Featured Guests

VCTV is proud and honored to feature the following featured guests, their adventures and wise wisdom (listed in alphabetical order by family name).

You can also click on any of the photos in the FLICKR box found on the right hand side of this page to access our guest interviews.

BIZ GURUS: SUCCESSFUL START-UPS WHOSE SMART MOVES PROPELLED THEM TO SUCCESS:

• Jean Bédard, President of La Cage aux Sports, Montreal, Canada. He multiplied his revenues in unheard of proportions for his industry, and increased the company’s share price 575% in the last few years, thanks to his innovative strategic thinking and smart team management skills. His company is a gorilla to be reckoned with!
• Isabelle Bettez, CEO and President of 8D Technologies, Montreal, Canada…actually, soon to be, the world! Watch out, Isabelle’s achievements will leave you speechless and in utter awe. Her ingenious offerings are leading the pack and she has more in the works!
• Clarissa Desjardins, Serial Start-up Founder and Record Breaking Finance Securer, Montreal, Canada. She is a truly unstoppbable, accomplished entrepreneur having led two + biotech firms, Advanced Bioconcept and Caprion, to outstanding success and is a valuable advisor to other start-ups on the rise.
• Austin Hill, Angel investor and co-founded Akoha, Radialpoint (Zero-Knowledge Systems), Standout Jobs and more! , Montreal/Calgary, Canada. A relentless serial entrepreneur, angel investor and instigator.
• Roanne Levitt, Technology guru and founder of QualiSoft, Montreal, Canada. She’s a powerhouse of wisdom having held leadership positions atSoftImage (formerly of MicroSoft), Engenuity Technologies and OriginalSim- all former start-ups that flourished. And now, she’s ramping out to reveal QualiSoft, her very own upcoming start-up on the rise!
• Andy Nulman, Co-founder, President and CMO of Airborne Entertainment, Montreal, Canada. Andy and his team mates turned a fun idea into a $45 million USD business while flying by the seat of their pants.
• Guy Charles Pelletier, Co-founder of Pecunia.tv, Montreal, Canada. Guy shares his thoughts on the Montreal Start Up Venture Fund and why the city’s entrepreneurs welcome the new investment with arms wide open!
• Ricardo (Ric) Poupada, Co-founder of Askmen.com, Montreal, Canada. His men’s lifestyle zine draws in more traffic than Maxim, GQ and FHM combined. He and his partners grew a simple idea into a media jewel so shiny that News Corps. Fox Interactive Media Division courted and acquired them.
• Brian Scudamore, Founder and CEO of 1-800-Got Junk?, Vancouver, Canada. His team has been dubbed as one of the fastest growing companies in North America. He defied the original naysayers and has taken several continents by storm. He and his team are routinely covered by major publications around the world.
• Wen Zhu, innovative thinking Vice-President of the American Jianye Greentech Holdings company (Beijing, China) and inspirational Ying Wang of their international initiatives share how they plan to revolutionize the planet with their ingenious greentech solutions and how they’d like to do it with you!

EXCITING “MUST KNOW” START-UPS ON THE RISE!:

• David Agulnik, Co-founder and Managing Director of Aberrant Designs (Banana Guard), Vancouver, Canada. Suffice it to say that they created a very original and hilariously practical product that’s expanding across the continents – these guys are Emergency Doctors by night and industrious entrepreneurs by day!
• Michel Audette, Brain Surgery Teaching pioneer at the Innovation Center Computer Assisted Surgery, Leipzig, Germany. Michel is a pre-start up prodigy behind a revolutionary brain surgery teaching technology – he’s a Montreal-er who’s currently in Germany leading amazing breakthroughs that could propel the surgery community forward by leaps and bounds!
• Andrew Baron, Founder of Rocketboom.com, New York, USA. Andrew and his phenomenal, witty host Joanne Colan and team are leading vlogs to where no one has gone before. An incredible success story of entrepreneurs who know what the people want and how to make it happen.
• Gerry Baron and Steve Worthy, Co-founders of By Husbands For Husbands, Atlanta, USA. These start-up heroes are rapidly on the rise with their unique and valuable service offerings via blog, videocasts and blog radio.
• Marc Chriqui, Founder of ilovetoplay.com, Montreal, Canada. Marc’s found an ingenious way to team up social networking with physical activity. He will have you off your couch and out to play in no time. His game winning concept is capturing the hearts of sports and start-up enthusiasts, and increasing our physical activity quotient.
• Duane Chung, PhD., President and CEO of Centurion Biofuels, Hamilton, Canada. Duane and his fellow algae-neers are out to fuel the planet with algae.
• Sandy Dahan, MVP (most valuable player) to ilovetoplay.com’steam captain, Marc Chriqui, Montreal, Canada. She’s Marc’s team mate and bringing their start-up to new horizons.
• Loic Guillard, Founder and CEO of Streametrics, Montreal, Quebec. Loic is a Montreal start-up on the rise and measuring the pulse of online video. Loic shares his wisdom on what he thinks the start-up community needs and his thoughts on the launch of the Montreal Start Up Venture Fund.
• Britta Heintzen, Founder of Plan4Results, Montreal, Canada. She has plans to turn your knowledge into productive action.
• Sutha Kamal, Founder and CEO of Ambient Vector, Toronto, Canada. His hard working, innovative team is pushing your mobile experience to a higher level.
• Greg Kiessling, Co-founder and Partner of Bullfrog Power, Toronto, Canada. This Bullfrog is propelling us towards a cleaner future with Green Energy.
• Jonathan Kleiman, Founder of Probook.ca, Kingston, Canada. Jonathan and his team are promising to revolutionize networking as we know it today and propel it to where no one has gone before!
• Roanne Levitt, Technology guru and founder of QualiSoft, Montreal, Canada. She’s a powerhouse of wisdom having held leadership positions atSoftImage (formerly of MicroSoft), Engenuity Technologies andOriginalSim- all former start-ups that flourished. And now, she’s ramping out to reveal QualiSoft, her very own upcoming start-up on the rise!
• Joshua Maa, Founder of Madhouse, Shanghai, China. In under a year, Joshua and his team have spun the heads of the mobile industry with their award winning coups, impressive service, and market capture.
• Kendrick Martin, Co-founder and President of CarboPur, Montreal, Canada. His clean tech company is turning carbon into a golden success story with their ingenious innovations for cleaner water and air solutions. Find out what drives his team to high octane performance levels, and what he says are the key ingredients for a successful start-up.
• Fred Ngo, Co-founder and CTO of StandoutJobs, Montreal, Canada. The ever dynamic Fred shares his start-up insights and comments on the Montreal Start Up Venture Fund.
• Alexandre Pelletier, Co-founder and President of Emovendo, Montreal, Canada. He launched a highly successful customer acquisition company. They’ve recently secured a deal withSalesforce.com, one of their growing number of success stories to celebrate! Alexandre shares his thoughts on the launch of theMontreal Start Up Venture Fund and his favorite advice for fellow entrepreneurs.
• Fred Vasconcelos, Co-founder of Jynx Playware, Recife, Brazil. Read about what makes him stand out as an indubitable winner in a highly competitive field. Yes, game fans, Brasilia scores yet again!
• Gary Wilson, Founder and President of MasterLift and their ingenious Pimp My Lift concept Toronto, Canada. They’ve created a movement to revolutionize an old industry and are turning heads wherever they go.
• Ben Yoskovitz, Top Instigator and co-founder of StandoutJobs, Montreal, Canada. He and his partners are changing the face of recruiting.

IDEA BACKERS (VENTURE CAPITALISTS, ANGEL INVESTORS AND START-UP ADVISORS):

• Chris Arsenault, COO and Managing Partner of iNovia Capital, Montreal, Canada. Chris, the unstoppable start-up guru and passionately driven VC, announces the launch of iNovia Capital’ssecond venture fund, the very welcome, exciting iNovia II. With his impressive track record and world class team, there’s no holding them back!
• Lyne Bouchard, President of StrategiL, Montreal, Canada. Strategist and coach to start-ups and the technology world, Lyne’s wisdom dares teams to reach their full potential.
• Gordon Crosbie-Walsh, Head of Webb Capital Markets, Australia. Gordon and his team are sharing their extensive experience about investing in the rapidly evolving Chinese marketplace and about China’s most exciting business sectors.
• Brahm Elkin, Founder of the Montreal Mergers & Acquisitions Forum. Brahm;s chairing an exciting go-to event for emerging companies ready to spiral upwards to new heights and their idea backers.
• Mark de Groot, CEO and President of iNovia Capital, Montreal, Canada. A seasoned VC with a fine eye for promising start-ups, Mark announces the launch of iNovia Capital’s second venture fund, the very welcome, exciting iNovia II. Under Mark’s leadership, it’s sure to follow the successful footsteps of his previous brilliant coups!
• Ron Dizy, Partner at Celtic House Venture Partners, Toronto, Canada. Ron’s a committed accomplice getting tantalizing ideas out to market.
• Daniel Drouet, Co-founder of Montreal Start Up Venture Fund, Montreal, Canada. Daniel, his co-founders and about 20 other passionate entrepreneurs and investors are joining forces to fund and support Montreal’s best early stage ventures.
• Austin Hill, Angel investor and co-founded Akoha, Radialpoint (Zero-Knowledge Systems), Standout Jobs and more! , Montreal/Calgary, Canada. A relentless serial entrepreneur, angel investor and instigator.
• Guy Kawasaki (featured guest contributor), Co-founder of Garage Technology Ventures(formerly Garage.com), Palo Alto, USA. Guy’s a dynamic, fearless serial entrepreneur, author and venture capitalist with an experienced eye for what makes the cut!
• Bryan Kerdman, Partner at Edgestone Capital Partners, Toronto, Canada. A serial entrepreneur and renowned approachable investor - Bryan has the Midas touch!
• Gang Lu, advisor and Mobinode author, London, UK. He’s developed a sharp expertise in web/mobile technologies and companies in China that everyone really should know about. Lu likens the Chinese start-up market to the Forbidden City - saying that not many people from the outside know what is really happening there. He shares his inside knowledge with us.
• Heri, Founder of MontrealTechWatch.com, Montreal, Canada. Heri shares what the Montreal start-up community really needs, his best advice for start-ups and his thoughts about the newly launchedMontreal Start Up Venture Fund.
• Susan Read, Founder of Susan Read Talent, Montreal, Canada. Susan is a former active venture capitalist and now a well connected, strong recruiter for technology start-ups - she knows what it takes!
• John Reid, President of the CATA (Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance), Ottawa, Canada. John is part of the team spear heading women’s presence in the hi-tech sector via their WIT (Women in Technology) initiatives.Thanks to John and his team, more successful start-up she-e-o’s are on the rise!
• Suberna Shringla, Founding Partner of Team Ventures, Hong Kong, China. He is fiercely leading ground breaking media deals across the world.
• John Stokes, Co-founder of Montreal Start Up Venture Fund, Montreal, Canada. John, his co-founders and about 20 other passionate entrepreneurs and investors are joining forces to fund and support Montreal’s best early stage ventures.
• Alain Theriault, Start-up Coach, Montreal, Canada. His candid nature and wise wisdom have occasionally raised eyebrows (for the good!), made a ton of wake-up calls, perked quite a few start-up ears and most importantly, guided promising entrepreneurs well through their ventures.
• William Thurmond, Managing Principal at Emerging Markets Online, Houston, USA.  His facinating wisdom on the most promising biofuel sectors for start-ups and investors alike will leave you with a taste for algae, grassoline and smart bugs! Bon appetit!
• Thomas (Tom) Tsao, Co-founding Partner of Gobi Partners, Shanghai, China, was one of the first IT VCs in town. Find out how he and his partners smelled potential ahead of the pack and how their ambient media interests is fast-forwarding the way we experience our world.
• Richard (Rick) White, M.Sc., P.Ag, General Manager of the Canadian Canola Growers Association, Winnipeg, Canada. Rick features canola’s exciting market potential and steps needed to further this high potential greenhouse gas solution. With canola, you can zoop up your car and your favorite dish at the same time!
• Ben Yoskovitz, Top Instigator and co-founder of StandoutJobs, Montreal, Canada. Ben knows how to turn ideas into thriving businesses.

…stay tuned, there certainly will be more to come in our future editions