Erik Westblom - Provision

“Through and through, one of the most competitive entrepreneurs that we’ve invested in, and that’s saying a lot because the bar is pretty high for the competitive average for our entrepreneurs, yea this guy, he will not quit.” —James Lochrie on Provision CEO Erik Westblom 

In this episode of The Founder Mindset, Erik Westblom, Co-founder and CEO of Provision, chats with Leah about:

• Why he wants people to really understand the stress of being a founder 

• How he thinks about shame as motivation 

• Why he’ll always be obsessed with the bank balance

BONUS CONTENT

At the end of the episode, Leah gets reaction to her conversation with Erik from James Lochrie, Managing Partner of Thin Air Labs  which invested in Provision.

Hear how James relates to Erik’s candid truths about the impact entrepreneurship can have on families. Find out what James has learned about processing the stress of being a founder, and how that’s helped him become a better investor and mentor to founders like Erik. And hear what led James to offer a rare investment on the spot into Provision.

“It’s been 13 years… and the way she talks about the future, the way that she talks about how the opportunity has never been greater, she’s never been more excited… It’s easy to understand why we’d make an investment in a person like this.” —James Lochrie on Orpyx CEO Breanne Everett  

In this episode of The Founder Mindset, Dr. Breanne Everett, Founder and CEO of Orpyx, chats with Leah about:

• Why she went from surgeon to entrepreneur 

• How she navigated the premature birth of her first child and fundraising at the same time

• Why the opportunity for impact keeps her going through the inevitable challenges

BONUS CONTENT 

At the end of the episode, Leah gets reaction to her conversation with Breanne from James Lochrie, Managing Partner of Thin Air Labs which invested in Orpyx. 

Learn more about how James deeply admires Breanne’s growth as a leader, her emotional resilience and her drive to create meaningful human impact with her company. 

“This is a guy, an accidental entrepreneur, with a low risk tolerance - a guy who stumbled into entrepreneurship because someone opened a door for him, and now he talks about it like a north star. He’s got it.” —James Lochrie on ZayZoon CEO Darcy Tuer 

In this episode of The Founder Mindset, Darcy Tuer, Co-founder and CEO of ZayZoon, chats with Leah about:

• Why he’s continually drawn to being a founder

• How he thinks about rejection 

• What he’s learned from facing several ‘go or no go’ points in his startup journey

BONUS CONTENT 

At the end of the episode, Leah gets reaction to her conversation with Darcy from James Lochrie, Managing Partner of Thin Air Labs.

Hear how James deeply respects Darcy’s desire to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives, how he shares Darcy’s low risk tolerance and love of problem-solving as risk mitigation. And learn more about James and Darcy’s love of the Calgary innovation ecosystem.

“She believes in a future we can’t see. She believes in challenging herself and creating autonomy for herself. She wants fulfillment that only she can deliver as an entrepreneur

to herself” — James Lochrie on AltaML Co-CEO Nicole Janssen 

In this episode of The Founder Mindset, Nicole Janssen, Co-founder and Co-CEO of AltaML chats with Leah about:

• How she was a terrible employee and what she loves about being an entrepreneur

• What it feels like to learn a major investor is pulling out while you’re on your first vacation in years, and what she learned from that experience  

• How a life-changing diagnosis has made her a better entrepreneur

BONUS CONTENT 

At the end of the episode, Leah gets reaction to her conversation with Nicole from James Lochrie, Managing Partner of Thin Air Labs.

Find out why James thinks Nicole is the ultimate professional, how he deeply admires her ability to create trust with her candor and why he thinks more entrepreneurs should take on a leadership role like Nicole has to educate and inspire stakeholders in their sectors. 

 “If you want to hear about an entrepreneur act like an entrepreneur, be honest about what it’s like to be an entrepreneur, this is the one I’d pick out. He’s just laid it bare as a young inexperienced entrepreneur who’s struggled and had some success and continues to fight the fight, it’s a really special episode.” — James Lochrie on Arbor CEO Alex Todorovic

In this episode of The Founder Mindset, Alex Todorovic, Co-founder and CEO of Arbor chats with Leah about:

• how the fun part of being a founder is the scrappy startup stage 

• what he does to calm himself when he wakes panicked in the night

• why he wants to hold the reins of his company for as long as possible

BONUS CONTENT 

At the end of the episode, Leah gets reaction to her conversation with Alex from James Lochrie, Managing Partner of Thin Air Labs which invested in Arbor. 

Find out what James relates to in Alex as a young man focused on a better future. Learn more about Alex’s humility and ability to iterate which resonated with James, and why James has so much confidence in the team Alex has built.  

“You could hear it in her voice: I’ve been trained for this, I’m battle ready, I’ve got the scars, I’ve got my team beside me and I’ve already got my plan. Let’s go do it, it’s just waiting for us, let’s go take the hill.” — James Lochrie on Fillip CEO Alice Reimer 

In this episode of The Founder Mindset, Alice Reimer, CEO of Fillip chats with Leah about:

• why she thinks founders should get some business experience before starting their startup 

• how carrying the weight of a startup can get pretty heavy 

• what keeps her coming back to being a founder, time and again 

BONUS CONTENT

At the end of the episode, Leah gets reaction to her conversation with Alice from James Lochrie, Managing Partner of Thin Air Labs which invested in Fillip. 

Find out what James respects about Alice as a founder, why he thinks her description of herself as a “hustler” is apt and learn more about why he decided to invest in her company.

In this episode of The Founder Mindset, James Lochrie, Managing Partner at Thin Air Labs chats with Leah about:

• what motivated him to become an entrepreneur then investor 

• the complicated emotions he had around the acquisition of his company

• why he continues to support founders, rather than sit on a beach 

• and more!

Welcome to the re-release of The Founder Mindset Season One! 

If you’re ready to nerd out on startups and founders, you’ll want to listen to each conversation host, Leah Sarich, has with the featured founder. Then, stick around for reaction to the episode from James Lochrie. 

James is an investor, tech entrepreneur and mentor. You can learn about him in his own episode of The Founder Mindset, James Lochrie 101. 

And if you’re new to all this, well, even if you’re not, get ready to be inspired. Hear from the founders themselves about how it feels to build a company from nothing, then get the investor perspective. How do you decide who to invest in? What makes you take the risk? It’s all here. 

Enjoy! And thanks for listening to The Founder Mindset.

Well that's a wrap on this miniseries and WOW what a response. You know what this means? We're going to do more episodes! 
Stay subscribed to this podcast because in the fall we'll re-release these episodes with reaction from our Managing Partner James Lochrie... find out why he invested in some of the founders we spoke to, and what he's inspired by and relates to in the others. 
And we’re starting work on the next series. If you’re a founder or you know of one who should be featured in an upcoming episode let us know! 

Thank you so much for listening to The Founder Mindset and for your curiosity about these founders in the Alberta innovation ecosystem building globally competitive companies. 
We look forward to sharing with you more episodes celebrating founders as they #BuildWhatsNext. 

In this episode of The Founder Mindset, Erik Westblom, Co-founder and CEO of Provision, chats with Leah about:

• Why he wants people to really understand the stress of being a founder 

• How he thinks about shame as motivation 

• Why he’ll always be obsessed with the bank balance