Drone NL’s Alex Robbins answers questions from a panel of judges following his Pitch 101 presentation at InvestAtlantic Tuesday at the Sheraton Hotel in St. John’s.
East Valley Ventures is profiling Founders of our Portfolio Companies to learn a little bit more about them. Today’s Q&A is with Yan Simard, Founder of Zaptap.
Where did you grow up?
Sainte-Marie de Beauce, Quebec (50km south of Quebec City)
Where did you go to school?
Université Laval
Tell us about your family.
I’m the father of 2 boys and 2 girls, ages ranging from 9 to 19. The oldest is studying at UNB in sciences. The other 3 are attending Ecole Ste-Anne and Ecole des Bâtisseurs in Fredericton.
What book are currently reading?
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
What do you do for fun?
Yoga to stay in shape. Always on the lookout for fun family stuff to do, especially if it’s outside.
When did you first get the idea to start Zaptap?
Around 2004-5, I was working on a research project that explored linking digital content to physical objects, a bit like today’s Augmented Reality. When smartphones and NFC came out, I thought that all ingredients were there to create the next stage of in-store retail product education.
What jobs did you have before Zaptap?
I worked in management at a global IT consulting company. Before that, I had various positions such as video game producer, project manager and business analyst in verticals such as video games and 3D animation, insurance, telcos, retail, oil & gas.
What advice would you give someone thinking of starting their own company?
Make sure that you know why you are doing this and that it matters. Startups can take over all aspects of your life (career, health, finances, family & friends, leisure…). You better do it for something that matters.
Who had the biggest influence on you and why?
I’m a big fan of intellectual honesty, integrity and humility. My parents taught me that from a young age. From a professional perspective, Pierre Prémont, my MBA research director at Université Laval, taught me how to put that in practice in my work.
East Valley Ventures is profiling Leaders of our Portfolio Companies to learn a little bit more about them. Today’s Q&A is with Evan Justason, CEO of Smart Skin Technologies.
Where did you grow up?
Pennfield, NB
Where did you go to school?
UNB
Tell us about your family.
My wife and I built our own home recently on a lake off the beaten path where we live with our two young boys and a bird dog.
What book are currently reading?
Competing Against Luck
What do you do for fun?
I go fishing every chance I get.
When did you first get the idea to start Smart Skin?
I didn’t start Smart Skin but I had been looking for something that I could really invest myself in for some time. Smart Skin had a young group of really excellent and innovate engineers and I felt my experience in operations could help them take the business to the next level.
What jobs did you have before Smart Skin?
I’ve held roles in engineering, IT, finance, sales, operations management, and corporate strategy. I also spent 18 months as a carpenter building my own home.
What advice would you give someone thinking of starting their own company?
Leading a startup company is hard work and a roller coaster but the most engaging thing you will ever do. No matter what life holds, you will be better prepared because of your startup experience.
Who had the biggest influence on you and why?
I’ve been surrounded my whole life by successful and driven people both at home and at work. Professionally, I’ve always tried to place myself close to people whom I thought I had a lot to learn from and I’ve had great fortune of learning from a number of the regions greatest leaders.
East Valley Ventures is profiling Founders of our Portfolio Companies to learn a little bit more about them. Today’s Q&A is with Hunter Macdonald, Founder of Tutela Technologies.
Where did you grow up?
Fredericton, New Brunswick
Where did you go to school?
Bachelor of Engineering @ McGill University
Masters of Engineering @ University of Victoria
Tell us about your family.
In a lot of ways, I am a product of my family. My father is a gifted salesman, my mother is an engineer who became chair of an
entrepreneurship program at UNB, and my brother is an engineer who started his own venture capital fund. I didn’t stray very far
from the tree. It’s nice to have family members who understand my work, like to listen, and can provide useful advice. We’re all also very active and take lots of adventurous vacations together.
What book are currently reading?
The Book of Rose – Alex Macdonald
This is a book my father published a couple years ago. It is fictional but inspiration is drawn from lots of our family’s classic stories.
What do you do for fun?
In the summer, I do a lot of long distance hiking/camping. In the winter, I snowboard and snowshoe.
When did you first get the idea to start Tutela?
I had the amazing opportunity to live with Sir Terry Matthews in Ottawa when forming
Tutela. My co-founder and I spent a couple months there pitching local companies and
entrepreneurs on our technology. However, people only liked one small aspect of our solution rela
ted to data and analytics. Eventually, one night while relaxing at Terry’s, we finally clued-in that we should scrap everything else and just be a data/analytics company.
What jobs did you have before Tutela?
During High School, I worked as a carpenter. This was a good opportunity for me to learn to work with my hands. Later, during my Undergrad, I worked for NB Power as a student engineer at the Maqtaquac Dam. Everyone at NB Power was great however I wasn’t passionate about the work and this helped me understand that I wasn’t meant to be an engineer.
What advice would you give someone thinking of starting their own company?
1. Study software engineering or computer science. Software companies don’t require a lot of start-up capital and are great for first time entrepreneurs.
2. Look into government programs for financial support and industry introductions. There’s an amazing amount of programs available to help Canadians start businesses in Canada.
3. Make sure you can be passionate about the product. Eventually, in starting the company you will fall on hard times. If you aren’t passionate about the product, you won’t make it through those hard times.
4. Surround yourself with co-workers and employees who can handle stress.
Who had the biggest influence on you and why?
I’ve always wanted to make a “big difference”. Growing up I thought that the best way to make a global impact would be to go into physics or engineering, invent some new ground-breakingconcept, and someday have my name in a textbookas the inventor of XYZ. Eventually I started to meet people like my father’s boss, Gerry Pond, and Terry Matthews. These individuals were making a bigger difference than anyone I knew. They were doing this by starting sustainable companies, hiring people, growing the economy, and then giving back to community. I decided I’d try to emulate them.
East Valley Ventures is profiling Founders of our Portfolio Companies to learn a little bit more about them. Today’s Q&A is with Mark Hemphill of ScreenScape.
Where did you grow up?
Summerside, PEI
Where did you go to school?
Three Oaks Senior High
UPEI – BBA 95
Rotman School of Business – MBA 97
Tell us about your family.
I grew up in an entrepreneurial family. My dad owned a prominent car dealership on the Island. Working at the dealership as a kid was good training for a future entrepreneur. I now live in Charlottetown with my wife, Courtenay and twin 10 year old boys, Gram and Noah.
What book are you currently reading?
Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run
What do you do for fun?
I enjoy playing/coaching/following sports (hockey, baseball, golf), playing music, and reading.
What jobs did you have before ScreenScape?
I’ve held posts as senior consultant, logistics with German software giant SAP AG™, as Manager of Supplier and Content Solutions with leading B2B eCommerce services provider Ariba Inc.™, and as Director of Integrated Services and Business Application Architecture with Canadian managed services provider Emergis™. I then brought my experience in software to the University of Prince Edward Island in 2003 where I taught, researched in new media, and founded the Business, Education and Applied Technology (BEAT) program. BEAT was an academic program and entrepreneurial development strategy that takes an applied, integrated approach to IT training at the post-graduate level and focuses specifically of bringing smart students together to work on applied software development projects.
When did you first get the idea to start ScreenScape?
Around 2005 when I was a Professor at the University of PEI. While Director of BEAT I was experimenting with building software systems designed to allow a community of users to collectively share and distribute rich media such as digital audio and video. This work inspired me to start ScreenScape in the Fall of 2007. In many ways ScreenScape took the applied work I was doing during my tenure at UPEI and married it with the knowledge and training I had in the area ofEnterprise Software and B2B ecommerce.
What advice would you give someone thinking of
starting their own company?
Live optimistically, but WORK pessimistically. Instead of envisioning ways for things to go right…look for ways they might go wrong. Prioritize the things that could stand in your way and then get to work killing those things that might lie between you and your next milestone. Repeat.
Who had the biggest influence on you and why?
That would be my father, Brian Hemphill. Retired now, he was an entrepreneur and community leader that led by example. He wasn’t afraid to take a risk and he worked harder than anyone else to ensure success. He treated people fairly and seemed to earn the respect and admiration of every one of his employees, his customers, and business partners.