Best NACO Podcasts (2025)

Benjamin Bergen is Executive Director of the Council of Canadian Innovators, a national business council led by the CEOs of Canada’s fastest growing technology firms. It’s easy to be a pessimist these days. We have now been slogging through the turmoil, strain and heartache of a global pandemic for more than a year — long enough to grind anybody do…

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Season 2 Preview 2:17

Play Pause

4y ago2:17

2:17

Season 2 is packed with actionable content and intimate conversations. For pure concentrated knowledge on mobilizing capital and scaling the next massive global success story, we will be interweaving content from a Practical Guide to Angel Investing and you will hear from over 100 prominent thought leaders at the intersection of entrepreneurship, c…

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S3 Episode 10 (Bonus) - From the Prison to the Palace 34:23

4+ y ago34:23

34:23

In this Bonus episode, Nacoe and Vanassa Brown tell the story of the bank robberies and their personal love story.By David Payne

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S3 Episode 9 - The Phoenix 31:29

4+ y ago31:29

31:29

In the Season 3 finale, Payne summarizes the evidence and debunks one of the FBI’s main theories. And in a story of redemption and hope, Payne jumps in to help his new friend.By David Payne

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S3 Episode 8 - The Missing Money 25:36

4+ y ago25:36

25:36

Key witnesses from the missing money case tell their stories for the first time, including the federal district court judge and Jonathan Luna’s co-counsel.By David Payne

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S3 Episode 7 - Nacoe of Nazareth 34:29

4+ y ago34:29

34:29

Payne goes deep down the rabbit hole exploring Nacoe Brown’s claims about the missing money, and he’s inspired and confounded at what he finds.By David Payne

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S3 Episode 6 - The Defense Lawyer 27:13

4+ y ago27:13

27:13

New (2019) allegations against Nacoe Brown’s defense lawyer for conspiracy give new light to claims that he may have been involved with the missing money eighteen years prior.By David Payne

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S3 Episode 5 - Character Assassination 31:11

4+ y ago31:11

31:11

When Jonathan Luna goes missing, the press makes an immediate connection with a bank robbery case that he had tried the year before in which the cash evidence was stolen. And the cast from the Stash House Records case is back for this prequel.By David Payne

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S3 Episode 4 - The Magic Knife 28:53

4+ y ago28:53

28:53

Leaked theories about a suicide don’t seem to square with the known physical evidence from the crime scene.By David Payne

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S3 Episode 3 - Amazing Grace 27:52

4+ y ago27:52

27:52

Jonathan’s last case goes sideways on him when it is discovered that his cooperating witness was dealing drugs and terrorizing the neighborhood while working for the FBI.By David Payne

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S3 Episode 2 - Stash House Records 32:30

4+ y ago32:30

32:30

Jonathan Luna was operating in a toxic work environment when he undertook the last trial of his life -- a federal drug conspiracy case against two men selling drugs out of a rap music studio in Baltimore.By David Payne

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S3 Episode 1 - Grey 29:08

4+ y ago29:08

29:08

Jody Gottlieb and David Payne team up again to investigate the unsolved death of federal prosecutor Jonathan Luna in 2003. They talk with his friends and investigative reporters about Jonathan's life and its mysterious last six hours.By David Payne

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Season 3 - Trailer 1:07

4+ y ago1:07

1:07

Season 3 of Somebody Somewhere explores the unsolved death of federal prosecutor Jonathan Luna in 2003.By David Payne

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Absolutely Critical to Preserve Diversity of Tech Sector: Laura McGee, CEO and Founder of Diversio 12:29

5y ago12:29

12:29

“We crunched data a few weeks ago and the risk that the pandemic poses — in terms of erasing the gains that Canada has made on supporting diverse entrepreneurs — is significant and undeniable. The proportion of women-led business in a ‘do-nothing scenario’ will drop from 17% to 12%. Businesses everywhere are struggling and failing. According to our…

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Small Business is 98% of Our Economy: Frances McRae, Assistant Deputy Minister of Small Business and Marketplace Services Innovation, Science and Economic Development 26:06

5y ago26:06

26:06

“You’ve heard the government say they are not afraid of adjusting the measures that have rolled out. Getting money out there as quickly as possible was important, but there would be adjustments. I think that’s what you’ve seen the government do the last number of weeks — they’re not afraid of saying they need to tweak, add more programs, expand eli…

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Government Should Leverage Angel Investors: Michael King, Finance Professor at the Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria 8:17

5y ago8:17

8:17

“To get to the punchline, the government should set up a co-investment fund that matches angel investments dollar for dollar. It should adopt a national tax incentive scheme that already exists in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia. And it should consider replacing the loans that are being made available through its support packages wit…

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Government Funding to Survive the Crisis: Opening Remarks by Claudio Rojas, CEO at NACO 6:32

5y ago6:32

6:32

The combined impact of the health pandemic and economic crisis hit hard and fast. This resulted in initial government relief taking what was described as a “people first” approach, with an emphasis on employees at risk of layoffs, and trying to minimize the impact on individuals. –– All of this was focused on helping to flatten the curve. And the c…

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Canadian Entrepreneurs and Angel Investors Must Lead the Way: Ali Ehsassi, Parliamentary Secretary to The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry 26:33

5y ago26:33

26:33

“Over the past few months, we’ve been working hand in hand with companies as they retool and rapidly scale up to produce critical equipment such as masks, face shields, ventilators, medical gowns and test kits. This is an excellent opportunity for Canadian innovators. As many of you may have heard, Minister Bains likes to say this often and loudly—…

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Canada's Moment to Shine: Dr. Kamran Khan, CEO and Founder at BlueDot 13:35

5y ago13:35

13:35

“History is unfolding right before our eyes. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that this pandemic is maybe one of the most important and significant events in human history. We’ve never had a moment where the entire planet has been crippled by a tiny little virus in the way that COVID-19 has impacted us,” said Dr. Kamran Khan, the founder and CEO…

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Massive Tech Companies Grow From a Robust Pipeline of Start-ups: Janet Bannister, Managing Partner at Real Ventures 11:33

5y ago11:33

11:33

“I use the analogy that you can’t grow a tree without planting a seed. And similarly, there’s no way you can build massive tech companies in Canada without supporting a robust pipeline of young, promising start-ups. Fostering of these early-stage tech companies must be done in Canada by Canadians.” “We need to keep investing in seed and pre-seed ec…

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Innovating at the Speed of the Crisis: Opening remarks by Claudio Rojas 10:09

5y ago10:09

10:09

Innovating at the speed of the crisis is a concept that speaks to the importance of angel investing in early-stage start-ups and scale-ups, as well as the government’s decisive response to supporting the ecosystem. “We’ve already seen our government lead the way innovating at the speed of the crisis with unprecedented collaboration to catalyze and …

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Unleashing the Full Potential of Our Ecosystem with Cathy Bennett and Shelley Kuipers 15:35

5y ago15:35

15:35

“About 51 percent of our population are women, and we get four percent of venture-capital funding. Quite frankly, that’s an awful lot of capital to leave, and a lot of people out of the competitive ecosystem underutilized.” “We really need also to remember that when you think about women as a whole, there’s significant underrepresentation of women …

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Ecosystem in Crisis: InterGen CEO Sandi Gilbert, The OMX Founder Nicole Verkindt, and The DMZ Executive Director Abdullah Snobar 14:18

5y ago14:18

14:18

Sandi Gilbert, CEO at InterGen and Board Chair at NACO moderated a discussion with Abdullah Snobar, Executive Director at The DMZ and Nicole Verkindt, Founder at The OMX on their leadership journeys and insights on sustaining a business in crisis mode. Originally Recorded on April 30, 2020. Click here to join future roundtables.…

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In Conversation with Rachel Bendayan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and Internatio 35:54

5y ago35:54

35:54

Rachel Bendayan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, in a conversation with leading entrepreneurs, Bobbie Racette, Founder & CEO at Virtual Gurus; Dr Franziska Broell, CEO at Motryx; Stephany Lapierre, CEO at tealbook; and Jennifer Wagner, President at CarbonCure Technologies. "I thin…

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TV Host and Author Amber Mac on the State of the Ecosystem at NACO Roundtable 2:19

5y ago2:19

2:19

I would argue that over the past couple of decades, there has been an overemphasis in the startup world on growth for the sake of growth. Employees hired, companies acquired. There have been startups that I’ve interviewed that can barely explain what they do, and leaders who have been praised for a lack of a moral compass. Today, I believe that we …

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Activating Capital for All Entrepreneurs: Claudio Rojas, CEO and Amanda Filipe Director at NACO 5:39

5y ago5:39

5:39

NACO’s fifth weekly collaborative roundtable on Thursday April 30th focused on activating capital for the next wave of great founders. In partnership with The51 and Atlantic Women’s Venture Fund, NACO welcomed an impressive panel of industry insiders and experts well-versed in the intense need to support enterprises led by women and to remove barri…

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Cathy Bennett on Unleashing a New Wave of Wealth 2:25

5y ago2:25

2:25

This untapped segment of the population signifies incredible opportunity for investors and innovators. Increasing access to capital remains a persistent impediment to growing world-class companies. “This generation of women is going to inherit or have earned the most amount of wealth that women in Canada have ever had before,” says Cathy Bennett, e…

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Founding a Movement: Rhiannon Davies, Co-Founder of the Atlantic Women's Venture Fund 3:20

5y ago3:20

3:20

Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, we had the opportunity to speak with three founders of the Atlantic Women's Venture Fund at the NACO Summit in Halifax. Their words still ring true in the current environment. More so, perhaps. Originally Recorded in September 2019. Sign-up to our newsletter for an invitation to future events.…

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Activating Diversity: Nicole LeBlanc on Atlantic Women's Venture Fund 2:24

5y ago2:24

2:24

“A lot of people understand diversity is important, but they actually don’t know how to translate that into action and really don’t understand how to bring more diverse perspectives, whether it’s female board members or female executives or female staff,” said Nicole Leblanc, the Toronto-based Director of Investments at Sidewalk Labs. Originally Re…

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COVID-19 Has Changed Health Care and There Is No Going Back: Dr. Benjamin Fine, Physician and Co-Founder at HaloHealth 8:43

5+ y ago8:43

8:43

“Everyone knows that post-COVID-19 — the next two years — are not going to look like a month ago. It’s not a switch you can just turn back on. We have glimmers of what that’s going to look like for anyone who’s been to Loblaws or any grocery store, and the question is healthcare providers need help from startups to think about what does the ‘X’ ser…

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The Horse is Out of the Barn on Virtual Health Care: Dr. Darren Larsen, Chief Medical Officer at OntarioMD 7:24

5+ y ago7:24

7:24

“The horse is out of the barn on virtual care. Once the horse is out of the barn it can never really be corralled, and I think this is going to become part of our permanent care-delivery landscape.” “The world changed almost overnight when we consider how COVID-19 took on our practices. We were looking at near zero virtual care use in primary care …

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Necessity is the Mother of Invention: Dr. Sohail Ghandi, President at Ontario Medical Assocation 7:45

5+ y ago7:45

7:45

“What’s changed significantly is how I practice medicine — the delivery of virtual care to patients has increased dramatically. It’s taught me it is possible to do phone and video visits with patients you know quite well. We now need to increase the level of virtual care we provide that we were forced into by this pandemic. I think there will be st…

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Bold Government Procurement Policies Will Lead the Recovery: Angela Mondou, CEO of TechNation 9:56

5+ y ago9:56

9:56

“We have billions of dollars across Canada right now earmarked for technology, so doesn’t it make sense that the government becomes the biggest customer as we face this economic slowdown for our tech scale-ups and SMEs? “I believe tech procurement is the biggest lever that the government has as an economic stimulus. They definitely need to take som…

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Claudia Krywiak, President & CEO at Ontario Centres of Excellence 8:25

5+ y ago8:25

8:25

"This week’s respected roster of speakers spoke about how we can all do our part — the way we can lean in, support the emergence of new med-tech initiatives and help these small and medium-sized enterprises get their innovations and technologies to market sooner. “It is in precisely these times, as we navigate unchartered waters, that new solutions…

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Super Angels Launch New Fund: Benton Leong, General Partner at ArchAngel Network of Funds 6:25

5+ y ago6:25

6:25

“We have really bright minds working on how to solve various aspects of this pandemic… we want to make sure these folks are able to bring their solutions to market sooner rather than later. We’re changing the way we work. We’re deploying funds in a matter of weeks rather than months.” — Benton Leong, General Partner at ArchAngel Network of Funds Or…

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Working Together Will Make Our Ecosystem Stronger: Victoria Lennox, Founder at Startup Canada 7:02

5+ y ago7:02

7:02

“Cultivating that strong grassroots ecosystem from the ground up is so important right now… there are a lot of opportunities here to make a stronger ecosystem and it will take us all working together.” — Victoria Lennox, Founder of Startup Canada Originally Recorded on April 23, 2020. Click here to join future roundtables.…

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State of the Innovation Economy by Douglas Soltys, Editor-in-Chief at BetaKit 5:00

5+ y ago5:00

5:00

“The main takeaways… are the difficulties people are having in projecting a way out of this and building a plan, and the difficulties in taking care of teams right now, as we are locked in self-isolation in trying circumstances.” — Douglas Soltys, Editor-in-Chief at BetaKit Originally Recorded on April 23, 2020. Click here to join future roundtable…