Uncharted Waters Greg Smyth

Intro

Today's episode features an interview with Mark Dobbin, founder and president of Killick Capital Inc., a private equity investment firm headquartered in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. It was created as a vehicle for Mark’s desire to invest in the aerospace sector as well as work and invest in his hometown. The name "Killick" refers to an anchor made of a long stone and sticks. Its effective and ingenious design has been relied on for centuries to secure boats and nets.

If you're a startup founder in Newfoundland looking to raise money, you're probably knocking on Mark's door. He's more than an investor. He's an important part of the community, connecting and building things in Newfoundland. Let his story inspire you, and I hope you enjoy this episode!

Topics:
1:10 How Mark's upbringing in Newfoundland shaped him
3:33 How his father influenced him to go into business
6:55 His desire to invest in the aerospace sector
9:42 Cultural ties between Newfoundland and Ireland
12:06 NL's balance sheet is a “mess”
15:20 Abundant and consistent supply of oil and gas in NL
18:02 People are the most important resource
24:29 Investing versus operating a business
27:18 His biggest investment failure
30:00 What characteristics does he look for in startup founders?
36:05 Creativity and Innovation
38:59 How can the GlobalNL community support each other?
42:11 Diversity and inclusion
45:58 Advice for Newfoundlanders

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn, Website

Intro
In this episode I talk with Kimberley Mullins, an applied social scientist and the current Director of Talent Development at Shopify. She is from Newfoundland, but she moved to Calgary to work for ExxonMobil Canada. She then joined Imperial Oil, which is also located in Calgary.We discuss a variety of topics, but one of my favorites is Kimberley's discussion of how she stayed connected to her hometown and her advice to people in the community to "look after each other."

Topics covered:
2:07 Developing talent involves motivating others to be their best selves
5:07 Kimberley’s work history
7:01 How Kimberley stayed connected to her “home”
15:12 In Newfoundland, everyone respects those who are just trying to get by
32:05 Work on your strengths, not your weaknesses
35:00 Discover your passion to live a more fulfilling life
39:20 Invest in your legacy
47:07 Culture is customary difference
57:07 Making something valuable to you vulnerable to others is what trust is
1:02:10 Everyone can make a positive difference in the world
1:05:26 To be a leader, you must bring out the best in people
1:08:40 People aspire to grow professionally
1:20:50 Leadership requires humility
1:24:27 Kimberley’s advice to the community: “We look after each other”

Connect with Kimberly on LinkedIn

The fourth episode in the NL Tech Spotlight series - a discussion between Jeremy Andrews and Ed J Martin, the CEO of Clockwork Fox Studios. Clockwork is an education technology company that develops a blended learning platform for elementary math called Zorbit’s Math Adventure. Zorbit helps young math learners succeed by integrating the powers of play, pedagogy, and learning analytics.

We talk about a bunch of things in this episode, but one of my favourite parts was Ed describing how Carnegie see's Clockwork as their new Canadian Headquarters, based right here in Newfoundland and Labrador. With a number of exits to US based companies here in recent years, it's part of a growing and exciting trend for the local tech industry.

0:00 - Where ya from?

1:30 - How did you go from Mechanical Engineering to Digital Media to Software?

4:30 - Best Boy Productions and the Transition to Clockwork

8:30 - Making games that aren’t just fun, but also help kids get better at math

11:30 - Becoming a much more powerful platform for Teachers

15:30 - What’s been your “Go to Market” strategy

17:30 - “Sage on the Stage” education to “Student Centered Learning”

20:40 - Were you planning for an Acquisition?

23:35 - “The Canadian Head Office”

25:25 - Where does it go from here?

29:25 - Has doing this in Newfoundland been hard?

This episode of Uncharted Waters’ “Local Tech Spotlight” segment is a discussion between Jeremy Andrews and Leah Murphy from NorthStar Payroll. Leah came up with the idea for a better payroll system after years of operating her own payroll company, Get Payroll. NorthStar plans to provide their customers with a premium payroll software that leverages AI & Machine Learning technology to automate repetitive tasks, catch variances in processing and provide in-depth analyses.
Podcast Outline:
1:20 - Can you tell us a bit about yourself
3:40 - Being a reluctant entrepreneur
5:30 - Deciding to take the leap with support from the community
8:36 - Building a solution to your own problem
11:53 - How does NorthStar work?
13:27 - Target customer
16:58 - Go-to-market strategy and user feedback
20:55 - Support from NL startup ecosystem (NLOWE, SJBOT, Genesis, MPPCC)
23:38 - Advice for other startup founders
26:16 - What’s the future hold?

Tim Powers shares his journey, including some ups and downs, from deep roots in Newfoundland and Labrador to a life and career at the “Centre”. Tim’s vision of the future direction of this country in strategic areas including a post Covid world and Carbon Pricing is very interesting. He is always led by his mother's sage advice, which is to “Never Get Too Big For Your Britches”. Enjoy the listen it will surprise and entertain you and if you ever get a chance to visit with Tim in Ottawa, don’t forget to bring the Black Horse and/or Jockey!

Timeline:

0:20GlobalNL Introduction and Overview
3:27Growing up in Newfoundland, how it shaped you
8:06Lobbyist role - Secret Sauce
10:24Storytelling and how important it is
13:08Covid and Canadian Politics - Mental Health - Money - Family
18:25 Data Management and Politics - Abacus Data
24:10Where is the optimism/pessimism in the future of Newfoundland
30:11Climate Change - Carbon Pricing
35:49Mental Health
42:06Rugby - Outlet - Friendships - Validations - Mental Strength - World Cup game NL
45:35How can the GlobalNL community help the Province
47:22Tim’s Billboard “Stay Strong”

In the second episode of our new segment “Local Tech Spotlight”, Jeremy talks with Prospre, a St. John’s Startup developing a mobile app that allows you to easily build customized meal plans that take your personal preferences and nutritional goals into account.

Jonathan and Colin from Prospre give us a peek inside the early days of starting a technology company in Newfoundland and Labrador. We discuss the success they’ve had to date, and how a growing entrepreneurship mentality at Memorial University is helping aspiring entrepreneurs overcome the fear of getting started.

Podcast Outline:

1:30 - Can you tell us about Prospre in your own words?
3:00 - Where’d you get the idea?
4:35 - What came first? Entrepreneurship or the idea?
5:15 - Entrepreneurship mentality at MUN
9:45 - Product and Traction
15:55 - What’s been your biggest challenge?
19:50 - What’s the next big thing for Prospre?