On the second episode of Bits & Bytes, we interview Michael Cheng, CEO & Co-founder of Lumen5. He chats with us about his entrepreneurial journey, how he came up with and pursued his idea for New Ventures BC Competition winner Lumen5, and who his dream team would be.
Connect with Michael Cheng, CEO & Co-founder of Lumen 5 on Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelhsc Check out Lumen5: https://lumen5.com/ | Twitter: https://twitter.com/LumenFive
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In this episode of Bits & Bytes, Jean and Sam are joined by special guest Efe Fruci. Efe is a Senior Analyst at Accenture, as well as the founder of Fearless and Empowered. Through one-on-one personal coaching, workshops and speaking engagements, Efe strives to empower and teach women how to become self-motivated, build self-confidence, and learn how to change the narrative by eliminating limiting beliefs so they can soar in all areas of life. She shares everything from her personal journey of changing the narrative of her life, to how we can embrace diversity in workplace and the tech industry, to the weirdest type of food she's ever eaten.
Connect with Efe on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fearlessandempowered/ Learn more about Fearless and Empowered: https://www.fearlessandempowered.com/
Connect with the Launch team on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/launchacademyhq/ Learn more about Launch: https://launchacademy.ca/
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In this episode of Bits & Bytes, Jean and Sam hop on a call with Spiro Khouri, CEO of The Gaming Stadium in Richmond, BC. He shares how growing up being obsessed with gaming (and now esports) kickstarted his entrepreneurial journey with The Gaming Stadium. He also shares his thoughts on both the future of esports in education, as well as on parenting and gaming.
Spiro was appointed CEO of TGS on September 11, 2019 and served as the VP, Sales & Marketing prior to becoming the CEO. Spiro is one of the founders of TGS and has been part of the leadership team since its inception. Prior to joining TGS, he drove the opening of the Elements Esports Lounge, the first esports facility in a casino in Canada. Spiro has also spent time in the video game industry working on the marketing team at Electronic Arts on the popular Need for Speed franchise.
Connect with Spiro: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spiro-khouri/ Learn more about The Gaming Stadium: https://www.thegamingstadium.com/
Connect with the Launch team on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/launchacademyhq/ Learn more about Launch: https://launchacademy.ca/
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On this episode of Bits & Bytes, hosted by Launch's very own Programs Manager Jean Yoon, we're joined by Naomi Van Halteren, Founder & CEO of LunaVR. She shares her personal journey of how she transitioned from being a full-time RN to an entrepreneur, the challenges of being a first-time entrepreneur, as well as the impact of VR in the healthcare industry.
Learn more about LunaVR: https://www.luna-vr.com/ Connect with Naomi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomi-van-halteren-48591b180/
Connect with us online! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/launchacade... Twitter: https://twitter.com/launchacademyhq Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/launchacademyhq LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/laun...
Learn more about Launch: https://launchacademy.ca/
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In this episode, Sam and Jean hopped on a call to catch up with Raphaël, Co-founder of Éphémère Creative. We chat all about how Raphaël found his Co-founder, his nomadic childhood and adulthood, and how Launch's programs compare to other accelerator and incubator programs in Halifax and Las Vegas.
Raphaël Titsworth-Morin is a co-founder of Éphémère Creative where he helps develop and design websites, apps, and more, all with a focus on positive social and environmental impact. He has an academic background in fine arts, has lived in 7 cities across North America and East Africa, and has been involved with startups for the past 6 years.
Learn more about Éphémère Creative: https://ephemerecreative.ca/ Learn more about Sustainable Tech: https://sustainable-tech.net/
Connect with Raphaël via email: mailto:[email protected] Connect with Raphaël on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaeltm/
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In this episode, Sam and Jean hopped on a call to catch up with Justin, CTO & Co-founder of one of Launch's very first alumni companies, Battlefy. We chat all about Justin's experience building the eSports company while the industry was still starting up, how to fail better, and much more.
Justin Wong is an entrepreneur and the CTO and co-founder of Battlefy. Battlefy is an online platform for esports, or competitive video gaming, that powers all levels of competition from amateur to collegiate to professional leagues. At Battlefy, Justin is passionate about building a strong, talented and motivated team. He applies his core values of putting people first and continuous learning every day. These days, with COVID-19, he’s doing his part by staying home and working hard by playing video games.
Learn more about Battlefy: https://battlefy.com/
Connect with Justin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justinzwong
Connect with us online! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/launchacademyhq Twitter: https://twitter.com/launchacademyhq Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/launchacademyhq LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/launchacademyhq
Learn more about Launch: https://launchacademy.ca/
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In this special episode of Bits & Bytes, Sam asks the questions, and Jean sits on the interviewee panel with colleagues Lauren and Kat. We chat about everything from how we got from the hospitality, architecture and health industries to tech and startups to our perceptions of working in a startup before starting at Launch, to, of course, our dream teams.
Jean, who is normally the host of Bits & Bytes, is the Program Manager at Launch. Coming most recently from the hospitality industry, she's got a passion for video games and tech and is a Twitch.tv streamer with an accumulated view count of 5 million views.
Connect with Jean on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kireiautumn/ Connect with Jean about Launch Programming: mailto:[email protected]
Katreena has a background in architecture and is currently Project Coordinator at Launch. In her spare time likes to hike, swim, play the piano and eat good food.
Connect with Katreena on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katreenatecson/ Learn more about Perky Buns: http://perkybuns.ca/
Lauren came to Launch with a background in Kinesiology and Digital Marketing and a passion for photography. She is now the Marketing & Community Coordinator at Launch and edits this podcast.
Connect with Lauren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenmkan/ Learn more about The Passion Collective: https://www.instagram.com/thepassion.collective/
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Tom, better known as the Vancouver Coffee Snob hops on and shares his journey as a startup founder in the food and beverage space, particularly during the Covid era, the pros and cons running your own show and his top 3 coffee suggestions for late night owls. He lives no bean unturned during this honest discussion.
Learn more about Siply: https://getsiply.com/
Connect with Tom on Instagram: https://instagram.com/getsiply
Connect with us online! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/launchacademyhq Twitter: https://twitter.com/launchacademyhq Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/launchacademyhq LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/launchacademyhq
Learn more about Launch: https://launchacademy.ca/
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Emma, aka @vancouverfoodie shares with Jean and Sam her unique journey on becoming an entrepreneur, and takes us behind the scenes of what life is really like as an food influencer. She also shares her thoughts on how businesses can better leverage 'influencers' for their own business needs, and leaves some sound advice for others aspiring to follow her path.
Follow Emma on Instagram: @vancouverfoodie Subscribe to Emma on Youtube
Connect with us online! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/launchacademyhq Twitter: https://twitter.com/launchacademyhq Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/launchacademyhq LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/launchacademyhq
Learn more about Launch: https://launchacademy.ca/
Find out more at https://bnb.pinecast.co
In this episode of Bits & Bytes, we bring in Andy Hu who has 3 years of recruiting experience under his belt to talk more in depth about the world of tech recruiting. In this podcast, Andy walks us through the various processes, the types of recruitment available, whether a company would benefit from an in house recruiting or through an external agency, the criteria that both recruiters and companies look for in potential candidates and for those that are interested, how you can join the exciting world of recruitment.
Andy Hu graduated from SFU with a Psychology Major and a business minor and has worked for several companies including Keywords Studios, Unity Technologies, Robert Half Finance & Accounting and TEKsystems. His admiration for the magic that software developers can create from 'nothing' is what initially peaked his interest in the tech industry and by chance he found the opportunity to take the dive into working within the tech realm by becoming a technical recruiter.
You can connect with Andy through his Linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyalhu/
Connect with us online! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/launchacademyhq Twitter: https://twitter.com/launchacademyhq Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/launchacademyhq LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/launchacademyhq
Learn more about Launch: https://launchacademy.ca/
Find out more at https://bnb.pinecast.co