TBLP056 | Fuckup Nights Toronto

Fuckup Nights is a speaker series where stories of failed businesses and projects are told, questioned and celebrated. It is a global movement and community that takes place in over 250 cities and 80 countries all over the world sharing stories of professional failure.

Last March 15, Fuckup Nights Toronto celebrated their First Anniversary. Joining on today’s show are Marsha Druker, Founder & Director of Fuckup Nights Toronto, Sascha Darius Mojtahedi, CEO at Bunz, Catie Fenn, Life & Soul Coach, Khallil Mangalji, Co-Founder & CTO at Fiix, and Theresa Laurico, Founder at SociaLight.

What You Will Learn From This Episode

Marsha Druker, Founder & Director, Fuckup Nights Toronto
(at 2:29 mark)

  • What is Fuckup Nights Toronto?
  • The Future of Fuckup Nights Event

Links

Sascha Darius Mojtahedi, CEO at Bunz
(at 10:00 mark)

  • Business Vs Project
  • Why making a mistake is essential to growing a business

Links

Catie Fenn, Life & Soul Coach
(at 19:54 mark)

  • How a lawyer transformed into a meditation coach
  • Discover Catie’s experience and learning from The Bachelor

Links

Khallil Mangalji, Co-Founder & CTO at Fiix
(at 27:55 mark)

  • How Khallil battle with cancer helped him build his business
  • The Definition of Failure according to Khallil

Links

Theresa Laurico, Founder at SociaLight
(at 35:42 mark)

  • Find out Theresa’s three fuckups in life and how she celebrated those events
  • Why being authentic is important to scale your business

Links

Thanks to DJ Dopey, one of Toronto’s top DJ’s, 2003 DMC World Champion, for providing the fresh new intro music, the track is called “Got To Be“.

Thanks to our wonderful episode sponsors

Thanks to media sponsors IT World Canada and Startup Canada.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode.  If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe on your favourite network.

I would love to hear from you, feel free to leave me a message, question, or comment.  If I can, I will play it on on air and answer it there.

Send a voice message via SpeakPipe

This podcast is produced by Slingshot VoIP, a business telecommunications leader.

TBLP055 | Eli Aleyner: Self-Promotion

Eli was the former Managing Director of Founder Dating (Toronto). He was a Program Manager at bing.com, leading projects in structured data search. Before that, he was an engineer at Amazon Web Services. Now, Eli is a senior product and alliances leader at Pivotal, currently leading Pivotal’s alliance with Microsoft.

After six years on the west coast, Eli moved back to Toronto with his wife and two kids.

What You Will Learn From This Episode

  • The importance of making sure people feel and know that you care
  • The definition of “Self-Promotion” according to Eli
  • Why working with too many people does not produce the best outcome
  • How learning from other leaders helped Eli to grow as a business leader
  • Success is not measured by how fast you reach the “top”
  • Starting small but going places

Links

Reading List

Thanks to DJ Dopey, one of Toronto’s top DJ’s, 2003 DMC World Champion, for providing the fresh new intro music, the track is called “Got To Be“.

Thanks to our wonderful episode sponsors

Thanks to media sponsors IT World Canada and Startup Canada.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode.  If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe on your favourite network.

I would love to hear from you, feel free to leave me a message, question, or comment.  If I can, I will play it on on air and answer it there.

Send a voice message via SpeakPipe

This podcast is produced by Slingshot VoIP, a business telecommunications leader.

TBLP054 | Tony Lourakis: Community Support

Tony Lourakis is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fleet Complete, a leading global provider of IoT technology for businesses with fleets, assets and mobile workforce.

He is a Toronto native, thirty-eight years old, married and a father of a ten-year-old boy. When he is not working, Tony spend every free moment with his family. He loves to cycle, his personal sport of choice. He also works out to a little bit in the gym with a little bit of weightlifting. The three areas he spent most of his time is business, family and personal kind of fitness.

He is also involved with the Hellenic Heritage Foundation. It is an organization that purpose and mission are to preserve and promote Greek culture in Canada. Being a child of Greek immigrants, he wanted to do his part to help preserve the Greek culture in this country for his son’s and future generations.

What You Will Learn From This Episode

  • The importance of surrounding yourself with great mentors
  • How Tony developed as a leader over the course of his 20-year journey
  • How he keeps the organization from becoming an “institution” that can dampen the “inspiration”
  • Where the great ideas come from within the organization
  • The role of his father in helping him to grow as a business leader
  • Why is it important to focus on the vision and values of the company

Links

Reading List

Thanks to DJ Dopey, one of Toronto’s top DJ’s, 2003 DMC World Champion, for providing the fresh new intro music, the track is called “Got To Be“.

Thanks to our wonderful episode sponsors

Thanks to media sponsors IT World Canada and Startup Canada.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode.  If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe on your favourite network.

I would love to hear from you, feel free to leave me a message, question, or comment.  If I can, I will play it on on air and answer it there.

Send a voice message via SpeakPipe

This podcast is produced by Slingshot VoIP, a business telecommunications leader.

TBLP053 | Lauren Haw: Done is Better than Perfect

Lauren at the age of 18, while attending Queen’s School of Business, ran the most successful College Pro enterprise in Ontario. After graduation, she launched and ran an Oxford Learning Centre in Toronto. Then she moved into the real estate industry with an early stage investment in True North Mortgage, a national brokerage with offices across Canada. Lauren is an Active Director at RateHub.ca

In 2015, Lauren purchased Zoocasa.com from Rogers, a modern real estate project that has a highly skilled team of agents to represent homes in quick Internet searches.

Right now, Lauren is carrying her baby number two while raising a 14-month old daughter.

What You Will Learn From This Episode

  • What is Zoocasa and what to expect from them in the next 12 months
  • How to train and manage realtors to provide an amazing consumer experience
  • The most important decision Lauren has to make as a leader of her company
  • Teaching a new member understand the organizations’ culture
  • How do you pick who to hire when they seem equal on paper
  • How do you adjust and continually grow as an effective leader throughout your career

Links

Reading List

Thanks to DJ Dopey, one of Toronto’s top DJ’s, 2003 DMC World Champion, for providing the fresh new intro music, the track is called “Got To Be“.

Thanks to our wonderful episode sponsors

Thanks to media sponsors IT World Canada and Startup Canada.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode.  If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe on your favourite network.

I would love to hear from you, feel free to leave me a message, question, or comment.  If I can, I will play it on on air and answer it there.

Send a voice message via SpeakPipe

This podcast is produced by Slingshot VoIP, a business telecommunications leader.

TBLP052 | Randy Frisch: Content Experience

Randy holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University. He brings an entrepreneurial and customer-focused background to Uberflip with leadership experience.

One of the hats he wears is being President and CMO at Uberflip. He oversees the strategy, operations, sales and execution of Uberflip’s solution. A marketer at heart he focuses on understanding the customer needs and provide solutions which simplify access to content in today’s digital era.

After his day at Uberflip, Randy is a husband and a father to three kids. He got two boys who love hockey and a daughter in the middle. On his spare time, you will catch him coaching a hockey team as a way to bond with his two boys. His little girl loves to dance, that he ends up joining a father-daughter dance on one of her recitals.

What You Will Learn From This Episode

  • How Uberflip started
  • The importance of building a solution to people’s desire
  • Boss Vs. Leader
  • Discover the new meaning of HUSTLE
  • Find out what is an Entrepreneur according to Randy
  • What is one trait you need to have before jumping to a leadership role
  • What is Content Experience

Links

Reading List

Thanks to DJ Dopey, one of Toronto’s top DJ’s, 2003 DMC World Champion, for providing the fresh new intro music, the track is called “Got To Be“.

Thanks to our wonderful episode sponsor

Thanks to media sponsors IT World Canada and Startup Canada.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode.  If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe on your favourite network.

I would love to hear from you, feel free to leave me a message, question, or comment.  If I can, I will play it on on air and answer it there.

Send a voice message via SpeakPipe

This podcast is produced by Slingshot VoIP, a business telecommunications leader.

TBLP051 | Rokham Fard: Self-Leadership

At the age of 15, Rokham Fard’s family moved to Canada. He studied Computer Science at the University of Toronto. He worked with Canada’s largest academic research lab to help out with re-designing the education system. At 21, he became the employee of the year at a Fortune 500 company. After graduation, he decided to turn his route to entrepreneurship. This path leads him to co-found TheRedPin.com.

TheRedPin.com  is Canada’s largest online real estate brokerage. Rokham helped to get it on the list of Profit Magazine’s “Canada’s 50 fastest growing tech startups” in 2016.  

Now, Rokham has built another startup called PsychologyCompass.com. It is where entrepreneurs learn scientific tactics to reach their peak mental performance. In 2017, they hit three big milestones; putting the team together, building their MVP, and getting the company post revenue. This year, they focus on getting the word out and making more people aware of Psychology Compass.

What You Will Learn From This Episode

  • How to overcome the biggest challenges in business while growing and scaling a company
  • How Rokham focus on things and make decisions for his business
  • What it means to live in a “Debug Mode”
  • Where a business leader of today should put their focus on
  • The meaning of Self-Leadership

Links

Reading List

Thanks to DJ Dopey, one of Toronto’s top DJ’s, 2003 DMC World Champion, for providing the fresh new intro music, the track is called “Got To Be“.

Thanks to our wonderful episode sponsor

 

Thanks to media sponsors IT World Canada and Startup Canada.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode.  If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe on your favourite network.

I would love to hear from you, feel free to leave me a message, question, or comment.  If I can, I will play it on on air and answer it there.

Send a voice message via SpeakPipe

This podcast is produced by Slingshot VoIP, a business telecommunications leader.

TBLP050 | Seth Godin: Be Bold

Seth Godin is the author of 18 books that have been bestsellers around the world and have been translated into more than 35 languages. He’s also the founder of the altMBA and The Marketing Seminar, online workshops that have transformed thousands of people.

He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything. You might be familiar with his books Linchpin, Tribes, The Dip and Cow.

In addition to his writing and speaking, Seth has founded several companies, including Yoyodyne and Squidoo. His blog (which you can find by typing “seth” into Google) is one of the most popular in the world.

His latest book, What To Do When It’s Your Turn is now in its fifth printing. You can find it at yourturn.link.

What You Will Learn From This Episode

  • Why he believes in developing “soft skills” versus “textbooks”
  • Why you are incompetent when you are doing something new
  • Why he doesn’t believe in mentorships
  • How to choose heroes and learn from them whether they are alive or not
  • What to do to create 5 hours a day to learn

Links

Reading List

Thanks to DJ Dopey, one of Toronto’s top DJ’s, 2003 DMC World Champion, for providing the fresh new intro music, the track is called “Got To Be“.

Thanks to our wonderful episode sponsors

 

Thanks to media sponsors IT World Canada and Startup Canada.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode.  If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe on your favourite network.

I would love to hear from you, feel free to leave me a message, question, or comment.  If I can, I will play it on on air and answer it there.

Send a voice message via SpeakPipe

This podcast is produced by Slingshot VoIP, a business telecommunications leader.

TBLP049 | Ben Baldwin: Just Be Useful

Ben Baldwin is co-founder of ScaleDriver, an innovation-building system for Fortune 500s, and of The Founder City Project, a peer community of 500+ founders and teams, trained to support each other, solve problems, and attract talent. Ben has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Inc. Magazine, and in Toronto Life as one of Toronto’s 20 Most Brilliant Tech Innovators. He holds multiple patents and is a board member of the Drucker Institute and member of the Innovation for Jobs Summit, founded by David Nordfors and Vint Cerf (“father of the Internet”).

What You Will Learn From This Episode

  • What it means to “Just Be Useful”
  • Why and how The Founder City Project was launched
  • Why he attacks priorities in serial versus parallel
  • How to build a regret minimization framework to get things done

Links

Reading List

Thanks for taking the time to listen.  If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a comment, I would love to hear from you.

This podcast is produced by Slingshot VoIP, a business telecommunications leader.

TBLP048 | Sachin Aggarwal: Growth Through Trust

Sachin Aggarwal is the Chief Executive Officer of Think Research. He joined the team in 2010 as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining Think Research, Sachin served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, where he managed six departments, including the Leader’s Executive Team. Sachin Aggarwal, was chosen as one of the recipients of the 2017 Canada’s Top 40 under 40 Award, he currently sits on the Board of the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) and has served on the Board of Directors for numerous community outreach programs, including Dixon Hall Neighbourhood Services and the Toronto People with AIDS Foundation. He was called to the Bar in Ontario and in New York after earning a law degree from the University of Toronto and holds a MBA from the Rotman School of Management.

What You Will Learn From This Episode

  • Why the health industry is slow to adopt new technology
  • What the similarities are from running a political campaign versus a business
  • Why you should let people set the price when raising capital
  • How the concept of 10,000 hours to be an expert is getting longer

Links

 

Reading List

 

Thanks for taking the time to listen.  If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a comment, I would love to hear from you.

This podcast is produced by Slingshot VoIP, a business telecommunications leader.

TBLP047 | Heather Shantora: Composure Under Pressure

As the CEO of PT Healthcare and InnoCare, Heather oversees a $50+ million national healthcare company and under her leadership, both organizations have solidified their position as Canadian health care leaders focused on the development of innovative healthcare technology and patient-centered care. She credits this success to her team and her commitment to creative thinking; a willingness to challenge the status quo; authentically caring for and empowering teams; and an entrepreneurial skill set firmly focused on value creation.

What You Will Learn From This Episode

  • Why it doesn’t matter what industry you work in, it’s what you uniquely bring
  • How living in Paris as an “immigrant” opened her eyes
  • What it means to take on more responsibility
  • Why she enjoys reading business articles like Harvard Business Review

Links

Reading List

Thanks for taking the time to listen.  If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a comment, I would love to hear from you.

This podcast is produced by Slingshot VoIP, a business telecommunications leader.