From Queen's chemical engineering to podcast host! Listen to Steph Smith's career journey from working at an engineering consulting firm to present day, as the host of the A16Z podcast. Along the way, Steph has worked as a marketer at companies such as Trends.co and The Hustle. In this interview, Steph shares a wealth of advice for navigating one's career by being curious, travelling, constantly learning, and the valuable role of having a side hustle (or two).
Follow Steph Smith on Twitter - @stephsmithio (https://twitter.com/stephsmithio)
Check out the A16Z podcast here (https://a16z.com/podcasts/a16z-podcast/).
Lastly, be sure to have a look at Steph's book "Doing Content Right" here (https://doingcontentright.com/).
16 May 2023
Shyra Barberstock (Okwaho Equal Source)
In this episode, we speak with Dr. Shyra Barberstock one of the co-founders of Okwaho Equal Source - an Indigenous social purpose enterprise on a mission to fuel social impact through human-centred design, innovation, and Indigenous-led research. Hear about Shyra's journey building a business while being a full time student and her 'Why' for starting and running a business. Shyra also shares some of her PhD research related to procurement practices in Canada.
To learn more, please see the following links and social media accounts:
Okwaho Equal Source (website (https://okwaho.com/))
Shyra's Twitter account (link (https://twitter.com/shybarberstock?lang=en))
Shyra's LinkedIn account (link (https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flinkedin.com%2Fin%2Fshyrabarberstock%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cjim.banting%40queensu.ca%7C5473d7df8bec433c309d08db5279b9f4%7Cd61ecb3b38b142d582c4efb2838b925c%7C1%7C0%7C638194455001602137%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Aqb074dQDQ3egzps7SDcZLoKfJZJng00lZeX5FfMgZY%3D&reserved=0))
For more information on the partnerships and innovation support available at Queen's University, please see the following links:
Queen's Partnerships and Innovation (link (https://www.queensu.ca/partnershipsandinnovation/home))
9 Feb 2023
Rob Baker (The Tragically Hip)
In this episode, we chat with Rob Baker from Kingston's own The Tragically Hip. We talk about The Tragically Hip through the lens of a startup, growing into a fully fledged company that had a significant impact on the lives of millions of music fans in Canada and around the world.
Rob talks about the 'Why?' of starting band. He provides insights into team dynamics and making decisions unanimously amongst the 5 band members. Learn where The Tragically Hip played their first gig! Rob provides a fascinating account of how the band developed a following (hint - the Kingston, Ontario advantage) and the 'product' they were refining in the early days. Listening to feedback from the fans was paramount from day one! And, networking to find people to 'join them in the boat'. The Tragically Hip had an infinite mindset for goal setting - Rob describes their journey as always looking forward and being mindful of their activities to grow the band 'their way'.
Follow the The Tragically Hip on Twitter @thehipofficial
Learn more about research and innovation at Queen's University:
Queen's Research (link (https://www.queensu.ca/research/))
Queen's Partnerships and Innovation (link (https://www.queensu.ca/partnershipsandinnovation/home))
Dunin Deshpande Queen's Innovation Centre (link (https://www.queensu.ca/innovationcentre/))
Centre for Business Venture - Smith School of Business (link (https://smith.queensu.ca/centres/business-venturing/index.php))
26 May 2022
Sushee Perumal (MaxSold)
In this episode we interview MaxSold CEO Sushee Perumal (whom holds an MBA from Smith School of Business at Queen's). MaxSold, with operations across North America, is in the re-commerce space (for customers downsizing their home, for example, MaxSold will photograph contents to be sold via in on-line auction process).
13 Oct 2021
Peter van der Velden (Lumira Ventures)
Hear Peter van der Velden (2x Queen's grad - M.Sc. in pathology and an honours B.Sc. in life sciences), the Managing General Partner, share the story of Lumira Ventures. Lumira Ventures is a North American healthcare venture capital firm with a two-decade track record investing in transformative biomedical companies.
In July of 2021, Lumira announced a $225M (US Dollars) fund, the largest life sciences focused venture fund ever raised in Canada. Lumira also recently launched the Lumira Ventures Venture Innovation Program (Lumira VIP).
The Lumira VIP is designed for a select and highly qualified group of Canadian students from leading academic institutions who want to gain exposure to life sciences venture capital and start-ups, and are committed to pushing the future of life sciences innovation forward.
For more information, please follow Lumira Ventures and Peter van der Velden on Twitter (@LumiraVentures and @Petervencap, respectively).
28 Jul 2021
Neil Wainwright (Nexonia)
Hear Neil Wainwright (Queen’s Engineering & Applied Sciences grad and 8x startup founder) share the founding and growth story of Nexonia – a Software as a Service to track and submit expense reports. Follow Neil on social media: @neildwainwright
23 Apr 2021
Peng-Sang Cau (Transformix)
Hear entrepreneur Peng-Sang Cau describe the journey from day one to building Transformix to 100+ employees.
8 Apr 2021
Nadia Tatlow (Shift)
Hear Nadia Tatlow (Queen’s BAH grad) share the founding and growth story at Shift – a Software as a Service to consolidate email and many other subscriptions in the browser.
Nadia shares words of advice on the following topics:
- Solving a problem team that members were experiencing, initial as a side project
- Defining product-market fit
- Striking the balance between user feedback and addressable market
Follow Nadia on Twitter: @NadiaTatlow
Learn more about Shift at tryshift.com
11 Mar 2021
Alyssa Furtado (ratehub.ca)
Recorded pre-pandemic, in this episode Alyssa Furtado shares the story of Ratehub - Canada's leading comparison platform for mortgage rates, credit cards, GICs, insurance quotes and bank accounts.).
Highlights and key advice from Alyssa in this episode:
- Learn how side hustles can help develop start-up readiness skills.
- The importance of listen and talking to mentors/advisors.
- How to scale a team.
Follow Alyssa on social media: @AlyssaJRichard
Learn more about Ratehub: http://www.ratehub.ca
26 Feb 2021
Sir Terry Matthews (Wesley Clover)
In this episode, we re-play an interview with Sir Terry Matthews recorded during a visit he made to Queen's campus.
Key advice, stories, comments, and insights from Sir Terry Matthews in this episode:
- Give ownership to employees
- Build products customers want
- Write consistent quarterly reports
- Go global – fast (US is local)
- Be persistent – up to half the time a lost contract can become a win
Follow Wesley Clover on Twitter @WesleyCloverInt
12 Feb 2021
Anne Vivian-Scott (Kinarm)
In this episode, recorded pre-pandemic, Ms. Anne Vivian-Scott shares the story of Kinarm. Kinarm is a Kingston, Ontario based company founded based on research from the laboratory of Dr. Stephen Scott at Queen’s University that sells robotic instrumentation to help researchers around the world assess patients with brain injuries (e.g. stroke, traumatic brain injury and neurological disease).
Key advice from Anne in this episode:
How to recruit talent and form a high-functioning team
Listen to your customers to define your product development and commercialization roadmaps
Kingston, Ontario is a great location to build a health technology company
Follow Kinarm’s story on social media: @KinarmLab
Learn more about Kinarm: https://Kinarm.com/
12 Feb 2021
Dr. Elspeth Murray (Smith School of Business)
In this episode, recorded pre-pandemic, we interview Dr. Elsbeth Murray from the Smith School of Business.
Key advice, stories, comments and insights from Dr. Murray in this episode:
- Considerations before the startup.
- Finding co-founders.
- Hear the story of the founding of Evandale Caviar.
- Moving forward and iterating to validate business.
Follow Smith School of Business (Queen’s Venture Network) on Twitter - @QVentureNetwork
26 Jan 2021
Trailer - Queen's Return on Innovation Podcast
Listen to the trailer for the Queen's Return on Innovation Podcast - sharing stories and lessons learned from Queen's and Eastern Ontario.
Contact Queen's Return on Innovation Podcast
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