Calgary

Lessons learned from legend Wayne Gretzky applied to MRI technology company

In the podcast, Sean Krakiwsky talks about his hockey playing days and lessons learned from legend Wayne Gretzky.

Nanalysis trades on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) in Canada with ticker symbol ‘NSCI’ ,Over the Counter (OTC) in the United States under the ticker symbol ‘NSCIF’, and on the Frankfurt Exchange (FRA) under the symbol ‘1N1’. Nanalysis is an international business focused on capitalizing on its proprietary technologies in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) that go into NMR spectrometers and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Nanalysis operates out of two subsidiaries, Nanalysis Corp. and RS2D S.A.S. (RS2D). Nanalysis Corp. is an industry leader in developing and manufacturing compact NMR spectrometers for laboratory and industrial markets. Its cutting edge 60 and 100 MHz spectrometers require no liquid helium or other cryogens. Its spectrometers are used by chemical professionals spanning industries, including, but not limited to, oil and gas, chemical mining, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology. Through its European subsidiary RS2D, the Company offers electronic boards and software used to drive MRI equipment in pre-clinical configurations and are being incorporated into next-gen MRI systems.


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ALLPA is a hydroponic microgreen company with a focus on giving back

The three university students from three different countries serendipitously crossed paths while working part-time at a local hardware store. Little did they know, their common interests for business, tech and sustainability would result in the launch of ALLPA Vertical Farms in 2019, a hydroponic microgreen company located in Calgary, Alberta. ALLPA is named after Mama Allpa, in South America’s Inca religion and empire, the goddess of the Earth and fertility, responsible for fruitful harvests. Their civilization was one of the first to grow vegetables in water and this inspired us deeply. They contribute to the local economy by buying their compostable containers and seeds from Canadian companies. The thing that really makes them unique is that every one of their microgreen packages has a donation built into it! They carry four products: Arugula, Radish, Sunflower and Broccoli.


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How Dawn O’Connor built a virtual work community during a pandemic

Driven by a need to connect people in the throes of pandemic-life, Dawn O’Connor built a virtual community for individuals to work ‘separately-together’ inside a Focus Bubbles. Since formally launching in January 2021, Focus Bubbles has supported over 1000 hours of productive outcomes in 175 sessions. Participants work on small tasks and big projects, ranging from administrative to creative, while overcoming procrastination and immersing into deep work mode with the support of a committed community of Bubblers.

When not inside a Focus Bubbles, Dawn is a productivity trainer and facilitator with over 25 years experience. She has helped more than 10,000 clients around the world enjoy being more organized and less stressed. She is also the Chair of 2 Women’s Presidents Organization chapters in Calgary. Dawn has built and sold two businesses in the past and is excited to end her entrepreneurial journey with Focus Bubbles, which she plans to grow for the next 5 or so years before retiring.


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Dan Bergeron is helping companies scale up with brand, marketing, sales and customer experience

Dan Bergeron is a 25-year veteran of the marketing industry and leads Everbrave, a Calgary based growth marketing agency founded in 2015 by Dan and his two savvy business partners. With a passion for creativity and an instinct for business, Dan brings a strategic outlook to the most pressing challenges business face when trying to scale opportunity and stimulate growth. Recognized internationally for achievement in brand strategy, Dan is continually looking for opportunities to help companies disrupt the status quo, differentiate and stand out from the pack while employing cutting edge strategic, creative and technological solutions. When not obsessing over complex growth challenges, Dan can be found spending time with his family of five, camping, skiing, mountain biking and golfing throughout western Canada.

Everbrave is a Calgary based growth agency specialized in helping organizations scale up. Through a unique approach that blends creativity with brand, marketing, sales and customer experience, Everbrave takes a more comprehensive approach to the challenge’s businesses face in a high-paced competitive marketplace. Originally founded in 1999, the company became known as Everbrave Branding Group in in 2015 after the merger of RFX Brand + Communications & Squeeze Creative into one unified team. Everbrave serves a diverse group of clients ranging from start-ups to fortune 1000 companies across a broad set of verticals, including technology, health care, non-profit, hospitality, construction and many others. With a growing team of 13 specialists that span the talent spectrum, Everbrave is continually growing to serve new and existing clients throughout North America and abroad.


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Douglas Vermeeren is an author, filmmaker, and founder of the Certified Entrepreneur Coach program

Douglas Vermeeren is an author, filmmaker, and founder of the Certified Entrepreneur Coach program. He has written over 50 books, produced five award-winning films, and built multiple eight-figure companies. Douglas’s training programs share strategies of how to connect with the highest level achievers and expand your network to grow your business. He is a world-renowned speaker and trainer featured at some of the globe’s largest events such as Grant Cardone’s 10X Con and has interviewed more than 400 top experts in the fields of business, psychology, and human performance, including Bob Proctor, Dr. Joe Vitale, John Assaraf and more. Douglas Vermeeren has been featured by CNN, Business Insider, NBC, Forbes and FOX to name a few.


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How to grow in a connected digital ecosystem

Nikhil Sonpal is the Founder and CEO, of Mobility Quotient (MQ), a full-service digital agency, that provides business strategy, software development, marketing, advertising and design services to a wide range of industry-leading companies around the world. MQ has been operating for over 10 years and their clients come from various industries including automotive, retail, media, publishing, tech and finance.

MQ has worked on an array of projects, ranging from small WordPress websites for start-up businesses to large-scale, connected digital ecosystems (comprised of massive websites, mobile apps, numerous properties, multiple third-party platforms, and custom-built features) for global digital publishers who serve millions of daily viewers. They have also worked with Private Equity teams to help manage the technical aspects of their mergers and acquisitions. SokoLocal is Nikhil’s newest business venture, developed by MQ. It is a product search engine (online and app-based) that streamlines the online shopping experience for consumers by showcasing local products on an easy to search database.


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Peter Verburg is bringing mobile medical services to Alberta and beyond!

Peter Verburg is founder and CEO of Numi Health, a mobile medical services company that is disrupting the way healthcare is delivered in Calgary, Edmonton and beyond – from COVID-19 testing to general wellness screening and more.

He has a storied background, having co-founded and directed public and private companies in pharmaceuticals, healthcare, energy & tourism. His interest in entrepreneurship started with small ventures as a side hobby, including a medical training company, an import-export company and a landscaping business.

While working on his MBA to complement his Philosophy degree, Peter was recruited at 35 by Canada’s top investment banker and received training in corporate finance while running multiple deals simultaneously for three years. Tired of the IB culture and wanting to get more involved in new company creation as an owner, Peter accepted an offer from one of the country’s most successful energy entrepreneurs to form a venture capital shop. Their first fundraiser kicked off just as the 2008 financial crisis hit. Plans to raise a big fund were dashed, so they closed on a small friends & family fund and used the capital to seed two energy companies. Peter serves as a director at both and an executive involved in running deals in one of them. Prior to the energy crash of 2014, they had a combined EV of around $1 B. Both survived the crash and are solid companies today.

Burned out by the crash, Peter some time off in 2016/17, travelled to South America. He came back with three ideas for new companies: an app to facilitate bike tours; a licensed medical cannabis company in Colombia; and a mobile medical company offering private-pay services via an app – hence, Numi Health was born. Numi kicked into high gear when it was obvious that COVID would be the mechanism to create the market. Peter was living in Madrid in early 2020 and spent the first lockdown there huddled in an apartment working on the platform. He brought together the Numi team through the summer, returning to Canada and launching Numi in October 2020.

Peter also has a background as a journalist. He was western bureau chief, investment editor and columnist at Canadian Business, where he reported extensively on Canadian companies with operations abroad. He is also passionate about philanthropy and volunteering – he helped launch the Veteran’s Transition Network nationally, was also a volunteer on the Distress Centre suicide help line, and a director of Wordfest. When he’s not launching companies, Peter is cyclist, yogi and foodie.


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Tyler Crowdis brews cider for people with Celiac Disease

Tyler Crowdis and his wife started Bramble Cider to create ciders that were not available in Canada, due to his diagnosis with Celiac Disease. From the kitchen of their tiny century home, his crafts were gaining many fans through friends and family. Wanting to bring their innovative ciders to the masses, Alicia and Tyler are embarking on a journey to bring craft cider to Calgary and beyond. Inspiration comes from the growing West Coast cider scene to the funky ciders of Northern France and sours of Spain. You can find Bramble at SunnyCider taproom and all the cool places to get beers and spirits in town!


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Do you really know what chemicals are in the beauty products that you use?

Jasmine Marra is the founder of Gypsy+Jasmine a beauty company that has one singular mission; to craft earth inspired beauty products that make you feel pampered and beautiful without compromise. After having children, Jasmine took a keen interest in the ingredients of products that were entering her home as both of her young boys were experiencing terrible skin sensitivities and eczema. Eager to help her children get some relief, she spent hundreds of hours researching and understanding what ingredients were safe for her kids and family. This also allowed her to take a closer look at the ingredients in the products she was using on her own skin. She was shocked to learn about the preservatives, additives and harmful chemicals linked to disease, inflammation and hormone disruption that were found in almost every beauty product she put on her body. It seemed nearly impossible to purchase a beauty product that wasn’t loaded with fragrance or toxins at the everyday drug store. She walked through the aisles of beauty departments with this newfound knowledge, and knew she had to do something. That’s when she founded Gypsy+Jasmine.


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Dr. Joseph Tucker discusses the potential of psychedelic-derived medicines

Dr. Joseph Tucker is President and CEO of MagicMed Industries Inc., a biotechnology company founded in 2020. The company is focused on creating a library of novel derivative molecules based on classic psychedelics such as psilocybin, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), mescaline, ibogaine, MDMA and LSD. MagicMed’s molecular derivatives library, the Psybrary™️, is intended to be an essential building block from which industry partners can develop new patented products. MagicMed’s mission is to unlock the full potential of psychedelic-derived medicines. The company is focused on the discovery and development of novel drug candidates, structurally related to classic psychedelics but with improved pharmaceutical characteristics.


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