Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas - the Rainforest podcast

Kevin, Shanika and Jenna talk about their experience and advice as startup founders, what motivated them to launch their startup and the supports available for new founders though the Alberta Catalyzer program.

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-173-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Kevin Dahl is a geek at heart. He loves technology and is fascinated by its impact on society. Kevin's background is peppered with senior roles in business development, sales, product development, operations, and HR. Kevin started building companies while studying at the U of S, and he continued that entrepreneurial drive by jumping into a startup right after graduation...and never looked back. 

After moving to Calgary Kevin had the opportunity to work as a community builder at then Calgary Technologies Inc - and ultimately returned to industry as a founder and early employee in several startups over the years. He's also been a volunteer with numerous industry groups, and is a strong advocate for entrepreneurs in Calgary's growing tech sector. 

Kevin is currently a Director in Plug and Play’s Alberta office, where he leads their Sector Agnostic AI/ML program and co-leads their Sustainability and Clean Resources program.

Guest: Shanika Abeysinghe is a recovering founder and advisor at Platform Calgary.

She fills her free time with EACH+EVERY, an organization that aims to reduce preventable overdose deaths and help build a more fair and compassionate community by adding the voice of businesses to accelerate drug policy reform.

She is also host/producer of Get Checkered, a podcast all about Formula One, and serves on the community council for The51.

Guest: Jenna Galloway is the Founder and Managing Director of Wymbin, a youth wellness and education studio located in Inglewood, Calgary. The studio offers a Licensed Preschool & Kindergarten program, camps, and offerings that support families in allowing their children to thrive during the most crucial developmental years. Wymbin provides comprehensive school wellness programs and professional development opportunities to schools and organizations in Calgary. Wymbin also has development a Yoga Alliance recognized Teacher Training Program and has trained over 800 instructors throughout North America. For more information please visit www.wymbin.com.

Jenna is also the Founder of BEAM Foundation- a registered charity that provides free access to programs that support wellbeing for young people who may not otherwise have these opportunities. BEAM stands for Balance, Empower, Action, and Movement. Through the provision of programs that integrate physical literacy and emotional competency, BEAM partners with Alberta organizations to support them in providing opportunities for all youth to thrive. For more information please visit www.beamfoundation.ca. 

After 10 years of experience within the health, education, and wellness industries in Calgary, Jenna identified a gap in the market where Education Technology can be used in a preventative approach to building capacity in young students ages Kindergarten to Grade 3. She is currently working with a team to develop an EdTech platform that can be used at home and in school settings that will build social-emotional competency and functional capacity within young students so that they can face the challenges of daily life with resilience and the ‘tools’ they need. For more information, please visit https://www.fledge.health/.

 

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Links:

• Wymbin
• BEAM Foundation
• Fledge
• Platform Calgary

Show Quotes:

"If I could say anything, it's just, jump in even if you're feeling apprehensive or like you might not be a fit, just give it a shot. You never know what will come of it. I didn't know if it would be a good fit for me, but the people at Platform will give you honest feedback and they'll point you in the right direction, so regardless of whether or not you take this program. I think it's valuable to reach out and just get connected with the community."

"I think Calgary is doing a really good job of supporting entrepreneurs, but something that potentially could be stronger is just engaging youth in getting involved in entrepreneurship opportunities from an earlier age."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: New Idea Machine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

The world of finance has not changed much until 2009 when blockchain and cryptocurrencies began to change the way we look at money. Pam Draper leads a company that has embraced this new technology and made it simple and accessible for all Canadians.  

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-172-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Al Del Degan I have been involved in software development for more than 25 years. I have started companies, lead companies and worked for companies - doing many different things. I am honored to be considered a leader in Alberta's innovation ecosystem, and I give back as much, and often as I can. When I am not working or podcasting, you will find me pursuing my passions of photography, crypto investing, and wood working along with the occasional round of golf.

Guest: Pamela Draper is the President and CEO of Pateno Payments Inc., a firm that provides development solutions in the payments space, as well as the President and CEO of Bitvo Inc., a crypto asset trading platform launched in Canada in 2018. Prior to joining Pateno and Bitvo, Pamela spent approximately 14 years with top tier Canadian banks, in the areas of corporate and investment banking. Most recently Pamela held the position of Director in BMO Capital Markets’ Equity Capital Markets group in Toronto where she was responsible for assisting North American corporate clients raising capital in public and private markets. Pamela obtained an Honours Business Administration degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. Current voluntary positions include acting as a Director for the Canadian Blockchain Association for Women and for the Calgary Public Library Foundation. Pamela also serves as an Advisory Committee Member to Rallie, a financial technology company on a mission to get more women investing.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Links:

• Bitvo
• Pateno Payments
• The Quadriga Scandal

Show Quotes:

"a lot of cryptocurrency platforms we're looking for banking in Canada. And the main one of the time was a company called Quadriga. A lot of people are very familiar with Quadriga, but if you're not Google it, or there's actually an interesting Netflix series on it now called "Trust No One". And it became infamous for the founder, Gerald Cotten, disappearing to India and dying in India of Crohn's disease, so the story goes. But when he did so he took with him $250 million of customer crypto assets."

"A lot of the crypto asset trading platforms when they started, they started more from the tech perspective and the tech is, is definitely important, but there's a whole side of things from a safety and security perspective that comes from being experienced in handling other people's funds and learning the regulations, which at the time when we started, there were no regulations. Now we're actually a heavily regulated business."

"his speech was so what I needed to hear. So if anyone else needs to hear that, there going to be crazy highs and crazy lows? And the crazy highs can follow the crazy lows by milliseconds a day or a year."

"cryptocurrencies get kind of a bad rap, but I think of you could sign up for BMO Investor Line Platform or Quest Trade, et cetera. And by a junior mining or a junior oil and gas stock, or some other emerging technology, and be just as at risk as if you're buying any of the cryptocurrencies"

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: New Idea Machine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

What challenges are you currently facing in your business? Do you have a reluctance to engage with legal workflows and processes? This week Jen digs in with Shane Fast, Co-Founder and Director of Cloud Security at Athennian. Athennian takes the out of control and complex to automated, efficient, and smooth. With cloud-based entity management, Athennian frees legal teams from manual processes, allowing organizations to scale their entities without scaling their overhead. Learn more about Shane's background in tech, how Athennian came to be, and what's next for this company with big impact.

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-171-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Jennifer Morrison is InceptionU’s learner champion. She has over 11 years of experience as an educator and received her Masters of Educational Leadership from High Tech High Graduate School of Education in San Diego, CA. Jen possesses extensive experience in project-based and experiential learning and design thinking. 

Jen spent many years teaching middle and high school students which provided her with a foundational love of learning and passion for exploration and personal growth. Following her natural curiosity and growth mindset, she honed her leadership skills and dove deep into project based learning during her time at High Tech High.

As the Learning Catalyst and Lead Program Designer with InceptionU, Jen provides valued leadership, guidance, meaningful connections and an engaging learning environment. She is deeply dedicated to each of the learners and their success. As Simon Sinek says in The Infinite Game, “what good is it having a belly if there's no fire in it? Wake up, drink your passion, light a match and get to work.” 

Guest: Shane Fast likes building things and helping people. Working in tech since 2016 has given him the chance to do lots of both. So far, Shane's career has been very rewarding, because of that he wants to keep going and pay it forward. Shane hopes to see the tech ecosystem in Calgary continue to grow and thrive.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Links:

• Athennian
• Shane's article on interviewing 100 people

Show Quotes:

"We [Athennian] serve to give superpowers to paralegals and legal teams across North America."

"We landed on a few key things that have been built into our values and hiring process. The three big things are diligent builder, focused creatives, and ambitious learners. There are built in contradictions which is intentional to ensure that we are conscious about growing our team with a balance of skills, energies, and mindsets."

"I tell people about the original sins in our codebase all the time. While we have solved a lot of them, dealing with technical debt is always a bit unfortunate and at the same time, they provide great growth opportunities for our team."

"The software industry keeps you humble. You have to be adaptable and flexible, especially as an entrepreneur."

"The 7262 Conference was inspired by a production outage last year. We gathered as a team, all the engineers on one call, and the only error we had was error 7262. While it's an inside joke and we were all humbled by the experience, it is representative of our team coming together and collaborating to figure things out. In this spirit is why we have named and created the Athennian 7262 Conference."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: New Idea Machine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

Combining her experience in the beauty industry with her background in science, a student of the Platform Catalyzer program, Rana Hyatt set out to solve a problem that has been a significant and expensive issue worldwide.

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-170-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Al Del Degan I have been involved in software development for more than 25 years. I have started companies, lead companies and worked for companies - doing many different things. I am honored to be considered a leader in Alberta's innovation ecosystem, and I give back as much, and often as I can. When I am not working or podcasting, you will find me pursuing my passions of photography, crypto investing, and wood working along with the occasional round of golf.

Guest: Rana Hyatt. Having spent decades in the beauty industry combined with her science background, Rana see’s first-hand the necessity and potential of technological innovation in the industry.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Links:

• Solis 

Show Quotes:

"You're like, oh, I need to clean these. And then you put your makeup on. And then you put your brushes away and your makeup away. And then the next day, when you come back to put on your makeup, you're like, oh yeah, I forgot. I need to clean these. And then the cycle just repeats. It's this awful cycle."

"I was ambitious and be like, we're going to be ready in six months. And they're like, you're not going to be ready at all."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: New Idea Machine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

It is common to talk about entrepreneurship and starting a business, or taking a business to the next level. In this episode, Peter and Brad talk about when people want to exit their businesses and the enormous considerations that follow.

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-169-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Peter Beaudoin Peter manages strategy and partnerships for an innovative alliance of energy companies committed to reducing environmental impacts through collaborative R&D efforts. Peter worked for more than 20 years in Asia building and investing in a variety of businesses. His most recent role outside of Canada was with the World Wildlife Fund, where he was the Chief Executive Officer of WWF China, based in Beijing. Prior to that, Peter lived in Hong Kong for 15 years working in the technology industry.

Guest: Brad Gaulin, P.Eng., MBA, is a serial entrepreneur & business growth coach that has been growing organizations for over 13 years as a consultant, & for over 40 years as a professional, executive & entrepreneur.  Brad empowers businesses to consciously know, grow & sell by combining a proven agile corporate transformation process with an ESG conscious business philosophy. Clients can leverage his extensive experience in strategy, innovation, growth marketing, organizational design, operational excellence, team building, leadership & cultural transformation. He honed these skills in the upstream energy sector, engineering, construction, pipelining, industrial products/services, IOT automation, information & web technology.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Links:

• MExit

Show Quotes:

"What do you want your legacy to be? How much money financially do you need to support what lifestyle? So you need to define what's the legacy for your family? What's the legacy for your employees and your customers and the community? How do you want to be seen? So you need to get clear on what you want that to look like."

"What makes us truly feel fulfilled? And it's autonomy, mastery and purpose and, you know, you've got control of your retirement, but when you don't have a purpose, you don't feel like you make a difference in the world. And I'm sorry, but golfing everyday does not make a difference in the world. Then people start to get depressed and they start to look back and then they start to wonder if it was the right decision."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: New Idea Machine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

James is a founder of Skip the Depot - An app that coordinates the pick up of your "empties", takes them to the bottle depot and automates the deposit of your return or sends it to a charity of your choice. James runs a software development business so his tech team applies true agile development to spin out features based on customer feedback.

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-168-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Lindsay Skabar is the co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Bōde, Canada’s first online real estate marketplace. Giving customers choice and access are central to her personal and business philosophy. Before her career in tech and real estate, Lindsay served on the Global Business Development team at Axia, which brought high performing, low-cost fibre optic internet to rural Alberta and globally to the USA, France and Singapore. She participates in humanitarian work around the world and in her hometown of Calgary. She continues to be committed to non-profit work in the form of board engagements. Former Chair of Aids Calgary and Chair of the Branch Out Neurological Foundation for many years. Lindsay now sits on the Mount Royal University Foundation Board. She studied business and marketing at Bishop’s University. Lindsay is focused on scaling Bōde across Canada, and eventually, internationally.

Guest: James Trask is a business and technology professional focused on disrupting industries and delighting customers.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider giving a listen to the Shift Podcast by Alberta Innovates

Show Links:

• Skip The Depot
• LT3 Advanced Technology Group

Show Quotes:

"I drove the truck around picking up containers and listened to customers so I could bring this information back to the developers and we could create new features... we were deploying new features every couple of days."

"We never let any of the issues that we saw linger for a long period of time, because we were constantly innovating. We were constantly changing things. Um, the fact that we were making decisions and if they were wrong, we just cut them off and we switched and went to another way."

"A large part of resources that we're hiring are fresh graduates out of school. And part of the reason that we like to do that is because you end up recruiting folks who are happy and eager to learn, get some work experience in the workplace, and don't have any necessarily preconceived notions of how things are done."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: New Idea Machine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

Tony Grimes has a chat with Tait Hoyem talking about being a programmer in the Accessibility space.

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-167-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Tony Grimes is a contract programming instructor for SAIT and InceptionU. He is the founder and organizer of the Pixels and Pints Meetup group. Tony is a lover of space, pinball and making things.

Guest: Tait Hoyem is an open-source software developer specializing in accessibility.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider giving a listen to the Shift Podcast by Alberta Innovates

Show Links:

• LIChess.org

Show Quotes:

"when I was, you know, 10 or 11, I was always on the computer. Whenever there was a problem, my parents were like, oh, Tait can fix it. But actual software development, and in addition to that, Linux and that ecosystem, that specifically came out of Minecraft."

"It was totally a cross section of passions, which is what I keep looking for today is something that's not just great engineering, but something that's great engineering, and something that helps me out."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: New Idea Machine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

Laura Kilcrease, CEO of Alberta Innovates discusses Inventures, Alberta's largest innovation  conference. The event brings together investors, entrepreneurs and global thought leaders who are redefining the future. 

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-165-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Peter Beaudoin Peter manages strategy and partnerships for an innovative alliance of energy companies committed to reducing environmental impacts through collaborative R&D efforts. Peter worked for more than 20 years in Asia building and investing in a variety of businesses. His most recent role outside of Canada was with the World Wildlife Fund, where he was the Chief Executive Officer of WWF China, based in Beijing. Prior to that, Peter lived in Hong Kong for 15 years working in the technology industry.

Guest: Laura Kilcrease is the Chief Executive Officer for Alberta Innovates, including its subsidiaries InnoTech Alberta and C-FER Technologies.

Recruited from Austin, Texas, Laura is the founder and former-managing director of the venture capital fund Triton Ventures, LP. She is widely recognized as one of the key figures in changing Austin’s economic landscape from one struggling with the economic ups and downs that come with oil dependence to a high-tech environment that is today recognized as one of the #1 Entrepreneur City and best place to live and work in the U.S.

She is the founder of the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), one of the United States’ first technology business incubators, and co-founder of the Austin Technology Council, a premier networking organization that cultivated the growth of the Austin economy. Laura also launched Capital Network, one of the largest angel investor networks in the U.S. with over $150 million in completed transactions.

Laura has more than 25 years of hands-on experience in commercializing technology, and a deep understanding of how to identify and build new business opportunities. Prior to accepting the role as Alberta Innovates’ CEO, Laura was a seven-year member of the Alberta Research and Innovation Advisory Committee, which guided the former Alberta Innovates’ corporations.

In Austin, she gave her time and expertise to a number of non-profit boards, including the Women’s Leadership Advisory Board of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, the Beyster Institute, World Congress for Information Technology 2006, and the IC² Institute at The University of Texas at Austin, among many others.

Laura has often been recognized for her outstanding achievements. She has received numerous honors and awards, including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Austin Business Journal’s Profiles in Power Award, and the University of Texas McCombs School of Business Women in Business Leadership Conference Trailblazer Award.

Born in London, Laura received her certification as a Chartered Management Accountant in the U.K. and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Texas. 

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider giving a listen to the Shift Podcast by Alberta Innovates

Show Links:

• Inventures Canada
• Alberta Innovates

Show Quotes:

"the last real live Inventures in 2019, within six months, there was $116 million of transactions done. And within the first year, even under COVID, it was approximately $246 million of deals done."
"I'm also hoping that everyone can come out and reconnect with their old friends, but also meet their new partners. Because this is a time where we need to come together, post COVID, and really kick butt with the rest of the world."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: New Idea Machine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

Can you harness human energy?  Join Chris and Val as they discuss the world of vision, people, data, traction, and collective work helping community first.

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-165-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Val McCarty is in the business of helping organizations visualize, communicate, and execute strategy in real time. Her studies were acquired at both University of Alberta and Grant MacEwan University, and encompassed Management, Education, and Human Services, with an aim to continue learning. Her previous experience includes the Financial Sector, Fitness Sector, and Early Childhood Education.  When Val is not at work you can find her outside with her grandkids, or looking forward to the next live jam.

Guest: Chris McPhee graduated from the U of Saskatchewan with degrees in Comp Sci and Engineering and moved to Calgary for work.  After working in software development for several years, he became an independent project management consultant before moving to a small start-up company to run the day-to-day operations.  After growing that company for 8 years, it was successfully sold and then Chris moved to the acquiring company to work in the M&A group.  Prior to his company being acquired, Chris implemented the system described in the book Traction and loved it so much that he has now decided to devote his time to helping other entrepreneurial companies implement the system to accelerate healthy growth in their companies.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider giving a listen to the Shift Podcast by Alberta Innovates

Show Quotes:

"what grounds me to the Rainforest community, I just feel like there's a, there's an opportunity for, a rising tide to lift all boats."
"our leadership team, as we got to a certain size, we were really challenged with kind of being on the same page."

Links:

• EOS Worldwide

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: New Idea Machine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

Join Peter Beaudoin as he discusses with Mike Bignold, Founder and CEO of CostCertified, the opportunity to radically transform the construction process for homeowners, contractors and suppliers.

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-164-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Peter Beaudoin Peter manages strategy and partnerships for an innovative alliance of energy companies committed to reducing environmental impacts through collaborative R&D efforts. Peter worked for more than 20 years in Asia building and investing in a variety of businesses. His most recent role outside of Canada was with the World Wildlife Fund, where he was the Chief Executive Officer of WWF China, based in Beijing. Prior to that, Peter lived in Hong Kong for 15 years working in the technology industry.

Guest:  Mike Bignold is the founder and CEO of CostCertified, a Y Combinator and venture-backed saas-enabled marketplace for residential construction, based in Calgary. Originally from Canmore and with a business degree from UBC, Mike later ran a contracting company and built CostCertified to manage his own business when he couldn’t find a tool that helped him provide a better customer experience. Mike has a rare overlap of experience with coding, construction and business which was crucial in building the core of CostCertified  that is used by hundreds of contractors every day. CostCertified generates its contractors over $90m of annualized revenue, and its 65 team members are driven by a vision of radically transforming the construction process for homeowners, contractors and suppliers.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider giving a listen to the Shift Podcast by Alberta Innovates

Show Quotes:

"One of the happy accidents of building this configurable tool with all this data, front loaded is that we're able to de-risk the construction workflow."

"Well, it never gets easier. So every month it's never like, you've reached the stage where you can sit back, it's the next problem? And things are, you know, the office is bursting at the seams and it's like a game of whack-a-mole."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: New Idea Machine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan