Capitalize for Kids Podcast

Bruce Croxon is a Canadian tech entrepreneur who Co-Founded Lavalife in 1988. He was a Dragon on CBC's Dragon Den and today he heads a venture capital firm in Toronto called Round 13 Capital. We spoke to him about getting Lavalife off the ground, life as a Dragon, and the tech ecosystem in Canada.

Just ten weeks before the 1992 Olympic Games, Silken Laumann, the reigning world champion in single sculls rowing, suffered a brutal accident that left her right leg shattered and useless. However, she overcame that injury to win a Bronze Medal for Canada. We spoke to her about overcoming that injury but also the less apparent mental health issues she was facing.

The Capitalize for Kids Podcast is back with a brand new season of interviews with Canadian leaders in business and philanthropy. 

On this week's episode, we speak with Paul Desmarais III. While Paul is the grandson of the Canadian business magnate who founded Power Corp, he has forged his own path forward. He acts as the Chairman and CEO of Sagard Holdings, the Executive Chairman and co-founder of Portag3 Ventures, and the Chairman and co-founder of Diagram. At the helm of Portag3 Ventures, he has built one of the biggest Canadian venture capital firms in the fintech space and invested in a number of prominent startups – most notably Wealthsimple. We spoke to Paul about carving out a role for himself at Power Corp and his views on the Canadian tech landscape.

For the final episode of the season, Evan is joined by Quentin Broad, the new Managing Director of Capitalize for Kids. Prior to Capitalize for Kids, Quentin spent 30 years on Bay Street with a career that culminated as the Managing Director, Head of Institutional Equity Sales at CIBC Capital Markets. We dive into his past, the transition into a non-profit, his views on "charitable investing", and his experience as an eight-time Iron Man.

Camilla Sutton, the new President and CEO of Women in Capital Markets is on this week's show. We trace her career on Bay Street, which culminated as the Global Head of FX at Scotiabank, and the transition to her new role at WCM. She had a lot to say about diversity in Canada's financial services industry and how we need to move the conversation from diversity to inclusion. The episode is a must listen for anyone in financial services, so check it out and subscribe.

We can think of no better guest to join us for Mental Health Week than Kathy Hay, the President & CEO of Kids Help Phone. We chat with her about the services Kids Help Phone offers for kids across Canada and how they are updating these services to reach young people through modern mediums. We get into their ability to respond to major crises in local communities – specifically their response to the Humboldt Broncos tragedy and the van attack in Toronto. We also dive into Kathy's background and her transition from banking into the non-profit sector. Kids Help Phone is a beneficiary of Capitalize for Kids and you can learn more about our work with them in our latest impact report: • https://www.capitalizeforkids.org/2018/04/11/q1-2018-impact-report/

Canadian Entrepreneur Michael Hyatt joined us on this week's episode of the podcast. Michael is the co-founder of BlueCat. He serves as a director of BlueCat, ranks as one of Canada’s top entrepreneurs, and is a known as a technology visionary. Michael is also a weekly business commentator on CBC and was a celebrated “Dragon” on CBC’s online Dragons’ Den. He is an investor on the hit podcast “The Pitch” and a Founding Partner and Fellow at the Rotman School of Management’s prestigious Creative Destruction Lab. On the episode, Michael shares the lessons he's learned as an entrepreneur and his optimistic outlook for the implications of technology on our economy.

In this week's episode, Evan Sequeira spoke with prolific Canadian business journalist Amanda Lang. She is currently an Anchor at BNN – which will soon be rebranded as BNN Bloomberg. She spoke about growing up in Manitoba with a big family and a politician for a dad. We learned how she got her start in journalism and her first TV appearance. Later we discussed her books, The Power of Why and The Beauty of Discomfort. Give it a listen and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review.

Brett Lindros joined us for this episode. While he is currently the EVP of ‎HGC Investment Management, an alternative asset management firm based in Toronto, he started out his career as a professional hockey player in the NHL. We learned about his hockey career being cut short by concussions and followed the journey that eventually led him to finance.

In this episode, Evan spoke with Sam Duboc, co-founder of Pathways to Education, co-founder of Loyalty Group (which gave birth to the Air Miles Rewards programs), CEO of Elkland Capital, and up until about a week ago was the former chair of Business Development Bank of Canada. Sam shared the lessons that he has learned from a long and successful career that bridges business and philanthropy.