In this week’s episode of Founder Fundamentals, Laura Gabor, founder of What in the Tech, joined the community to share practical insights on the art of pitching and storytelling. Drawing from her experience across startups, media, venture, and operations, Laura unpacked what makes a pitch effective, why storytelling matters in every founder conversation, and how […]
Search is changing quickly, and founders can no longer rely on traditional SEO alone to stay visible. In Episode 8 of Founder Fundamentals, Lydia Vijga, Co-Founder and CEO of DeckLinks, unpacked how answer engine optimization (AEO) is reshaping the way brands are discovered online. Drawing from her work in growth strategy, AI visibility, and search […]
This episode of Winter Founder Fundamentals session was about Building a Brand on a Budget with Richard Berman. It explored one of the most misunderstood parts of early-stage growth: building a brand that earns trust and traction before spending heavily on marketing. Richard Berman, CEO of Verb Factory, drew from his background as a journalist-turned-marketer […]
This episode of Winter Founder Fundamentals session was about Financial Planning and Strategy with Zahra Qureshi. It explored one of the most underestimated parts of building a sustainable business: turning strategy into numbers early enough to avoid cash surprises and reactive decision-making. Zahra Qureshi, a CPA with 15 years of experience supporting small businesses, nonprofits, […]
This Winter Founder Fundamentals session was about Getting Your First 10 Customers with Agnes Lan. It explored one of the most underestimated parts of early traction: learning how to sell before trying to scale. Agnes, framed early customer acquisition as a skills-building and clarity-building process, not a polished “funnel” exercise. With a background in engineering […]
The third 2026 Winter Founder Fundamentals session was led by Saba Medghalchi, a tax and finance professional at YSpace who walked founders through one of the most stress-inducing parts of entrepreneurship: tax season. Rather than focusing on loopholes or aggressive optimization, Saba framed tax preparation as a clarity-building exercise. The session emphasized that most costly […]
The second 2026 Winter Founder Fundamentals session was led by Judy Wong, who guided founders through one of the most overlooked drivers of growth: customer discovery. Rather than treating research as a one-time task, Judy positioned discovery as an ongoing practice that helps founders reduce uncertainty, sharpen their positioning, and build offerings grounded in real […]
The first 2026 Winter Founder Fundamentals session was led by Benjamin N'Goran, a bilingual entrepreneurship coach with over a decade of experience supporting founders across Canada and Africa. The session focused on how founders can translate ideas into clear, actionable business plans that support real decision-making, growth, and long-term sustainability. Drawing from years of one-on-one […]
This week’s Founder Fundamentals session unpacked one of the least glamorous, but absolutely essential, pillars of building a resilient startup: understanding risk and getting the right insurance. Led by Jonathan Pereira, Vice President of Private Equity & Mergers & Acquisitions at Gallagher, the session provided a clear, founder-friendly breakdown of what risk actually looks like […]
This week’s Founder Fundamentals session demystified one of the most misunderstood, yet mission-critical parts of building a startup: accessing non-dilutive funding. Led by Jackson Lai, Partner at BDO and an expert with 15+ years of product development experience across biomedical devices, life sciences, IT, and consumer electronics, the session broke down what every founder needs […]
