Get an honest perspective about what start-up leaders really need from advertising and advertising strategists to grow their businesses and build their brands, and use this learning to hone your strategic skills and approaches.

Panel: Mike McDerment (Freshbooks), Rahul Raj (ecobee), Danielle Brown (Hubba), Andrew Peek (City & Stay). Moderated by Bill Mohri (M Consulting, MaRS)

• Learn firsthand the trials and tribulations at Canada’s leading start-ups – what are the issues that keep their leaders up at night, and where strategy and advertising can/should add most value?
• What does the higher risk, higher pressure and faster paced nature of working at a start-up mean for communications? For agencies? What challenges and opportunities are there for advertising strategists?
• Hear examples where advertising strategists proved invaluable and what skills and approaches were involved.

Speakers:

Mike McDerment
Co-Founder & CEO, FreshBooks
FreshBooks is the world's #1 accounting software in the cloud for self-employed professionals and their employees. Prior to founding FreshBooks, Mike ran his own design firm where he accidentally saved over an invoice and realized an unmet need in the market. In 2003, he started FreshBooks from his parents’ basement in Toronto.

Danielle Brown
CMO, Hubba
Danielle is the very first CMO at growing tech company Hubba - a reviews-focused B2B platform aimed at connecting brands, retailers and influencers. Before joining Hubba, Danielle was Vice President of Marketing at Points where she helped expand and further the marketing vision.

Rahul Raj
Former VP Marketing & Ecommerce, ecobee
As the VP of Marketing & E-Commerce, he developed a challenger brand strategy that transformed ecobee from relative obscurity to the #2 thermostat brand in North America with only a $300k marketing budget.

Andrew Peek
Serial Entrepreneur and Angel Investor
Having sold two prior ventures (Atatomic, Jet Cooper) and held pivotal roles at two of Canada’s most notable startups (FreshBooks, Shopify), Andrew is consistently making bets on where technology is headed next. He is currently an advisor to a series of startups and the CEO of City & Stay Hotel Group.

Bill Mohri (Panel Moderator)
President of M Consulting, MaRS advisor, Angel Investor
Bill brings growth strategy and management experience from senior roles in the tech and consumer packaged goods sectors. Bill was Head of Partnerships and Strategy at Microsoft Canada and at MSN International, and was a Director at Deloitte Consulting.

About the Venue:
Shopify is true Canadian start up success story. Shopify focus on making commerce better for everyone, so businesses can focus on what they do best: building and selling their products. Today, merchants use the platform to manage every aspect of their business — from products to orders to customers, selling online, in retail stores, and on the go.