On this episode of Launching a Startup: Here's What You NEED to Know on In Her Blazer podcast you will learn what it takes to launch your own business, what skills you need to possess, where to find a mentor, if accelerator programs are worth it, what types of funding are out there, if you should look to get investment from venture capitalists or angel investors vs. a small business bank loan, what you need to include in your pitch deck to funders to set you up for success, and more!

We walk you through the whole process end-to-end and we do it with the Queen of the startup world, current Executive Director of Ryerson Venture Zone in Brampton, past Chief of Staff at Elevate, past Vice President of Venture and Talent Programs at MaRS Discovery District, and current amazing human being, Usha Srinivasan.

Subscribe and download this episode now to learn what you need to do to launch your business successfully.

About Usha Srinivsan
A recognized leader in the Canadian innovation community, Usha Srinivasan has built some of the sector’s most unique service offerings for startups over the last 12 years. An early member of the MaRS Discovery District, she rose to Vice President - Venture & Talent Programs, leading teams dedicated to both nurturing and developing the talents of Canadian entrepreneurs through a range of diverse programs including the Market Intelligence, Scale-up Voucher, and the Business Accelerator Programs. Her team also worked to make online and entrepreneurial educational content widely accessible through Ontario’s Regional Innovation Centres.

Passionate about making the tech community fair and inclusive, Usha co-chaired the Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging council at MaRS. Recently, she served as Vice-President, Partnerships and Talent with Elevate TO and co-founded a startup. Prior to her time with MaRS, she was Research Manager with the global market intelligence firm Frost and Sullivan.

Usha is a recent graduate of Stanford’s LEAD Corporate Innovation program. She holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental microbiology from the University of Bristol and a PhD in environmental sciences from Abertay University in Dundee. She was a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow and has also completed postdoctoral work at the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the University of New Brunswick.

If you want to get in touch with Usha after listening to this unreal episode, listen right to the end - where she gives away her juicy contact info.

Jeboah's Background: Former corporate marketer for RBC, GE, Newell Brands and others, turned Entrepreneur, Nonprofit Founder, Global Keynote Speaker and vulnerable human being. But did she grow up in an ivory tower groomed for this life? Listen and learn!