Founder Journey ft. Michael Hyatt TechTO 2025-09-25 | On today’s episode of the Founder Journey, we discuss a very inspiring entrepreneurial journey and share the ultimate playbook for today's builders. In a live studio session with TechTO during Toronto Tech Week, Michael Hyatt, the legendary builder, investor, former Dragon on CBC's Next Gen Den and current inspiring tech figure, joined Alexandra Reilly and guest host Marsha Druker to hone in on the Founder Journey. From a very personal beginning into this world, all the way to lending his voice and guidance to the next generation of builder's, Hyatt gets very candid on the entire process from start to finish.Stay subscribed to the series to hear from more of today's biggest names in tech, who share their authentic and unique stories of success, failure and lessons learned, and how they built some of the biggest companies in the country and globally. We drop new episodes all month long.Subscribe: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ztGmAp...Thank you to our podcast partners StartWell. You can learn more about how they can support your content and business gatherings at startwell.co Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
The Two Games Every Founder Plays | Ujwal Arkalgud of Orbit TechTO 2026-09-17 | In 2019, Ujwal Arkalgud had an offer on the table from a private equity firm based in LA. The deal went all the way through technical and financial due diligence. At the eleventh hour, the buyer pulled out.That near-miss forced a hard look at why. Founders usually pick one of two games without ever deciding to. Game one is building IP so specific and valuable that a strategic buyer has to acquire it, because they don't have the time or expertise to build it themselves. Game two is building a profitable, self-sustaining business that could keep running without the founder in the room.Each game calls for a different approach to fundraising, spending, and where the money goes: toward product and proof of IP in game one, toward distribution, margin, and retention in game two.His company was playing both without realizing it: talking like an irreplaceable, must-acquire product on one hand, while worrying about runway on the other. That confusion, more than anything else, is what he thinks killed the deal.AI has made game one harder to win. Strategic buyers increasingly believe they can build what a startup built themselves, using AI, and Ujwal says he's heard that directly from prospective customers pitching against his own product.His advice on timing is not to try to time an exit. Build relationships with the strategic buyers you'd eventually want to sell to, treat them like customers along the way, and let the timing sort itself out.This one's for any founder who hasn't consciously chosen which game they're playing yet, because the choice gets made for you either way.What do you think of what Ujwal had to say? Tell us by leaving a comment.Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships#TechTO #TorontoTech #CanadianTech #Startups
The $0 Sale That Started Succession AI | Avril Sun of Succession AI TechTO 2026-09-17 | Avril Sun's family ran a restaurant business for 28 years. In 2023, they closed it down for $0, because nobody, not even them, could say what it was worth. That gap between a business's real value and what the owner can prove is why she built Succession AI, an M&A platform for founder-led businesses.Succession AI started as a marketplace connecting sellers and buyers. The team learned fast that sellers had no idea what their business was worth, whether a buyer was credible, or what due diligence even involved. So they leaned into the unscalable part: answering those questions directly, then partnering with the Government of Ontario to make the process repeatable across the province.The traction since has been impressive. $25 million in total transaction volume, dozens of businesses sold, and one deal that pulled five offers in 14 days for a 75-year-old owner whose proceeds went to his wife and daughter.This one's for founders thinking about what happens when they're ready to step away, and for anyone building AI tools for an industry nobody's modernized yet. Selling a family business shouldn't come down to guesswork.What do you think of what Avril had to say? Tell us by leaving a comment.Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships#TechTO #TorontoTech #CanadianTech #Startups
AI Doesnt Save You Time, It De-Risks You Early | Azam Khan of Trax TechTO 2026-09-17 | Azam Khan co-founded Trax, building-code compliance software, after a research career in simulation and design. His take on AI in product development skips the productivity-hack talk most founders default to.One of his programmers put it best: "building the product will probably take just as long with AI as without it." The real benefit is that you find out what you're building within days instead of months, so you're de-risking the idea early rather than saving time later.Trax's own product proves the point. Its automated code-checking system runs a building permit application through by-law, zoning, applicable law, and building code checks, with an initial read-out in about 15 seconds. That's for municipalities and building departments who, as Azam tells it, have been using the same manual workflows for decades because nobody had ever built software for them.Azam frames the AI-build process as two cycles: an expand phase, where you can generate huge volumes of options fast, and a contract phase, where you narrow down to something tested and reliable enough to hand to a government client. Skipping the second cycle is the mistake he sees founders make most. If you're building for a "highly reliable organization," as he puts it, the exploration phase is the easy part.His closing point reframes the whole AI conversation: what makes AI impressive isn't the technology itself, any more than a printing press was impressive as a machine. It's the demand for language, and how much you can do once you can process it at scale.This one's for anyone building AI-powered tools for slow-moving, overlooked industries, and for founders trying to figure out what AI actually changes about how they build.What do you think of what Azam had to say? Tell us by leaving a comment.Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships#TechTO #TorontoTech #CanadianTech #Startups
He Announced His OpenRouter Rival Days After the $7B Stripe Deal | Kevin Callahan of Uniblock TechTO 2026-09-17 | Four weeks after Stripe agreed to pay north of $7 billion for OpenRouter, Uniblock CEO Kevin Callahan used a TechTO fireside chat to announce his answer: Hopscotch Labs, an AI model router built to compete directly with the company Stripe just bought.Kevin built Uniblock as a unified API for blockchain data, routing requests across 50+ providers so developers don't have to manage each one directly. Customers started asking for the same thing on their AI spend, since model API costs had become their biggest line item next to the crypto data itself. That customer pull, not a strategic pivot, is what became Hopscotch Labs.His case for going head-to-head with a well-funded incumbent was that nobody wins a market this size by being first; they win by being right when the market actually shows up. OpenRouter's growth exploded around February 2026, forcing fast decisions about caching and routing under pressure. Kevin's betting that Uniblock's engineering discipline, built for infrastructure that can't go down when it's moving billions of dollars, is the edge.Before Uniblock, Kevin worked at Wattpad, then Twitter during a stretch, then chose Coinbase over Stripe right before Coinbase's public listing. He talks through how he picked each move, and the year it took to close Uniblock's own funding round despite having Google as a customer.This one's for founders watching a well-funded competitor eat their category, and for anyone curious what it actually looks like to pivot a company's core product in real time.What do you think of what Kevin had to say? Tell us by leaving a comment.-----------------------Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships#TechTO #TorontoTech #CanadianTech #Startups
Pitch in 10 Seconds | TechTO Community Open Mic (August 2026) TechTO 2026-08-14 | You get 10 seconds and a microphone in front of 400 people. That's the whole format. A no-code app builder. A smart toy for toddlers, whose founder brings the toy on stage. A platform that helps VCs find and assess companies. Spend controls for AI agents. Security compliance. Recruiting. A research lab out of TMU looking for testers.Watch this before your next event, then use your 10 seconds better than you did last time.Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter: The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships#TechTO #TorontoTech #CanadianTech #Startups
We Cut 40% of Costs and Grew | Bryn Jones of PartnerStack TechTO 2026-08-14 | "We Cut 40% of Costs and Grew" by Bryn Jones (August 2026) at TechTO. In January 2023, PartnerStack lost 10% of its revenue in a single month. Then Silicon Valley Bank failed, and PartnerStack sold to SVB's customers. Bryn Jones had weeks of cash in the bank, close to 200 people, and no way to raise. He cut 40% of costs and grew that year anyway.He's specific about how. Not fat-trimming, a rebuild. "You get, when you have weeks of cash on the bank, you can very quickly prioritize. It sucks. But it's a forcing function, because the alternative is you drive it off a cliff."The honest part is what he blames. "We told ourselves stories that weren't actually true. And we even sometimes had data that supported the stories. It's amazing how you can lie to yourself." One example: they had metrics proving customer success was working. What they found later was that their team reaching customers at the wrong moment was increasing churn.The company nearly tripled its growth rate the year after the cuts, then grew more than 50% again. AppDirect acquired PartnerStack in April 2026, for upwards of $150 million USD according to BetaKit.Bryn swam for Canada's national team before any of this. His takeaway from it: "I learned how to suffer." He also spent three or four YC applications getting rejected before Kevin Hale called after midnight, and got told by a VC in 2017 that partnerships were the dumbest idea he'd ever heard.Watch this if your revenue just moved the wrong way, or if you've been telling yourself a story the data almost supports.What do you think of what Bryn had to say? Tell us by leaving a comment.Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships#TechTO #TorontoTech #CanadianTech #Startups
Bootstrapped 14 Years, Then Raised $200M | Jeff Shiner of 1Password TechTO 2026-08-14 | "Bootstrapped 14 Years, Then Raised $200M" by Jeff Shiner (August 2026) at TechTO. 1Password bootstrapped for 14 years before taking outside money. Jeff Shiner joined at 20 people to run it, and did not tell the team he was CEO for six months.He learned that at IBM. He'd pitched his boss on why he should be team lead, and his boss said fine, but I'm not telling anyone. Six months later Jeff was leading the team. "A leader leads. It doesn't come from a name. It doesn't come from a title."The bet that changed the company came in 2014. 1Password was a consumer app you synced through Dropbox. Jeff called it: they were going B2B. That meant building a SaaS layer and rebuilding the app on top of it, with 40 people, bootstrapped, over roughly 18 months. More than three quarters of revenue is B2B today. At the time, in his words, it "scared the hell out of me."On why they finally raised: nobody could tell whether they were winning. One data provider guessed 170 employees and $2 million a year in revenue. The $200M round from Accel was a calling card for hiring, not a cash need. The later round brought in Ryan Reynolds and, as the Toronto Star put it, the Avengers.On culture, he's blunt. Hiring is like a marriage. You can't bring someone in and plan to change them. Everyone you hire changes your culture, and the more senior they are, the more they change it.Watch this if you're bootstrapped and wondering when raising is worth it, or if you're about to make a bet your team can't see yet.What do you think of what Jeff had to say? Tell us by leaving a comment.Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships#TechTO #TorontoTech #CanadianTech #Startups
The Startup Advice That Died With AI | Matt Himel of Harvest TechTO 2026-08-14 | "The Startup Advice That Died With AI" by Matt Himel (August 2026) at TechTO. Matt Himel took the startup advice stuck to every office wall and tested each line against AI. Some of it died. One piece got stronger."Move fast and break things" is done. His reason is the one nobody says out loud: "Moving fast is no longer a huge advantage." Speed used to be scarce. Anyone can ship anything fast now."Done is better than perfect" survives, with a catch. At Harvest they push to staging fast, then test repeatedly with AI, so the customer gets something closer to finished without knowing how it got there."Pre-revenue is a feature, not a bug" is the one he buries. Anyone can build something and claim it has value. Until someone puts a credit card down, there's no proof."Do things that don't scale" is the survivor, and his logic inverts the usual reading. "I could send 200,000 cold emails probably by the end of this meetup from about 15 different domains that are adjacent to Harvest. And so could most of you." Scale is free now, so it isn't an edge. What he does instead: he flies to a client's office to onboard them in person, he brings donuts to prospects, and he applies to accounts receivable job postings to argue the company should hire Harvest instead of a person.Matt was a lawyer, then spent eight years at Drop, then raised a million dollars from Simple Ventures to start Harvest. His line on that: "I hope I never have to raise another dollar ever again."Watch this if you're building on advice that was written before the tools changed.What do you think of what Matt had to say? Tell us by leaving a comment.Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships#TechTO #TorontoTech #CanadianTech #Startups
Jason Goldlist, TechTO Co-founder, testifies at Ontario Legislature on startups and rural broadband TechTO 2026-07-20 | On August 26, 2020, TechTO co-founder Jason Goldlist presented to the Ontario Legislature's Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, during hearings on COVID-19 and the small business economy.Representing TechTO and members of Ontario's tech ecosystem, Jason made five recommendations to support the province's startups: buy from startups, invest in startups, prepare people for startups, make it easier to launch a startup, and improve broadband access.The last one drew the most questions from MPPs. He argued rural internet was holding back entrepreneurship, distance learning, and virtual health — testifying from rural Ontario himself, where he'd had to rent an office just to get a connection reliable enough to make video calls.Official transcript: ola.org/en/legislative-business/committees/finance-economic-affairs/parliament-42/transcripts/committee-transcript-2020-aug-26-vol-bFootage courtesy of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.Learn more about TechTO: techto.orgWatch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
What Toronto Is Building Right Now | TechTO Community Mic (July 2026) TechTO 2026-07-13 | This is the TechTO community mic, where anyone in the Toronto startup community gets about ten seconds at the mic to say what they're building, who they're hiring, or what they need. No slides. No pitch deck. Just the room.In one run you'll hear founders launching AI agents and consumer apps, a nurse-turned-founder looking for a technical co-founder, a background-check startup hiring in Toronto, a founder community running a week on the water, and an AI-literacy nonprofit teaching seniors to spot scams. You'll catch a project-management tool built from your meeting notes, a new way to read books as a web of ideas, a software-testing veteran offering to help teams, and a health coach for burnt-out founders. Some are hiring. Some are job-hunting. Some shipped their beta four days ago. Others are chasing bigger swings: a shopping platform built on real reviews instead of fake ones, an app that finds the right person to meet in a crowded room, and a kids' product teaching STEM confidence through everyday inventions.It's the fastest way to feel what Toronto tech is working on right now, and the whole point of TechTO: the person with your next hire, co-founder, or customer is probably three chairs away.If you're building in Toronto, watch to the end. Then come to the next one and take the mic yourself.What are you building? Tell us in the comments.Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
How to Find Startup Ideas Worth Building | Nomaan Ahmed of Orbits TechTO 2026-07-13 | The best startup ideas are not invented. They're noticed. Nomaan Ahmed, co-founder of Orbits and a former super.com engineering lead, took the TechTO stage to break down how he finds problems worth solving. His claim gets people heated: innovation is iteration, not invention. Google didn't invent search. Slack didn't invent workplace chat. Stripe didn't invent payments. They took an existing thing and made it cheaper, better, or more accessible.His process is two steps. Ideate: start with strong precedence, challenge its constraints, then make it cheaper, better, or more accessible. Validate: find your riskiest assumption and kill it before you build. As Paul Graham puts it, "startup ideas are not thought up. They are noticed."Nomaan lived it. He and his co-founder Eric first chased personal finance software, talked to dozens of customers, and heard the truth: nobody cared. The money mess was a symptom of a bigger problem, the mental load of running a household. That became Orbits, an AI household assistant. They proved real demand when people typed their credit card details into a half-broken signup form. He and Eric took customer calls at 2 a.m. to get there. Orbits, in his framing, lets you stop your nine-to-five and start your five-to-nine, handling the household end to end.If you're hunting for a startup idea, sitting on one you can't validate, or building something people politely say they like, watch this one.What do you think of what Nomaan had to say? Tell us by leaving a comment. Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
A Nurse Cut Transplant Deaths From 21% to 5% | Marijana Zubrinic of HALO TechTO 2026-07-13 | "A Nurse Cut Transplant Deaths From 21% to 5%" by Marijana Zubrinic (July 2026) at TechTO. Join the next event: techto.org/eventsThis healthtech startup began with one nurse and one hospital unit. Marijana Zubrinic, co-founder of HALO and a nurse practitioner at UHN, took the TechTO stage to tell the story. On the lung-transplant waitlist, patients on high-flow oxygen can slip into respiratory arrest in seconds if a mask comes off. Traditional alarms missed it. The preventable mortality rate was 21%, one in five.HALO's remote monitoring changed that. Marijana's first prototype was chopped-down IV poles, Amazon speakers, and cameras. Executives called it insane, five years before COVID. One conditional yes and one prevented emergency later, the whole department was in. Mortality dropped to 5%. HALO now runs in 31 healthcare facilities across three provinces, and at UHN's six sites it has saved just under $15 million over eight years.Her real lesson is the team. "You don't need to be the smartest person in the room. You just need to know how to build a good team." She hired experts unlike herself, a doctor, engineers, a lawyer, and looked for mentors nothing like her. And she learned that the skeptics who fight you hardest become your loudest advocates once the thing works.If you're building a healthtech startup, a hard-tech company, or anything inside a system that resists change, watch this one.What do you think of what Marijana had to say? Tell us by leaving a comment. Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Build a Company Customers Trust, Not Features | Afshin Mousavian of Actual TechTO 2026-07-13 | "Build a Company Customers Trust, Not Features" by Afshin Mousavian (July 2026) at TechTO. Customer trust is not a feature you bolt on. It is the thing you build the whole company around. Afshin Mousavian, co-founder and CEO of Actual, learned that the hard way, and shared it on the TechTO stage. Actual is the financial layer for hospitality, moving tips, payroll, and operations for restaurants. Its tipping product processed $5.8 million in 2024, $100 million in 2025, and $164 million so far in 2026, on track for roughly $400 million.Then a competitor blew up. Eighteen million dollars went missing across 3,600 restaurants and 120,000 employees, and overnight every customer conversation flipped from "how much does it cost" to "how do I know you won't do the same." Afshin walks through how Actual rebuilt customer trust from the top down, and why the real lesson runs deeper than any single feature: build trust into the core of the product, or a cheaper competitor with a slicker workflow takes your place.He gets specific. How Actual reached 100+ customers with zero spent on digital marketing, by borrowing trust from industry associations. Why not every company needs VC money. Why simplicity is itself a trust decision. And the wild reality of hospitality cash, from armored trucks to spreadsheets that hid half-million-dollar theft.If you're building in fintech, hospitality tech, or anything where customers hand you their money, this one earns its 15 minutes.What do you think of what Afshin had to say? Tell us by leaving a comment. Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Why We Hire More Engineers Because of AI | Yoseph West of Relay TechTO 2026-07-13 | "Why We Hire More Engineers Because of AI" by Yoseph West (July 2026) at TechTO. Join the next event: techto.org/event/together-toronto-august-10-2026Yoseph West hires more engineers because of AI, not fewer. On the TechTO Together stage, the Relay co-founder walked the room through the math behind that call. Relay is the digital bank he built in Toronto, now serving 150,000 US small businesses with $1.5 billion in deposits. About 90% of the code his team writes is AI-generated, and 85% of them use Claude. His take: if AI makes great people better, and you can afford great people, you hire more of them.This is the full founder story, in conversation with Alex Norman. Yoseph started with Vuru, sold it to Wave, learned growth there, then helped build HubDoc for four and a half years before Xero bought it. He found Relay's first customers the hard way, walking door to door through Kensington Market. And he chose the US over Canada on purpose: if you're spending ten years on something, build the most ambitious version.Then it gets practical. Why furious customers are the clearest sign of product-market fit. Why fintech means earning trust every single day. How Relay untangles cash flow for small businesses, from consolidation to sequencing. And why, at 250 people, he still bets on the best in everyone.If you're building a fintech, working in small business banking, or figuring out what AI does to your hiring, this is the conversation to watch. Press play, then come meet founders like Yoseph in the room.What do you think of what Yoseph had to say? Tell us by leaving a comment. Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Building Without Permission: Liza Akhvledziani Carew, Willson Cross & Nipun Sharma | TiEQuest 2026 TechTO 2026-06-10 | At TiEQuest Summit 2026, three founders who didn't wait for the market to validate their idea before building share what that actually looked like.Liza Akhvledziani Carew built Chexy past $1B in annualized payment volume without a single Canadian VC on her cap table - not because she didn't try, but because Canadian fund sizes couldn't underwrite a binary outcome. She raised from US investors who understood the bet. Willson Cross launched Borderless AI in 2023 with $27M on day one - Kraken, Ritz-Carlton, and Telus as customers, ADP and Workday as partners - and talks about why timing is the variable nobody discusses honestly. Nipun Sharma spent 20 years running restaurant brands before building the world's first fully autonomous pizza kitchen at a Columbus airport, proving that the people who said it couldn't be done simply hadn't tried hard enough.Three founders, three categories, one shared quality: conviction that outlasted every no.Essential viewing for early-stage founders, operators building in regulated or capital-intensive industries, and anyone who has been told their market is too small or their idea is too early.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
How to Build in a Regulated Industry Without Dying in the Process | TTW 2026 TechTO 2026-06-10 | At Market Overview: Insurtech during Toronto Tech Week 2026, Danish Yusuf - co-founder of Zensurance - shares what 10 years of building in one of Canada's most regulated industries actually looks like from the inside.Danish started the business on February 29th, 2016. One contract with one insurer took 18 months. Lloyd's coverholder status took two years. Getting one agent licensed means nine provincial licences. Every service provider they trusted — payment processing, premium financing, claims - eventually broke under the volume. So they built it themselves. Every time they replaced a partner, they absorbed the margin.The result: 350 employees, 200 licensed brokers holding 1,800 licences, proprietary compliance software, and one million business insurance quotes issued - just this past Sunday before this talk.The lesson isn't that regulated industries are hard. It's that the ones who stay the course inherit a business nobody else can catch. Many of their competitors shut down and moved on. Zensurance didn't.Essential viewing for founders building in regulated industries, operators thinking about vertical integration, and anyone who has been told their category is too slow to build a real business in.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
What Canadian VCs Actually Look For | Janet Bannister, Mike McCauley & Eva Lau | TiEQuest 2026 TechTO 2026-06-10 | At TiEQuest Summit 2026, three of Canada's most experienced investors share what they look for in founders - and what makes them pass.Janet Bannister (Staircase Ventures, founder of Kijiji), Mike McCauley (Garage Capital, 200+ companies backed, portfolios acquired by Google, Rockwell, and Vista Equity), and Eva Lau (Two Small Fish Ventures, founding team at Wattpad, US$660M exit) bring three different fund theses and one consistent message: don't pitch them on a space they've already built or invested in. If they've been there, you need something they genuinely couldn't have imagined.The panel covers what differentiation actually means at the pitch stage, why Canadian fund sizes shape which outcomes investors can get excited about, how Eva evaluates a founder before agreeing to a first meeting, and why the warm intro is the first proof point - not a formality.Essential viewing for founders preparing to raise, operators thinking about their first institutional round, and anyone trying to understand how Canadian venture capital actually works in 2026.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
The Mistake Kirk Simpson Made at 80 Employees That Almost Prevented Waves $537M Exit TechTO 2026-06-10 | His board member said it in three words: premature scaling is death.Wave raised from Chamath's firm. Kirk felt unstoppable, scaled to 80 people, then had to cut half of them. By 2015 the company was insolvent. He was ducking into a broom closet to call Silicon Valley Bank and asked them not to pull the debt.Get the signal first. Then scale.Full talk → youtu.be/uRVlMnV61Vo Watch the full talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
The Real Business Advantage TechTO 2026-06-08 | Stop chasing 'community' and start focusing on the basics! 💡In this clip, Michele Romanow and Tyler Handley break down why distribution and a high-quality product are the real keys to a durable business - not just social media hype.Want the full strategy on scaling, exiting, and the realities of today's consumer market? Watch the full conversation here: How to Build and Exit a Consumer Brand | TTW 2026. Watch the full talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
How PolicyMe Is Rebuilding Insurance for the Next Generation | TTW 2026 TechTO 2026-06-05 | Moderated by Alex Norman, this fireside chat features Andrew Ostro (Co-Founder & CEO, PolicyMe) for a candid conversation about building an insurtech company in a heavily regulated market. Andrew reflects on his early career in actuarial work and consulting, what led him to start PolicyMe in 2018, and how the company has evolved from its original vision into a broader insurance platform. The conversation covers the realities of building trust in insurance, why PolicyMe shifted toward an “advisors on demand” model, the challenge of raising capital in Canada, and how the company thinks about distribution, customer experience, and carrier relationships. Andrew also shares his view on the next waves of AI in insurance and explains why PolicyMe is expanding beyond life insurance into home and auto.Essential viewing for insurtech founders, operators in regulated industries, and entrepreneurs trying to understand how to use technology to modernize legacy markets without losing the trust layer customers still need.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Where Insurtech Is Actually Going in 2026 | TTW 2026 TechTO 2026-06-05 | Christian Lassonde (Founder & Managing Partner, Impression Ventures) delivers a market deep dive on where insurtech is actually heading in 2026. Drawing on Impression’s position as a fintech-only venture firm, he lays out a data-driven view of the market, where capital is flowing, and why broad claims that “venture is back” miss what’s really happening on the ground. The talk covers the four categories heating up most in insurtech: AI agents layered on top of existing insurance systems, second-generation embedded insurance, vertical specialty wedges, and tools that help carriers improve combined ratios. Christian also highlights a specific Canadian gap, arguing that too few founders are building in underserved areas like commercial specialty lines and that local founder energy is concentrated in the wrong places.Essential viewing for insurtech founders, fintech investors, and insurance operators who want a sharper understanding of where the market is moving and what opportunities still look underbuilt in Canada.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Why Finance Has Maximum AI Capability and the Worst Adoption Rate | TTW 2026 TechTO 2026-06-05 | At the Market Overview: Fintech co-hosted with Affirm during Toronto Tech Week 2026, Abraham Thomas - Founder and CEO of Windkey AI - delivers a lightning talk on why the finance industry is sitting on the most powerful AI tools available and using almost none of them.Abraham introduces a three-generation framework for AI adoption - knowledge agents, task agents, and goal agents - and explains why most financial institutions are still stuck in 2023 while the software world has moved on. He breaks down what it actually means to give an AI a goal rather than a task, why the founders who win are the ones asking whether AI capability is a headwind or tailwind for their business, and what the next wave of AI infrastructure in finance needs to look like.Essential viewing for fintech founders, operators thinking about AI adoption inside financial services, and anyone building at the intersection of AI and regulated industries.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Why Outsiders Will Win Regulated Industries | TTW 2026 TechTO 2026-06-05 | Jai Mansukhani (Co-Founder & President, General Magic) shares a contrarian thesis on why outsiders are best positioned to win the next decade of regulated industries. Drawing on time spent in San Francisco and his experience building insurance-focused AI infrastructure, Jai argues that the next generation of category-defining companies in sectors like insurance will come from founders who approach these markets with fresh eyes rather than legacy assumptions. The talk covers why founder-market fit can be overrated, why “founder mindset fit” matters more, and how AI-native companies can attack regulated industries by focusing on real labor problems instead of superficial software layers. Jai also explains how his team tested specialized insurance models against major AI platforms and why he believes vertical AI founders can outperform larger incumbents when they understand the workflow deeply enough. Essential viewing for AI founders, builders in regulated industries, and investors looking to understand where vertical AI can create real advantage over incumbents and general-purpose models.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Canadian Fintech Exit to Affirm: Advice for Founders | TTW 2026 TechTO 2026-06-05 | At the Market Overview: Fintech co-hosted with Affirm during Toronto Tech Week 2026, Wayne Pommen - Chief Revenue Officer at Affirm - sits down with Alex Norman (Partner, N49P & Co-Founder, TechTO) for a fireside on what 10 years of building in Canadian fintech actually taught him.Wayne built PayBright from 5 to 250 people - landing Apple, Hudson's Bay, Wayfair, Samsung, and Sephora as clients - before selling to Affirm in 2021. He now runs global revenue as CRO.He breaks down why Canadian founders are too cautious and it's costing them, what "we should have pushed harder, bigger, sooner" actually means in practice, why the embedded finance playbook is now the main pillar of Affirm's SMB strategy, how Canadian consumers' deep trust in banks is both a structural challenge and an opportunity for fintech founders, and why open banking, real-time rail, and stable coins are creating a once-in-a-decade window right now.The best time to build in fintech isn't coming. It's now.Essential viewing for fintech founders, operators building payment or lending products, and anyone who wants to understand where Canadian financial services is actually heading.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Valley Money - Fast Decisions or Empty Promises? TechTO 2026-06-05 | "The valley money is not magic - it's just big and moves fast." 🚀 Real talk from investors on why you shouldn't just chase the brand name. #Investing #TechTO #StartupGrowth Watch the full talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Understanding Big in Business TechTO 2026-06-05 | Are you thinking big enough? 🌎 Founders often underestimate what it takes to build a world-class company. Stop playing small and start acting like you’re going to win. #Entrepreneurship #ScalingUp #VCInsights #FounderMindset Watch the full talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
The Real State of Canadian Fintech in 2026: Where the Money Is Actually Moving | TTW 2026 TechTO 2026-06-05 | At the Market Overview: Fintech co-hosted with Affirm during Toronto Tech Week 2026, Ricky Lai - General Partner at Portage - delivers the opening keynote on where Canadian fintech actually stands in 2026 and what founders need to understand before they build or raise.Ricky covers why the SaaS apocalypse is real and what it means for fintech, why AI-enabled companies are getting funded at 3.5x the valuation of those without, why fintech multiples are converging with SaaS for the first time in history, where the dry powder is sitting and why it hasn't been deployed yet, and why open banking going live in Canada in 2026 changes everything for founders building in financial services.The clearest 15-minute picture of where Canadian fintech is going that you'll find anywhere.Essential viewing for fintech founders, operators building in financial services, and investors tracking where the next wave of capital is moving.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Why 75% of Shopifys Revenue Is Now Financial Services - and What That Means for You | TTW 2026 TechTO 2026-06-05 | At the Market Overview: Fintech co-hosted with Affirm during Toronto Tech Week 2026, Jane Podbelskaya - Founder and Managing Partner of Charge Forward, formerly Georgian and Bain - delivers a lightning talk on embedded finance as the most underused growth lever in software today.Jane breaks down why software companies that embed financial services trade at a 25-50% premium to pure SaaS, why 50% of North American small businesses now get their payment capabilities from software rather than banks, how the second generation of embedded finance is structurally different from the first, and why adding payments or lending to your product is the single best defence against AI disruption.The clearest case for embedded finance you'll find - with Canadian examples including Shopify, Clio, and Jane App.Essential viewing for software founders, vertical SaaS operators, and anyone building a product that touches small or mid-market businesses.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Why Founders Need to Be Different, Not Better | Will Hsu, Mucker Capital | TTW 2026 TechTO 2026-06-05 | At Beyond the Bubble during Toronto Tech Week 2026, Will Hsu - General Partner at Mucker Capital - sits down with Alex Norman (Partner, N49P & Co-Founder, TechTO) for the conversation he doesn't have on the speaking circuit.Will launched Mucker with no LPs, no documents, no office - just a website - and had 150 applications within 4 days. 15 years and 300+ companies later, he has backed Honey ($4B exit to PayPal), ServiceTitan ($9B Nasdaq IPO), and AuditBoard ($3B acquisition) - all built outside Silicon Valley.He breaks down why being contrarian before it's obvious is the only real edge, why different beats better every time, how to interview your VC the same way you'd hire for the role, why 80% of your time should never be spent raising, and why the best founders stay under the radar until they're scaling - then shout at the top of their lungs.Essential viewing for early and growth-stage founders, operators evaluating investors, and anyone building outside of Silicon Valley.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
How to Build and Exit a Consumer Brand | TTW 2026 TechTO 2026-06-05 | Moderated by Jason Goldlist, this fireside chat brings together Michele Romanow (Dragon, Dragons' Den and Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, Clearco) and Tyler Handley (Co-Founder, Olauto) for a candid conversation about building, scaling, and exiting consumer brands. The discussion reflects on Handley’s journey from Inkbox into his next venture and Romanow’s perspective on what founders need to understand about growth in today’s market.The conversation covers early traction, what Dragon’s Den did and didn’t change, how acquisition strategy really plays out, and why repeat purchase rate is one of the most important metrics in brand-building. Michele and Tyler also get into pricing, changing consumer behavior, the knockoff era in consumer products, the limits of AI in creativity, and why distribution can matter more than community as a durable advantage.Essential viewing for CPG founders, ecommerce operators, and entrepreneurs looking for a practical perspective on scaling, exiting, and launching a second act in consumer business. 🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
What Maveron Looks For in Early-Stage Consumer Startups | TTW 2026 TechTO 2026-06-05 | Moderated by Alex Norman, this fireside chat features Jason Stoffer (CIO and General Partner, Maveron) for a candid conversation about early-stage consumer venture capital, founder psychology, and what separates fundable startups from the rest. The discussion also touches on Stoffer’s path into venture and Maveron’s consumer-focused investing philosophy. The conversation covers what Jason looks for in founders, why distribution now matters more than ever, and how the balance between numbers, storytelling, and go-to-market has shifted. It also explores venture-scale outcomes, lessons from ed-tech, creator-led brands, healthcare opportunities, cold outreach to investors, and the transition from services to product-led businesses. Essential viewing for early-stage founders, consumer tech entrepreneurs, and anyone trying to understand how top investors think about distribution, market timing, and founder potential. 🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
How TreDish Uses AI to Cut Grocery Costs by 25% | TTW 2026 TechTO 2026-06-05 | Peter Hwang (Founder, President & CEO, Tre'Dish) and Jack Chorley (Co-Founder & CTO, Tre'Dish) break down how they're rethinking grocery shopping by rebuilding outdated supply chain infrastructure and using AI to help consumers spend less on essentials. This lightning talk focuses on why grocery retail has changed so little over time, and how Tre'Dish is approaching the problem differently. The talk covers why groceries behave more like a recurring subscription than a one-off purchase, how Tre'Dish uses supplier data to optimize customer carts, and why cutting out middlemen can materially lower costs. Peter and Jack also explain the role of Sprout AI, flash-frozen meat, and operational efficiency in their effort to reduce grocery bills by roughly 25%.Essential viewing for founders interested in grocery innovation, supply chain technology, AI-powered consumer products, and anyone thinking about how to lower household costs.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Stop Building Fortress Canada | 4 Founders on Selling in the US After 3 Weeks in SF TechTO 2026-06-05 | 4 Founders on Selling in the US After 3 Weeks in SF | Game On SF panel moderated by Chris Neumann. Join the next TechTO event: techto.org/eventsFour Canadian founders spent three weeks in San Francisco. What changed was not the pitch. It was who they sold to. Nima Jalalvandi of Ready Plan Go put a number on it: "Since doing Game On, we 4x our revenues."Pascal Dessureault of Tablevoice names the belief the panel takes apart. "There was this big focus early days in trying to build fortress Canada for product," he says. Grow at home, own the market, go south later. He dropped it and now has customers in New York, Miami, LA and San Francisco. His line on speed: "There are some restaurant groups in Toronto where I'm still in talks with after like 4 months, and it's like meeting number 12. There we got to yeses on the spot after a demo."Chris Neumann explains why the yes comes faster. "In the US, most business owners feel like they're one mistake away from losing." Fear makes them try things. Comfort makes Canadian buyers wait.The rest of the panel gets specific. Nima runs 200 cold calls a day off Apollo.io and Google Maps, East Coast 9am to West Coast 8pm, and never pitches on the call. Matthew McConnell of Spicenet cut burn by 45% in the month after the program and explains what that cost him. Carly Steinman on saying no to good opportunities while 430 homeowners sit on her waitlist. Pascal on velocity as a choice, not a policy problem, and 5x faster shipping to prove it.Watch this if you are a Canadian founder sitting on a Canadian customer base, waiting to feel ready for the US.What do you think of what these founders had to say? Tell us by leaving a comment.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Raising From US Investors as a Canadian Founder | Pioneer, Fika, Maple VC, Venture Scientists Fund TechTO 2026-06-05 | Raising From US Investors as a Canadian Founder | Pioneer, Fika, Maple VC, Venture Scientists Fund, moderated by Alex Norman of N49P. Join the next TechTO event: techto.org/eventsUS investors sat down and said out loud why VCs pass on founders they otherwise liked. Alex Norman's summary of the Canadian problem: "Don't be Canadian." Stop underselling. Over promise, then over deliver.Isaac Souweine of the Venture Scientists Fund wants a different posture in the room. "My company is going to get funded. It deserves to be funded." He also kills a myth founders here build strategy around. "The Valley money is not magic." His last fund sits at 5X TVPI and 30% IRR, and the best companies in it did not raise from Silicon Valley.TX Zhuo of Fika Ventures pulled the numbers on his own portfolio. Founders who pay themselves the most early do the worst. Asking for $200,000 to $300,000 from day one "usually doesn't work out that well." He can also tell when the financial model you sent back was written by AI. "We know it right away."Jason Gray of Pioneer Fund, with close to 1,000 companies in the portfolio, walked from a deal over a cap table alone. "Lots of doctors and dentists on that cap table." Alex calls it the Canadian Angel Special. Three years later that company still could not raise.Andre Charoo of Maple VC was one of the first 25 employees at Uber. His filter is the same one he used then. "If my smartest friends are going to laugh at me for what you're working on, come talk to me."Also covered: Delaware versus Canadian incorporation and what it costs your investors, how fast each fund decides, and why a deck you cannot throw away is a warning sign.Watch this if you are a Canadian founder about to open a US round.What do you think of what these investors had to say? Tell us by leaving a comment.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
SF Has a 6-Month Innovation Lag. Heres How Canadian Founders Can Use It. | TTW 2026 TechTO 2026-06-05 | Chris Neumann - 4x founder and early-stage investor - opens the Silicon Valley Playbook for Canadian Founders at Toronto Tech Week 2026 with a keynote that reframes the conversation Canadian founders have been having wrong.San Francisco has a 6 to 9 month innovation lag on the rest of the world right now. Nobody there is sharing what they're learning. That gap is yours to close - if you know how to use it. Chris breaks down what the Silicon Valley playbook actually looks like from the inside, which steps Canadian founders skip that their SF counterparts treat as mandatory, and why going to benchmark - not to fundraise - is the most underused advantage in the Canadian ecosystem.Essential viewing for founders weighing the US expansion, operators benchmarking against global competitors, and anyone building in Canada who wants to understand what they're actually competing with.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
The Power Dynamic - VC and Founders TechTO 2026-06-04 | Have you ever felt like you couldn't say no to a VC? Kirk Simpson breaks down the reality of the founder-investor power dynamic. Do you agree? 👇 #StartupAdvice #TechTO #Founders Watch the full talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
From Broom Closet to $537M Exit: Kirk Simpson on Building Wave and Starting Over | TiEQuest 2026 TechTO 2026-06-04 | At TiEQuest Summit 2026, Kirk Simpson - co-founder of Wave (acquired by H&R Block for $537M) and founder of Courtyard - sits down for a fireside on what it actually took to build one of Canada's most successful fintech companies from zero, nearly lose it all, and choose to start again.Kirk breaks down why premature scaling kills more companies than bad products ever did, how Wave signed 2,300 businesses a day through organic channels that no longer exist, why free was the most brilliant and most painful decision Wave ever made, and what founders get wrong when they treat VC advice as gospel.He also talks about the moment that defined his leadership - calling his bank from a broom closet in 2015, Wave nearly insolvent, asking them not to pull the venture debt. And why, after the exit, the beach and the maple syrup and everything else, he started building again anyway.Essential viewing for founders at any stage, anyone navigating the Canadian funding landscape, and operators who want to understand what 12 years of building actually looks like from the inside.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Sell Your Vision, Not Just Code! TechTO 2026-06-03 | Watch the full talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
The Cold Email That Started a $2B+ Company | Boast Funding Stage TTW 2026 TechTO 2026-06-03 | Anita Balakrishnan, journalist at The Logic covering professional services and legal technology, interviews Jack Newton - CEO and co-founder of Clio, the global leader in legal technology - about what building one of Canada's most successful software companies from zero actually looked like.Jack breaks down how Clio's first cheque came from a cold email to a German angel investor who read about them on a blog, why Canadian VCs offered lower valuations and expected a hometown discount, what "companies are bought not sold" really means in practice, and why raising once means raising three or four more times.He also talks about the moment the company almost didn't make it, what it means to build the relationship before you need the cheque, and what advice he'd give his earlier self knowing what he knows now.Essential viewing for founders at any stage of fundraising, operators thinking about their next raise, and anyone building a B2B software company in Canada.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
The Real State of Canadian VC in 2026: What Every Founder Needs to Know | Boast Funding Stage 2026 TechTO 2026-06-03 | Alex Norman, General Partner at N49P and 20-year veteran of the Canadian tech ecosystem, opens the Boast Funding Stage at Toronto Tech Week 2026 with a practical breakdown of how the Canadian venture capital market actually works right now - and what founders need to understand before they raise.Alex covers why VC isn't the only path and when you should seriously consider not taking it, what pre-seed, seed, Series A, and growth rounds actually look like in Canada in 2026, why the number of active VCs has dropped 25% since 2022 and what that means for founders raising today, why 75% of capital is now flowing to just 30 funds, and what you actually need to have before you earn the right to raise each round.He also answers live questions from founders in the room - including whether having no domain expertise kills your pitch, how to position a consumer play when distribution is the problem, and when an advisor on your cap table helps versus hurts.The most practical 20-minute overview of the Canadian funding landscape you'll find.Essential viewing for founders at pre-seed and seed stage, operators preparing their first institutional raise, and anyone who wants to understand what Canadian VCs are actually looking for in 2026.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
How Canadas Top Dev Under 30 Uses R&D Tax Credits to Fund His Companies | Boast Funding Stage 2026 TechTO 2026-06-03 | Robert Moore Ede, Senior Manager of Client Delivery at Boast, sits down with Mathew Mozaffari - founder of Speer and CTO of Grata, named one of Canada's Top 30 Developers Under 30 and a Globe and Mail Fastest-Growing Companies honoree - for a conversation about how Canadian founders can use SR&ED and government incentives as a real growth lever.The fireside covers how Mathew has used R&D tax credits across multiple ventures, what most founders get wrong about SR&ED eligibility, and how Boast helps companies maximize claims so they can reinvest in building faster.Essential viewing for technical founders, startup CTOs, and anyone building in Canada who wants to understand what government funding is actually available and how to access it.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Raise Smart or Raise Fast? Getting Honest About Growth Capital | Boast Funding Stage TTW 2026 TechTO 2026-06-03 | Moderated by Alex Norman (General Partner, N49P), this panel brings together Reza Khadjavi (CEO, Motion), Karamdeep Nijjar (Partner, Inovia Capital), and Matt Mayers (Co-Founder and COO, Spellbook) for an unfiltered conversation about what growth capital actually looks like in 2026.The panel covers when to raise and when not to, what investors are actually looking for at the growth stage, how to build the relationship before you need the cheque, and what the founders who successfully raised did differently from the ones who didn't.Essential viewing for founders preparing for their Series A or B, operators thinking about their next capital raise, and anyone who wants to understand how top Canadian investors evaluate growth-stage companies.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
He Bootstrapped for 10 Years and Said No to Every VC. Then He Changed His Mind. |Boast Funding Stage TechTO 2026-06-03 | Jason Goldlist, Co-Founder and CEO of Venue.Ink, sits down with Mike McDerment - co-founder of FreshBooks, one of the world's leading cloud accounting platforms, and board chair of Briza - for a fireside on what a decade of bootstrapping actually looks like from the inside.Mike breaks down why he said no to venture capital for 10 years, the moment that made him change his mind, the concept of always knowing you can get back to zero, and why "don't raise when you need the money" is the most important lesson he learned the hard way.Essential viewing for bootstrapped founders considering their first raise and operators navigating growth without burning capital.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/events Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Entrepreneurship - The Thrilling Roller Coaster Ride TechTO 2026-05-23 | Watch the full talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
VCs Fund Businesses. Janet Bannister Funds Founders. TechTO 2026-05-22 | Watch the full talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Stop Failing RevOps - The Formula to Get Results. TechTO 2026-05-21 | Watch the full talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Why Im Back - Exits, Choir, and New Ventures TechTO 2026-05-19 | Watch the full talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
First Million - How We Raised Capital in Tough Times (Jack Newton, Clio) TechTO 2026-05-14 | Watch the full talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
Zume raised $400M. Appetronix did it for $1.2M. Heres how. TechTO 2026-05-12 | Nipun Sharma watched every food robotics company burn through hundreds of millions and fail. So he went back to first principles and built a fully autonomous restaurant in 14 months for $1.2M. It's now running 24/7 at Columbus International Airport.This is what going global actually looks like.Watch the full talk on our channel. Nipun is back on our stage May 25 to go deeper on what it really takes to scale from Canada to the world → luma.com/tiequest-2026#FoodTech #CanadianFounders #FoodRobotics #TorontoTech #Startups Watch the full talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
From Wall Street to Food Robots: Building the Autonomous Restaurant | Nipun Sharma - Appetronix TechTO 2026-05-12 | At Together Montreal, Nipun Sharma, CEO of Appetronix, joins Alex Norman, Partner at N49P and co-founder of TechTO, for a fireside on what it actually took to build a fully autonomous restaurant from scratch - and commercialize it for $1.2M in 14 months while Zoom Pizza burned through $400M and never launched. A fourth-generation food family turned investment banker turned food-tech founder, Nipun breaks down why first-generation robotics companies got it completely wrong, how a partnership with Donatos (and 750M social media impressions in their first week) changed everything, and why Appetronix is positioning itself as the world's first trillion-dollar QSR company. This talk is essential viewing for founders in hardware, food tech, and anyone building a capital-efficient company in a space where everyone else raised hundreds of millions and failed.🔔 Subscribe for more real founder stories from TechTO📅 Explore upcoming TechTO events: www.techto.org/eventsSonnet 4.6 Watch more talks: youtube.com/c/TechTorontoOrgUpcoming events: techto.org/eventsEvents calendar: luma.com/TechTO-EventsNewsletter — The read on Canadian tech: blog.techto.orgMembership: techto.org/memberships
