The ONSIDE Podcast: Recent Episodes
ONSIDE
A podcast on innovation-driven entrepreneurship. Atlantic Canada is bursting with entrepreneurs in digital tech, ocean technologies, life sciences and so much more. Ready to hear their stories? The successes, the pivots and rebirth, and everything in between? The ONSIDE podcast will bring it all to you, uncut, unfiltered.
Drinkable is the world’s first accurate, affordable, and easy to use handheld water testing device that strives to make water testing accurate, easy, and affordable. In this episode, we're taking a look at the journey to create a climate adaptive technology company here in Nova Scotia.
Our guest is Matt Mizzi, founder and CEO of Drinkable. Matt has a degree in Environmental Science from Acadia University. Raised by electrical engineer and turned CEO of his own company, Matt is a venture capital enthusiast and is passionate about ethics, truth, environment, and humans living their best lives
For more information:
https://www.drinkable.tech/
https://onsidenow.ca/
In today's episode, welcome back Beth Mason, President & CEO of the Verschuren Centre. We discuss the role of the bioeconomy in the rural areas, the opportunities and resources for traditional industries, the importance of connections and more.
In 2017, Dr. Mason was appointed CEO of the Verschuren Centre. Her forward-thinking mindset helps connect large industry and community partners to develop and demonstrate innovative clean solutions. Beth's background brings a mix of industry, research and business approaches to problem-solving from many sectors, private business and government. She is committed to enabling our clients' success by ensuring our core business activities and growth plans align with our clients' needs. Beth has also held positions with Saputo, as a Manager Dairy Derivatives, and also as an Industrial Research Fellow at Cape Breton University.
For more information:https://www.verschurencentre.ca/
https://onsidenow.ca/
Steve Matier, Founder and CEO of Maritime Launch, is driving the collaboration and partnerships that will support the development of a safe and environmentally sustainable commercial space market in Canada.
In today's episode we welcome back Steve for a chat about the power of community, collaboration and why a local commercial spaceport will be groundbreaking for innovation here in Canada.
A mechanical engineer by training, Steve is a skilled international spaceport licensing specialist. As an expert analyst of spaceports and launch vehicles, Steve shares extensive knowledge and experience in matching clients with the infrastructure and technology to meet their business needs.
Maritime Launch Services, headquartered in Nova Scotia, was founded in 2016 as Canada’s first commercial satellite launch company.
For more information:
https://www.maritimelaunch.com/
https://onsidenow.ca/
Steve Matier, Founder and CEO of Maritime Launch, is driving the collaboration and partnerships that will support the development of a safe and environmentally sustainable commercial space market in Canada.
In today's episode we welcome back Steve for a chat about the power of community, collaboration and why a local commercial spaceport will be groundbreaking for innovation here in Canada.
A mechanical engineer by training, Steve is a skilled international spaceport licensing specialist. As an expert analyst of spaceports and launch vehicles, Steve shares extensive knowledge and experience in matching clients with the infrastructure and technology to meet their business needs.
Maritime Launch Services, headquartered in Nova Scotia, was founded in 2016 as Canada’s first commercial satellite launch company.
For more information:
https://www.maritimelaunch.com/
https://onsidenow.ca/
In today's episode, we are showcasing the biomanufacturing sector and the larger bioeconomy. Our guest is Beth Mason – President & CEO of the Verschuren Centre. She joins us to talk about what brought her to Canada, her work with the Verschuren Centre, moving into a research focus, challenges in the industry and exciting future of the bioeconomy.
Beth Mason brings a mix of industry, research and business approaches to problem-solving from many sectors, private business and government. She is committed to enabling our clients' success by ensuring our core business activities and growth plans align with our clients' needs. Beth has also held positions with Saputo, as a Manager Dairy Derivatives, and also as an Industrial Research Fellow at Cape Breton University.
For more information:https://www.verschurencentre.ca/
https://onsidenow.ca/
Maritime Launch Services, headquartered in Nova Scotia, was founded in 2016 as Canada’s first commercial satellite launch company. Maritime Launch is building Spaceport Nova Scotia and will place satellites into polar and sun-synchronous orbits using a medium class launch vehicle.
In today's episode we are shining a spotlight on the space and satellite sector here in Nova Scotia. Our guest is Steve Matier, Founder and CEO of Maritime Launch. A mechanical engineer by training and former NASA contractor, Steve is a skilled international spaceport licensing specialist. As an expert analyst of spaceports and launch vehicles, Steve shares extensive knowledge and experience in matching clients with the infrastructure and technology to meet their business needs. As part of Steve’s work with Maritime Launch, he is driving the collaboration and partnerships that will support the development of a safe and environmentally sustainable commercial space market in Canada. Steve is a recipient of the prestigious “Silver Snoopy” award for excellence in flight safety and mission success.
We talk with Steve about what inspired him to work in the industry, the exciting initiatives happening in NS and Canada and why he chose near Canso, NS as the location to build Canada's first commercial spaceport.
For more information:
https://www.maritimelaunch.com/
https://onsidenow.ca/
Bronwyn Bridges is a PhD student in pharmacy at Memorial University of Newfoundland the co-founder, CEO, of PragmaClin, a company focused on assessing and monitoring neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. Alongside her co-founder and COO, Gord Genge, an entrepreneur who has Parkinson’s, the pair are making a difference in the lives of patients with movement disorders. Their PRIMS software runs tests on a patient using cameras to remotely monitor motor and non-motor skills. PragmaClin is a recent Volta Cohort winner, and has also won a top prize of $25,000 at the Mel Woodward Cup – a competition for startups connected to Memorial University.
Today Bronwyn returns to the podcast to talk all about how she created her company, the challenges with starting and growing a med tech company, what she has learned, the resources that helped her and more! Tune in to learn more.
For more information:
https://myomarmolecular.ca/
https://onsidenow.ca/
Bronwyn Bridges is a PhD student in pharmacy at Memorial University of Newfoundland the co-founder, CEO, of PragmaClin, a company focused on assessing and monitoring neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. Alongside her co-founder and COO, Gord Genge, an entrepreneur who has Parkinson’s, the pair are making a difference in the lives of patients with movement disorders. Their PRIMS software runs tests on a patient using cameras to remotely monitor motor and non-motor skills. PragmaClin is a recent Volta Cohort winner, and has also won a top prize of $25,000 at the Mel Woodward Cup – a competition for startups connected to Memorial University.
Today Bronwyn returns to the podcast to talk all about how she created her company, the challenges with starting and growing a med tech company, what she has learned, the resources that helped her and more! Tune in to learn more.
For more information:
https://myomarmolecular.ca/
https://onsidenow.ca/
Today we welcome back Dr. Rafaela Andrade - Co-Founder & CEO of Myomar Molecular. Rafaela has been working with molecular biology techniques, managing projects and developing innovative techniques to improve research outcomes and collaborations for over a decade.
Rafaela's vision is to translate scientific discovery into public health. She's looking to bridge the gap between patients and science, and to create collaborations between governments, industry and academia. She is now a mother of three passionate about health and fitness and is dedicated to growing the company and improving people's quality of life.
Tune in to learn all about Rafaela's journey in creating her company, from the very beginning to present day.
For more information:
https://myomarmolecular.ca/
https://onsidenow.ca/
Bronwyn Bridges is a PhD student in Pharmacy at Memorial University in Newfoundland, and the Co-Founder & CEO, of PragmaClin, a company focused on assessing and monitoring neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. Alongside her co-founder and COO, Gord Genge, an entrepreneur who has Parkinson’s, the pair are making a difference in the lives of patients with movement disorders. Their PRIMS software runs tests on a patient using cameras to remotely monitor motor and non-motor skills.
Bronwyn joins us to talk about her varied background, the challenges she was up against in her entrepreneurial journey, the experience of pitching her business and her advice for future women entrepreneurs!
PragmaClin is a recent Volta Cohort winner, and has also won a top prize of $25,000 at the Mel Woodward Cup – a competition for startups connected to MUN, the Bounce Health Embryo grants grand prize - focused on medtech startups, and the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards National Finals. All of these pitch wins are totalling $125,000 since March.
Dr. Rafaela Andrade, Founder & CEO of Myomar Molecular, moved to Canada from Brazil in 2008 to start her graduate studies in cancer research, where she was awarded prestigious scholarships and prizes for research and innovation. Over the last decade, she has been working with molecular biology techniques, managing projects and developing innovative techniques to improve research outcomes and collaborations. Rafaela is a mother of three and shares her journey on figuring out how to balance both her career and family life at the same time.
To learn more, hit play!
For more information:
https://myomarmolecular.ca/
https://onsidenow.ca/
The last episode in our two part series about equitable partnerships and deep learning, Alfred Burgesson will share his tips and tricks about how to accomplish just this! Alfred Burgesson is the Founder & CEO of Tribe Network — a social enterprise building Canada's BIPOC Entrepreneurship & Innovation Hub. Tribe Network is on a mission to improve the well-being of Black, Indigenous and People Of Color through entrepreneurship and innovation.
To learn more about how Alfred created an innovative and equitable community through Tribe Network, tune in!
For more information:
https://www.tribenetwork.ca/
https://onsidenow.ca/
The second episode in our two-part series about Leadership Philosophy, Marlon Thompson, an angel investor and founder of Future Capital focuses on creating pathways to success for underrepresented leaders in the startup ecosystem. To learn more about his leadership philosophy, hit play!
For more information:
https://breathinggreen.com/
https://onsidenow.ca/
Special guest Savior Joseph returns to the podcast, this time to discuss this month's theme: leadership philosophy. In today’s episode Savior Joseph, President of Breathing Green Solutions speaks about his own “Hungry & Humble” leadership philosophy, and why it is important. To learn more about his philosophy, hit play!
Breathing Green Solutions (BGS) Inc., is Nova Scotia's first licensed producer of cannabis, powered by their proprietary pure plant growing method. Prior to this, Savior was Senior Vice President of global marketing for Aurora cannabis in Toronto. For more than 11 years Savior also worked for a local company, Colour, a digital advertising agency with offices in Toronto, Halifax and New York. He held various positions as a director of digital marketing, the managing partner and as their president. He's involved in many areas of activity here in our community, and is the new incoming Chair for the Tribe network. Savior is also the Chair for the Armbrae Academy's basketball team.
For more information:
https://breathinggreen.com/
https://onsidenow.ca/
In the world of entrepreneurship, we all take a unique path, our own journey, and in that journey we find bits and pieces of information, and valuable education along the way that can be implemented into our vision. For our last episode in our two-part series of “The Journey of Becoming an Entrepreneur”, we have Alfred Burgesson, Founder and CEO of Tribe Network sharing his unique path of social entrepreneurship.
To learn more about Alfred’s journey, hit play and listen to S2 Episode 4 of The ONSIDE Podcast!
In the world of entrepreneurship, we all take a unique path, our own journey, and in that journey we find bits and pieces of information, and valuable education along the way that can be implemented into our vision. During the month of May, we will be having conversations with two young professionals about their unique journey of becoming an entrepreneur and in today’s episode will be featuring the entrepreneur, Michael Polak. Michael who is also known as Ken’niwahkwahrita:a is Mohawk and from the Bear Clan. He talks about his dedication to fostering indigenous pathways to solve global problems through his gift of two eye seeing approach. To learn more about Michael’s journey, hit play and listen to S2 Episode 3 of The ONSIDE Podcast!
For more information:
https://onsidenow.ca/
The second episode in our two-part series about Diversity and Inclusion, Marlon Thompson, an angel investor and startup founder who has spent the past five years creating pathways to success for underrepresented leaders in the startup ecosystem. He founded Future Capital to support ambitious, driven and diverse leaders who are ready to play a bigger role in their industries. He believes now to be a crucial time to create lasting change by enabling and equipping a new cohort of investors: minorities, women, and LGBTQ with the necessary tools to bolster economic empowerment.
For more information:
https://www.myfuturecapital.com/
https://onsidenow.ca/
The first episode in our two-part series about Diversity and Inclusion, Savior Joseph shares his journey from his early childhood days in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia to meaningful dialogue on how to achieve greater inclusivity in the workplace.
Savior is currently the President and a Member of the Board of Directors for Breathing Green Solutions (BGS) Inc., one of Canada’s leading premium cannabis licensed producers. He has successfully led the launch of SKOSHA, BGS’s recreational Cannabis brand, which currently is the number one local brand in Nova Scotia by market share and dollars sold. He’s also been able to support the launch of the
SKOSHA brand in seven other key markets across the country to ongoing success. He is the incoming board Chair for TRIBE Network, as well as heavily involved in the basketball community and runs a program at Ambrae - basketball leadership academy.
This is only a snapshot of what Savior has accomplished, tune in to hear more!
On the ONSIDE podcast, we want to share the stories of our brightest innovators, to learn about their journeys along the way. The ups, the downs and to open a conversation around who's participating in and benefiting from our innovation economy. We want to think critically around the kind of innovation based ecosystem we want to build together. In our next season, which will focus on our culture of innovation and take deeper dives with our guests.
We'll be covering topics like diversity and inclusion, leadership, philosophy, women in our innovation, economy, and more. Some of our early guests will be Savior Joseph, president of Breathing Green Solutions - a leading cannabis company in Nova Scotia, and Marlon Thompson, CEO and founder of Future Capital.
We can't wait to get the conversation going. Join us on Season 2 of the ONSIDE podcast.
For more information visit onsidenow.ca
That's a wrap on the first season of the ONSIDE podcast!
In this episode we look back on the first season, where we discussed innovation driven entrepreneurship through the lens of the personal journeys of many great entrepreneurs.
We continue to wonder, is the entrepreneurial mindset cultivated or innate?
In the next season, we will be diving even deeper into specific topics in the innovation driven entrepreneurship space.
Stay tuned for Season 2, coming soon!
For more information:
https://onsidenow.ca/
In a very special episode of the ONSIDE Podcast, we present a live innovation panel co-hosted by Alex McCann, Executive Director at ONSIDE and Martha Casey, Chief Executive Officer at Volta.
This conversation includes special guests Saeed El-Darahali, Founder, President & CEO at SimplyCast and Ross Simmonds, Founder & CEO at Foundation Marketing. We take a deep dive into topics related to changes in funding & investing, EDI and overall reflections over the last year throughout the COVID pandemic.
For more information:
https://onsidenow.ca/
https://voltaeffect.com/
https://www.simplycast.com/
https://foundationinc.co/
Our guest today is Tim Rice, CEO of The Rounds, who is a recognized leader in the Life Sciences sector and devotes his time modernizing how physicians consume and share crucial information. Tim leads a passionate team driven by the mantra that sharing knowledge saves lives.
Through his role, Tim focuses on establishing a sustainable and scalable business model for the organization, helping the company's rapid growth while positively impacting the community. With over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Tim has developed advanced skills in sales, medical education, marketing, and leadership roles.
For more information:
https://therounds.com/
https://onsidenow.ca/
Dr. Darren Burke is a global leader in the upcycling movement. As a celebrated science-based entrepreneur focused on plant-based and social impact ideas to save the planet. He created Outcast Foods, a company using his proprietary technology and localized food supply chains to upcycle surplus fruits and vegetables into high purity, nutrient dense, long shelf-life natural health products.
Burke is also an award winning business leader and a frequent presenter on the topics of nutrition, the circular economy and climate change solutions. This is just a snapshot of his accomplishments, tune in to hear more!
For more information:
https://outcastfoods.com/
https://onsidenow.ca/
At a young age, Barbara Manning was told that “whatever you can imagine for yourself, is what you could be”. Her journey as not only an entrepreneur but a business leader reflects this advice. Barbara is the founder of Miller Manning and the past CEO and president of an award-winning international leader in digital advertising and software development, Genieknows.
She centers her focus on driving change and accelerating diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Barbara was making moves right here in Nova Scotia with her entrepreneurial spirit at the beginning of the internet, when most of the world had no idea what it was. This here, is just a snapshot of her story. Tune in to hear more!
Saeed El-Darahali fell in love with computers as a child. At 16, he joined the Canadian Armed forces and after a tragic event, decided he would create a company that allows seamless and quick communication. In 2009, he founded SimplyCast, the only platform company in the world that combines communication, engagement, marketing and emergency response.
For more information:
https://www.simplycast.com/
https://onsidenow.ca/
Darren Rowles believes that entrepreneurs must create opportunities for themselves. The Chief Scientific Officer and President of Halifax-based Sona Nanotech has been entrepreneurial all his life.
In this episode, he tells us about growing up in Wales, UK; writing a business plan on the back of an envelope and becoming the CSO and president of a nanotechnology life sciences firm; developing a COVID-19 antigen test, skyrocketing stocks and everything in between.
For more information:
https://sonanano.com/
https://onsidenow.ca/
Rhiannon Davies has driven multiple businesses to profitability and acquisition, and led companies through successful multibillion IPOs. As a co-founder and managing partner of Sandpiper Ventures, the purpose-led entrepreneur is now changing tides in Atlantic Canada’s venture capital environment.
For more information:
https://sandpiper.vc/
https://onsidenow.ca/
Doug Jones has developed and brought several sports products to market including an Amazon bestseller soft toss machine that he invented out of his basement in Nova Scotia.
The Founder and CEO of Ignite Labs is an acclaimed supporter of entrepreneurs and innovators based in rural Nova Scotia. In this episode, Doug shares his own extraordinary entrepreneurship journey for the first time and it is anything but commonplace.
For more information:
https://igniteatlantic.com/
https://onsidenow.ca/
Just hours before the Perseverance rover landed on Mars, we had a chat with one of the NASA scientists who worked on the mission.
Greg Wanger, Founder and CEO of Halifax-based Oberland Agriscience, has been a scientist all his life. In this episode, we talk about the intersection between science and entrepreneurship, bug farming and of course everything Mars and Perseverance rover.
Julia Rivard Dexter brings us on her journey from her early childhood days in rural Northern Ontario.
Named one of the top 50 Canadian women in STEM, the former Olympian and mother of four, has founded and led several successful technology ventures, including Google’s first North American premier GoogleApps partner. She is currently Co-Founder and CEO of Squiggle Park and Dreamscape, whose goal is to improve literacy rates for children worldwide through a hyper-engaging game platform.
When Gabbrielle first came to Nova Scotia, Canada in 2014, she thought she would be returning to her home in Detroit, Michigan right after her Master’s Degree. Today, she is the Founder and CEO of Coloursmith Labs, a successful startup based in Halifax, Nova Scotia that’s changing the way we see through functional colour vision technology.
A visionary entrepreneur originally from the dynamic tech hub of Tel Aviv, Israel, and now based in Halifax, Novas Scotia, Ohad breaks down tech entrepreneurship, culture, and attitude.
Ross Simmonds, an internationally renowned marketing guru tells all about his entrepreneurship journey. In this episode, he shares useful tips on positioning and marketing for startups.
https://foundationinc.co/
Entrepreneurship does not exist in a vacuum. It takes different players working together to create the conditions necessary for entrepreneurs to succeed. In this episode, Chere Chapman, CEO of DGI Clinical shares her innovation-driven entrepreneurship journey spanning different companies and countries around the globe; and how entrepreneurship amplifiers are coming together to bolster entrepreneurship in Nova Scotia.
Welcome to the first episode of The ONSIDE Podcast. A podcast on innovation-driven entrepreneurship in Atlantic Canada. Join us on this journey as we amplify the power of disruptive ideas.
onsidenow.ca/
Hosted by Alex McCann
Produced by Podstarter.io