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Velocity Expert Community

Our experts

With years of practical industry-specific knowledge across diverse sectors, our experts provide targeted advice tailored to your specific needs. Our community of experts brings real-world experience in fundraising, sales, leadership, product development, marketing and much more. Our flexible personalized coaching is here at every stage of growth to ensure you thrive in today’s competitive landscape. 


Check out our roster of experts below.

Determine who may be able to best meet your needs and book your session.


Book a session

Cancellation policy: If you need to cancel an appointment with an expert, please make sure to do so at least 24 hours in advance by using the link in the invite or through a direct email to the expert. Those who miss more than two sessions without the required notice will no longer be eligible for sessions.


Alexander Mistakidis

Areas of expertise

Gaming, Consumer Software, Experience Design, Problem/Idea Formulation

More about Alexander

Alexander is a gaming entrepreneur who has founded multiple game studios. He graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Computer Science.

Ben Graham

Areas of expertise

Problem / Idea Formulation, Pitch Coaching, Market Research, AI Impacts

More about Ben

Ben is passionate about developing programming and opportunities to support students at the earliest stage of innovation through problem analysis. He has worked on initiatives and projects with Canadian organizations and corporations where he researched commercial problems affecting industry.

Bjorn Dawson

Areas of expertise

Product Management, Hardware, Consumer, Executive Coaching, Fundraising

More about Bjorn

Bjorn Dawson is a serial entrepreneur and tech enthusiast. He was founder and CEO of Grobo in Waterloo for eight years and is now a product lead at Shopify. He has a passion for startups and is excited to continue supporting entrepreneurs with investment, connections and advice.

Christophe Biocca

Areas of expertise

SaaS, Software, Security

More about Christophe

Christophe co-founded Encircle, and took on a variety of development roles as it grew from a three-person startup to an established player in the restoration contractor software space from 2012 to 2023.

Cody Shirriff

Areas of expertise

Biotech, Pharmaceuticals

More about Cody

Cody Shirriff is a scientist entrepreneur who founded Serenity Bio in 2017 with nothing but an idea after his graduate degree. As Serenity Bio’s chief executive officer, he successfully raised venture financing, developed an IP portfolio, transacted with pharmaceutical partners, and led the business development team. Cody is now forming his next venture in biotech and helping the next generation of Canadian biotech/deep tech leaders.

Derek Jouppi

Areas of expertise

Consumer, Social Media, Retail, B2C, Social Listening

More about Derek

Derek is the founder of Advite an AI monitoring solution for social media and founder of Toronto’s biggest founder network, Founder Poker. Previously he co-founded Suncayr which launched UV detection sticker SPOTMYUV, had 1.5B+ impressions and was acquired.

Desmond Choi

Areas of expertise

Marketplace, Ad-Tech, Product Market fit, MVP, Product Growth, AI

More about Desmond

The founder of Mappedin (2013) and SparkGig (2015). Specializing in marketplace, website funnel optimization, B2B strategies, and product-market fit. Desmond successfully scaled UpNest from $2B to $4B GMV, leading to its acquisition by realtor.com. Currently, he leads product at Samsung Ads, driving expansion into new industries. Additionally, he is the creator of AI-Driven Advertiser, exploring the future of advertising with AI.

Jeffrey Petracca

Areas of expertise

IoT-Connected Robotic Hardware (Electromechanics, Embedded Hardware, Software), Product Management, Project Management, Strategy, and Non-dilutive Funding

More about Jeffrey

An entrepreneur and engineer, Jeffrey brings extensive experience in product and venture development. He previously co-founded LabsCubed and is now
dedicated to scaling innovative robotics startup Forcen into a leading company globally.

Jeremy Wang

Areas of expertise

B2B & B2G Sales, All Things Operations, Non-dilutive Fundraising, Storytelling, Autonomous Systems, and Regulatory Approvals in Aerospace and Defence

More about Jeremy

Jeremy is an aerospace engineer and entrepreneur with experience founding and leading B2B/B2G companies in aviation and defence. Execution is his strength, testing ideas quickly and systematically to obtain feedback and adjust broader plans accordingly. He has served as the CTO of one of Canada’s leading commercial drone operators, and is currently co-founder and COO of Ribbit, building self-flying cargo planes to resupply hard-to-reach areas.

John Dick

Areas of expertise

Early Stage Business Activities, Product Development and Research & Development, Manufacturing, Spinning out Technology From a University, Market Validation, Business Creation.

More about John

John oversees the strategy of Velocity programming on University of Waterloo campus and is in charge of creating inspiring experiences for students who are interested in business and innovation. He was cofounder of Nicoya where he led its R&D efforts for seven years as CSO from start to Series A.

Krysta Traianovski

Areas of expertise

Early Technology Development (Chemistry, Nanotechnology, Biotechnology), Business Model Validation, Customer Validation, Public Speaking, Advanced Materials, Biotechnology, Health Technology

More about Krysta

Krysta supports early-stage teams with both their business and technical development through Velocity science (ESC 232). She graduated from the University of Waterloo with a BSc in Chemistry and Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology. In 2016, Krysta co-founded BrightGuide, a software company in the healthcare space.

Lawrentina D’Souza

Areas of expertise

Improving your Pitch, Problem & Market Validation, Business Operations / Industry Experience: Product Management in Medtech, Fintech, Insuretech, SaaS

More about Lawrentina

Lawrentina has supported founders at the University of Waterloo through Velocity Science & GreenHouse, moving on to work at various medtech and fintech startups, while also winning the Velocity Pitch Competition in Spring 2020. You can find her at campus startup events – either judging pitch competitions or coaching early-stage student teams.

Marine Dumontier

Areas of expertise

Marketing, Early Customer Discovery, Product-Market Fit

More about Marine

Marine spent a decade working in various marketing roles in Waterloo, Canada and in Paris, France, where she is from originally. She worked with and advised bootstrapped businesses, venture-backed fast growing start-ups, large public corporations and then some in between. When she is not helping others with marketing needs, Marine runs her own software company.

Michael Miller

Areas of expertise

Software Engineering, Software Infrastructure, Software Architecture, Engineering Management, Web Dev, SaaS

More about Michael

Mike is a software engineer with experience building SaaS startups. He provides advice to early-stage teams on how to build products and iterate quickly.

Michael Phillips

Areas of expertise

Financing, IP, Regulatory, Medical Devices, FDA, Sales

More about Michael

Michael is co-founder and CEO of Vena Medical, which is bringing the world’s smallest camera to physicians to help them treat stroke.

Mike Kirkup

Areas of expertise

Fundraising, Business strategy, Go-to-Market, Software

More about Mike

Mike Kirkup is the CTO of EnPowered, a software company that is revolutionizing the energy industry by providing easy access to funding, energy market insights and enormous savings opportunities.  He is the former Director of Velocity, the University of Waterloo’s world-renowned startup program where he helped mentor hundreds of startups.  He is a big supporter of Waterloo Region and startups in general and is a growth coach at Communitech helping startups shape their fundraising strategies.  He has also participated on a number of boards including the Waterloo Region Economic Development Corporation, Golden Triangle Angel Network and Intrideo.

Pat Martinson

Areas of expertise

Hardware, Prototyping, Problem/Idea Formulation, Pitch Coaching, Customer Discovery

More about Pat

Pat has co-founded or been an early employee at 4 hardware startups, wearing many hats including hiring & recruitment, project management & supply chain. He loves to help validate the problem you’re solving, and is always open to hearing & giving feedback on pitches.

Rachel Pautler

Areas of expertise

AI Product Management, Product Development, Customer Discovery

More about Rachel

Rachel has spent the past 5 years in startups, starting from being the CEO of an engineering fourth year project turned company, to marketing and sales, and finally to product management. She’s passionate about customer discovery and ensuring that the product you’re building is something that people actually want.

Ryan Marchewka

Areas of expertise

Fundraising (Targeting, Running Process, Infrastructure, Funnels, etc), Financial Projections, B2B Sales, Business Planning, Project management, R&D (Advanced Materials), Leadership Skills, Patents / IP, Pitches and Decks

More about Ryan

Ryan has a background in Nanotechnology Engineering and has worked in a variety of roles including Founder and CEO at an advanced materials startup, and R&D positions in both academia and industry. His experiences range from working in a chemical lab to managing a team, raising funds from VC and signing $100M+ partnership deals with major corporate partners.

Ryan Brown

Areas of expertise

Deep Tech, Batteries, Chemistry, Go-to-Market in Real Estate, Energy

More about Ryan

Ryan is passionate and extremely nerdy about deep tech innovation, especially when it’s related to fighting climate change. He founded a battery company while studying at University of Waterloo and now works as a climate tech investor.

Sarah Landstreet

Areas of expertise

B2B sales, Non-Tech Businesses, Packaging, What YC is Like

More about Sarah

Mechanical engineer (McGill), MBA (Ivey), owned a bakery in Northern Ireland then a packaging company (Georgette Packaging) back in Canada and went to YC with this one. Currently an entrepreneurship lecturer at Ivey Business School.

Tamer Shahin

Areas of expertise

Design for Manufacturing, Product Design, Electronics, Mechanical systems, Systems Engineering, Productivity Management, Project Management, AI Models

More about Tamer

Tamer provides technical support and mentorship to early-stage student teams that are working on their digital technology ideas, including hardware and software support. Prior to joining Velocity, Tamer worked in multiple roles leading engineering design teams.

William Zhou

Areas of expertise

Edtech, Fintech

More about William

William Zhou is a creator, adventurer, and mentor. He has been passionate about entrepreneurship from a young age, founding his first company in high school and selling his first SaaS business in 2010, at the age of 18. Most recently, he co-founded Chalk.com, an education software company focused in K-12. Chalk was acquired by PowerSchool (NYSE: PWSC) in 2022.

Zac Young

Areas of expertise

Environmental Technology; Water Treatment; Resources Sector (Mining, Oil and Gas, Utilities); Hardware and Science Facilities; Deeptech; Cleantech; Business Development; Industry Matching Grants and Agreements; Graduate Student Founders.

More about Zac

Zac is a Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of H2nanO, an environmental technology start-up creating sustainable, low-energy water treatment solutions for the resources industry. He has led H2nanO’s operations and business growth from start to field implementation of its technologies, working with Canada’s largest mining and energy companies. H2nanO is a spin-off of the University of Waterloo, where Zac studied Nanotechnology Engineering, with operations in Ontario and Alberta.

Rachel Pautler

Areas of expertise

AI Product Management, Product Development, Customer Discovery

More about Rachel

Rachel has spent the past 5 years in startups, starting from being the CEO of an engineering fourth year project turned company, to marketing and sales, and finally to product management. She’s passionate about customer discovery and ensuring that the product you’re building is something that people actually want.

Desmond Choi

Areas of expertise

Marketplace, Ad-Tech, Product Market fit, MVP, Product Growth, AI

More about Desmond

The founder of Mappedin (2013) and SparkGig (2015). Specializing in marketplace, website funnel optimization, B2B strategies, and product-market fit. Desmond successfully scaled UpNest from $2B to $4B GMV, leading to its acquisition by realtor.com. Currently, he leads product at Samsung Ads, driving expansion into new industries. Additionally, he is the creator of AI-Driven Advertiser, exploring the future of advertising with AI.

Tamer Shahin

Areas of expertise

Design for Manufacturing, Product Design, Electronics, Mechanical systems, Systems Engineering, Productivity Management, Project Management, AI Models

More about Tamer

Tamer provides technical support and mentorship to early-stage student teams that are working on their digital technology ideas, including hardware and software support. Prior to joining Velocity, Tamer worked in multiple roles leading engineering design teams.

Ben Graham

Areas of expertise

Problem / Idea Formulation, Pitch Coaching, Market Research, AI Impacts

More about Ben

Ben is passionate about developing programming and opportunities to support students at the earliest stage of innovation through problem analysis. He has worked on initiatives and projects with Canadian organizations and corporations where he researched commercial problems affecting industry.

Lawrentina D’Souza

Areas of expertise

Improving your Pitch, Problem & Market Validation, Business Operations / Industry Experience: Product Management in Medtech, Fintech, Insuretech, SaaS

More about Lawrentina

Lawrentina has supported founders at the University of Waterloo through Velocity Science & GreenHouse, moving on to work at various medtech and fintech startups, while also winning the Velocity Pitch Competition in Spring 2020. You can find her at campus startup events – either judging pitch competitions or coaching early-stage student teams.

Mike Kirkup

Areas of expertise

Fundraising, Business strategy, Go to market, software

More about Mike

Mike Kirkup is the CTO of EnPowered, a software company that is revolutionizing the energy industry by providing easy access to funding, energy market insights and enormous savings opportunities.  He is the former Director of Velocity, the University of Waterloo’s world-renowned startup program where he helped mentor hundreds of startups.  As a big supporter of the Waterloo region and startups in general, he is a Growth Coach at Communitech helping startups shape their fundraising strategies.  He has also participated on a number of boards including the Waterloo Region Economic Development Corporation, Golden Triangle Angel Network and Intrideo.

John Dick

Areas of expertise

Early Stage Business Activities, Product Development and Research & Development, Manufacturing, Spinning out Technology From a University, Market Validation, Business Creation.

More about John

John oversees the strategy of Velocity programming on University of Waterloo campus and is in charge of creating inspiring experiences for students who are interested in business and innovation. He was cofounder of Nicoya where he led its R&D efforts for seven years as CSO from start to Series A.

Krysta Traianovski

Areas of expertise

Early Technology Development (Chemistry, Nanotechnology, Biotechnology), Business Model Validation, Customer Validation, Public Speaking, Advanced Materials, Biotechnology, Health Technology.

More about Krysta

Krysta supports early-stage teams with both their business and technical development through Velocity science (ESC 232). She graduated from the University of Waterloo with a BSc in Chemistry and Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology. In 2016, Krysta co-founded BrightGuide, a software company in the healthcare space.

Ryan Marchewka

Areas of expertise

Fundraising (Targeting, Running Process, Infrastructure, Funnels, etc), Financial Projections, B2B Sales, Business Planning, Project management, R&D (Advanced Materials), Leadership Skills, Patents / IP, Pitches and Decks

More about Ryan

Ryan has a background in Nanotechnology Engineering and has worked in a variety of roles including Founder and CEO at an advanced materials startup, and R&D positions in both academia and industry. His experiences range from working in a chemical lab to managing a team, raising funds from VC and signing $100M+ partnership deals with major corporate partners.

Sarah Landstreet

Areas of expertise

B2B sales, Non-Tech Businesses, Packaging, What YC is Like

More about Sarah

Mechanical engineer (McGill), MBA (Ivey), owned a bakery in Northern Ireland then a packaging company (Georgette Packaging) back in Canada and went to YC with this one. Currently an entrepreneurship lecturer at Ivey Business School.

Ryan Brown

Areas of expertise

Deep Tech, Batteries, Chemistry, Go-to-Market in Real Estate, Energy

More about Ryan

Ryan is passionate and extremely nerdy about deep tech innovation, especially when it’s related to fighting climate change. He founded a battery company while studying at UWaterloo and now works as a climate tech investor.

Jeremy Wang

Areas of expertise

B2B & B2G Sales, All Things Operations, Non-dilutive Fundraising, Storytelling, Autonomous Systems, and Regulatory Approvals in Aerospace and Defence

More about Jeremy

Jeremy is an aerospace engineer and entrepreneur with experience founding and leading B2B/B2G companies in aviation and defence. Execution is his strength, testing ideas quickly and systematically to obtain feedback and adjust broader plans accordingly. He has served as the CTO of one of Canada’s leading commercial drone operators, and is currently co-founder and COO of Ribbit, building self-flying cargo planes to resupply hard-to-reach areas.

Sarah Landstreet

Areas of expertise

B2B sales, Non-Tech Businesses, Packaging, What YC is Like

More about Sarah

Mechanical engineer (McGill), MBA (Ivey), owned a bakery in Northern Ireland then a packaging company (Georgette Packaging) back in Canada and went to YC with this one. Currently an entrepreneurship lecturer at Ivey Business School.

Ryan Marchewka

Areas of expertise

Fundraising (Targeting, Running Process, Infrastructure, Funnels, etc), Financial Projections, B2B Sales, Business Planning, Project management, R&D (Advanced Materials), Leadership Skills, Patents / IP, Pitches and Decks

More about Ryan

Ryan has a background in Nanotechnology Engineering and has worked in a variety of roles including Founder and CEO at an advanced materials startup, and R&D positions in both academia and industry. His experiences range from working in a chemical lab to managing a team, raising funds from VC and signing $100M+ partnership deals with major corporate partners.

Michael Phillips

Areas of expertise

Financing, IP, Regulatory, Medical Devices, FDA, Sales

More about Michael

Michael is co-founder and CEO of Vena Medical, which is bringing the world’s smallest camera to physicians to help them treat stroke.

Alexander Mistakidis

Areas of expertise

Gaming, Consumer Software, Experience Design, Problem/Idea Formulation

More about Alexander

Alexander is a gaming entrepreneur who has founded multiple game studios. He graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Computer Science.

Bjorn Dawson

Areas of expertise

Product Management, Hardware, Consumer, Executive Coaching, Fundraising

More about Bjorn

Bjorn Dawson is a serial entrepreneur and tech enthusiast. He was founder and CEO of Grobo in Waterloo for eight years and is now a product lead at Shopify. He has a passion for startups and is excited to continue supporting entrepreneurs with investment, connections and advice.

Derek Jouppi

Areas of expertise

Consumer, Social Media, Retail, B2C, Social Listening

More about Derek

Derek is the founder of Advite an AI monitoring solution for social media and founder of Toronto’s biggest founder network, Founder Poker. Previously he co-founded Suncayr which launched UV detection sticker SPOTMYUV, had 1.5B+ impressions and was acquired.

William Zhou

Areas of expertise

Edtech, Fintech

More about William

William Zhou is a creator, adventurer, and mentor. He has been passionate about entrepreneurship from a young age, founding his first company in high school and selling his first SaaS business in 2010, at the age of 18. Most recently, he co-founded Chalk.com, an education software company focused in K-12. Chalk was acquired by PowerSchool (NYSE: PWSC) in 2022.

Lawrentina D’Souza

Areas of expertise

Improving your Pitch, Problem & Market Validation, Business Operations / Industry Experience: Product Management in Medtech, Fintech, Insuretech, SaaS

More about Lawrentina

Lawrentina has supported founders at the University of Waterloo through Velocity Science & GreenHouse, moving on to work at various medtech and fintech startups, while also winning the Velocity Pitch Competition in Spring 2020. You can find her at campus startup events – either judging pitch competitions or coaching early-stage student teams.

William Zhou

Areas of expertise

Edtech, Fintech

More about William

William Zhou is a creator, adventurer, and mentor. He has been passionate about entrepreneurship from a young age, founding his first company in high school and selling his first SaaS business in 2010, at the age of 18. Most recently, he co-founded Chalk.com, an education software company focused in K-12. Chalk was acquired by PowerSchool (NYSE: PWSC) in 2022.

Jeremy Wang

Areas of expertise

B2B & B2G Sales, All Things Operations, Non-dilutive Fundraising, Storytelling, Autonomous Systems, and Regulatory Approvals in Aerospace and Defence

More about Jeremy

Jeremy is an aerospace engineer and entrepreneur with experience founding and leading B2B/B2G companies in aviation and defence. Execution is his strength, testing ideas quickly and systematically to obtain feedback and adjust broader plans accordingly. He has served as the CTO of one of Canada’s leading commercial drone operators, and is currently co-founder and COO of Ribbit, building self-flying cargo planes to resupply hard-to-reach areas.

Bjorn Dawson

Areas of expertise

Product Management, Hardware, Consumer, Executive Coaching, Fundraising

More about Bjorn

Bjorn Dawson is a serial entrepreneur and tech enthusiast. He was founder and CEO of Grobo in Waterloo for eight years and is now a product lead at Shopify. He has a passion for startups and is excited to continue supporting entrepreneurs with investment, connections and advice.

Mike Kirkup

Areas of expertise

Fundraising, Business strategy, Go-to-Market, Software

More about Mike

Mike Kirkup is the CTO of EnPowered, a software company that is revolutionizing the energy industry by providing easy access to funding, energy market insights and enormous savings opportunities.  He is the former Director of Velocity, the University of Waterloo’s world-renowned startup program where he helped mentor hundreds of startups.  He is a big supporter of Waterloo Region and startups in general and is a growth coach at Communitech helping startups shape their fundraising strategies.  He has also participated on a number of boards including the Waterloo Region Economic Development Corporation, Golden Triangle Angel Network and Intrideo.

Ryan Marchewka

Areas of expertise

Fundraising (Targeting, Running Process, Infrastructure, Funnels, etc), Financial Projections, B2B Sales, Business Planning, Project management, R&D (Advanced Materials), Leadership Skills, Patents / IP, Pitches and Decks

More about Ryan

Ryan has a background in Nanotechnology Engineering and has worked in a variety of roles including Founder and CEO at an advanced materials startup, and R&D positions in both academia and industry. His experiences range from working in a chemical lab to managing a team, raising funds from VC and signing $100M+ partnership deals with major corporate partners.

Jeffrey Petracca

Areas of expertise

IoT-Connected Robotic Hardware (Electromechanics, Embedded Hardware, Software), Product Management, Project Management, Strategy, and Non-dilutive Funding

More about Jeffrey

An entrepreneur and engineer, Jeffrey brings extensive experience in product and venture development. He previously co-founded LabsCubed and is now
dedicated to scaling innovative robotics startup Forcen into a leading company globally.

Bjorn Dawson

Expert areas

Product Management, Hardware, Consumer, Executive Coaching, Fundraising

More about Bjorn

Bjorn Dawson is a serial entrepreneur and tech enthusiast. He was founder and CEO of Grobo in Waterloo for eight years and is now a product lead at Shopify. He has a passion for startups and is excited to continue supporting entrepreneurs with investment, connections and advice.

Lawrentina D’Souza

Areas of expertise

Improving your Pitch, Problem & Market Validation, Business Operations / Industry Experience: Product Management in Medtech, Fintech, Insuretech, SaaS

More about Lawrentina

Lawrentina has supported founders at the University of Waterloo through Velocity Science & GreenHouse, moving on to work at various medtech and fintech startups, while also winning the Velocity Pitch Competition in Spring 2020. You can find her at campus startup events – either judging pitch competitions or coaching early-stage student teams.

Jeffrey Petracca

Areas of expertise

IoT-Connected Robotic Hardware (Electromechanics, Embedded Hardware, Software), Product Management, Project Management, Strategy, and Non-dilutive Funding

More about Jeffrey

An entrepreneur and engineer, Jeffrey brings extensive experience in product and venture development. He previously co-founded LabsCubed and is now
dedicated to scaling innovative robotics startup Forcen into a leading company globally.

Pat Martinson

Areas of expertise

Hardware, Prototyping, Problem/Idea Formulation, Pitch Coaching, Customer Discovery

More about Pat

Pat has co-founded or been an early employee at 4 hardware startups, wearing many hats including hiring & recruitment, project management & supply chain. He loves to help validate the problem you’re solving, and is always open to hearing & giving feedback on pitches.

Ryan Brown

Areas of expertise

Deep Tech, Batteries, Chemistry, Go-to-Market in Real Estate, Energy

More about Ryan

Ryan is passionate and extremely nerdy about deep tech innovation, especially when it’s related to fighting climate change. He founded a battery company while studying at University of Waterloo and now works as a climate tech investor.

Michael Phillips

Areas of expertise

Financing, IP, Regulatory, Medical Devices, FDA, Sales

More about Michael

Michael is co-founder and CEO of Vena Medical, which is bringing the world’s smallest camera to physicians to help them treat stroke.

Cody Shirriff

Areas of expertise

Biotech, Pharmaceuticals

More about Cody

Cody Shirriff is a scientist entrepreneur who founded Serenity Bio in 2017 with nothing but an idea after his graduate degree. As Serenity Bio’s chief executive officer, he successfully raised venture financing, developed an IP portfolio, transacted with pharmaceutical partners, and led the business development team. Cody is now forming his next venture in biotech and helping the next generation of Canadian biotech/deep tech leaders.

Krysta Traianovski

Areas of expertise

Early Technology Development (Chemistry, Nanotechnology, Biotechnology), Business Model Validation, Customer Validation, Public Speaking, Advanced Materials, Biotechnology, Health Technology

More about Krysta

Krysta supports early-stage teams with both their business and technical development through Velocity science (ESC 232). She graduated from the University of Waterloo with a BSc in Chemistry and Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology. In 2016, Krysta co-founded BrightGuide, a software company in the healthcare space.

Marine Dumontier

Areas of expertise

Marketing, Early Customer Discovery, Product-Market Fit

More about Marine

Marine spent a decade working in various marketing roles in Waterloo, Canada and in Paris, France, where she is from originally. She worked with and advised bootstrapped businesses, venture-backed fast growing start-ups, large public corporations and then some in between. When she is not helping others with marketing needs, Marine runs her own software company.

Derek Jouppi

Areas of expertise

Consumer, Social Media, Retail, B2C, Social Listening

More about Derek

Derek is the founder of Advite an AI monitoring solution for social media and founder of Toronto’s biggest founder network, Founder Poker. Previously he co-founded Suncayr which launched UV detection sticker SPOTMYUV, had 1.5B+ impressions and was acquired.

Desmond Choi

Areas of expertise

Marketplace, Ad-Tech, Product Market fit, MVP, Product Growth, AI

More about Desmond

The founder of Mappedin (2013) and SparkGig (2015). Specializing in marketplace, website funnel optimization, B2B strategies, and product-market fit. Desmond successfully scaled UpNest from $2B to $4B GMV, leading to its acquisition by realtor.com. Currently, he leads product at Samsung Ads, driving expansion into new industries. Additionally, he is the creator of AI-Driven Advertiser, exploring the future of advertising with AI.

Ben Graham

Areas of expertise

Problem / Idea Formulation, Pitch Coaching, Market Research, AI Impacts

More about Ben

Ben is passionate about developing programming and opportunities to support students at the earliest stage of innovation through problem analysis. He has worked on initiatives and projects with Canadian organizations and corporations where he researched commercial problems affecting industry.

Lawrentina D’Souza

Areas of expertise

Improving your Pitch, Problem & Market Validation, Business Operations / Industry Experience: Product Management in Medtech, Fintech, Insuretech, SaaS

More about Lawrentina

Lawrentina has supported founders at the University of Waterloo through Velocity Science & GreenHouse, moving on to work at various medtech and fintech startups, while also winning the Velocity Pitch Competition in Spring 2020. You can find her at campus startup events – either judging pitch competitions or coaching early-stage student teams.

Alexander Mistakidis

Areas of expertise

Gaming, consumer software, experience design, problem/idea formulation

More about Alexander

Alexander is a gaming entrepreneur who has founded multiple game studios. He graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Computer Science.

John Dick

Areas of expertise

Early Stage Business Activities, Product Development and Research & Development, Manufacturing, Spinning out Technology From a University, Market Validation, Business Creation.

More about John

John oversees the strategy of Velocity programming on University of Waterloo campus and is in charge of creating inspiring experiences for students who are interested in business and innovation. He was cofounder of Nicoya where he led its R&D efforts for seven years as CSO from start to Series A.

Krysta Traianovski

Areas of expertise

Early Technology Development (Chemistry, Nanotechnology, Biotechnology), Business Model Validation, Customer Validation, Public Speaking, Advanced Materials, Biotechnology, Health Technology

More about Krysta

Krysta supports early-stage teams with both their business and technical development through Velocity science (ESC 232). She graduated from the University of Waterloo with a BSc in Chemistry and Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology. In 2016, Krysta co-founded BrightGuide, a software company in the healthcare space.

Pat Martinson

Areas of expertise

Hardware, Prototyping, Problem/Idea Formulation, Pitch Coaching, Customer Discovery

More about Pat

Pat has co-founded or been an early employee at 4 hardware startups, wearing many hats including hiring & recruitment, project management & supply chain. He loves to help validate the problem you’re solving, and is always open to hearing & giving feedback on pitches.

Lawrentina D’Souza

Areas of expertise

Improving your Pitch, Problem & Market Validation, Business Operations / Industry Experience: Product Management in Medtech, Fintech, Insuretech, SaaS

More about Lawrentina

Lawrentina has supported founders at the University of Waterloo through Velocity Science & GreenHouse, moving on to work at various medtech and fintech startups, while also winning the Velocity Pitch Competition in Spring 2020. You can find her at campus startup events – either judging pitch competitions or coaching early-stage student teams.

Bjorn Dawson

Areas of expertise

Product Management, Hardware, Consumer, Executive Coaching, Fundraising

More about Bjorn

Bjorn Dawson is a serial entrepreneur and tech enthusiast. He was founder and CEO of Grobo in Waterloo for eight years and is now a product lead at Shopify. He has a passion for startups and is excited to continue supporting entrepreneurs with investment, connections and advice.

Jeffrey Petracca

Areas of expertise

IoT-Connected Robotic Hardware (Electromechanics, Embedded Hardware, Software), Product Management, Project Management, Strategy, and Non-dilutive Funding

More about Jeffrey

An entrepreneur and engineer, Jeffrey brings extensive experience in product and venture development. He previously co-founded LabsCubed and is now
dedicated to scaling innovative robotics startup Forcen into a leading company globally.

John Dick

Areas of expertise

Early Stage Business Activities, Product Development and Research & Development, Manufacturing, Spinning out Technology From a University, Market Validation, Business Creation.

More about John

John oversees the strategy of Velocity programming on University of Waterloo campus and is in charge of creating inspiring experiences for students who are interested in business and innovation. He was cofounder of Nicoya where he led its R&D efforts for seven years as CSO from start to Series A.

Tamer Shahin

Areas of expertise

Design for Manufacturing, Product Design, Electronics, Mechanical systems, Systems Engineering, Productivity Management, Project Management, AI Models

More about Tamer

Tamer provides technical support and mentorship to early-stage student teams that are working on their digital technology ideas, including hardware and software support. Prior to joining Velocity, Tamer worked in multiple roles leading engineering design teams.

Desmond Choi

Areas of expertise

Marketplace, Ad-Tech, Product Market fit, MVP, Product Growth, AI

More about Desmond

The founder of Mappedin (2013) and SparkGig (2015). Specializing in marketplace, website funnel optimization, B2B strategies, and product-market fit. Desmond successfully scaled UpNest from $2B to $4B GMV, leading to its acquisition by realtor.com. Currently, he leads product at Samsung Ads, driving expansion into new industries. Additionally, he is the creator of AI-Driven Advertiser, exploring the future of advertising with AI.

Alexander Mistakidis

Expert areas

Gaming, consumer software, experience design, problem/idea formulation

More about Alexander

Alexander is a gaming entrepreneur who has founded multiple game studios. He graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Computer Science.

Michael Miller

Areas of expertise

Software Engineering, Software Infrastructure, Software Architecture, Engineering Management, Web Dev, SaaS

More about Michael

Mike is a software engineer with experience building SaaS startups. He provides advice to early-stage teams on how to build products and iterate quickly.

Jeffrey Petracca

Areas of expertise

IoT-Connected Robotic Hardware (Electromechanics, Embedded Hardware, Software), Product Management, Project Management, Strategy, and Non-dilutive Funding

More about Jeffrey

An entrepreneur and engineer, Jeffrey brings extensive experience in product and venture development. He previously co-founded LabsCubed and is now
dedicated to scaling innovative robotics startup Forcen into a leading company globally.

Mike Kirkup

Areas of expertise

Fundraising, Business strategy, Go-to-Market, Software

More about Mike

Mike Kirkup is the CTO of EnPowered, a software company that is revolutionizing the energy industry by providing easy access to funding, energy market insights and enormous savings opportunities. He is the former Director of Velocity, the University of Waterloo’s world-renowned startup program where he helped mentor hundreds of startups. He is a big supporter of Waterloo Region and startups in general and is a growth coach at Communitech helping startups shape their fundraising strategies. He has also participated on a number of boards including the Waterloo Region Economic Development Corporation, Golden Triangle Angel Network and Intrideo.

Christophe Biocca

Areas of expertise

SaaS, Software, Security

More about Christophe

Christophe co-founded Encircle, and took on a variety of development roles as it grew from a three-person startup to an established player in the restoration contractor software space from 2012 to 2023.