and source for networking insights, she has been lauded from Forbes (“1 of 5 Women Changing the World of VC/Entrepreneurship”) to Fast Company (“1 of the 25 Smartest Women On Twitter”) to Business Insider (“1 of the 100 Most Influential Tech Women On Twitter”) and Inc. (1 of “10 Most Well-Connected People in New York City’s Startup Scene”). Empowering A Billion Women By 2020 included her on their list of the “100 Most Influential Global Leaders Empowering Women Worldwide”. Not bad for a former corporate lawyer. She’s a LP investor in two emerging tech funds, advisor to New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, and can frequently be found on Twitter @jkhoey. Connect w/Kelly Hoey Follow Launch Academy on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram for more start-up content. Find out more at https://launch-ama.pinecast.co