Are you a tech entrepreneur with burning questions and the desire to speak candidly to someone who was once in your shoes?
It’s not always easy for founders to gain such access to successful experts in business, but the Innovation Cluster is providing that opportunity by hosting a free “Ask the Expert” networking event from 2 to 4 p.m. on Thursday (October 23) at the Venture North building in downtown Peterborough.
Registration is now open for the exclusive event taking place during Small Business Week, an annual celebration of entrepreneurship launched by Business Development Bank of Canada more than 45 years ago.
Limited to 30 founders, “Ask the Expert” will see participants divided into small groups and rotated between 10 of the Innovation Cluster’s more than 35 Experts in Residence. Experts come from a wide range of backgrounds and have expertise in key startup areas, including IP, corporate law, sales, manufacturing, marketing, and much more.
“These experts are coming with experience of 20 or even 30 years as entrepreneurs themselves, and they’re sharing that experience with these new tech entrepreneurs,” says Innovation Cluster program lead Zahra Shafiei. “Clients see value in talking to our experts, and we receive a lot of requests from people wanting to meet with them so this is an opportunity for founders to have a sneak peek on what they can get as a client.”
The 10 Experts in Residence who will be in attendance at “Ask the Expert” and their areas of expertise are:
- Barb Willoughby – Operational Excellence, Manufacturing and Supply
- Paul Banwatt – Corporate Legal Counsel
- Chris Beetham – Tech/IoT Product Prototyping
- Gerry Bleau – Sales, Fundraising and Acquisition
- Jan d’Ailly – Revenue Consulting and Sales Training
- Jeannine Taylor – Marketing, Media and Communications
- Marcelo Sarkis – Intellectual Property
- Mehdi Sanjari – Product Development, AI and Machine Learning
- Moshe Mikanovsky – Product Development and Product Management
- Trista Greer – Digital Marketing
“Ask the Expert” will most benefit tech founders who have a product in early traction, are stuck in a plateau, or are ready to scale. They can leverage the experience of the Experts in Residence to get rapid-fire insight on anything from funding and financial metrics to validation or scaling.
“These experts started exactly where the entrepreneur is, so whether participants are in the startup stage, the growth stage, or the scale stage, they will be speaking to people who have already gone through the stages to the point where they can now provide valuable expertise,” says Shafiei. “There will also be peers that are at the same stage or even a different stage, which can lead to collaborations among participants.”
Running from 2 to 4 p.m., the event will include snacks and beverages supplied from Hard Winter Bakery, including coffee from Rapid Ends Coffee Roastery.
To provide more local resources during Small Business Week, Innovation Cluster is also hosting a virtual workshop on Wednesday (October 22) from 10 to 11 a.m. led by Joanne Kirke, founder and CEO of Kirke Leadership. “From Founder to CEO: Leadership & HR” will help founders unlock the mindset to lead with confidence and transition from founder to CEO.
To register for “Ask the Expert” and other Small Business Week events held by the Innovation Cluster, visit innovationcluster.ca/events.
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