CIBC Innovation Banking Podcast

The Key to Scaleable Investments with Morad Elhafed of Battery Ventures and CIBC Innovation Banking’s Andrew Phillips

Morad Elhafed and the rest of the team at Battery Ventures in Boston believe that it's time to get back to fundamentals and build durable and scalable businesses. He is joined by Andrew Phillips, managing director in Boston of CIBC Innovation Banking. Morad and Andrew share their insights into the current investment landscape, how investors identify high-quality companies, and why Boston has become a hub of talent and investment. Every dollar needs justification  In today’s investment land...

Scaling Texas’ Startup Success with Krishna Srinivasan and Jonathan Schupack

In this episode, Krishna Srinivasan, the founding partner at LiveOak Venture Partners, and Jonathan Schupack, executive director and market lead for CIBC Innovation Banking in Texas,  share their insights and experiences about the challenges and triumphs faced by startup entrepreneurs in the lone star state. Join us as we uncover the secrets of successful entrepreneurship. Drawing parallels between climbing mighty mountains and building ground breaking businesses, discover the resilience, in...

The Growing Impact of ESG on Stakeholder & Investor Relationships with Andrew Waitman, CEO of Assent

In a conversation with host Michael Hainsworth, Andrew Waitman, CEO of Assent, a data management platform that informs and guides ESG strategy, delves into the evolving landscape of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), and the importance of responsible supply chain management. He underscores the growing scrutiny from stakeholders, investors, and the public, who now prioritize ESG and sustainability in their decision-making processes. Andrew warns that organizations failing to adapt w...

Growing Companies from 5 to 50 Million with John Raeder, Vice Chairman of Bow River Capital

Bow River Capital is an employee-owned diversified investment platform that specializes in the lower middle market. John Raeder, the Vice Chairman and Head of Software Investments, launched the Maiden Fund in 2018, a Software Growth equity fund at Bow River, which was oversubscribed by $160 million dollars. John focuses on what he sees as a capital gap in the lower middle market, helping SaaS companies grow from $5 to $50 million by strategically investing to accelerate their growth. Clearly...

Scaling Your Business by Identifying Pain Point Intersections with Marcos Torres of Huntress

According to Marcos Torres, investing is more serious than getting married. The CFO of Huntress, a managed security platform developed by former NSA employees, says that investing just isn't about money. He looks for partners who he can work with long-term, because he knows it can be far more difficult to get someone out of a company than of a marriage. Join him and host Micheal Hainsworth as they delve into what Marcos has learned on his journey from private equity owned business operator t...

Navigating Brexit and Beyond with Malcolm Locke of Egress and CIBC Innovation Banking’s Sean Duffy

Malcolm Locke, CFO of UK-based B2B software service company Egress, sits down to discuss Brexit, expanding to North America and why the UK is still attracting investments. He’s joined by CIBC Innovation Banking’s Managing Director for UK & Europe, Sean Duffy, who adds his valuable expertise to the conversation. In a post Brexit and high-inflation environment, how can UK based firms grow and expand? Listen to this episode to find out.  Access to talent is critical Malcolm says that Brexit h...

The end of free money with Maria Pacella, Managing Partner at Pender Ventures

Maria Pacella has over two decades of experience investing in emerging growth technologies, and thinks that the best venture capitalists have a range of experiences gained through working in different roles. As an investor, Maria looks for three things: people, product and pent-up demand. She would prefer to invest in a strong team and founder with a smaller market than one with a large market and weak team, and brings this people-first approach to everything she does. In this episode, join ...

Thinking Outside the Box in Venture Capital with Angela Tran, General Partner at Version One Capital

Angela Tran didn’t set out to be a venture capitalist; she wanted to be an engineer. However, she's leveraged the skills she learned as an engineer to help build Version One Ventures with partner Boris Wertz, a venture capital firm that has invested in some of today's biggest start-ups. Angela uses her background to approach problems from a unique perspective to find and invest in companies in their very earliest stages. She looks for founders who are driven by problems they themselves have ...

Tapping Into Authenticity to Gain Consumer Trust with Bernadette Butler, Co-Founder and CEO of StoryTap

In the business world, it’s never been more important for companies to build a brand that’s trustworthy, credible and authentic. Considering realness is the basis for her business model, StoryTap co-founder Bernadette Butler lives and breathes by this maxim. StoryTap turns consumers into evangelists—not by using fancy, high-quality video content, but through videos that consumers submit themselves. Offered now in nine countries, the patented video platform is revolutionizing the online custo...

Why Focusing on Efficiency and Measured Growth is Key with Jager McConnell, CEO at Crunchbase

Since it spun out from the wildly popular online media company TechCrunch in 2015, Crunchbase has been blazing its own trail. The company recently raised $50 million in a Series D round, and it comes at a difficult time for raising funds—not just for B2B software as a service, but for the industry as a whole. Nobody knows that better than Crunchbase’s CEO, Jager McConnell. In this episode, Michael and Jager explore how he managed to raise the funds, how he managed the uncertainty, and how hi...

An Accelerated Revision to Pre-Pandemic Life with Ran Ding, Partner at Norwest Venture Partners

The pandemic’s impact on startups, growth-stage companies and late-stage organizations continues, and geopolitical issues have also had a dramatic impact on the private equity markets. No one knows this better than Ran Ding. Ran co-leads B2B growth equity investments at Norwest, where he focuses on partnering with founder managed or capital efficient businesses looking to scale from double digit revenues to triple digit revenues. Norwest is a multi-stage investment firm that has delivered to...

Why This CEO Tied the Company’s Profitability Directly to Student Outcomes with Tom Dretler, CEO & Co-Founder at Shorelight

In this episode, Michael Hainsworth sits down with Tom Dretler, the co-founder and CEO of Shorelight. Founded nearly a decade ago, the company matches international students with universities in the United States, and helps them succeed socially and academically. During the episode, Tom shares how he had to go back to school—metaphorically speaking—when the pandemic collapsed demand for international education opportunities in 2020. He also explains why the economic downturn that followed  h...

Getting Out of Your Own Way: On the Path to Startup Success with Potloc Co-Founder and CEO Rodolphe Barrere

If you've ever filled out a survey online, there’s a good chance you've used technology created by Montréal-based company Potloc. The consumer research company extracts consumer insights by reaching niche audiences through social networks. In this episode, Michael sits down with Potloc’s Co-Founder and CEO Rodolphe Barrere. After co-founding the company in 2014, he and the team raised more than $58 million in capital. Today, Potloc has more than 500 clients served by three offices around the...

The Most Common Mistakes Made by Early Stage Entrepreneurs with Head of Operating Platform at Jump Capital Jason Felger

Often, the most valuable insights into startup strategy and execution come from early-stage investors. For burgeoning entrepreneurs, having a chance to learn the ropes from a seasoned founder can be invaluable when it comes to guiding the company towards sustainable growth and longevity. In this episode, Michael sits down with someone who knows all about this. As the Head of Operating Platform at Jump Capital, Jason and his team work closely with founders to help them build and scale effecti...

Maintaining the Momentum as a New CEO with Hootsuite CEO, Tom Keiser

There comes a time when some startup founders need to turn over the reins of their company to someone new. Some founders may hold on for too long and ultimately fail to accelerate the company’s growth, and others may move too fast and miss out on a chance to capitalize on the first mover advantage. In this episode, Michael sits down with Hootsuite’s new CEO, Tom Keiser, to discuss his plans for continuing to grow the company now that he’s at the helm and further build on what founder Ryan Ho...

Passionate Problem Solving with Insight Partners Managing Director Deven Parekh

As every startup entrepreneur and enterprise CEO knows, the growth stage is all about scaling up the company, which typically requires a cash infusion. That's where investment gurus like Deven Parekh come in. As a Managing Director at Insight Partners who has been with the firm for more than 22 years, Deven has some insightful advice to share for entrepreneurs hoping to secure funding to fuel their business. Over the course of his career, the companies he’s invested in have all had major pay...

A Powerful Mindset for Business Growth with Canalyst CEO Damir Hot

Professional investors need an efficient way to compare their universe of companies, which is where firms like Canalyst come in. Canalyst’s database of thousands of enterprises helps give the pros the edge they need to uncover more investment ideas, generate better returns and bring in more assets. In this episode, Michael sits down with Canalyst’s CEO and Co-Founder, Damir Hot. During their discussion, Damir shares how co-founding a tech startup has been a lifelong dream of his since he was...

Lessons from the past two years from a venture capitalist with Impression Ventures Founder and Managing Partner Christian Lassonde

 Although some venture capital firms snapped their wallets shut during the first few months of the pandemic, it quickly became apparent that the startups who were able to pivot their business model and go fully digital would not just survive this time period, but thrive. In this episode, Michael sits down with Christian Lassonde, the Founder and Managing Partner of Impression Ventures, to discuss lessons learned from the pandemic and why there’s hope for the future yet. As an entrepreneur hi...

Connecting the Data Dots with Tealbook CEO Stephany Lapierre

It’s been said that data is the new oil. Not only has it acted as a fuel for growth, but data has been the catalyst for a whole new way of doing business. In this episode, Michael sits down with Stephany Lapierre, the founder and CEO of Tealbook, a supplier data foundation that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable supply-side innovation. As a supply chain thought leader, Stephany has raised more than $73 million for the company, and much of it during the pandemic. Whil...

Accelerating Startup Growth with Terminus CEO Tim Kopp

Account-based marketing (ABM) is a targeted B2B strategy that focuses sales and marketing resources within a specific market. Terminus, a leading account-based marketing platform, has a goal of moving from an ABM company to a platform of record — but how does a startup evolve as it expands from its home turf all the way to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia? In this episode, Michael sits down with Terminus CEO Tim Kopp to discuss how he leans on his past experiences working for global compani...

Adopting the Startup Mentality with Vena Solutions COO Tina Goulbourne

Financial planning startup Vena Solutions has raised more than $400 million to fuel its growth. When you've got that kind of walking around money, you need to have a plan to turn that capital into new customers, enhanced products, and recurring revenue. In this episode,  we hear from Vena Solutions’ Chief Operating Officer, Tina Goulbourne, on the key priorities required for startup success. Tina has held key roles during her career at companies like Xerox, Hewlett-Packard, and Apple, and sh...

Small Fish, Big Pond with Eva Lau

Some like to be a big fish in a small pond, while others enjoy the hustle of being a small fish in a big pond. For the founder of Two Small Fish Ventures, Eva Lau, swimming with the sharks of Silicon Valley was more her speed. Along with her husband Allen Lau, the co-founder and CEO of Wattpad, Eva launched the investment firm to give back and help nurture the startup ecosystem in Canada, and has since raised $12 million for the fund. As part of her role at Two Small Fish Ventures, Eva mento...

Moving Into the C Suite with Benevity CEO Kelly Schmitt

Kelly Schmitt successfully guided the CSR platform for charitable donation management, Benevity, throughout her tenure as Chief Financial Officer, and later President. Today, the Canadian company is a billion-dollar organization with more than 650 employees, two million users, and $7 billion in processed donations to 300,000 global charities, and Kelly has transitioned to the role of CEO. In this episode, Kelly shares her story of assuming the coveted C Suite at Benevity, how she overcame se...

First Impressions: The Art of the Pitch with CIBC Executive Vice President and Chief Security Officer Keith Gordon

As Executive Vice President and Chief Security Officer at CIBC, Keith Gordon has been on the receiving end of an untold number of pitches from startups. In this episode, we discuss how to get a foot in the door, the elements that go into a great pitch, and what to do once you’ve secured a meeting with a prospective client. We explore the reasons why an effective pitch can turn a client into an evangelist for your product or service, while a bad pitch could damage your reputation with future ...

From farm life to startup success with Coconut Software founder Katherine Regnier

Katherine Regnier is the CEO and founder of Coconut Software, a customer engagement platform for financial institutions. She launched the company in 2011 after recognizing the need for improved scheduling software while struggling to book a massage appointment. Since then, Katherine has led the company through venture capital funding, strategic partnerships, and the rapid growth that makes it the envy of its industry. In this episode, we hear Katherine’s inspiring story of launching Coconut ...

Scaling Start-ups: Exploring Canada's Innovation Ecosystem with Bob Nye at JMI Equity

Bob Nye is a General Partner at JMI Equity. He joined JMI in 2005 and is based in Baltimore, Maryland. Nye’s primary areas of investment focus are internet and enterprise software companies, and he specializes in helping growth companies build value. Nye has helped many companies overcome their hurdles and grow into unicorns with a valuation over $1 billion. In this episode, we look at the unique challenges in scaling and funding Canadian start-ups. Investment strategies have evolved over t...

Standing up to close the venture capital gender gap with StandUp Ventures’ Michelle McBane

Michelle McBane is the Managing Director at Standup Ventures, a seed-stage fund investing in women led Canadian technology startups. On this episode, we discuss where Canadian VC dollars went in 2020, how COVID-19 affected the industry, and how VC funds like StandUp Ventures are leading the way by investing in the next generation of women entrepreneurs.   Solving the gender gap in technology   Although there is immense wealth being generated in the venture backed company sector, recent s...

Metrics that matter for scaling SaaS companies with Carter Griffin, General Partner at Updata Partners

Carter Griffin is the general partner at Updata Partners, a company using key metrics to help SaaS companies scale their businesses exponentially using a predetermined framework. This is a framework that Carter and Updata have honed after years as technology entrepreneurs and investors. It’s based on analyzing specific metrics that help you better understand the ROI on certain expenditures, the cost of acquiring a customer, but most importantly which business activities are driving the best ...

The future of food security with Dr. Michael Gilbert and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois

The global food supply chain is the world’s largest and most interconnected market and the COVID-19 pandemic has quickly proven that the weakest links in this supply chain are only magnified by complex economic and political issues. When we’re talking about something as paramount as access and affordability of food, some of the numbers are staggering. In this episode we speak with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois and Semios’ CEO Dr. Michael Gilbert about the global state of food security and how Semio...

The digital revolution of health with Intellijoint’s Armen Bakirtzian

Armen Bakirtzian is co-founder and CEO of Intellijoint Surgical, a company striving to improve orthopedic patient care through technology. He is an engineer, and the son of an orthopedic surgeon which he says armed him with the knowledge of the need in this industry that led him to launch and grow Intellijoint. On this episode, we learn the origin story of this cutting edge med tech company and how they are working with the medical community to make consistent improvements to patient quality...

A new frontier for home care with AlayaCare’s Naomi Goldapple

Naomi Goldapple heads up AlayaLabs for AlayaCare, a company on the cutting edge of digitally transforming home care. When the pandemic hit, they, like so many others, had to make a rapid shift and innovate through crisis, developing products and digital methodologies to enable home care that was safe and effective for patients, families and home nurses alike. We learn how AlayaCare is revolutionizing the industry with AI, machine learning and an outcome-based approach, from the front lines o...

CIBC Innovation Banking Podcast Season 3 Trailer

How to handle your industry's "Big Opportunity" with ProctorU's Jarrod Morgan

Before the global pandemic, online testing company ProctorU was already a success story. But once it became evident classrooms wouldn't be hosting student exams any time soon, founder and Chief Strategy Officer Jarrod Morgan saw almost a decade's worth of growth in a few months. That doesn't mean Morgan could afford to sit back and wait for the phone to ring. He tells the CIBC Innovation Banking Podcast that being pro-active was key to retaining existing clients while meeting  new and growin...

Leadership and Corporate Spirituality with Lightspeed CEO Dax Dasilva

The Four Pillars of Unseparation Leadership, culture, spirituality, and nature. Dax Dasilva is a Philosopher CEO, and his latest book “Age of Union: Igniting the Changemaker” and sees these four qualities as essential for corporate growth. “The idea behind that is, how do you make change in the world? What are the things that you have to think about together holistically in order for us to make impact?” he says. Leadership is more than a Type-A personality Dasilva is a quiet force to be r...

Pivoting for Greater Success with 7shifts Founder Jordan Boesch

Jack of all trades, Master of none Years after coding a restaurant employee scheduling system for his father’s chain of sandwich stores, 7shifts founder Jordan Boesch had branched out into retail and other scheduling-heavy industries. “They told us it was good. It wasn’t great,” he laments. His solution? Get back to his roots. Close a door, open a window After Boesch had closed the door on 2 out of 3 customers to focus just on the restaurant industry, he discovered something interesting: ...

It's about being a "Yes, and…" versus a "Yes, but…" person

Say “Yes, and…” When Expensify CEO David Barrett pitched his big idea, it was flatly rejected. But when investors and potential customers told him a throw-away idea was insanely great, he didn’t fight back. Today the expense management company is one of the world’s most successful players in the Innovation Economy today and all because Barrett said “yes, and...” Setting Up Shop Barrett chose to set up shop more than 1,000 kilometres away from Silicon Valley and a million miles away from i...

CIBC Innovation Banking Podcast Trailer Season 2

Host Michael Hainsworth shares insights from innovation economy entrepreneurs on how to grow a business during a pandemic. CIBC Innovation Banking is a trusted financial partner to entrepreneurs and investors. Get in touch with our team at cibc.com/innovationbanking.  

CIBC Innovation Banking Podcast Trailer

Listen in to our newest podcast where entrepreneurs and small businesses will learn the secrets to success, including how to build a minimal viable product, pivot a company’s target clientele, and scale-up to a global level. CIBC Innovation Banking is a trusted financial partner to entrepreneurs and investors. Get in touch with our team at cibc.com/innovationbanking. 

Diving into a New Career with Aquatic Informatics CEO Ed Quilty

Cleantech Superhero Mild mannered CEO Ed Quilty has used data analytics to save a village in Malaysia from flooding. He monitors the water quality for the world’s biggest economy, and he provides technical services to clients as far away as Afghanistan. But it all started with an internship posting in British Columbia that he didn’t want in the first place. Foot in the Door, Feet on the World Stage Quilty leveraged a contract win with the U.S. government into a cleantech behemoth in 60 co...

Building an MVP with Bridgit COO Lauren Lake

Building the Next Generation Construction Industry from the Ground Up Lauren Lake grew up on her father’s construction sites. By the time she entered a university entrepreneur accelerator program, other industries had adopted the latest in technology like wireless Internet access and iPads. Her father’s business hadn’t changed much at all. Lake teamed up with other child of the hard-hat economy to bring the future to an industry stuck in the past. What started out as a two day exercise turn...

Renegotiating the Definition of Success with Ganesh Padmanabhan

Ganesh Padmanabhan attributes his laid-back attitude to his childhood growing up in southern India. But don’t confuse the contemplative serial entrepreneur's approach with complacency. He's advising start-ups renegotiate the definition of success. That conversation requires participants from all levels of the company: from its investors to its employees to the customers you're trying to reach. Reframe the problem the company is trying to solve, and recognize pre-pandemic goals may be unattai...

How a downturn forces resilient startups to re-evaluate their business models for survival and success

Take a step back to reassess, and adapt. Prior to the global pandemic, adoption rates for telehealth were relatively low, but as Ginger CEO Russell Glass explains - that quickly changed. Find out how AI is helping Ginger personalize healthcare and make it more efficient over time.  CIBC Innovation Banking is a trusted financial partner to entrepreneurs and investors. Get in touch with our team at www.cibc.com/innovationbanking. 

Predictions on the future state of venture capital in North America in 2020

Canadian venture capital investment reached impressive new heights in 2019 with a record $6.2B invested over 539 deals. And while that was 69% more than the $3.7B invested the year before, no one is expecting a repeat in 2020. As we see the first half of the year fade into the rear view mirror, what does investment growth look like to the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association? CEO Kim Furlong joins Michael Hainsworth with her insight. CIBC Innovation Banking is a trusted f...

The 2008 Financial Crisis vs. Coronavirus Effects on Tech Startups

More than a decade ago, the startup world was rocked by the worst recession in a generation. Venture capitalist Rob Antoniades of Information VP believes things are very different this time. In 2020, COVID-19 presented an external shock to the system, forcing consumers to retreat. That has Antoniades convinced things are different this time around, and entrepreneurs managing startups are more likely to survive as long as they offer a good value proposition, and if they believe in the mantra...

Managing and growing your business in a challenging macro environment

Tony van Marken knows what it takes to climb a financial mountain, so how are successful start-ups managing under COVID-19 and the disruption it's causing? The managing partner of venture capital firm First Ascent Ventures explains why not all technology companies are suffering - especially when they demonstrate innovation - why enterprise-oriented firms aren’t immune, and how they can adapt to the new normal. Not all start-ups are created equal. van Marken points out that just because a sta...