If you're building, operating, or investing in tech in Canada, here are three episodes from our Founder Journey podcast worth your time.

Eldon Sprickerhoff: Bootstrapping to $100M ARR (eSentire → Billion-Dollar Exit)

Eldon put a HELOC on his house and bootstrapped for 9 years before taking institutional capital. He converted consulting into recurring revenue by leaving network sensors in client environments, creating an annuity model that scaled to $100M USD ARR and a billion-dollar valuation.

Why watch in 2026: Defense tech is surging ($6.6B Canadian strategy). Eldon's advice: "Go super niche. Own one thin problem completely. Your moat is engagement + the data no one else has." He also warns: every time you double headcount, it's all people problems.

Mark Jaine: Customer-Funded Scaling (Intelex → $100M Revenue)

Mark bootstrapped Intelex from near-death to ~$100M revenue by customer-funding development, charging $50K for custom features, and using services revenue (25-30%) as growth capital. His mantra: “Getting better every day, every minute and just grinding at it”. This approach allowed Intelex to achieve sustained growth over two decades rather than relying on a single "inflection point".

Why watch in 2026: Mark breaks down how he scaled sales reps predictably (break-even year one, profit year two), survived 14 years of 45% YoY growth without external capital, and why he traded compensation for equity early. He now runs an AI-alignment startup after his exit.

Wayne Pommen: Blending Debt + Equity (PayBright → Affirm)

Wayne scaled Canada's first BNPL player from $6M to $220M loan volume (team: 5 → 200) by mixing equity + debt + securitizations as capital infrastructure. He shares why Americans buy faster than Canadians, how to build product and HR functions early, and why engineering-first culture mirrors 2026 infrastructure needs.

Why watch in 2026: His capital-structure playbook (equity + bank facilities + CIBC securitization) is the model for AI-infra and fintech companies raising in 2026.

Mission.dev - Vetted Engineering Talent, Fast

Hiring engineers? Mission.dev handles sourcing, vetting, and compliance. 20M reach → 13K vetted engineers (13 years avg experience). 50% Americas timezone, rates $40-80/hr.

Two models:
- Direct hire: 9% first-year salary, 90-day replacement
- Contractors: You pay $100 → $80 to engineer, $20 to Mission

Their AI turns 1,000 applicants into 5-10 matches. Saves recruiters 120-180 hours per hire.

Althra Cohort 2 – Vancouver Accelerator (May-Aug 2026)

Pre-seed founders: Althra backs you with $12.5K upfront capital (1% equity) + potential $50K follow-on at $1.5M cap. Four months in-person, downtown Vancouver.

What you get:
- Full-time office access (build side-by-side with other founders)
- Weekly sessions with operators who've scaled real companies
- Demo day + warm intros to 10+ active VC funds (Graphite, Panache, Ripple, BDC, Version One)
- No program fee

Who they want: Teams beyond idea stage: pilots, revenue, or clear user demand. Solo founders welcome.

Applications close soon for May 2026 cohort.

Don’t forget to lock in your year of TechTO! Subscribe to our full events calendar

Members get:
• Free tickets to all Together events
• Quarterly exclusive socials with founders and leaders
• Private Slack with instant answers from active founders
• Vote on podcast guests and future speakers
• Direct input on TechTO's direction

Annual: $249/year | Founding: $1,199 One-time payment, lifetime access

JOIN 900+ MEMBERS