Dennis Mortensen is the CEO and Founder of x.ai, whose artificial intelligence driven personal assistant lets people schedule meetings using plain English and nothing more than a CC to amy@x.ai. He’s a pioneer and expert in the analytics, optimization and big data space and has been since its inception – he is also a fully-fledged […]
Tag: entrepreneur
Women in B2B: Ilana Ben-Ari and 21 Toys
Through their Radical Generosity program, the SheEO community chose 5 world-changing businesses led by Canadian women. We are telling the stories of those companies through our B2BNN storyline features. Next in the series is Twenty One Toys founded by Ilana Ben-Ari. Toys for Social Change Twenty One Toys is a revolution in learning. They asked […]
Book excerpt: Storytelling for Startups – How to tell your story, entrepreneurs
B2BNN will be publishing excerpts from Mark Evans’ new book Storytelling for Startups, available for purchase now. Every week for weeks, we’ll excerpt a new chapter from the book, and this week we’re introducing you to the idea of why startup entrepreneurs need to be great storytellers. Creating good stories is how startups convince preoccupied […]
Inside the pros and cons of being a mentor
In theory, mentorship is a positive concept. It is the opportunity to share your knowledge and experience with people looking for guidance, insight and encouragement. The reality, however, is mentoring requires an investment in time and energy. It is not as simple as connecting with an entrepreneur who wants some help. Like any relationship, a mentorship […]
Why being married makes you a better entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs often apply their life skills to their sales and marketing, and the acquired lessons from marriage are no different. The business professionals we spoke to explain how their marriage helped them become stronger entrepreneurs…and how running their own companies helped their relationships. Eric Gilboord, of Toronto-based WarrenBDC, helps Boomer-aged business owners to sell or transition out of their […]
What entrepreneurs should know about failure
One of the truisms of being an entrepreneur is eternal optimism. It is a necessary ingredient for anyone going into a high-risk venture. Even though the chances of failure are high, entrepreneurs believe they will be successful. This is what makes entrepreneurs so captivating– they are willing to take chances the rest of us would […]
What every entrepreneur can learn from UFC
To casual observers the Ultimate Fighting Championship is little more than a brute contest. Blood and teeth spill on the Octagon. However what the organization has done to elevate the sport of mixed martial arts over the last 20 years is remarkable…and offers lesson for any startup executive. For a fighter to be top-ranked in […]
Entrepreneurs, you need to manage your wealth better
It seems Canadian entrepreneurs have a lot to learn when it comes to financial management. According to Intuit’s 2014 Canadian Financial Literacy Quiz, four in 10 small business owners lack basic financial knowledge. The good news is that at least some of them recognize the fact that they could use a little help. More than […]
9 reasons why being a journalist makes you a better entrepreneur
For all those journalists who wondered whether they could start and thrive in their own business, they might be surprised to learn that some of their existing skills are transferable. And for all those entrepreneurs who wonder what they might be able to learn from media professionals, this article will offer some helpful succinct advice. Three former journalists […]
How playing tennis makes me a better entrepreneur
In a match against my brother, I smash a volley ball into the net, and curse under my breath. I’m upset at myself for missing an easy shot, for not taking advantage of a “gimme” and this frustration creeps into my next serve. I double-fault and my brother wins the game and then later handily wins the […]
Does being a parent make you a better entrepreneur?
What’s more overwhelming than an already-stressful full time job? How about two jobs? That’s the general perception most entrepreneurs have when describing their jobs-kids-family workload. Recently, new father Simon Schneider reflected on the balance between running a start-up and running a family, in his article for Fast Company “How the birth of my son made […]
What every business can learn from David’s Tea
They may not have replaced Starbucks yet, but those teal David’s Tea cups are dotting communities across North America. Call it a true Tea Party, where the main winner is a humble Montreal company that has grown to become a Canadian success story. A story that every firm can learn from, no matter their vertical. David’s Tea […]