Your Blueprint to Go Bigger: Global Growth, Founder Insights & What’s Next at TechTO

BUILDERS PERSPECTIVE 🔧

Go Global on a Ramen Budget: 5 Tactics for Early-Stage Startups

💡 63% of tech startups fail. Only 1.5% ever exit above $50M. The ones that beat the odds? They expanded internationally early - without burning their runway.

The good news? You don’t need millions to go global. According to Megha Kandoi, Community & Membership Director at TechTO & Peerscale, founders who take lean, evidence-driven steps unlock markets, revenue, and growth faster than domestic-only peers.

Here’s a founder-friendly 5-point playbook to go global on a Ramen budget:

1. Pilot Where the Pain Is Sharpest - Not Where the GDP Is Largest. Inbound demos from Lagos? Traffic spikes from Bogotá? That's where your first pilot should be - not some spreadsheet projection.
   

2. Step Into “Bridge Markets” to De-Risk Your Leap. Netherlands, Singapore, Australia, Germany - familiar enough to move fast, global enough to matter.
   

3. Borrow Distribution Before You Buy It. Accelerators, channel partners, resellers and trade commissioners - they hand you warm intros, credibility, and early traction without payroll burn.
   

4. Build Remote-First, Then Layer on Culture. Tools like Deel make global hiring simple. Combine remote flexibility with clear culture and legal frameworks for sustainable, scalable teams.
   

5. Exploit Free (or Nearly Free) Infrastructure. Grants, trade missions, and export insurance can offset tens of thousands in runway. Programs like CanExport or EDC insurance help you expand lean and gather traction efficiently.
   

The bottom line: Global expansion isn’t a single leap - it’s a series of small, evidence-driven experiments that compound into breakout growth.

Megha maps out the 12-month roadmap - from first signal to repeatable revenue in your second market, blending qualitative insights with measurable targets.

🌟 SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT

Vishar Yaghoubian

Vishar Yaghoubian is the founder behind Toothpod, a company built with one mission: to make oral health effortless, anytime, anywhere. What started as a bold idea quickly evolved into a science-backed product - after Vishar personally emailed over 600 professors, chemists, and dentists at the University of Toronto to make it real.

Her journey has been anything but easy. Vishar has navigated the emotional and financial weight of early-stage fundraising and even had to buy out a third business partner using her own savings. But her strength has always been her presence - the ability to connect deeply, build community, and empower people to show up as their best selves.

Vishar's clarity, decisiveness, and resilience shape how she builds, leads, and grows Toothpod in a market she believes is ready for transformation.

What You'll Learn:

• How Toothpod reimagines oral care
  Why modern health habits require modern, portable, science-driven solutions.

• Building from zero: When grit replaces resources
  How emailing 600 experts unlocked the technical foundation for Toothpod.

• The founder mindset shift
  The advice Vishar wishes she had earlier - "No decision is a decision" - and why speed matters more than perfection.

• Community as a competitive advantage
  How Vishar's superpower - presence and connection - fuels brand trust.

  
  

Chenny Xia

Chenny Xia is a serial entrepreneur, designer, and changemaker reshaping how we think about healthcare equity. As Co-Founder and CEO of Gotcare, she's on a mission to transform home-care delivery across Canada - bringing personalized support directly into people's communities, no matter where they live.

Before Gotcare, Chenny led design initiatives across Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco, New York, Beijing, and Copenhagen, building capabilities and launching ventures from scratch. But her impact extends far beyond startups: she's championed women and non-binary founders, shaped provincial economic policy on Ontario's Task Force on Women and the Economy, and continues reimagining how care economies can work for everyone.

Today, Gotcare serves over 100 remote communities nationwide and earned recognition from The Globe and Mail as one of Canada's fastest-growing companies.

What You'll Learn:

• Transforming care delivery at scale
  How Gotcare redesigned in-home care by centering patients, caregivers, and case managers - and expanded rapidly across Canada.

• Building companies with purpose
  Chenny's journey from service design to social innovation to leading one of the country's fastest-growing health companies.

• Why equity belongs at the core of innovation
  Lessons from shaping provincial policy and supporting inclusive entrepreneurship nation-wide.

• Design thinking for real-world impact
  How research, service design, and agile prototyping unlock transformation in healthcare and fast-growth startups.

💼 NEXT BIG GIGS

Check out the next big gigs in tech we think you’ll love:

• Jobber is hiring a Growth Marketing Manager (remote) to lead multi-channel demand gen campaigns, performance marketing, and experimentation for one of Canada's fastest-growing SaaS companies. You'll own strategy across search, app marketing, and programmatic - managing multi-million dollar budgets and driving low-CAC, scalable growth.

• Spellbook is looking for a Senior Technical Recruiter (Toronto) to own full-cycle hiring for engineering, product, and technical roles at a fast-growing AI copilot for lawyers. You'll build pipelines, partner with hiring managers, and shape the technical team in a high-velocity, well-funded startup.

• EvenUp is searching for a Total Rewards & People Analytics Leader (remote, US-based with hubs in SF & Toronto) to architect global compensation strategy and build a data-driven people analytics engine. High-visibility role blending strategy and execution at a mission-driven AI company closing the justice gap.

Looking to hire or get hired? Check out the TechTO Job Board to see 1,000+ opportunities and learn how to get your companies jobs featured.

📆 MARK YOUR CALENDARS

• Health Toronto: Wednesday, November 19 @ 6:00pm - REGISTER HERE

  
  

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• YC Alumni Holiday Party 2025: Wednesday, December 3 @ 6:00pm - APPLY HERE

  
  

• Together Toronto: Monday, January 12 @ 6:00pm - REGISTER HERE

• Commerce Toronto: Wednesday, January 21 @ 5:30PM - EARLY-BIRD TICKETS HERE
  

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🤝 GET MORE WITH TECHTO

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Our membership program already supports hundreds of entrepreneurs and professionals building the next best companies in Canadian tech. Take advantage of exclusive members-only events, and opportunities to meet those who will inspire your next big idea. Learn more about our Membership options here.