My name is Manvi Kapoor. I’m a foodie from Toronto with way too many dietary restrictions. During the day, I’m a fintech Product Manager. At night I’m a bootstrapped start-up founder leading a team that is building menu personalization software and ingredient classification AI technology.

 
(2) In two sentences or less, describe how you participate in the startup ecosystem.

I’m the Founder & CEO of Gravi Train Technologies Inc. I’m building ingredient classification AI that helps hungry people with multiple dietary restrictions find something convenient to eat quickly. 

 
(3) What are you currently reading right now and would recommend to others?

Potatoes Not Prozac by Kathleen DesMaisons was recommended to me by my Endocrinologist. It talks about how the order in which you eat food and at what time of day impacts your mood. It cites a number of studies and simplifies biochemistry so you understand that, for example, you should eat carbs after eating protein to prevent spikes in blood sugar. Stable blood sugar = stable mood. In a way, this book is a great productivity hack.

 
(4) What makes you stay in the startup ecosystem?

The little fat kid inside me who constantly wants to eat but has soooo many dietary restrictions. And the other annoying kid who constantly wants to create cool tech that can help maximize playtime.

 
(5) What drives your passion about the startup ecosystem?

I’m a bit of a loner to be honest. I keep my head down and work on ideas that make my life better, but that can also help others at the same time. I’m less interested in being social in an ecosystem for the sake of participating in an ecosystem and more interested in positively impacting multiple peoples’ lives in a scalable way. If I can find people who are aligned with my perspective then I’m happy to keep in touch. The ability to create something from nothing for myself vs for someone else in a traditional 9-5 is most appealing to me right now.

 
(6) Where do you see the startup ecosystem in 5 years?

More de-centralized collaboration. With all of the information at our fingertips, I see founders being able to do more with less but having the option and the resources to surround themselves in curated communities that could span multiple channels and locations. Hopefully there is more funding available for female founders of colour. 

 
(7) How has failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?

Knowing when to quit vs committing vs pivoting. I’ve quit past endeavors at the worst time – this includes being invested in something for too long that clearly isn’t sticking and quitting too late rather than pivoting, but also quitting too early for various reasons. I have a better compass now because of it and I’m confident that I’m able to recognize a winning product. I’m also able to better problem-solve vs quitting or incorrectly pivoting. The path to success is made up of corrected failures or lessons learned from failures. 

 
(8) What is one of the best worthwhile investments you’ve ever made (could be financial, time, energy, etc.)?

I work a traditional job for a few years and then I take a few years off (mini-retirement). During my mini retirements I always learn a new skill. in doing so, I’m becoming less and less dependent on a traditional job. One of the best things I’ve done is taken the time to learn how to trade (not invest in) stocks and options. I’ve learned how to be a fundamental trader and a technical trader. I’ve learned how to make money in bull and bear markets. I no longer feel the stress and anxiety that comes with fearing unemployment. This has allowed me to take bigger risks and make bigger and more creative bets in my entrepreneurial endeavours. The other best investment has been doing a minor in law during undergrad. Knowing how to identify, navigate, and exploit loopholes, whether in legislation or in contracts has given me advantages that I could’ve never dreamed of. It’s like finding a cheat code in a game.

 
(9) What do you do to refocus yourself when you feel overwhelmed or unfocused?

Besides eating, I do something physical where I can turn off my brain. This includes going for a hike, a batting cage, the gym, or playing a sport (softball, volleyball, hockey).

 
(10) What’s one piece of advice you would give someone trying to break into the startup ecosystem?

Don’t try to do everything yourself. It’s okay to hire help, whether it’s in the house or for your business. Figure out what tasks you enjoy doing. Hire someone to do everything else. Otherwise, you’ll burn yourself out.

Click HERE if you would like to get in touch with Manvi.

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Click HERE if you would like to get in touch with Manindra Majumdar.

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2. In two sentences or less, describe how you participate in the startup ecosystem.
Braid Theory and I help accelerate early-stage startups go from the lab to the market. We strongly believe the pathway to commercialization can be profitable with collaboration from our global partnerships.

3. What are you currently reading right now and would recommend to others?
Currently, I’m reading The Art of Gathering- Priya Parker. It teaches how to gather with purpose and meaning. As a community leader, it’s important to build gathering frameworks and learn about the motivation behind each community member.

4. What makes you stay in the startup ecosystem?
I meet many startup entrepreneurs, and experiencing the struggle firsthand I recognize how difficult it is to actually “make it”. A large factor is the motivation to keep going, as there are many risks involved. I was inspired to create and gather a community of entrepreneurs that were going through similar difficulties. We gather to motivate, inspire, and collaborate. We share our success stories as well as our failed stories. It creates a very humanizing experience and is a driving factor to stay in the startup ecosystem for a long time.

5. What drives your passion for the startup ecosystem?
It all stems from my work at my first startup. I was using CRISPR tools to genetically engineer yeast to create a high-value chemical. In a matter of 2 months, I can manipulate genes in yeast to produce anything I want and hold the final product in my hands. This was very empowering. Since then we see the promise of synthetic biology changing the future sustainability and responsibly, we need to solve problems with biology.

6. Where do you see the startup ecosystem in 5 years?
My work with Braid Theory allows cutting-edge technology/startups to solve the world’s largest problems surrounding climate change and much more. We focus on accelerating startups in blue tech and its adjacencies. 

The world may not know it, but climate tech, biotech, green tech, agtech, space tech, deep tech, etc… all apply to blue tech. It’s time to look for answers from the ocean. We hope that entrepreneurs develop enabling technologies to better our future for generations to come.

7. What is one of the best worthwhile investments you’ve ever made (could be financial, time, energy, etc.)?
Invest in people.

If COVID19 taught us anything, it would be that it is a basic human condition to connect with someone. An emerging trend I observed when we were put on strict mandates was that people were gathering online. We were connecting with friends and strangers alike on the internet. We created gaming communities, zoom happy hours, and streamed shows on Twitch. It was incredible to see how resilient humans are in a time when safety took precedence over meeting in person. As a social experiment, I opened my doors to host zoom happy hours, started my own podcast interviewing community leaders, and called people –Millennials find that phone calls are weird and rare, but always appreciate a friendly voice–  that was mentally struggling or had lost a loved one. The results of the social experiment created a circular economy of giving and receiving. Invest in people because this is the best investment you will ever make.

8. What do you do to refocus yourself when you feel overwhelmed or unfocused?
1) Write down lists: macro-goals, micro-goals, things that make me happy/unhappy, priorities, key members, timelines… – This is great to untangle what is making you feel overwhelmed or unfocused. I tackle the list based on what’s easy vs what I drag my feet for.

2) I confide. If I’m lost I have close friends that are willing to help/advise me through my troubled times. Plenty of times I have made conclusions by talking to another person about my problems. It’s great to have cheerleaders and also to have people that will bluntly tell you like it is.

9. What’s one piece of advice you would give someone trying to break into the startup ecosystem?
Do your market research! Focusing on the problem that you’re trying to solve is more important than discovering what your customer wants. Shameless plug—if you’re developing a company in blue tech, you know who to call ;). 

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5. What drives your passion about the startup ecosystem?
   Apart from influence from my family, I also enjoy creating new products. I like making an idea come true. I like connecting and working with people. I also like that people in startups often has multiple roles instead of just doing one thing. Being one of those people, I’m always learning something new and trying something new. It’s exciting.
    
6. Where do you see the startup ecosystem in 5 years?
   I see that nowadays new companies are taking market shares a lot quicker than big corporations used to take, which is good. But the environment is a little impetuous, many startups – at least in CPG – seem to be just following the trend and trying to get something big very fast and then exit, instead of trying to bring true innovations. Due to the pandemic the market gets a lot more unstable so I think the impetuousness may change in the next couple of years and companies who focus on what actually could make an impact would prevail.
    
7. How has failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?
   I see life is a process of solving problems. So each failure is just crossing out the wrong answers and narrowing down the way to succeed.
    
8. What is one of the best worthwhile investments you’ve ever made (could be financial, time, energy, etc.)?
   A personal finance planning course, it’s an online course I took about 4 years ago. It saved me from zero savings and zero investment to being able to have passive income. It also helped me a lot in my career working in a startup.
    
9. What do you do to refocus yourself when you feel overwhelmed or unfocused?
   I would do a quick meditation, it only takes about 3 minutes. If my dog/cat’s next to me, I would just hug them when I’m meditating……they let me to just hold them without moving for 3 minutes and I found it very therapeutic. 
    
10. What’s one piece of advice you would give someone trying to break into the startup ecosystem?
    I would suggest to be prepared for the risk and stress for sure! Always do a lot of research before getting into anything and choosing the right partner/supervisor would make a great difference.

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(2) In two sentences or less, describe how you participate in the startup ecosystem.
Being a founder, I understand the importance of being surrounded by like-minded and passionate people.  As a first generation entrepreneur I value the importance of shared knowledge backed by personal experiences. This is what I love to do. At forums I share experiences and learnings of my entrepreneurial journey with fellow colleagues and founders. I share my viewpoints around AI, smartphones and anything related to building a strong organizational structure.  

(3) What are you currently reading right now and would recommend to others?
Currently, I am reading Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan, a book which explains complex economics in a clear-cut manner. I would definitely recommend it to other people, especially entrepreneurs as everyone hails from different educational background and the knowledge of economics is a must in building a sustainable and scalable business model. 

(4) What makes you stay in the startup ecosystem?
Having a startup is not just a job. It’s a mission which is challenging but at the same time, it’s exciting. Being an entrepreneur, I have a desire to add value and make the world a better place. It provides me immense satisfaction, and of course my bread and butter as well

(5) What drives your passion for the startup ecosystem?
Passion is one of those intangibles that compels an entrepreneur, persuades them through the good times and the intense times, and ultimately dictates the success of any startup. I believe that this passion is a prime motivation for all entrepreneurs, as it transfers and spreads among the startup ecosystem and therefore to a unified team. A kind of network effect!

(6) Where do you see the startup ecosystem in 5 years?
In the next 5 years, the startup ecosystem is on course of embellishment. Startups will lead the world in bringing the change, and will spearhead the fight against the evils of the community including corruption, discrimination, etc. Government, societies, corporations, stakeholders who are in the vicinity of startups will instil their trusts for the growth of new, and to fight existing monopolies. Maintaining the present scenario in mind there is a major need for restoration and with the constant development, a more sustainable approach will be adopted.

(7) How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?
Failure hurts! We all experience this emotion and more often, we dread even entertaining the thought of failing, but that feeling is momentary. As a founder, I have conditioned myself in a way that after every fall, stand up and move on. Over a period of time, I have become tolerant of failures but simultaneously, I have started to embrace them. I like thinking of failures as “unforgettable” lessons because of the pain associated with them and look forward to changing course to achieve success.

(8) What is one of the best worthwhile investments you’ve ever made (could be financial, time, energy, etc.)?
My best investment is spending my time watching movies! Time and again, we watch movies with a mere aim for entertainment, but they impart vital lessons to us. Movies encourage me to in think outside the social boundaries and realities that our society has crafted for us. Being an entrepreneur, it is extremely essential to believe in endless opportunities and also, to be limitless. Therefore, watching a movie is never a waste of time, instead, it is a practice that fortifies my mind and compels me to feel a lot more creative.

(9) What do you do to refocus yourself when you feel overwhelmed or unfocused?
In an overwhelming situation, my finance sheet acts as a catalyst and forces me back to reality. My ledger consistently nudges me to stay focused and not lose the path. Being a startup, we always have limited funds, hence, it’s extremely important to embrace frugality and use each penny in the most effective possible way so that we don’t end up diluting limited resources.

(10)What’s one piece of advice would you give someone trying to break into the startup ecosystem?
Don’t do it! Unless the drive comes naturally from within.

Being an entrepreneur is hard, society will perceive that you are making a lot of money, your life is great and that you’re famous, but that’s not the reality. Unless you have passion and strength to keep struggling and hustling, you thrive into the world of startups.  

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(2) In two sentences or less, describe how you participate in the startup ecosystem.
I run a startup that connects certified life coaches with people who struggle with too much stress, depression or anxiety via confidential chat. 

(3) What are you currently reading right now and would recommend to others? 
Reinventing organizations by Frederic Laloux, the illustrated version. 

Incredibly simple & powerful book on how humans evolved over time in the way we organized ourselves, and how the current major ways of organizing (matrix organization / top-down hierarchies) don’t work anymore and what does. His description of a how a new type of self-organizing, purpose-driven Teal-organization is emerging across the globe is an inspiration to me on how to run my own company. Plus, he’s an ex-McKinsey consultant so its chuck-full real life examples. 

(4) What makes you stay in the startup ecosystem? 
It’s the best place for me to thrive, live my purpose and achieve my (big) ambitions. 

(5) What drives your passion about the startup ecosystem?
The space it has for creativity, crazy ideas and awesome people I love to hang out with. 

(6) Where do you see the startup ecosystem in 5 years?
Much more focused on real problems, responsible business and making our wisdom and resources available to save the planet and people who cannot afford hefty fees. In 50 years, we will prioritize purpose over profit. 

(7) How has failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?
It made me stronger, more resilient, and empathetic towards others. 

Plus, my own mental breakdown helped me to develop an awesome product for those who are in that dark spot themselves. 

(8) What is one of the best worthwhile investments you’ve ever made (could be financial, time, energy, etc.)? 
Go every year to the art of hosting trainings. I use those facilitation techniques and philosophies both in private and business life all the time.

(9) What do you do to refocus yourself when you feel overwhelmed or unfocused?
Do something that gives me true joy (coffee with friend, be artsie) or make love with my awesome partner. 

(10) What’s one piece of advice you would give someone trying to break into the startup ecosystem?
Have it clear what your purpose is, have clear 3 next steps you have in mind and then have as many coffees as possible with people to share it with them and get feedback and support to achieve those steps. 

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(2) In two sentences or less, describe how you participate in the startup ecosystem.
I’m an entrepreneur who has launched several startups. I thrive on building stuff and love helping turn amazing ideas into thriving businesses.

(3) What are you currently reading right now and would recommend to others?
Core: How a Single Organizing Idea can change Business for Good by Neil Caught

(4) What makes you stay in the startup ecosystem?
I also have a convenient memory that forgets all the difficult stuff from the last one and that keeps me coming back.

(5) What drives your passion about the startup ecosystem?
I’m a velocity junky and there’s nothing as exhilarating as the energy that culminates in the combined will power of a group of people who are collectively trying to achieve a ridiculously difficult goal.  

(6) Where do you see the startup ecosystem in 5 years?
In some ways, it will stay the same -full of spirit, energy, and a need to push past the limits, but with the amount of capital available and continued advancement in tech, I do think innovation will accelerate and at exponentially increasing rate. I’m hopeful tech innovations will continue to focus on a sustainable and democratized future.

(7) How has failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?
No matter how much I read about failure being the catalyst to success, I still hate it. The more I hate it, the more I want to beat it. So, I guess what they say is true.

(8) What is one of the best worthwhile investments you’ve ever made (could be financial, time, energy, etc.)?
The most worthwhile investment I’ve ever made is in my kids, both emotionally and in their education. There’s very little that’s more rewarding than watching the human race evolve right in front of my eyes.

(9) What do you do to refocus yourself when you feel overwhelmed or unfocused?
I suck at that. I need to work on it.

(10) What’s one piece of advice you would give someone trying to break into the startup ecosystem?
It’s really easy to overthink it, so don’t. You’ll know when it’s the right opportunity. Then, just hold on tight, expect a bumpy ride, but don’t let go because no matter what happens, it’s all worth it.

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I am Michael Schwanzer: dad, husband, immigrant (from Austria to Canada), inventor of a camera that does not run out of battery or memory and founding CEO of ZEITDICE INC.

(2) In two sentences or less, describe how you participate in the startup ecosystem.

I try to help newcomers connect to the local (Toronto) ecosystem so they can spend their time most efficiently at the right events and with the right people.

(3) What are you currently reading right now and would recommend to others?

“Skin in the Game” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, I just started though. I would like to recommend a new podcast: https://tradecraftpodcast.com/ I learned valuable lessons for my business from Marc Busch and this podcast exploring the craft of trade policy is just fascinating, considering the current international situation.

(4) What makes you stay in the startup ecosystem?  

I don’t know anything else I started my first SaaS project (50K users) that eventually financed my studies abroad when I was 12 and did not know what a startup / SaaS was back then. Between my own startups I only ever contributed to other startups. 

(5) What drives your passion about the startup ecosystem?

Startups are challenging the status quo to make life / business easier while established corporations often try to keep things just the same to support their business model. Like everyone else, I have limited time on this planet, but would like to leave with positive impact for the generations to come. I believe real impact comes from politics or startups. I tried (small school) politics and decided my time will be better spent with startups, politics are f*ed up and will take more than a lifetime to get into.

(6) Where do you see the startup ecosystem in 5 years?

I think a recession will hit before that and the only surviving startups will be the ones who managed to become profitable on their own before. Existing startups should get their unit economics sorted and if they are providing real, competitive value to the market they are serving they will be fine. New startups will have to show revenue to secure more conservative sources of cash to grow.

(7) How has failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?  

Our hardware that enables our business model was a year delayed. The company had to run very lean and back then time was our enemy and I personally was implementing cloud services that would eventually get recurring revenue. These days while developing the next generation camera, time is our friend, because we implemented such valuable cloud services that every month we have more cash to spend into growth.

(8) What is one of the best worthwhile investments you’ve ever made (could be financial, time, energy, etc.)?  

I spend a few hours every morning with my daughter, trying to teach her a few things but she teaches me more

(9) What do you do to refocus yourself when you feel overwhelmed or unfocused?  

I go for a run, my running statistics show peaks in weeks of hardship.

(10) What’s one piece of advice you would give someone trying to break into the startup ecosystem?  

Make sure you take care of yourself as well, the startup isn’t everything.

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(2) In two sentences or less, describe how you participate in the startup ecosystem.
I regularly attend networking events for people in the startup community in NYC. I hope to become more involved in the startup ecosystem when I switch to working on Chezie full-time. 

(3) What are you currently reading right now and would recommend to others?
I’m reading the novel I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez. I’d recommend it because it gives insight into a different immigrant perspective than my own. It’s also pretty humorous and a quick read.

(4) What makes you stay in the startup ecosystem?
The opportunity to help underserved minorities achieve their career goals. 

(5) What drives your passion about the startup ecosystem?
I’ve always been interested in entrepreneurship, and I’ve always known that I wanted to start my own business, but I could never figure out what industry/field I wanted to go into. In Chezie, I’ve found a perfect intersection between my passion for social good and my interest in entrepreneurship.

(6) Where do you see the startup ecosystem in 5 years?
I think the biggest change that we’ll see in the startup ecosystem is a switch towards purpose-driven businesses that aren’t necessarily focused on growing as quickly as possible. This theory against the traditional VC model, but as information and news becomes more accessible, people will become more aware of the inequalities around the world, and business leaders will look for ways to solve these inequalities through their startups.

(7) How has failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?
I tore my ACL my freshman year of college, and after surgery, a year of rehab, and 2 years on the JV team, I made the Varsity team at UNC-Chapel Hill. I learned a lot about myself and my mental fortitude. Everyone always says “if you want something bad enough, you can achieve it,” but this was the first time that the saying actually came to life for me. 

(8) What do you do to refocus yourself when you feel overwhelmed or unfocused?
I try to step away from my work. I love movies and exercise, so I use both of those as outlets whenever I feel stressed out or when I can’t focus. 

(9) What’s one piece of advice you would give someone trying to break into the startup ecosystem?
Just start. Don’t overthink your project or blog or business. Find a way to get it going and you’ll learn so much more along the way than you would doing a lot of planning. If you want to start a podcast, maybe start with a blog or even a dedicated twitter page. If you want to start a clothing business, find a drop-shipper that can sell a single kind of t-shirt.

The post Co-Founder, Chezie: Toby Egbunda appeared first on Global Super Connector.

(2) In two sentences or less, describe how you participate in the startup ecosystem.
We help startups scale their product engineering.

(3) What are you currently reading right now and would recommend to others?
Startup: Secrets of San Hill Road by Scott Kupor and Venture Deals by Brad Feld

Novels: Last Day by Domenica Ruta and Edgar & Lucy by Victor Lodato

(4) What makes you stay in the startup ecosystem?
The network effect, collaboration, capital, community, and cross-pollination of ideas.

(5) What drives your passion for the startup ecosystem?
Connecting people and providing access to opportunities and resources to help companies grow.

(6) Where do you see the startup ecosystem in 5 years?
It will move to become a distributed system, powered by the cloud: with physical hubs.

(7) How has failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?
My previous attempts at startups taught me few lessons: from how to choose a partner/cofounder, how not to do things and how to have a sense of urgency, talk to customers and experiment faster.

(8) What is one of the best worthwhile investments you’ve ever made (could be financial, time, energy, etc.)?
Learning how to communicate and sell.

(9) What do you do to refocus yourself when you feel overwhelmed or unfocused?
I go play basketball and aim for great shots. It gets me humble, hungry, and in the zone of learning.

(10) What’s one piece of advice you would give someone trying to break into the startup ecosystem?
Talk to customers, work on small ideas- be forced to make it massive with technology, iterate, and move fast.

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