Erin Kelly is President and CEO of Advanced Symbolics Inc. (ASI), a company that uses Artificial Intelligence to augment market research and prediction. ASI’s patented AI, named “Polly” is the world’s only AI for Augmented Human Behaviour and Market Research. Polly quickly catapulted to fame in 2016 after correctly predicting both BREXIT and the Trump election and she is the AI of choice for leading consumer companies including Disney, Mastercard and GM and is well known in the medical research field for her work in mental health and suicide reduction. Erin is frequently called on by national and international media for her insights into AI and its future impacts on society. She shares how the pandemic has impacted ASI, including what financial resources she is tapping into and what has surprised her most. 

What area of your business is getting your most energy and focus?
At the moment we are focused on product development and getting our AI, Polly, as fast, streamlined and easy to use as possible. This will get results to our customers faster and allow them to test different scenarios easily because the data will be very easy to manipulate. 

What is the most important problem you are trying to solve? 

We are solving the insight problem. Traditional market research relies on vanity metrics and proxies instead of directly answering what marketing executives really want to know: Why aren’t people buying my products or resonating with my message, and what top 3 things can I do right now to change that?

Traditional market research hasn’t evolved in 70 years and that’s a big problem because we no longer consume products and messaging the way we did 70 years ago. The conversations today are all happening online and to properly gain insights you need artificial intelligence. A web panel isn’t going to do it – those studies suffer from the same contrivances as traditional market research and are not randomized samples. Companies today compete on analytics and AI is going to be part of the toolkit for a leading company.

What has been your most successful solution so far? 

I need to pick 3! Our most in-demand solutions right now are Look-alike sampling, Topic Discovery and Attribution Testing.

Look-alike sampling allows us to create cohorts of people online that are very similar except for one thing we want to measure, which enables us to determine with high accuracy, the effect of that influence on human behaviour. We are using this with great effect during COVID. With each region opening under different policies and innovating with different programs and ideas, we can determine what works best to help people feel more comfortable and safe and to optimize revenue for our customers during this very challenging time.

Topic Discovery is a solution marketers love because it tells you the top factors affecting sales of your products without you having to know to ask about it ahead of time. With traditional market research, you have to know the questions to ask in advance. Topic Discovery gives you insight into what you should be exploring even if you hadn’t thought of exploring that before because it wasn’t on your radar. 

Attribution enables you to determine, very precisely, why people will choose your product over the competition and to tailor your message and your media buy accordingly.

“The key is to focus on solutions and not surrender to feelings of hopelessness.”

How have you been staying connected with your customers and employees? 

Initially, we have been staying connected through Zoom. We have bigger plans for the fall though as we realize that the traditional ways of staying connected, through conferences and other face-to-face opportunities, have gone away. So stay tuned for fall programming! 

What financial resources are you tapping into?

When we kicked off the company we applied for and received a loan from the BDC which allowed us to hire our first employees. The BDC turned this around very quickly and they have been terrific giving ongoing support and guidance – very proactive. In September 2018 we also did a small private equity round and have some great angel investors who have all offered to provide ongoing financial support should it be needed. During COVID, we applied for the financial funds that we were eligible for as soon as the lockdown was imposed in case we needed it. I like the financial mix that we have, and I think it is important, from the point of view of financial sustainability, to have a healthy mix of equity and debt investment. Most importantly, we have strong revenue and we are able to sustain our operations through revenue. When we take cash injections it is to grow and diversify.

What has surprised you?

Aside from COVID? I think the biggest surprise is how hard it is to find great talent. I sound like an old curmudgeon but universities are simply not preparing business students with the right skills for the current business environment and businesses really do rely on universities to produce that talent. We find we have to re-train all of our staff almost entirely from scratch when they start with us. And who runs a business program without teaching students about sales… the most important business function?! Even when we hire students with Econometrics backgrounds they have huge gaps in knowledge even after 4 years of studying. We can get them up and running in 3 months so that tells you something. I am also surprised at how many students graduate from marketing without knowing the first thing about analytics, sampling and other basic market research techniques. This has to change. 

How far ahead are you planning?

We are very long term thinkers. We are not building a company to flip we are building a company to grow internationally. That means making significant sacrifices in the short term for the benefit of the long term health of the company. I think it really helps to have a North Star high up in the sky that you work toward. In the short term, it’s all about cash flow – and there are lots of solutions for that, fortunately.

What keeps you positive?

My business partner. We keep each other buoyed when things get difficult! Being an entrepreneur can be very lonely and I think it is no coincidence that companies with 2 or more founders typically do much better than companies that have only one. In fact, many investors won’t back a company that has only one founder.

What message do you want to share with entrepreneurs right now?

I sometimes find it difficult not to be dragged down by all the negative headlines because that can be a real poison pill. Find a way to stay positive – whether that is by focusing on the businesses in your industry that are getting it right and modelling yourself after them or finding short term opportunities to make money until you can get back to doing what you love or borrow until the economy gets better and you can rebound. The solution will be different for everyone but the key is to focus on solutions and not to surrender to feelings of hopelessness. 

Bobbie is the Founder and CEO of Virtual Gurus, a Talent as a Service platform that matches its users with Canadian and US-based virtual assistants and freelancers, a proprietary matchmaking algorithm, and curated client success managers. Recently named both Canada’s Indigenous Entrepreneur of the Year and Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, Prairies Region by Startup Canada, Bobbie is an unstoppable force in the Canadian startup community. She is a Cree-Metis woman who prides herself on building an inclusivity-first company, championing for indigenous people and the LGBTQ+ community. She is a natural leader, sharing her passion by mentoring First Nations youth who have demonstrated interest in Tech and Business. Bobbie shares how Virtual Gurus has been adapting to the pandemic, including how she stays connected with customers and her advice to fellow entrepreneurs.

What area of your business is getting your most energy and focus?

Right now I would say our new Slackapp, askBetty, which is launching very soon. We leverage human-powered assistants through our Slackbot, giving you easy and instant access to a live virtual assistant whenever and wherever you need for one-off tasks.

What is the most important problem you are trying to solve?

We want to be a cost-effective solution to entrepreneurs, business owners, or someone who is just super busy to allow them time to spend on ​the routine tasks that keep the business running.​ While doing so we want to provide work to marginalized folks who have struggled to find work. Virtual Gurus is one of the largest freelance teams in Canada and is made up of 95% who identify as Female, 65% are People of Color while 45% are part of the LGBTQ2+ community.

What has been your most successful solution so far?

Freelancers & Virtual Assistants have been around for a while now, but we found that our clients like that we provide onshore dedicated Assistants based on the skills they need. Providing full back-office support to clients who may not need a full-time Assistant while providing work-from-home positions to hundreds of Canadians has really worked well for us. Through the pandemic, we, like many others, had to pivot so we launched our people over profit program and provided free services to 110 startups that were affected by COVID-19.

We can’t plan for a pandemic or any sort of economic crisis but we can plan to help others through it…

How have you been staying connected with your customers and employees?

​We reach out regularly to our clients, whether it’s just to check-in and see how they are or checking if they need any further assistance. We also make it easy for them to access any of our staff or their VA through our messaging system. With our contractors, our client success team contacted them via telephone throughout the pandemic a bit more than usual to check in on them. We also had a channel set up in our Slack titled “Values Check-in” where we would all check in regularly on how we were doing – it was a safe space for us to just talk and get support from our colleagues.

What financial resources are you tapping into?

 We closed a $1.25M equity round right before COVID-19 hit which put us into a good position. We have accessed NRC IRAP IAP wage subsidy funding through COVID-19. We also have been lucky to receive grants from IRAP and Alberta Innovates and we have a few other grants that we’re in the second and third approval stages of.

What has surprised you?

Even when the times get tough the grind never ends.

How far ahead are you planning?

I always plan ahead even in my personal life, but in the startup life you can try and plan ahead but really you have to go day by day and you have to be able to adapt as you go.

What keeps you positive?

My team – the client success managers, the sales managers, the dev team behind the technology, our COO – we are united as a team and I am extremely proud and thankful for that.

What message do you want to share with entrepreneurs right now?

We can’t plan for a pandemic or any sort of economic crisis but we can plan to help others through it whether it be supporting a local restaurant to purchasing apps and services that are local.

Sarah has over 25-years experience in sales, management, marketing and operations including General Manager at start-up Mainstream Media, which brought linear television online with a social media platform. Sarah worked in executive management in Fortune 500 companies before launching SpaceiShare. Her passion for the environment, tech and the disruption of traditional mindsets fuels her tenacity to create the world’s largest space-sharing platform. Sarah completed Mergelane, the 12-week accelerator in Boulder, Colorado and was the top graduate in her cohort at Founder Institute in Toronto with SpaceiShare being part of Founder Institute’s “Select Portfolio.” Sarah discusses how SpaceiShare is navigating the pandemic including how she remains positive and her advice to fellow entrepreneurs.

What area of your business is getting your most energy and focus? 

SpaceiShare started the year off strong with some new opportunities and clients coming our way. However, once the pandemic hit, decisions were put on hold. SpaceiShare has taken the down-time in our business to focus on the product. We currently have our development team implementing some key features and upgrades that will really define our vision further. We are also working on a new project that we feel is truly going to help Canada’s most marginalized communities.

What is the most important problem you are trying to solve?

 A few years back, my aunt put all of her belongings into self-storage. After finding out that she would be shelling out over $12,000 over the two years she was away, I realized the enormous opportunity for neighbour helping neighbour. Since that time, our mission is to help people who need space, find people who have space. Our goal is to help make space finding simpler and protect users with legal documents and user reviews.

Since the pandemic hit, SpaceiShare immediately became involved in two great organizations, both looking to assist front-line workers. Working with them illuminated the extremely difficult task that people were having in finding somewhere safe to stay whilst they were working in hospitals, plus the PPE required to keep people protected.

It was that initiative that moved us forward to work with our long-term partner Aangen: A Community Service Organization. For years and years, housing agency workers have had extremely limited information pertaining to housing units available to their clients. Through ongoing meetings with our partner and other housing agencies, we’re working on a solution for them that will be far superior to anything they’ve used before.

What has been your most successful solution so far? 

So far, I think what we’re working on over these next two quarters will have big payoffs for us in the future. We have been working with some of Canada’s largest property management companies and the feedback we’re hearing is that their under-utilized spaces need to be monetized. We’re also building technology that will make it easier to share space for multiple properties. While our new solutions are something we know people need, it’s the P2P sharing, the community money-making opportunity that we feel is going to help people earn additional money each month.

It’s truly amazing to see entrepreneurs step up and adjust, pivot and adapt to fast changes.

How have you been staying connected with your customers and employees? 

 Our team has all been working remotely since day one as many are located out of the country or even different parts of the GTA. Much of our communication is through tools like Slack, Zoom and Gdrive so we’re all connected that way. After the pandemic hit, I felt it was important to reach out to all of our customers, supporters and investors and let them know about what new initiatives we had on the horizon. Overall, however, I’m keeping our “pandemic” speak minimal. I feel there’s far too much emphasis on COVID-19 and I’m about looking forward to a future where we resume our way of life.

What financial resources are you tapping into?

We have received support from the BDC and are in the process of applying for a government grant that would assist us tremendously in moving the new initiative forward. We were also the recipient of OCEs SmartStart seed fund plus other grants that have helped us hire great staff.

What has surprised you? 

 This year, what’s most surprising is the amount of people coming together to help others during the pandemic. It’s truly amazing to see entrepreneurs step up and adjust, pivot and adapt to fast changes. So many of us felt helpless a few months back but the entrepreneurial tenacity kicked-in and we made lemonade out of lemons.

How far ahead are you planning? 

We are looking at the next two quarters as more of a build and learn vs. scale and grow. From there, we are looking to launch our new initiatives and go full-on with promotion. We are expecting a lean year so are keeping our costs low and hope to have a year’s worth of runway to get us through. From a vision standpoint, we have expectations of where we’ll be up to 5 yrs. from now.

What keeps you positive?

Definitely my family. My husband is a great motivator and positive person so he’s always helping me get through any tough times. My two daughters – aged 8 and 11, are my bright lights. They are lovely, charming and funny characters who are always positive, no matter what.

Add to that my amazing team of dedicated, passionate and smart people, and I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such a great group. I love it when my team is galvanized to work on something and come back to me with such great work.

What message do you want to share with entrepreneurs right now? 

There’s a LOT going on in the world right now and many of us don’t know the whole story. It’s important to conserve as much cash as possible and prepare for a possible long-term downturn. (The Head of Founder Institute, Adeo Ressi, suggested that we should have at least a one-year runway, if not two). With that in mind, entrepreneurs are the ones leading the way for how a new world might look. Keep your vision alive, don’t get distracted or upset by what’s going on in the media – in fact, pull the plug completely. Mindset, balance and inner peace should be your guiding principles. Lastly, if it “feels” right, don’t let others dissuade you from your vision. They don’t walk in your shoes and their objections are theirs alone, not yours. It doesn’t matter if it’s a family member, a mentor or someone you admire. Be your own navigator.

As Founder/CEO of Senior Care Connect, Kristal is a registered Social Worker (RSW) who holds both a Bachelor and Master’s Degree in Social Work (BSW, MSW), with over 10 years of experience in the field. Her experience includes: health care system navigation, senior care planning, hospital discharge planning, cancer care, palliative care, community crisis intervention, community outreach and education, amongst other areas. With an expertise in working with seniors and health care, Kristal is well aware of the numerous issues impacting this population and holds a wealth of knowledge regarding our health care system and senior care planning. Kristal is passionate about educating the community and acting as a support to help seniors/families get the care they need, in order to ensure they maintain the highest quality of life as they age. Kristal shares how Senior Care Connect has adapted to these unprecedented times, from the financial resources she has been tapping into to how far she is planning ahead.

What area of your business is getting your most energy and focus?

With a recent pivot and MVP built, our focus right now is gaining feedback from our user base so we can adjust and tailor our solution to best meet their needs. So our energy and focus currently is getting our solution in the hands of professional caregivers and families. 

What is the most important problem you are trying to solve?

I want to simplify the process for finding and arranging care for yourself or an aging loved one, so we can all have the best quality of life possible as we age. In my career, I’ve worked with hundreds of families in search of care and overall I get the same responses. Families are stressed, not only because their loved one is sick, but they are stressed at the whole process of finding, arranging and paying for care. Understandably this is a very complex issue and no one solution can solve it all. As our starting point, however, we want to address some of the pain points for families by creating a platform to provides easy access to care at the best possible price. 

What has been your most successful solution so far?

Thus far we have received positive feedback from families who we have been able to match with caregivers.  Families appreciated being able to easily find a caregiver and knowing that the caregiver they were being connected with had been pre-screened. 

How have you been staying connected with your customers and employees?

Like most companies, we of course have social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook. We also stay connected via our monthly newsletter.  We use this as a form of engagement as we encourage our community members to reach out to us with questions or concerns. I love getting e-mails and questions in response to our newsletters, as it allows for greater engagement and allows us to provide tailored answers or support to people’s particular needs or questions. We do also have a chat feature on our website, as well as a phone number for those who want to speak directly with us. For team members, we use slack as a means of communication.

What financial resources are you tapping into?

As far as financial resources, I have accessed grants, competed/won pitch competitions, and have used my own personal funds. We’ve been fortunate to be a part of some amazing entrepreneurial programs such as York University’s Launch YU business accelerator, as well as YEDI(York Entrepreneurial Development Institute)- which provide the opportunity to compete and/or apply for access to grant funding. Grant funding is always great, as it allows for a source of funding without giving up equity in your company and it isn’t a loan you have to pay back (with interest). I also made it a point to compete in various pitch contests as some of them have cash prize rewards.

I think it’s important to really have a strong support system around you who can help you during those really difficult times and to remind you that your inherent value is not dependent on your business. 

What has surprised you?

Starting a business can be extremely challenging, with lots of ups and downs. What has surprised me is how challenging it can be to get product-market-fit, even when you bring industry expertise.  With Senior Care Connect, although there is a clear problem, it is a complex one which makes it difficult to address all aspects of it.

How far ahead are you planning?

Our initial offering helps connect families with pre-screened caregivers, however, we have much larger plans for the future in regards to how we want to help families. Addressing the care of an aging loved one has multiple factors to consider, which makes this issue such a difficult one to tackle. Our end goal as we grow is to create a centralized access point for senior care options, which will allow families to go to one access point to explore various options whether finding caregivers, private retirement homes, purchasing needed equipment and other senior care related needs.

What keeps you positive?

My co-founder, family and friends help me to stay positive and optimistic.  Starting/building a business is a very arduous process and there can be many down times. It can be very emotionally taxing. I think it’s important to really have a strong support system around you who can help you during those really difficult times and to remind you that your inherent value is not dependent on your business. 

Furthermore, what keeps me going is my “why”- which are my parents who are seniors. From my professional experience, I witnessed how distraught families were dealing with caring for an aging loved one and it made me think of my own parents. I see the families I work with and I empathize with them. I want to be able to be a part of creating solutions that will help not only my family but everyone’s families get the care they need and deserve as they age.

What message do you want to share with entrepreneurs right now?

Entrepreneurship is not easy.  Always remember why you started and be persistent. Try to surround yourself with a great support system. Immerse yourself in the start-up eco-system, as there are great opportunities to apply for grants, connect with industry experts, network with investors and gain mentorship.

Nicole is a true-blue Nova Scotian who loves to communicate with people. She spent 10 years working in a corporate training position at Scotiabank and then co-founded InStage in 2017. InStage creates V.R. Training simulations for soft-skills and was originally created to help Nicole practice for large group presentations. Since 2017, Nicole has been driving the reach of InStage to include 1000’s of users at Fortune 500 companies and large post-secondary institutions. Nicole shares how InStage is navigating the pandemic, from what area of the business is receiving the greatest focus to what she is doing to stay positive.

What area of your business is getting your most energy and focus? 

With the recent spike in demand for interactive online learning, InStage is focused on partnering with post-secondary schools to help them adopt VR technology adaptations that work online. Nearly all educational institutions believe that VR technology will play a key role in the future of education, so we are helping them start this process of bringing in technology and learning best practices.

What is the most important problem you are trying to solve?

The most important problem we are trying to solve is filling the soft skill gap between what students have and what employers expect. It has never been more urgent to help prepare students to develop these skills which requires a lot of practice. Students can now practice in V.R. Simulations for interviews, presentations, storytelling, objection handling in safe environments that also allows for repetition and real-time analytics.

What has been your most successful solution so far?          

Adapting to this new world and continuing to innovate to add value to our clients.       

How have you been staying connected with your customers and employees?             

Virtually!

I love associating myself with people I admire so I can continuously push myself both work-wise and personally. 

What advice do you have for businesses struggling with their finances?

Test your innovation with the market and see if it adds enough value for clients to pay.

What has surprised you? 

The biggest surprise is how things have changed since pre-COVID days. Continuing to adapt and innovate is essential.

How far ahead are you planning? 

In the short term, we are looking forward to the fall as schools are reopening. But planning is a 6 month to 5 year project at least.

What keeps you positive?

Positivity comes from your mindset and also who you are surrounding yourself with. It’s important to be connected with positive influencers. I love associating myself with people I admire so I can continuously push myself both work-wise and personally. 

What message do you want to share with entrepreneurs right now? 

Covid-19 has created a lot of new problems for entrepreneurs to solve. Entrepreneurs should be looking at how the world is changing and what the new world will need rather than dwelling on the economic issues.