Toronto

Entrepreneurship is more than just dreaming of ways to make money

The Canadian-based biotech company, Mountain Valley MD is changing the accessibility of vaccines to people around the world. With the mission of “more life, less death” the company is striving to make vaccines widely available to developing nations/ economies and people around the world.

This means:

  • Vaccine soluble tablet that rapidly dissolves
  • Does not have to be stored at dramatic high or cold temperatures
  • Can be distributed easily around the world
  • Helps more people in need and saves lives, due to access to high-quality vaccines
  • Working towards the goal of eradicating diseases such a Polio, COVID-19 and other highly infectious diseases or viruses

Dennis Hancock is a senior sales and marketing executive with over 25 years of experience spanning automotive, pharmaceutical, tech, telco, retail and financial services sectors. Initially providing consulting services to Mountain Valley MD in 2018, Dennis transitioned to assume the President & CEO position in early 2019 to lead the Company’s go-public strategy and develop the business strategy to pursue broad health and wellness opportunities across human, animal and plant health applications. Dennis spent more than 12 years in a leadership role at one of North America’s leading performance improvement and Loyalty providers, Maritz, who works with 70% of the world’s Super 50 companies. Previously, Dennis led publicly-traded ZENN Motor Company as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing. As a senior officer at ZMC, Dennis drove the establishment of ZENN – (Zero Emission, No Noise) as one of the most recognized “green tech” brands in North America. Dennis has several start-ups established, including PerformanceSPARK, an agency that works with leading organizations to identify and deliver on the key elements necessary to drive measurable performance growth, and co-founder of CrowdSeating Inc., an innovative social concert platform.

Mountain Valley MD is building a world-class biotech and life sciences company organization centred around the implementation of its patented Quicksome™️️️ oral drug formulation and delivery technologies and its Quicksol™️️️ solubilization technology for macrocyclic lactones, to innovate industry-leading products that are sought out globally. MVMD’s proposition for delivering Quicksome™️️️ formulations that have a rapid onset, high bioavailability, low variability and precision dosing is core to the Company’s success across key health and wellness categories. Consistent with its vision towards “Helping People Live Their Best Life”, MVMD applies its Quicksome™️️️ and Quicksol™️️️ technologies to its ground-breaking work for advanced delivery of vaccines and pharmaceutical drugs as well as the development of products for pain management, weight loss, energy, focus, sleep, anxiety, and more. The Company’s patented Quicksome™️️️ desiccation technology utilizes advanced liposomes and other stabilizing molecules to encapsulate and formulate active ingredients into highly efficient product formats that are consumed orally. The result is a new generation of product formulations that are capable of delivering vaccines, drugs and nutraceuticals into the body faster, with greater impact, efficiency and accuracy. The Company’s patented Quicksol™️️️ solubilization technology covers all highly solubilized macrocyclic lactones (including the drugs Ivermectin and Selamectin). MVMD’s solubility technology applied to the Ivermectin drug is the only form in the world that only uses excipients that are currently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), making it a leading candidate for human injection and sublingual applications as well as significantly broader husbandry and companion animal treatments based on its low viscosity.


This podcast is brought to you by Schneider Electric. Supporting Canadian businesses with innovative energy management and automation solutions. Schneider Electric…your digital partner for Sustainability and Efficiency. Click here to learn more.

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Disrupting Commercial Real Estate with Mike Ward

An accomplished investor, advisor, and board member, Mike Ward has invested in private companies for nearly a decade. Mike has a proven track record in his ability to invest in companies and help them to scale and execute strategy, having helped companies such as Ripple, Honk, 1080 Payments, Dollar Shave Club, World First, and Elevate Growth Partners, among others.

Previously a financial industry executive, Mike has over a decade of experience driving profitability, business strategy and leadership. Mike joined World First in January 2015, as Chief Executive Officer for North America and Chief Revenue Officer of the Group. Mike was responsible for strategic commercial operations, including customer acquisition, Marketing, Partnerships, Dealing, and new products. The company has transacted with over 130,000 private clients and 60,000 companies, and last year transacted over $12bn. World First was sold to Ant Financial for $500m. Before World First, Mike previously held the post of CEO for North America and Europe at OzForex, an online foreign exchange and global payments provider. In 2013 he and the executive took the company public through a liquidity event for Macquarie Bank, Accel Partners, and The Carlyle Group. Mike has also previously held positions as a Co-Chairman at Bridgepoint Health and as a Vice President of Sales & Trading at Jameson Bank. Presently, Mike holds the title of CEO at AnthemIQ, a leading commercial real estate transaction company.

Growing up in Toronto, Mike moved to the States to attend university and indulge in his passion for playing ice hockey, while studying Finance at Liberty University. Mike currently resides in Austin, Texas.


This podcast is brought to you by Schneider Electric. Supporting Canadian businesses with innovative energy management and automation solutions. Schneider Electric…your digital partner for Sustainability and Efficiency. Click here to learn more.

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on FacebookInstagramLinkedIn and Twitter.

Want to stay up-to-date on the latest #entrepreneur podcasts and news? Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter

Bringing gamification into healthcare with Jim Feng of Phyxable

Dr. Jim Feng is a mission-driven serial entrepreneur located out of Markham, Ontario. In 2009, Dr. Feng founded Form & Function: Health which has transformed into one of the first truly integrated health models. Not only does Form & function host a repertoire of integrated health care services, it also created a business model that has been paying high dividends to its investors and franchisees year after year. This insight into healthcare and his love for technology-based companies has incubated several start-ups in disruptive healthcare technologies, content aggregation and real-time language translation. Seeing pain points in the physical injury and insurance industry, Dr. Feng has recently founded Phyxable Inc. Phyxable is an end-to-end virtual pain and prevention platform that uses machine learning, augmented reality and gamification to coach people out of pain, while empowering them with better human performance. Alongside his Chiropractic degree, Dr. Feng is also a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and Medical Acupuncturist, and has directed medical teams for world championships, professional and Olympic Level sporting events in the MMA and Wrestling. On a personal level, Dr. Feng enjoys high-performance individual sports, extreme adventures, diving deep into health-tech & lifespan solutions, Aquascaping, and giving back to what matters.


The Silicon Valley Bank team in Canada can help you take your next step. Find out more about the bank that has nearly 40 years of global experience supporting venture-backed tech and life science companies and their investors. We’re in Canada to help leading innovators reach the next stage, faster. Visit www.svb.com/canada/connect. Silicon Valley bank, helping you move your bold ideas forward, fast.

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on FacebookInstagramLinkedIn and Twitter.

Want to stay up-to-date on the latest #entrepreneur podcasts and news? Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter

How to 100x your mindset and your business in 100 days

Edwin Frondozo is Co-founder & CEO of Slingshot VoIP. He is a fellow podcaster and social buzzer, who has built an awesome company on his 100 x goals. He shares his audacious goal of 100xing his tech business within 100 days. Something, he publicly declared on Sept 22, 2020, during a global pandemic. Before the pandemic hit, he was already questioning his decision, whether he should leave his tech business and pursue a life around impact and purpose. Like many entrepreneurs, he started to look for collaborations, partnerships and projects. The buzzword in the community was pivoting. Don’t stay still; look for opportunities. He ended up joining different startups, initiatives and partnerships. Almost all failed, which brought him to a dark place, looking within to find out who he was. Realizing that was the answer, he faced fear and took the plunge to make an audacious goal publicly. In this podcast we share why he did it, what happened, and some of the tools and frameworks he developed on his journey to 100x. As an award-winning podcaster, Edwin gives some key takeaways for us.


Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on FacebookInstagramLinkedIn and Twitter.

Want to stay up-to-date on the latest #entrepreneur podcasts and news? Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter

Activism comes in many forms with Dr. Robyn Bourgeois

Dr. Robyn Bourgeois (Laughing Otter Caring Woman) is a mixed-race nêhiyaw iskwew whose Cree family comes from Treaty 8 territory (Lesser Slave Lake). She is an associate professor in the Centre for Women’s and Gender studies at Brock University, but is currently serving as the university’s acting Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement. As a survivor of multiple forms of violence, Dr. Bourgeois’ research examines violence against Indigenous women and girls, but also Indigenous women’s anti-violence leadership. In addition to speaking and publishing nationally and internationally, Dr. Bourgeois testified as an experiential and expert witness at the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in October 2018. Along with being an academic, Robyn is an activist, artist, and proud mom to three kids.

Learn about the Niagara Leadership Summit for Women at www.niagaralsw.ca


The Silicon Valley Bank team in Canada can help you take your next step. Find out more about the bank that has nearly 40 years of global experience supporting venture-backed tech and life science companies and their investors. We’re in Canada to help leading innovators reach the next stage, faster. Visit www.svb.com/canada/connect. Silicon Valley bank, helping you move your bold ideas forward, fast.

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on FacebookInstagramLinkedIn and Twitter.

Want to stay up-to-date on the latest #entrepreneur podcasts and news? Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter

Blockchain visionary and cryptocurrency evangelist explains moving into the NFT world

Russell Korus is a blockchain visionary and cryptocurrency evangelist. His recent move into the NFT world is something we can all learn from.

Russell is Co-Founder & CEO for of EZ365 a digital ecosystem that combines the best aspects of NFTs, online gaming, digital asset trading and blockchain education. In this podcast you can meet Russell Korus and learn from a Crypto visionary some of the insider knowledge of bitcoin – like how in 2017 it went from $1000 in January to just under $20,000 in December of that year. His recent move into the NFT world is something we can all learn from. Russell is Co-Founder & CEO for of EZ365 a digital ecosystem that combines the best aspects of NFTs, online gaming, digital asset trading and blockchain education.


This podcast is brought to you by Schneider Electric. Supporting Canadian businesses with innovative energy management and automation solutions. Schneider Electric…your digital partner for Sustainability and Efficiency. Click here to learn more.

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on FacebookInstagramLinkedIn and Twitter.

Want to stay up-to-date on the latest #entrepreneur podcasts and news? Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter

Psychedelics and the future of treating substance abuse with John Lem and Timothy Ko

Entheon Biomedical CEO Timothy Ko and John Lem, the founder of Lobo Genetics are singular in their mission to research genetic driven approaches to developing personalized tools for use in psychedelic-assisted therapeutic treatments for substance use disorders.

With firsthand knowledge of the shortcomings of the current treatment system, Ko, and Lem, the developer behind a direct-to-consumer platform being used in HaluGen’s Psychedelic Genetics test kit, the two are working together to find the right solutions for patients faster and improve outcomes.


Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on FacebookInstagramLinkedIn and Twitter.

Want to stay up-to-date on the latest #entrepreneur podcasts and news? Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter

Stand Up For Your Ideals… and Push Back if Necessary

Alex Simonelli is a 25-year-old Toronto-based entrepreneur who founded Daydream, a hemp & adaptogen-infused sparkling water. With a background in sales & entrepreneurship since the age of 17, Alex has always been a free thinker, and most importantly someone who lives by his own ideals. His previous intrapreneurial experiences have taken him through different organizations where he led teams, drove revenue, and witnessed other founders exit their startups as different markets immerged for growth.

Daydream is an accumulation of his own personal growth, and his first step into full business ownership. Alex saw a gap in the market for “better for you” hemp & adaptogenic beverages in Canada and has not looked back since. Daydream’s branding is just as calming as the ingredients inside. Alex refers to this as his art to the world.

Outside of the office, you can find Alex playing his piano, or traversing across Toronto for the city’s best takeout restaurants!


Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on FacebookInstagramLinkedIn and Twitter.

Want to stay up-to-date on the latest #entrepreneur podcasts and news? Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter

How Schneider Electric commits to Sustainability and positive impact in everything they do with Joe Reele

Joe Reele is Vice President, Datacenter Solution Architects at Schneider Electric, responsible for bringing together the full suite of Schneider Electric products and services to provide unparalleled right sized, innovative and complete solutions for our customers. Joe influences and inspires a large team of highly talented professionals to provide cutting edge designs, innovative solutions and operational models for Mission Critical Facilities/Operations. Joe has an impressive track record of more than 10 years of hands-on experience in strategic planning, business unit development and growth, project development, operations management, and system engineering strategies. Joe provides strong technical and leadership skills with proven ability to successfully analyze an organization’s critical operational business requirements, identify deficiencies and potential opportunities, and develop innovative and cost-effective solutions to meet the customer’s business objectives.


Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on FacebookInstagramLinkedIn and Twitter.

Want to stay up-to-date on the latest #entrepreneur podcasts and news? Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter

The future of events is hybrid, with Loren Maisels

Loren Maisels, CMP is Founder & President of LOMA Marketing Agency – an events experience firm that creates holistic strategies for events that meet the strategic, creative and experiential goals of their clients and partners.

As a detail-oriented and results-driven leader, Loren has focused her 15+ year career on B2B events marketing and demand generation! With experience in both agency and corporate environments, Loren has planned numerous ROI-driven events for companies including Vision|Co, Accenture, Achievers and Great Place to Work.

A Toronto native, Loren found herself in San Francisco, California in 2011, spearheading SaaS company Achievers’ events expansion strategy. Among other key tactics, results-driven events paid off and the company was ultimately acquired by Blackhawk Networks in 2015. Upon returning to Toronto in 2016, Loren founded LOMA Marketing Agency.

Loren graduated from Ryerson University in 2004 with a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Marketing and minoring in International Relations. She achieved her CMP (Certified Meeting Planner) designation in July 2011 and continues to stay active and current on all global issues and trends within the marketing and event communities.


Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on FacebookInstagramLinkedIn and Twitter.

Want to stay up-to-date on the latest #entrepreneur podcasts and news? Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter