Big three Takeaways: 

1.       Canada’s Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) or SHRED program can be a fantastic financial resource to help entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life. Naren’s team at Grant Thornton helps companies navigate the complex process of applying for SR&ED credits.

 2.       Tracking activity is important when it comes to SR&ED applications. The lesson here is to create systems that can scale. There’s a great quote in James Clear’s book Atomic Habits that says “You do not rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.” This quote is applicable for any business., but is essential where you're trying to create consistency.

 3.       A mistake I see a lot of people make in business and in life is focusing too much on the price of hiring a specialist to help solve a problem, instead of looking at the value of the opportunity you can unlock with the help of an expert or consultant you’re considering hiring. For example, A good accountant might cost $5,000 a year, but they may help you save hundreds of thousands while you’re working with them. 

 Other Takeaways for entrepreneurs 

00:01:13 – Naren introduces Grant Thornton and his role as an Research & Development and Government Incentives (RDGI) consultant, helping companies access government funding.

00:03:07 – Naren explains the SR&ED program.

00:04:08 – What qualifies as innovation from a SR&ED perspective, Naren explains the concept of technological uncertainty and gives a comparison to a toolbox.

00:08:14 – Naren provides an example of the type of a company he worked with 

00:09:15 – What industries (superclusters) is the CRA looking to support through the SR&ED program?

00:10:23 – Naren gives examples of some superclusters or areas of innovation the CRA is looking at

00:12:25 – How Naren got started learning about SR&ED

00:14:31 – The similarities and differences between a company pitching for private investment vs. an application for Government funding 

00:16:27 – How founders and entrepreneurs should think about the application process for SR&ED.

00:17:10 – Why you should be proactive and keep records R&D activity and expenses early

00:21:50 – Naren’s team also helps build systems to track SR&ED eligible activity more effectively

00:26:16 – How much money does Canada have in the SR&ED program and how does it compare to other countries

00:28:10 – What Naren thinks Canada is doing right and areas that can be improved in terms of attracting talent, and enabling innovation

00:31:14 – Why a more holistic approach between government and regulators is a better approach to funding innovation and keeping talent in Canada

 00:34:50 – Don’t disqualify yourself before exploring the opportunity for SR&ED funding.

More on my guest:

• Grant Thornton & Naren @ GT
• Naren Balakrishnan

Recommendations, resources, and extras:

• SR&ED program
• National Research Council
• Suzy Q donuts
• Burgers and Fries Forever

Big three Takeaways: 

1.       Take action, when you notice a trend with business potential. Josh admits later in the interview that he has said yes to too many things in the past, but his default mode is to take action and he creates opportunities for himself with this mindset.

2.       The other side of that coin; Be careful what you say yes to. Choose the topics you want to focus on and the people you want to work with carefully. Time is your most valuable resource.

3.       Instead of jumping right into the middle of a trend and opening an online store, try starting a business that helps other stores sell their product more effectively. These have been referred to as picks and shovels businesses, and it goes back the mid 1800’s during the gold rush. Instead of digging for gold, some entrepreneurs had a great success selling picks and shovels to other prospectors.

Other Takeaways for entrepreneurs 

00:03:16 – Josh takes us back to before e-commerce was as important as it is now and shares his insights of the potential he saw back in 2012.

00:06:33 – Think about how others will use your website. Not everyone will explore the site in the same way. 

00:08:10 – removing steps improves user experience. 

00:08:59 – Mountain Crest Gardens. Before and after, Air Kayaks

00:17:00 – Josh explains how he was able to immerse himself into tech to the point where he knew enough to start companies despite a lack of formal technical training.

00:18:32 – Josh goes through several resources available now to learn anything.

00:19:55 – Josh explains how he balances his curiosity and interest in learning new skills with the need to focus when you’re building a company. 

00:25:51 – Josh disagrees with the notion that there’s no point in acknowledging weakness and wins me over to his viewpoint.

00:27:43 – Josh’s entrepreneurial journey

00:31:17 – What Josh thinks the future of e-commerce might look like.

00:34:19 – We get off-track and discuss supply chain and inflation. Josh’s advice, buy all your Christmas presents ASAP.

00:39:00 – How the pandemic has made it much harder to find talent and what Arctic Leaf is doing to keep up.

More on my guest:

• https://www.arcticleaf.io/
• Josh Garellek - Linkedin
• partnerportal.io

Books Mentioned:

• Range – David Epstein
•  The Compound Effect – Darren Hardy
• The 10x Rule – Grant Cardone 
• The Effective Executive – Peter Drucker
• Ready Player One – Ernest Cline

Big three Takeaways:

1. With the cost of failure as low as it is in ecommerce, launch well before you fully understand everything and trust that you’ll fill in the blanks as you build.

2. Be consistent, with your product and marketing. People should know what to expect when they do business with you.

3. To build a lifestyle brand, you have to find ways to consistently share your brand's values.

 Other Takeaways for entrepreneurs 

06:18 – You can launch before you understand everything.

07:22 – The stages of scaling manufacturing

10:32 – Why cash-flow is so important when you're scaling

13:25 – behind the curtain. How ecommerce works

18:45 – The more decisions you have to make, the faster you get and the better your instincts become 

20:08 – What to prioritize when launching an MVP to make sure you don’t turn customers off

25:18 – How Jaz thinks about hiring: Find people who know what they’re getting into. Go broad first then specific.

32:43 – How Jaz thinks about building a lifestyle brand. Consistently share your values.

 More on my guest:

• Jaz Fenton
• Yellow Beauty 
• Yellow Beauty - Instagram

Also mentioned:

• Halud (Tumeric) ceremony - Wikipedia 
• Bathorium 
• LoveKind – Yellow Beauty Investors
•  ChitChats – Shipping to the US
•  Shopify
•  Emotive (not owned by Twilio) – SMS messaging software
• Biddyco – Social advertising
• Ulta 
• Rosen Skincare – Jamika Martin
• Coco Kind – Priscilla Tsai – (Forbes article)
• Mooshu Ice Cream & Kitchen
•  Shawarma Palace 
• Colonnade Pizza, Bronson Pizza, Louis Pizza
• Steve’s book recommendation – Let My People Go Surfing – The Education of a Reluctant Businessman