Amplify Your Business

Amplify Your Business Sentant - The Backbone of Startups

For Episode 239 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Lior Klisman, the co-founder of Sentant. Sentant is a service company in the IT security and compliance space that works with startups and investors to help them grow. They do this by ensuring their security is in place for regulation and compliance, which allows for more secure investments. In essence, Sentant is a startup’s backbone when it comes to technology and security.
 
Lior caught the entrepreneurial bug at just 12 years old, selling bagels outside of a stadium, and it’s been full steam ahead from there. He prides himself on giving back to the community by inspiring and empowering young entrepreneurs through mentorship programs. 
To learn more, visit https://www.sentant.net/ or connect with Lior on LinkedIn.
 
00:00 - Intro
00:52 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur needs to know?
11:47 - What does Sentant do? What problems are you trying to solve?
15:50 - What has changed or gotten easier at this stage in the business versus what it was when you were bootstrapping this company seven years ago?
24:30 - What is different about entrepreneurs or entrepreneurship in the U.S. or North America compared to some of the other places you've lived?
29:02 - Where do you find your inspiration?
32:12 - If you could write a letter to your younger self, what advice would you give?
34:04 - If our audience wanted to reach out to you, how could they do that?

Amplify Your Business The Business of Streamlining Oil & Gas Closure Sites

For Episode 238 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Ryan Smith, the co-founder and CEO of 360 Liability Management. 360 Energy Liability Management is an engineering and environmental science consulting business. They work towards making oil and gas site closures as simple as possible. Essentially, they focus on making these site closures simple so that their clients can continue to create thriving businesses and communities across Western Canada, and they do so by helping their clients understand cost, manage obligations, and mitigate risks.To learn more, visit https://360elm.com/. 
 
00:00 - Intro
01:06 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur should know?
03:46 - Can you tell us a bit about 360 Energy Liability Management? What is it that you do and what problem are you trying to solve?
06:51 - What made you transition from full-time employee to full-time entrepreneur and start your first business?
09:02 - What key lessons did you learn from your first business did you bring to 360 Energy Liability Management?
12:14 - Can you elaborate a bit on this idea of a 100-year strategy?
15:19 - What are the differences in your business plan from the startup stage to the scale up stage?
21:26 - How are you balancing the organic growth you’re trying to achieve with the culture and brand you’ve cultivated at 360?
24:54 - In the three businesses you’ve acquired, were there any surprises or challenges you had to overcome?
27:44 - If you could write a letter back to your pre-entrepreneurial self, what advice would you give?
29:45 - If our audience wanted to connect with you, how could they do that?

Amplify Your Business Amplify Your Financial Strategy

For Episode 237 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Jamie Smith, the Chief Experience Officer at Amplify Advisors. Amplify Advisors helps small and medium-sized growth-focused businesses with their financial strategy. Their mission is to enhance communities, cultivate connections, and amplify opportunities by aiding these small to medium-sized businesses to become financially healthy. Becoming financially healthy allows these business leaders to not only be better employers, but achieve their strategies and their purpose, and become better community members. Through amplified tech, recruiting, and their innovative financial leader service line – where they offer fractional CFOs and controllers – they’re helping these businesses achieve the growth they aspire to.To learn more, visit https://amplifyadvisors.ca/ 
 
00:00 - Intro
01:03 - What are three things every entrepreneur needs to know?
12:17 - Can you share a bit about how you structure your retainer model?
15:25 - What does Amplify Advisors do, and what problem are you trying to solve?
20:13 - Let’s talk a little bit about your entrepreneurial journey.
26:13 - How are you approaching leadership development within Amplify Advisors?
32:59 - What are your goals over the next couple of years, and what challenges do you think you’ll face in trying to achieve them?
37:14 - If you could write a letter to your pre-entrepreneurial self, what would it say?
41:49 - If any of our listeners wanted to connect with you, how could they do that?

Amplify Your Business Revolutionizing Local Search with AI and Ethical Data Exchange

For Episode 236 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Aireka Harvell, the founder of Nodat. Nodat is a geo-targeting mobile marketing platform that uses AI, machine learning, and natural language processing to personalize the local search experiences for content creators and local businesses to help them target the right audiences in the right places. They are the first opt-in geo-targeting platform that empowers both the business and consumer to exchange data in a more ethical and transparent way for better targeting and relevant results for local information.To learn more, visit https://nodatplace.com/. 
 
00:00 - Intro
01:01 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur needs to know?
05:06 - What is Nodat and when did the idea for it come about?
09:36 - Can you explain the difference between first-party data and third-party data?
17:27 - What have been the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome in terms of your business?
22:33 - In five years, where do you want Nodat to be?
23:45 - What are the biggest hurdles you’ll face to getting to that five-year goal, and how will you overcome them?
28:29 - Does the potential for acquisition down the road change your thinking about the way in which you grow Nodat in the present?
29:19 - If you could write a letter to your younger self, what advice would you offer pre-entrepreneurial Aireka?
32:31 - What is the best way for people interested in Nodat to connect with you?

Amplify Your Business How One Company is Revolutionizing Project Management Software

For Episode 235 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Fred Dyste, the founder of BizWatt LLC. BizWatt is a software development company that has developed a PPM tool, called QFactor that helps Land Surveyors and Civil Engineers effectively and profitably track project scope, budget, and timeline.
 
Qfactor is a software tool designed to help land surveyors with the proposal and project creation process. It allows for easy tracking of project status and profitability by integrating with time entry and accounting software, eliminating the need to enter data multiple times. Proposals are crucial for land surveyors as they lead to business opportunities, cash flow, and profitability. However, it can be difficult to quantify this information if it is not easily accessible. With Qfactor, tracking work progress in real-time becomes possible, giving the ability to see the percentage of completion and profitability before invoicing.To learn more, you can email Fred at fdyste@bizwatt.com or visit the website at https://bizwatt.com/. 
 
01:39 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur needs to know?
07:50 - Can you tell us a little bit about BizWatt? What sets you apart and what’s special about what you’ve developed?
13:53 - What are some of the profound moments within your entrepreneurial journey that have led you to this point?
20:16 - What makes the entrepreneurial journey so difficult?
22:49 - What’s easier with this business than what you’ve found with the rest of the startups you’ve founded?
27:10 - What’s your secret to maintaining your resilience despite the failures you’ve had in the past?
29:25 - If you could write a letter to your younger self, what advice would you give?
31:38 - If our audience wanted to connect with you, how could they do that?

Amplify your Business Exploring the World of Kratom with MIT45

For Episode 234 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Ryan Niddel, the CEO of MIT45. MIT45 is a kratom company. Kratom is what we call the leaves of a tropical tree in the coffee family, Mitragyna speciosa, that is indigenous to Southeast Asia. These leaves contain a chemical called mitragynine that produces stimulant-like effects (like caffeine) in low doses that help with focus, clarity, and energy. In higher doses, these leaves offer sedative-like effects, providing users with a relaxing sensation, and allowing for better sleep and less muscle pain.
MIT45 is working hard to educate the masses on this new, mostly unheard-of substance, espousing its benefits, and battling against the fearmongering currently making its way through mainstream media.
To learn more, visit https://mit45.com/. 
 
00:00 - Intro
01:21 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur needs to know?
06:05 - Let’s talk about MIT45. What are you guys doing? What problems are you trying to solve? 
11:54 - What are the potential biggest roadblocks to MIT45 getting to your goal of taking on the global market?
17:01 - At what point in a company’s trajectory should they start looking at acquisitions being an integral part of their growth strategy?
23:57 - What lessons did you learn through the process of your early mistakes in entrepreneurship?
29:13 - How did you bounce back from your business being a huge success to having to shut your doors completely, and then launching your next business venture that turned into a multimillion-dollar exit as well?
34:32 - Where does your passion, your drive for entrepreneurship come from?
38:23 - If you could write a letter to your pre-entrepreneurial self, what advice would you give?
40:44 - If our audience wanted to connect with you, how could they go about doing that?

Amplify Your Business Hassle Free, Accessible Crypto Investments with Soon

For Episode 233 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Aaron Bylund and Mike Shattuck, co-founders of Soon. Soon is a consumer fintech company focused on cryptocurrencies. 80% of Americans have never invested in crypto, and many of them cite one of two reasons for this: it’s a risky, volatile investment, and it’s very technical and difficult to understand. Soon is looking to solve both of those problems at once with simple automation.
 
Whether you’ve never invested in crypto before or have in the past but have had bad experiences with it, Soon’s automation ensures that investors don’t have to have any prior knowledge about the crypto world. There’s no research involved, no market speculation, and no emotional rollercoaster. Soon is a product specifically designed to take the stress out of cryptocurrency investment. In just a couple of minutes, would-be investors, no matter how seasoned they are, can invest it and forget it. At the intersection of day trading, crypto, and savings, you’ll find Soon. There’s even a “Tax Stash” that takes part of your earnings and puts it into another account for when you’re ready to file your taxes, so you don’t have to worry about saving the taxes from your earnings on your own.There is so much more to learn about Soon. Check them out on their website at https://www.soon.app/. 
 
00:00 - Intro
01:18 - What are three things you think every entrepreneur needs to know?
06:31 - What is Soon? What problem are you guys solving?
10:09 - Can you walk us through how the app functions?
13:37 - How did you decide that this was something the market needed?
17:41 - How do you infuse that adaptability into this business that you’ve created?
23:28 - Why entrepreneurship? What is it about entrepreneurship that calls to you?
27:13 - If you could send a letter back in time to your pre-entrepreneurial self, what advice would you give?
33:20 - What’s the best way to connect with you?
35:00 Where does the name Soon come from?

Amplify Your Business Building a Better Edmonton With Signature Guest, Jay Downton

For Episode 232 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by a very special guest, Jay Downton, a serial entrepreneur in Edmonton. Jay is a passionate Edmontonian. He’s committed to playing a role in helping make Edmotnon a global 10. In 2007, he co-founded OilersNation.com and the Nation Network. In 2010, he was appointed president of Oodle Noodle, where he was able to apply the skills he learned from specializing in franchise financing at ATB, for which he was awarded the President’s Award in 2010 for highest corporate sales in his position. 
 
Since taking the helm, his guidance has led Oodle Noodle to become a 17-store local chain. Jay’s passion for Edmonton and its River Valley led him, also, to be one of the co-owners of Little Brick Cafe, which became the catalyst that pushed Jay and his team to build more River Valley amenities. This led to the creation of River Valley Company, whose aim is to play a part in building more community amenities and support and development of outdoor tourism in the city’s River Valley. Other businesses in Jay’s portfolio include Dogpatch YEG, Bread + Butter Bakery, and, most recently, the Duchess Bakeshop.
 
Oilers Nation and the Nation Network are digital sports media content and lifestyle brand companies. The two sites started as a single site based in Edmonton, as a fan-focused hockey content brand. Wanting to give fans a voice on things related to their favourite hockey team in a world where mainstream media was the sports media juggernaut, they saw a gap in the market for a fan-led community of hockey enthusiasts. Fast forward to today, and the Nation Network is now a 10-site network of website properties, including a variety of shows, both podcast and video. And though he is still intimately involved with both sites, Jay sold the business in late 2022 for a whopping $15M.To learn more, connect with Jay on his LinkedIn.
 
00:00 - Intro
02:49 - With now 17 Oodle Noodles open up in Alberta, are they all franchise, or do you have some corporate stores?
04:27 - With all of your experience as an entrepreneur, what are three things that you think every entrepreneur needs to know?
07:46 - Can you tell us a little bit about your first entrepreneurial venture, what you were trying to achieve, and why it didn’t work?
12:31 - What made you decide to not hang up your entrepreneurial hat after that failure? Why did you want to continue being an entrepreneur?
15:50 - Can you give us a bit of an overview of Oiler Nation and the Nation Network?
29:05 - With all of the success you’ve had in your entrepreneurial ventures over the years, what does success now look like to you?
32:01 - Does the success you’ve seen make it more difficult for you to face the potential fear of failure?
37:32 - If you could write your younger, pre-entrepreneurial self a letter, what advice would you give?
41:02 - If our audience wanted to connect with you, how could they go about doing that?