Trailblaze Anthony Lacavera

This episode features Anthony’s long-time business partner, Brice Scheschuk. Beginning with Brice’s early career — from joining a Naval Reserve and working in accounting and consulting, to eventually coming on-board with Globalive after meeting Anthony at a web industry event in 2003 — they discuss the highs and lows of building Globalive and bringing WIND Mobile to market. This discussion covers the characteristics of successful founders, and the importance of both having a mentor and eventually becoming one. Founders listening should look into MindFrame Connect, where they’re focused on creating more resilient entrepreneurs and improving the craft of mentorship.



Recorded February 2022



About Brice Scheschuk: Brice Scheschuk, CPA, CA is the Managing Partner of Globalive Capital. He was a co-founder and CFO of WIND Mobile as well as CEO of Globalive Communications. Brice has over 25 years’ experience building and operating companies at Globalive, WIND Mobile, Leitch Technology and PricewaterhouseCoopers. He obtained his CPA, CA designation at PricewaterhouseCoopers and B.Comm (Hon.) Finance from Dalhousie University. Brice served as a Maritime Surface Officer in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve. Brice serves on numerous boards and advisory committees (public, private, and not-for-profit) and is a frequent speaker on scale-up entrepreneurship and innovation. He is a co-founder of MindFrame Connect, a not-for-profit focused on elevating the craft of mentorship and improving entrepreneurial resiliency. His interests include Canada’s innovation and startup ecosystem, entrepreneurial finance, mentorship excellence, resiliency, financial literacy, military veteran transition, fitness, travel, good food, good books and great friends.



Connect with Brice and MindFrame Connect:

Twitter: www.twitter.com/scheschuk 

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/brice-scheschuk-cpa-ca-095721a 

Mindframe Connect Website: www.mindframeconnect.com 



Thank you for listening to Trailblaze!

Share your thoughts about this episode of Trailblaze on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnthonyLacavera

Instagram: https://instagram.com/anthony.lacavera 

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/anthonylacavera 

For more about Anthony Lacavera and to subscribe to the mailing list visit https://anthonylacavera.com.

Trailblaze is produced by CreatorClub. Create your own podcast at https://creatorclubstudios.com.

From consumer electronics or artificial intelligence, this episode features a trusted voice in Canadian media. Amber Mac joins Anthony to share her journey from traditional media journalism to starting her own successful media company and producing content for some of the world's biggest brands. She discussed the struggles of starting her business, her most challenging moment in the industry, and why she returned to Canada after living and working in the US. Anthony and Amber also touch on Artificial Intelligence, its potential to shape the future in healthcare and its controversial position among society, as well as the Metaverse — where Amber says she would only invest in physical real estate.



Recorded April 2022



About Amber Mac: Amber Mac is President of AmberMac Media, Inc., an award-winning content development agency, an award-winning podcaster (This Is Mining, The AI Effect), and a bestselling author. She is also the co-host of the weekly emerging technology radio show and podcast #TheFeed on SiriusXM. In 2022, Amber joined the board of directors at GFI (TSXV: PEAS), a plant-based farm-to-fork food and ingredients company.



Connect with Amber:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ambermac 

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/ambermac 

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ambermac 

Amber Mac’s Website: http://ambermac.com 



Thank you for listening to Trailblaze!



Share your thoughts about this episode of Trailblaze on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnthonyLacavera

Instagram: https://instagram.com/anthony.lacavera 

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/anthonylacavera 



For more about Anthony Lacavera and to subscribe to the mailing list visit https://anthonylacavera.com.



Trailblaze is produced by CreatorClub. Create your own podcast at https://creatorclubstudios.com. 

 The inaugural episode of Trailblaze features Erin Bury, co-founder and CEO at estate planning startup Willful. Erin and Anthony discuss work-life balance (including running a startup as a married couple), sustaining a thriving business during the pandemic (and how Willful gave back by donating hundreds of thousands of dollars in wills for frontline healthcare workers), and the struggles of securing startup funding in Canada. Erin continues to trailblaze by simplifying and digitizing wills for all Canadians, while supporting important causes.



Recorded February 2022



About Erin Bury: Named one of Bay St. Bull’s Women of the Year, Erin Bury is one of Canada’s top female entrepreneurs, an active startup advisor, and a former marketer and technology journalist. Erin is the co-founder and CEO at online estate planning platform Willful, where she drives the company’s mission to make it easier for Canadians to prepare for and deal with death in a digital age. Willful has been named one of the Power 50 companies by Bay St. Bull (now Glory Professional), and Erin secured a deal for the company on TV’s Dragons’ Den in 2021. Erin advises multiple startups and is a board member for Save the Children Canada and the co-chair of the #Tech4SickKids initiative for SickKids Hospital.



Connect with Erin and Willful:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/erinbury 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/willfulwills 

Willful Website: https://www.willful.co 



Thank you for listening to Trailblaze!



Share your thoughts about this episode of Trailblaze on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnthonyLacavera

Instagram: https://instagram.com/anthony.lacavera 

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/anthonylacavera 

For more about Anthony Lacavera and to subscribe to the mailing list visit https://anthonylacavera.com.

Trailblaze is produced by CreatorClub. Create your own podcast at https://creatorclubstudios.com.

When will society abandon stereotypes about women in tech? What was it like to raise money as a twenty-something female founder? On this episode Anthony sits down with entrepreneur Emilie Cushman to discuss the challenges she faced as a young woman in tech pitching investors, what it’s like for founders to hire a CEO who is not aligned, and the content that she is creating today to help young founders.



Recorded March 2022



About Emilie Cushman: Emilie Cushman is the Co-founder and CEO of Kira Talent. Kira Talent is one of Canada’s fastest growing companies in the higher education technology space, using holistic admissions software to help teams effectively, efficiently, and fairly identify applicants who will succeed in their program. Since its inception in 2012 out of the Next 36 program, Kira has raised over $8.8 million dollars in funding and most recently, exited to ETS, Education Testing Service in November of 2021. Kira Talent counts over 1000 university programs as clients, including programs at Yale, Harvard, Stanford and INSEAD, and over 1 million students have completed Kira applications. Prior to starting Kira, Emilie obtained her Bachelor of Business from University of Windsor in 2012 and that same year completed the Next 36 Entrepreneurial Institute. Emilie was named HSBC Woman Leader of Tomorrow 2012, Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada 2012, Next 36 Most Outstanding Venture Award 2012, the Geoff Taber Alumni Achievement Award 207, the University of Windsor Odyssey Award for Alumni Achievement 2017, Forbes Top 30 Under 30 in 2019, and EY Winning Women Program 2021.



Connect with Emilie and Kira Talent:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/officialemiliecushman 

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/emiliecushman 

Kira Talent Website: http://kiratalent.com 



Thank you for listening to Trailblaze!

Share your thoughts about this episode of Trailblaze on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnthonyLacavera

Instagram: https://instagram.com/anthony.lacavera 

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/anthonylacavera 



For more about Anthony Lacavera and to subscribe to the mailing list visit https://anthonylacavera.com.

Trailblaze is produced by CreatorClub. Create your own podcast at https://creatorclubstudios.com.

As a key leader in the tech startup community, in this episode of the podcast, Anthony interviews Sunil Sharma, managing director of Techstars Toronto. Sunil shares his journey of becoming a partner at Extreme Ventures, bringing Techstars to Canada. He also shares his experience working as a Canadian diplomat and his involvement in the government of Canada's Foreign Affairs Department. Sunil talks about how he helped bring the Collision conference to Toronto and his connection to Africa, sharing the story of finding a Nigerian fintech company to invest in early on at Techstars. Sunil and Anthony discuss the tech boom in Africa, the types of programs and funding available for entrepreneurs, and the challenges that entrepreneurs face when trying to bring their businesses to Canada. They also discuss immigration policy and visas for entrepreneurs and what we can do to help entrepreneurs come to Canada. Lastly, Sunil and Anthony look to the future of the tech world and what they are most excited for such as metaverse, VR, and crypto.



Recorded March 2022



About Sunil Sharma: Sunil Sharma is the Managing Director of Techstars Toronto (Techstars is the world’s biggest startup accelerator). At Techstars, Sunil has made 76 direct investments in tech startups based in 16 countries across the world. He is also the Director of the Founder Institute in Toronto and Waterloo (Founder Institute is the world’s biggest startup pre-accelerator). At Founder Institute, Sunil has launched more than 350 new startups.  Sunil is also Co-Host of the Collision Conference and Web Summit (Web Summit including Collision and RISE is the world’s biggest tech conference). Prior to Techstars, Sunil was a Managing Partner with Extreme Venture Partners, a Canadian early-stage venture capital fund where he led more than 20 investments and deployed more than $5M in capital.  Sunil was also co-founder and Managing Director of Extreme Startups where he ran 3 successful cohorts and made 15 investments as part of one of Canada’s earliest tech accelerator funds (backed by 5 prominent Canadian VC funds). Sunil is a public speaker, often delivering keynotes on globalization of startups, immigration, marketing and fundraising. Sunil is often called upon as a judge at startup competitions and as an MC for large conferences and events (such as Collision). Sunil possesses a rare background that spans across the worlds of entrepreneurship, investment and international diplomacy. Sunil was a career member of Canada’s Foreign Service where he last served as the Consulate Head in Southern California. Previously Sunil represented Canada at the United Nations and served at the Canadian Space Agency. Sunil was born in Canada to immigrant parents. Sunil has lived extensively across Canada including many years in Edmonton, Halifax, Moncton, Kamloops, Victoria, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.  



Connect with Sunil and Techstars:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/sunilsharmaco 

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/sunilsharmats 

Techstars Toronto Accelerator: https://techstars.com/accelerators/toronto 



Thank you for listening to Trailblaze!



Share your thoughts about this episode of Trailblaze on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnthonyLacavera

Instagram: https://instagram.com/anthony.lacavera 

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/anthonylacavera 



For more about Anthony Lacavera and to subscribe to the mailing list visit https://anthonylacavera.com.

Trailblaze is produced by CreatorClub. Create your own podcast at https://creatorclubstudios.com.

Subscribe for upcoming episodes of Trailblaze with Anthony Lacavera.