Where Alex can help:

• Business Strategy & Market Positioning: Reviewing business models and providing insights on markets, ideal customer profiles (ICPs), technologies, revenue generation, and distribution strategies.
• Startup Growth & Product Evolution: Evolving businesses from customer and opportunity discovery to MVP, initial traction to achieving product-market fit (PMF) with a data-informed mindset.
• Prototyping & Technology Advisory: Advising and teaching on Prototyping, No-Code, and Low-Code solutions to accelerate product development.
• Founder Mindset & Leadership Development: Guiding founders transitioning from corporate roles to entrepreneurship, fostering confidence, trust, and resilience.

Successes:

• Product Leadership in Mid & Large Enterprises: Held key product roles across Europe, including Interim Head of Product at AVIV Group.
• Startup Leadership: Former CTO & CPO in an HRTech startup, driving product and technology strategy.
• Public Speaking & Thought Leadership: Speaker at multiple product conferences and meetups across Europe and Canada.

Where Jennifer can help:

• Advising on customer insight and strategy: customer discovery, customer experience, customer success, and product-market fit.
• Reviewing opportunities and strategies for productizing and commercializing existing service offerings.
• Advising B2B and SaaS companies
• Providing guidance on establishing or stabilizing systems and processes to support growth.
• Advising on key account / partner management strategies.

Successes:

• CMO at a US$14billion company, overseeing customer experience, marketing, digital, omni-channel, pricing, analytics and communications.
• Led and executed a turnaround strategy positioning a start-up for acquisition.
• Drove 75% of revenue growth for a B2B consultancy.

Where Laurie can help:

• Reviewing business models and making recommendations on revenue generation, distribution etc.
• Evolving business from the customer discovery stage to MVP and initial traction.
• Fundraising strategy and pitch preparation, particularly for angel/pre-seed investment rounds.

Successes:

• Previously held executive roles at Nortel, including VP of Product Development and VP of Advanced Technology.
• COO and CEO experience at a SaaS startup.
• Founder of Capital Angel Network, one of the most active angel groups in Canada.

As past President of Chipworks, Julia Elvidge has extensive experience growing a company in the high tech industry. Her strengths include industry experience with Intellectual Property (IP) issues, international sales, strategic planning and product management best practices. Julia retired after the sale of Chipworks to its largest competitor, TechInsights, in June 2016. Chipworks and TechInsights are Ottawa based companies that sold or sell technology and patent related intelligence products and services to large Asian, American, and European electronics companies. Prior to joining Chipworks, Ms. Elvidge worked at LSI Logic Canada, a company that designed and manufactured semiconductor chips.   

Julia is an electrical engineering graduate of University of Waterloo and a member of the Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors, and has attained the Institute’s ICD.D designation. Her interests include leadership skills development and mentoring girls and women in STEM careers or business growth.

Where Shahzad can help:

• Advising on product visioning, market validation and product strategy, including how to be scrappy without incurring a fatal amount of technology debt.
• Reviewing technology strategy and ensuring alignment with overall business strategy.
• Support with developing Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, or Data-First based products.
• Transitioning a firm from a consulting/services model to product or platform focused business.
• Special interest in helping at the beginning stages of the firm – including the wilderness period for bootstrapped firms prior to product-market fit.

Successes:

• Has supported dozens of companies to realign their strategy around AI/ML.
• Taken several firms from founding, through the entire bootstrapped value-creation lifecycle, until exit (or shutdown!).
• Deep technology experience, including ~40 peer-reviewed research papers, 5 granted patents, PhD from Univ of Cambridge (UK) in AI and several years as a university professor.

Where Rob can help:

• Funding strategy at all stages – from bootstrap to exit.
• Understanding how to develop an investor pipeline and manage a fundraising process.
• Crafting an investment pitch, devising appropriate content, working on the investor “story” and tips on delivery.
• Navigating the due diligence process, including how to approach term sheet negotiations, valuation discussions, and final closing.
• General growth strategy including team building (from first employee to 100+ people), sales strategy, partnerships and channel development, marketing and business development.

Successes:

• Founded and exited four startups.
• Raised over $100M in venture financing to date.
• Built B2B, B2C and SaaS companies in sectors including technology, retail e-commerce, digital media and consumer goods.
• Held positions in several Fortune 500 companies in North America and Europe.

Where Margo can help:

• Mentoring CEOs, leaders and teams from formation through to high growth.
• Workforce and talent strategies and structure.
• Compensation, executive & sales comp plans, developing and managing ESOPs.
• Founder, leadership, and employee relations.
• Foundational and scaling HR strategies and issues.

Successes:

• Established and sold telecom startup company.
• Helped with raising $75M in venture capital.
• Founded high growth professional services company.
• Experience with M&A and post-acquisition integrations (US, Europe, Canada).
• Has contributed to business expansion into US, China, UK, Europe, Singapore, South America.

Where Rob can help:

• Funding strategy at all stages – from bootstrap to exit.
• Understanding how to develop an investor pipeline and manage a fundraising process.
• Crafting an investment pitch, devising appropriate content, working on the investor “story” and tips on delivery.
• Navigating the due diligence process, including how to approach term sheet negotiations, valuation discussions, and final closing.
• General growth strategy including team building (from first employee to 100+ people), sales strategy, partnerships and channel development, marketing and business development.

Successes:

• Founded and exited four startups.
• Raised over $100M in venture financing to date.
• Built B2B, B2C and SaaS companies in sectors including technology, retail e-commerce, digital media and consumer goods.
• Held positions in several Fortune 500 companies in North America and Europe.

Where Kevin can help:

• Advising on product strategy, including finding/measuring product-market fit.
• Reviewing pricing and unit economics.
• Providing guidance on communicating the product roadmap and strategy with internal and external stakeholders.
• Reviewing alignment between technology roadmap and product roadmap.
• Advising on managing and executing on product requirements (processes, tools, methodologies).
• Aligning customer feedback processes to the overall market.

Successes:

• Co-founded a company that has grown to over 200 employees and raised over $100 million.
• At Mivision, oversaw all aspects of product management, including strategy, pricing, roadmaps, market fit and more.
• Opened European sales office in Germany.
• Currently a Partner at Graphite Ventures – a Canadian seed stage venture capital firm.

Where Susan can help:

• Advising on budgeting and cash flow planning.
• Reviewing current financial practices and providing suggestions for improvement.
• Supporting fundraising activities.
• Improving the efficiency of business processes.
• Introducing and tracking key performance indicators.

Successes:

• Has helped companies raise over $50M in venture capital.
• Has held several CFO roles with public companies.
• Contributed to several successful M&A events.

Where Donna can help:

• Guiding executive teams through strategic vision, operational planning, and corporate governance sessions.
• Conducting audits of combined marketing and sales activities.
• Reviewing go-to-market strategies for new international markets.
• Conducting assessments of product-market fit and opportunities for long-term demand.
• Optimizing inbound marketing/revenue engines and teams.

Successes:

• Built inbound marketing & revenue engine that accounted for 100% of sales and drove 30% CAGR for 10 years.
• 25+ years running marketing, sales and business development teams in high tech companies like QNX & Bitflash.
• Founding CMO at Halogen Software taking it to a global market leader with 500+ employees, $70M ARR, double-digit growth, and eventual exit for $293M.
• Experience raising funds, working closely with VCs, and managing boards.

Where Markus can help:

• Building a successful sales process/playbook.
• Developing an inbound/outbound sales strategy.
• Developing a revenue model and appropriate pricing.
• Hiring, training and coaching new sales team members to build a high performing team.
• Ensuring seamless integration of sales and customer success functions.

Successes:

• First sales leadership hire at two tech start-ups, bringing a valuable early-stage perspective to navigate the sales function at different stages of growth (from $0 – 10M).
• Grew start-up revenue from $0 to 7 figures in ARR in one year as VP of Sales.
• Has sold into various industries, from Fortune 500 companies like Google, Salesforce & Meta to more traditional industries like banks & credit unions.

Where Lauren can help:

• Guidance on creating or growing a Customer Success function.
• Mapping the end-to-end customer journey.
• Onboarding and training new customers.
• Segmenting customers and assessing their health.
• Increasing customer lifetime value, reducing churn.
• Supporting development of customer success metrics as well as guidance on how to perform customer listening and incorporate feedback.

Successes:

• 20-years CS/CX experience with companies spanning startup to enterprise.
• Proven track record of delivering multimillion-dollar revenue growth and reduced churn.
• While at Kinaxis, directly contributed to 10x revenue growth over 3 years through adoption programs.
• Founded SaaSCan to empower Canadian SaaS startups and scaleups through credible, Canadian-focused SaaS metric research.

Where Danny can help:

• Accelerating time-to-revenue by optimizing sales strategies, pricing structures, forecasting capabilities and the performance of various sales channels.
• Developing sales teams’ roles and compensation plans to align with broader strategy and business objectives.
• Sharpening the development and execution of direct & channel strategies to expand global presence.

Successes:

• Defined roles, assisted in recruiting, developed compensation plans for multiple sales positions (BDR, SDR, Account Executive, Account Manager) at various SaaS organizations.
• Served as Interim VP Sales to position organization(s) for acquisition (closed).
• Led Klocwork’s global expansion efforts which accounted for over 65% of revenue when firm was acquired.

Where Matt can help:

• Scaling CS for Growth: Expertise in building and evolving Customer Success orgs to support rapid business growth

• Designing Value-Driven CX: Support in creating playbooks for crafting customer journeys that maximize retention, expansion, and long-term LTV at scale

• Driving GTM Alignment: Strong track record of unifying CS with Sales, Marketing, and Product to reduce friction and accelerate customer outcomes

• Data-Led Retention & Growth Strategies: Leveraging customer indicators, data and insights to proactively drive success, adoption, and upsell

• Org Design & Leadership Uplift: Hands-on experience structuring CS teams and coaching leaders to support evolving needs of mid-market and enterprise accounts

 Successes:

• Built and scaled a customer success team from the ground up to a full global operation with industry-leading NRR & GRR

• Most recently, Matt developed and launched fully integrated digital customer success program to help the client success team extend their reach to clients while managing the cost of growth

Where Dave can help:

• Leading cross-functional teams and executives to align departments, including sales, marketing, product, HR, and services for growth.
• Scaling complex, high-growth technology companies with a focus on operational efficiency, performance, and global impact.
• Driving go-to-market execution and revenue strategies to increase revenue and market share.
• Having led initiatives across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, Dave can advise on international expansion and multicultural business strategy.

Successes:

• Held executive roles in startups, SMEs, and global enterprises, driving strategies that led to successful acquisitions and exits.
• Achieved over 400% ARR growth as CRO of Assent.
• Mentored and coached over 100 young professionals and has been a regular guest speaker for the Queens University MBAST and Business Consulting program.

Where Anis can help:

• Operations
• Execution
• Sales Strategy
• Leadership

Successes:

• Advanced through progressive leadership roles at Pleora, including Chief Operating Officer and is now President.
• Led cross-functional teams across operations, supply chain, sales, IT, engineering, and professional services.
• Led strategic initiatives that enhanced operational efficiency, strengthened customer relationships, and supported Pleora’s growth in the military, medical, and industrial automation sectors.

Where David can help:

• Product strategy, new product introduction, product-market fit, and product/user behaviour analytics.
• Creating roadmaps, requirements, prioritizing work, user interviews, and engaging with key stakeholders.
• Positioning/messaging, market sizing/analysis, competitive analysis, and feature benchmarks.
• Pricing, value levers, pricing sensitivity, and tracking growth.
• Best practices, processes, and tools to help measure outcomes and impact on product-led initiatives.
• Customer onboarding, activation, conversion, and retention strategies and metrics.

Successes

• 15+ years as a product executive leading various teams including product management, product marketing, software engineering, UX design, UX writing, DevSecOps, and research.
• Introduced two new products at Klipfolio and helped grow new product revenue over 181% YoY.
• Part of the executive team responsible for the successful sale of Halogen for $293M along with the successful acquisition of Lumesse by Saba.
• Introduced a new line of business at Acquia that helped grow revenue from $60M to $150M annually, helped the company raise over $170M in VC, and sold for $1B.

Where Donna can help:

• Guiding executive teams through strategic vision, operational planning, and corporate governance sessions.
• Conducting audits of combined marketing and sales activities.
• Reviewing go-to-market strategies for new international markets.
• Conducting assessments of product-market fit and opportunities for long-term demand.
• Optimizing inbound marketing/revenue engines and teams.

Successes:

• Built inbound marketing & revenue engine that accounted for 100% of sales and drove 30% CAGR for 10 years.
• 25+ years running marketing, sales and business development teams in high tech companies like QNX & Bitflash.
• Founding CMO at Halogen Software taking it to a global market leader with 500+ employees, $70M ARR, double-digit growth, and eventual exit for $293M.
• Experience raising funds, working closely with VCs, and managing boards.

Where Lynn can help:

• Mentoring HR leaders and their teams as they build their capability in-house.
• Leading culture, leadership and board reviews.
• Building founder, executive and employee relations.
• Enhancing talent management strategies and practices.
• Assisting in the development of talent recruitment and training plans for new markets.

Successes:

• Built & delivered several leadership programs such as Strength Finders, and certified Fierce Conversations facilitator.
• Most recently Lynn developed and launched a course called The Impact Method which teaches critical business skills to HR professionals.

Where Paulina can help:

• Advising on near- and long-term business and financial planning.
• Providing strategic financial recommendations to the management team.
• Providing guidance and input to financial modelling for debt and equity financing purposes.
• Reviewing current financial reporting and providing suggestions for improvements/enhancements.
• Support with government funding initiatives.

Successes:

• Closed several successful debt and equity financing rounds.
• Provided strategic, financial, and legal advice to executive leadership teams during financing and merger and acquisition discussions.
• Developed high performing finance teams.

• Advising on product and technology strategy, leveraging extensive experience in health-tech, fitness, and manufacturing sectors. Expertise in integrating AI, silicon photonics, and biosensors into viable products.
• Guidance on agile methodologies and SaaS development, ensuring efficient product lifecycle management and alignment with market demands.
• Mentoring on entrepreneurial acumen, including fundraising, strategic partnerships, and client acquisition strategies to scale startups effectively.
• Facilitating the alignment between technical innovation and business strategy, ensuring products meet market needs while driving growth.
• Optimizing product-market fit, utilizing a data-driven approach to validate market demand and adjust product features accordingly.
• Enhancing team communication and negotiation skills, to ensure clear understanding and execution of product roadmaps and customer feedback integration.

• Successfully led PUSH to acquisition by WHOOP, showcasing leadership in navigating startups from inception through scale to acquisition.
• Managed product roadmaps at WHOOP, focusing on health and enterprise solutions, demonstrating an ability to lead product strategy in fast-paced, growth-oriented environments.
• Consulted for companies in tech readiness and market sizing, providing strategic advice that propelled startups toward success.
• Active advisor and investor in health-tech and hardware startups, leveraging technical and business expertise to mentor founders and drive innovation in the startup ecosystem.
• Developed a hand motor recovery device for stroke patients, committed to impactful health-tech solutions.
• Organizer of AI Tinkerers in Ottawa and Climate Tech Ottawa, fostering innovation communities and promoting technological advancements to address critical challenges.

Where Arlen Can Help:

• Generating initial traction with customers – including pilot projects and first sales.
• Building effective sales campaign strategies.
• Establishing unique value in competitive markets.
• Creating impactful go to market plans.

Successes:

• Built & sold technology startup to Getty Images.
• Scaled Corel’s global sales division with personnel and partners.
• Expansion of the Royal Conservatory’s Exams & Publishing divisions.

Where Lise can help:

• Non-dilutive funding strategy
• Investor Financing – Pitch Decks, Process, Diligence
• SME operations
• ESG Communications
• Clean tech IP knowledge
• Environmental, social, and economic benefits quantification

Successes:

• 20 years of experience guiding startups, scale-ups, and industry leaders in accessing public and private funding to fuel growth and innovation
• Secured millions in non-dilutive funding – including grants, incentives, and partnerships – to help companies accelerate commercialization
• Delivered impact across clean tech and sustainability while enabling funding wins in diverse sectors

Where Jaipreet can help:

• Supporting client companies to develop strategies and best practices for intellectual property.
• IP valuation for technology companies.
• Technology commercialization strategy for scaling companies in information, communication and Healthcare IT.
• Creating commercialization models.

Successes:

• Has developed strategies and commercialization models for 5G and AI technology.
• Has 15+ years of experience in intellectual property management.
• Has collaborated with the House of Commons on the “Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer: Promoting Best Practices.”.
• Developed the model for the national service line for Ernst & Young.

Where Erin can help:

• Building and executing customer-led, growth-focused marketing strategies.
• Demand generation via unpaid methods.
• Using content marketing to build your brand and capture attention in a noisy market.
• Social media marketing and building a community of raving customers.
• Hiring and training new marketing team members.

Successes:

• Founded one of Canada’s first virtual assistance businesses.
• Helped first client – a startup in Silicon Valley – grow to acquisition by Ancestry.com for $100M.
• Provided services to leading global brands, including Disney, Microsoft, Ford, and Alliance Films.
• Featured in publications such as TechCrunch, The Globe & Mail, The Wall Street Journal, and AdWeek.

How Frederic can help you:

• Execution : I can help getting a cadence going and focusing on the big rocks with urgency.
• Go To Market : Getting discovery calls happening, getting the best of them, pricing conversations, business development & sales to enterprises.
• Product Development : Just enough and no more, getting things done, and getting out there testing vision against customers’ expectations.  It’s more than ok to have technical debt.

Successes:

• Founded and operated Macadamian, at its peak, over 250+ employees and $25m in revenue, offices in 4 countries
• 20+ investments in startups
• LP in Mistral, and others.

Where Maura can help:

• Intellectual Property Management (drafting & prosecution, National & Regional filing strategy, IP due diligence, Patentability & FTO analyses) in the life sciences/biotech industry.
• Financing (seed, series A+, reverse merger, IPO).
• Licensing technology (in- and out-).
• Corporate structure (Canada & US) and Contracts & Agreements (MSAs, SAs, MTAs etc.).
• US/CDN cross-border tax issues (including CFC & PFIC).

Successes:

• 30+ years of commercialization experience across all key sectors of biotech.
• Helped spin out Turnstone Biologics from Intellectual Property (IP) developed at three Ontario academic institutes.
• Had a significant role in raising over $370 million (U.S.) through private financings and pharma-licenses.
• Current President & CEO of Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO).

Where Steve Can Help:

• Understanding what it takes to make a product you can touch (ie. hardware) versus a software or service based business.
• Hardware product design guidance, how to solidify market-requirements into a product specification.
• Advice on how to structure your team for all aspects of hardware development including the mix of in-house and contracted help.
• On-shoring, off-shoring, contracting, in-house production, BOM (Bill of Materials) reduction, price reduction, DFM (design for manufacturing).
• Protecting your hardware product including patents, trade secrets and some alternative strategies.
• Sales, sourcing, licensing, financing, grants and government contracts expansion, especially into the USA.

Successes:

• Founded and exited several companies in medical, cleantech and military.
• Invented and designed many award winning products that are featured in Canadian museum of Science and the Smithsonian Institute.
• Multi-company Profit 100, forty-under-forty and Clean-tech Green-15 recipient.
• Helped grow a private Canadian military company from $30M to over $200M in revenue worldwide.
• Assisted in over $2B in funding to private cleantech companies in the U.S.A.

Where Cecile Can Help:

• Developing SEO strategies to increase online visibility, organic traffic and conversions.
• Auditing websites and making recommendations to improve their on-page, off-page and technical SEO.
• Evaluating content and making recommendations to solidify or develop a content marketing strategy.

Successes:

• Bilingual SEO Specialist with 5 years experience in digital communications and marketing.
• 2022 Canadian Search Award applicant for Best Use of Search – B2B and Best SEO Campaign.

Where Jon can help:

• Marketing: lead generation, nurturing lead strategies , marketing tools
• Sales Strategy: pricing strategies, operations, analytics, channel strategy, renewal management, business development and partnerships
• Customer Success Strategy and Processes
• Team Building, Structure, Compensation and Management
• Product-Market Fit Assessment and Strategies
• Executive Leadership Coaching and Professional Development Strategies

Successes:

• VP of Sales at Shoebox Ltd: Instrumental in leading the company’s growth. Successfully facilitated the acquisition by WS Audiology.
• Director of Sales at DNA Genotek Inc.: Led direct sales teams and channel partners for North America, the UK, and Europe.

Where Shea can help:

• Advising on Founder-led growth; where to start, what to prioritize, and when to outsource for marketing, brand, communications, or lead generation.
• Practical guidance and frameworks on how to build a brand that is meaningful and different; guidance on how to use brand strategy as the foundation of your marketing and growth plan.
• Feedback and mentoring on product positioning, from research and exploration to testing and copy refinement.
• Marketing org design and hiring plan; outlining which roles you need and when, what profiles to focus on and the attitudes and behaviours to probe for during the hiring process.
• Support with developing growth strategies to attract and convert niche customer profiles, especially in B2B.

Successes:

• Has held marketing leadership roles at Fortune 500 as well as early stage startups, managing marketing budgets ranging from $500 thousand to $70 million.
• Currently Chief Marketing Officer at Field Effect, an Ottawa based cybersecurity company in growth stage. Quadrupled marketing contribution to pipeline within a year of hire while increasing advertising spend efficiency by 20%.
• Previously VP Marketing at digital health company Fullscript, scaled marketing team from scratch and delivered rapid growth from ~$20 to $700 million in revenue in just five years.
• Classically trained brand strategist with an MBA from University of Toronto; instructor of “How to Build a Strategy” on Electives.io

Where John Can Help:

• Evaluating technology investments.
• Advising on hiring, recruiting and interview processes for technical roles.
• Scaling technology and the teams building it.
• Expertise in Rails, iOS development and engineering leadership.

Successes:

• Part of Shopify from 50 to 2500 employees as a developer, team lead and engineering director.
• Led Product Engineering group of ~150 developers.
• Responsible for hiring, onboarding, staffing and engineering culture.

Where Ron Can Help:

• Leading and facilitating strategic planning for product definition, and product direction.
• Leading and facilitating customer research.
• Conducting analysis of existing products and provide recommendations for improvements.
• Leading and supporting product concept work that aligns with product strategy.
• Keeping teams focused on the “user experience” as a core value.

Successes:

• Built and contributed to more than 10 design teams.
• Delivered award winning design solutions in healthcare, telecom, business analytics and HR.
• Delivered high impact design training to core teams.

Where Andre Can Help:

• Early commercialization of clean technologies (including spin-out from academic setting).
• Customer discovery and securing early customers/partners.
• Large-scale cleantech project management and pilot demonstration.
• International expansion and business development in global markets.

Successes:

• 15+ years of senior management experience that spans the international cleantech/sustainability marketplace.
• Most recently, served as Atlantic Canada Manager for Fortescue focused on the development of their $5B plus FOAK – First of a Kind (green hydrogen project).
• Currently working as an advisor at Elemental Impact (Hawaii), helping their portfolio companies navigate the complexities of deploying FOAK energy projects or early commercial climate tech projects.
• Also a volunteer mentor at Breakthrough Energy and the Cleantech Academy (Holland College – PEI
• Corporate leadership expertise in challenging environments throughout the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa

Where Bill can help:

• Advising on operational strategies with respect to product development, manufacturing and after sales support.
• Development and implementation of go-to-market strategies.
• Aligning financial objectives with operations management.
• Selection and implementation of digital technologies to support operations.
• Operational efficiency using the Lean Six Sigma methodologies.

Successes:

• Successfully lead several service based start-ups from idea stage to multi-million dollar annual revenues.
• Contributed to several successful M&A events.
• Part of the executive team to lead the company to increased revenue and EBITA in a declining market cycle.
• Led the company through the necessary steps to ensure rental fleet compliance with Federal emissions control regulations.

Where Andrew can help:

• Growth Marketing: Specializing in innovative lead generation, nurturing strategies, and optimizing customer journeys for maximum engagement.
• Sales Strategy: Expertise in channel strategy, renewal management, operations, pricing, analytics, and strategic partnerships.
• Customer Success Strategy: Client lifecycle management, building teams, structures, and compensation plans while fine-tuning product-market fit and driving satisfaction.

Successes:

• CRO at Relish Global Studios: Led direct sales and growth marketing teams, expanding partnerships in North America and the UK.
• CRO at Field Effect Security: Drove international growth and partnerships, fuelling multi-channel expansion.

Where Kerry Can Help:

• Developing and implementing social selling strategies to enable sales teams to use social media platforms, primarily LinkedIn, in their sales tactics.
• Helping marketing teams mobilize employees to become brand ambassadors/company advocates.
• Supporting HR teams to develop employer branding and recruitment marketing that attracts and retains top talent.

Successes:

• 25+ years marketing and sales experiences spanning startup to enterprise in multiple sectors, including internationally recognized brands.
• Conceived and launched social selling programs for Air Canada, United and Lufthansa Group delivering workshops and training to their global sales teams with a combined total over 3,300 team members.

Where Saema can help:

• Advising on PR tactics to break into the US media landscape.
• Providing guidance on effective press release strategies.
• Delivering insights on creating, ideating, and distributing media pitches to maximize earned media coverage.
• Providing guidance on how to summarize and present your unique organizational or product story to media.
• Providing expertise in PR and media relations for HR tech companies and HR organizations

Successes:

• Worked in communications/PR in public sector, private tech sector, and entrepreneurial spaces and able to give expert PR advice across sectors.
• Worked with Canadian and US tech organizations to craft their brand/product story to get tier 1 media wins.
• Currently running a PR and media relations consultancy with clients in the US and Canada.

Where Nish can help:

• Develop and execute practical AI strategies for founders and leadership teams.
• Design AI-enabled systems and cultures that make innovation repeatable, scalable, and human-centered.
• Bridge technical potential and business impact to drive adoption that delivers measurable results.
• Prepare leaders and teams to anticipate and navigate AI’s second- and third-order implications with clarity and confidence.

Successes:

• Current: Co-founder of Thinking With AI (a GenAI Studio) that shapes how teams and organizations leverage AI for continuous productivity gains and breakthrough innovation.
• AI Experience: In the past year, delivered AI workshops to 500+ non-technical knowledge workers, led 100+ one-on-one executive and leadership team coaching sessions, and completed 50+ AI consulting projects across industries—building real capability and confidence in how to command AI.
• History: 20+ years leading and scaling technology companies, including multiple successful turnarounds and exits such as ConceptShare (acquired by Deltek/Roper Technologies) and Napkyn Analytics (acquired by Kepler Group/Hakuhodo DY Holdings).

Where Andrew can help:

• Bringing your product to market quickly and profitably.
• Developing niche strategies & business models for advantageous market fit and to dominate market segments.
• Navigating national or international sales channels.
• Growing & scaling at virtually any level in any sector.

Successes:

• Advised LightspeedPOS through their initial funding and expansion (now valued at $3B) with Kingsford Consulting.
• Developed & delivered an SME training program for Apple’s North American independent retail network.
• Worked with YOU-I.tv to build their strategy leading to international market success.

Where Patrick can help:

• Supporting early-stage technical decisions and tradeoffs.
• Advising on hiring, evaluating, and retaining technical talent.
• Helping founders align engineering and product strategy with customer value.
• Structuring teams, systems, and workflows for growth.

Successes:

• Co-founded and scaled Knak to 100+ employees, $10M+ ARR, and $25M Series A.
• Built Knak’s product from the ground up, including its no-code email builder.
• Helped land and support enterprise customers like Google, Amazon, Meta, and Nvidia.
• Built and led a high-performing engineering team with industry-leading retention.

Where Steve can help:

• Evaluating, choosing, and using marketing technologies to help capture, convert, and track leads.
• Building digital experiences in line with the buyer journey.
• Setting up campaigns for lead generation, onboarding, and customer engagement.

Successes:

• Redesigned the digital channel for several global B2B technology brands.
• Founded the Marketing Technology consultancy within one of North America’s premier B2B agencies.
• Has led teams of creatives and developers to deliver leading-edge and award-winning digital programs.

Where Rebecca can help:

• Advising on data strategy, machine learning/AI, and helping companies get started on their analytics journey.
• Working with both technical and non-technical teams to assess and identify use cases for AI adoption and automation.
• Providing guidance on developing customer insights and user journeys to connect to product strategy.
• Advising on pricing strategies and optimizing revenue through data-driven insights.
• Building up data and AI skills and teams within companies (hiring/training, etc.).

Successes:

• Led multiple companies to build their first production machine learning & AI environment, improving customer retention and lead conversion.
• Launched data driven pricing and packaging changes that increased conversions and average selling price by 15%.
• Worked with tech companies both big and small including Shopify & Spotify, helping to grow teams and build the data & AI strategy.

Loïc Berthou is Co-Founder and CTO of Qlarifi, a fintech startup transforming the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) industry through real-time, data-driven insights. With over two decades in software engineering, his experience ranges from early-stage startups to multinational companies. Loïc excels in product strategy, system architecture, team leadership, and scaling engineering operations. Fluent in English, French, and Spanish, he holds a Masters in Management & Industrial Sciences and a Bachelor in Electronics.

As a mentor with Invest Ottawa, he has guided entrepreneurs and technical co-founders with empathy and transparency: from refining a product roadmap to setting up the engineering culture or even troubleshooting scalability challenges.

Andrew Fraser is a results-driven strategist with a passion for turning innovative ideas into market-ready products. With a strong background in sales, partnerships, and customer success, he has helped startups and established businesses refine their go-to-market strategies, build high-performing teams, and accelerate growth. Andrew excels at identifying product value, optimizing operations, and executing plans that drive measurable success. His leadership in cybersecurity, SaaS, and market research has empowered companies to scale efficiently. Whether launching new offerings or expanding existing markets, Andrew brings the expertise needed to navigate challenges and achieve ambitious goals. Andrew joined Invest Ottawa’s Mentorloop program in the spring of 2024 and has worked with three startups to date, helping them translate technical capabilities into industry-issue solving value propositions.

Craig Heward is the founder of Sales Mentor Collective, a sales consultancy firm in Ottawa. With over 20 years of experience driving revenue and leading sales teams across various B2B industries (Digital Marketing, Radio Broadcasting, Wireless Telecom, SaaS VoIP), Craig has a proven track record of exceeding targets and building high-performing sales teams. Over the past 6 months with Mentorloop, he has mentored 6 startup leaders, helping them sharpen their focus on core sales strategies and market positioning. Known for his data-driven approach and customer-centric mindset, Craig now empowers companies to refine their sales processes, onboard sales talent and set up companies for scalable growth.

Rally Khouri, is a Product Marketer and SaaS consultant who helps early-stage startups go from 0 to 1 with marketing. Rally specializes in building go-to-market strategies, positioning and messaging, and product launch plans for high-growth startups. As a 4x early-stage employee, Rally has helped scale companies like Rewind (Series B: $65M, employee #8) and Postscript (Series C: $65M, employee #28). Rally has have worked with founders at startups like Noibu, Tresl Segments, and Autocorp.ai in establishing solid marketing foundations.

Kelly Rigole is a dynamic leader with extensive experience in scaling operations and mentoring startups. As the former VP of Operations at Knak Inc., she played a critical role in driving a 1,460% employee growth rate during her tenure, and supporting a $25 M Series A funding round. As a Certified Salesforce Administrator, Kelly led the implementation of Salesforce and created all sales operations processes. She spearheaded the adoption of 15+ software solutions and oversaw key departments, including People & Culture, IT, Security, and Legal. Together with her teams, Kelly’s leadership contributed to Knak being recognized as one of Ottawa’s Best Places to Work. As a mentor with Invest Ottawa’s program, Kelly has supported startups in sales

operations, organizational growth, process optimization, data visualization, and strategic initiatives. With a unique blend of creativity and operational expertise, she excels at transforming bold ideas into sustainable practices. Outside work, Kelly enjoys archery, crocheting, and gardening