CEO Confidential is the new podcast hosted by M&A expert and strategic advisor Allison Dent, offering candid conversations with founders, executives, and business owners who have navigated the real-world complexities of scaling, selling, and transforming companies.
Jake Karls: The Cocoa Crisis That Pushed Mid-Day Squares Beyond Chocolate
When the price of cocoa quadrupled, Jake Karls and his co-founders faced a choice: raise prices on the chocolate that had built Mid-Day Squares, or find a new way forward.
They chose to take a risk. In January 2026, the company launched a no-bread peanut butter and jelly snack, moving beyond chocolate and into a broader afternoon-snacking business. It quickly became Mid-Day Squares' top-selling product.
In this conversation, Jake shares how a supply-chain crisis became a turning point, why the founders chose to build their own manufacturing operation in Montreal, and how they think about product innovation, attention, and building a brand that can grow beyond its founders. He also talks about choosing investors and board members for alignment, and why the company plans in three-year "tours."
After eight years of building, Mid-Day Squares is preparing for its next phase. Can a Montreal-made business become a major North American snack company—and what might it take to get there?
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CEO Confidential is a podcast hosted by M&A Expert and Strategic Advisor Allison Dent, offering candid conversations with founders, executives, and business owners who have navigated the real-world complexities of scaling, selling, and transforming companies.
Follow Allison Dent on LinkedIn.
29 Jan 2026
Taking Deep Tech Public: The NanoXplore Playbook
Scaling a breakthrough technology from lab to global market takes more than vision — it takes relentless execution. In this episode, host Allison Dent speaks with Dr. Soroush Nazarpour, Founder and Chairman of the Board of NanoXplore, the world's largest producer of graphene, and the driving force behind VoltaXplore, a next-generation EV battery company.
Soroush has taken NanoXplore from a research idea to an international manufacturing powerhouse, serving clients like Ford, Paccar, and GE. Along the way, he's raised over $150 million, taken the company public, and built a fully vertically integrated business — all while laying the groundwork for VoltaXplore's entry into the fiercely competitive EV battery market.
In this conversation, Allison and Soroush talk about spotting a commercial opportunity before the world was ready, the strategy behind vertical integration and M&A, and how to balance institutional capital with founder control. Soroush also shares how he's thinking about the future of EV batteries — and what it takes to lead two game-changing companies at once.
If you're building in deep tech or wondering how to scale without losing strategic focus, this episode is for you.
CEO Confidential is a podcast hosted by M&A expert and strategic advisor Allison Dent, offering candid conversations with founders, executives, and business owners who have navigated the real-world complexities of scaling, selling, and transforming companies.
Follow Allison Dent on LinkedIn.
22 Jan 2026
Part 2 - Performance Under Pressure: Alain Brisebois, President, CWP Energy
This is part two of Allison's conversation with Alain Brisebois, President of CWP Energy, a company at the intersection of AI, data, and high-stakes energy markets.
After a corporate career at PSP Investments, Alain was recruited to help build something bold—and very different. Today, CWP is scaling fast, partnering with a global equity fund, and redefining how energy trading works in real time. But with growth comes complexity. Alain shares how he balances rapid expansion with maintaining the company's culture, how AI is transforming trading strategy, and what keeps him personally driven as a high-performance leader, athlete, and father of two.
CEO Confidential is a podcast hosted by M&A expert and strategic advisor Allison Dent, offering candid conversations with founders, executives, and business owners who have navigated the real-world complexities of scaling, selling, and transforming companies.
Follow Allison Dent on LinkedIn.
15 Jan 2026
Performance Under Pressure: Alain Brisebois, President, CWP Energy
What happens when you take an executive from a global firm and drop him into the volatile world of energy trading? In this episode, host Allison Dent sits down with Alain Brisebois, President of CWP Energy, a company at the intersection of AI, data, and high-stakes energy markets.
After a corporate career at PSP Investments, Alain was recruited to help build something bold—and very different. Today, CWP is scaling fast, partnering with a global equity fund, and redefining how energy trading works in real time. But with growth comes complexity. Alain shares how he balances rapid expansion with maintaining the company's culture, how AI is transforming trading strategy, and what keeps him personally driven as a high-performance leader, athlete, and father of two.
This is part 1 of their conversation about performance under pressure—and what it takes to keep levelling up when you haven't hit your limit yet.
CEO Confidential is a podcast hosted by M&A expert and strategic advisor Allison Dent, offering candid conversations with founders, executives, and business owners who have navigated the real-world complexities of scaling, selling, and transforming companies.
Follow Allison Dent on LinkedIn.
17 Dec 2025
Part 2 - Scaling Without Losing Your Edge: Inside the Data Sciences Playbook
CEO Confidential is the new podcast hosted by M&A expert and strategic advisor Allison Dent, offering candid conversations with founders, executives, and business owners who have navigated the real-world complexities of scaling, selling, and transforming companies.
This is the second part of Alison's conversation with Sean Hutchison, President & CEO of Data Sciences, a fast-growing analytics and AI consultancy working at the intersection of political strategy, enterprise data, and digital transformation.
In this episode, Sean opens up about the pressures and complexities of leading a company through rapid change — from taking on new investors, to pursuing acquisitions, to redefining the business around an accelerating wave of AI innovation. He shares how he evaluates opportunities, manages internal expectations, and makes decisions when the stakes are high and the path forward is not always clear. The conversation also dives into culture, leadership evolution, and what it actually feels like to run a high-growth organization without losing the drive that built it.
This episode is designed for founders and CEOs navigating pivotal moments, for executives preparing their organizations for technological disruption, and for leaders responsible for charting a long-term growth strategy amid uncertainty.
A must-listen for CEOs, entrepreneurs, investors, and anyone leading a business through transition.
Follow Allison Dent on LinkedIn.
11 Dec 2025
Scaling Without Losing Your Edge: Inside the Data Sciences Playbook
CEO Confidential is the new podcast hosted by M&A expert and strategic advisor Allison Dent, offering candid conversations with founders, executives, and business owners who have navigated the real-world complexities of scaling, selling, and transforming companies.
In this first episode, Alison sits down with Sean Hutchison, President & CEO of Data Sciences, a fast-growing analytics and AI consultancy working at the intersection of political strategy, enterprise data, and digital transformation. Sean leads the organization alongside two very different partners — a political strategist and a geneticist — and together they've raised private equity, scaled globally, and executed acquisitions while maintaining the scrappy culture that defined their early success.
This is part 1 of their conversation.
Sean offers a rare, inside look at what it really takes to scale a company without losing your edge, including:
• how to balance entrepreneurial intuition with enterprise-level discipline,
• and why private equity has strengthened rather than constrained their growth,
Whether you're a founder considering acquisition, an executive navigating rapid scale, or a leader trying to build an AI-ready organization, this episode delivers candid insights from someone operating at the heart of real-world transformation.
A must-listen for CEOs, entrepreneurs, investors, and anyone responsible for steering a business through its next chapter. Stay tuned for part 2!
Follow Allison Dent on LinkedIn.
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