Mentors
The team of mentors in residence bring together decades of experience in building and scaling companies, many of which have exceeded $100M ARR. With diverse backgrounds across a wide range of industry sectors, the Chang Institute mentors are perfectly positioned to help entrepreneurs build and scale businesses. In addition to being experts in their fields the mentors have published books, coached Olympic athletes, worked on NBA branding, managed the Canadian Financing Forum, and transformed industry segments.
Albert Seah
Areas of specialization
Retail Systems, Business Strategy, Leadership Development
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Albert Seah is an educator and mentor with consulting experience in business development. Through business consulting, he provides business development activities ranging from establishing standard operating procedures, market research, product research, and fund-raising for early-stage business organizations. His expertise is mainly focused on the optimization of an efficient retail system. Prior to arriving in Vancouver in 2011, Albert had more than fifteen years of wide-ranging experience in business start-ups, restructuring, traffic generation, and traffic conversion in e-commerce. He combines a hands-on approach with an enthusiastic style that reaches out to the needs of his clients to succeed in their business ventures.
Chris Stairs
Areas of specialization
Venture Development, Strategic Planning, Budget and Money Management, Research and Feasibility, Operational Startup, Project Management, Process Design, Board Development
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Chris has 20+ years of experience helping organizations position for market entry, strategize revenue models, push through financial ceilings, and build foundations to become best-in-field.
A senior associate of CanadaStartUp.com, and a financial advisor for VolitionAdvisors.com, Chris supports ventures across a broad range of markets including construction management software, robotic welding, e-learning, workplace hygiene, therapeutic apparel, industrial automation, event technologies, and anti-counterfeit authentication platforms.
Prior to his work in the venture space, Chris Stairs began his career in tourism and sports marketing, working for such brands as the Vancouver Aquarium, NBA, Olympics and FIFA.
Dave Thomas
Areas of specialization
Product Marketing, Go to Market, Market Research
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Dave Thomas is a Senior Partner with Rocket Builders. He was the General Manager of the Canadian Financing Forum, matching North American Corporate and VC investors with serious entrepreneurs looking to build world-class technology companies from 2003 to 2010. He is an executive, business consultant and advisor for a number of technology companies and manages the Rocket Builders “Market Readiness Program”. Recent positions and projects include; Mentor in Residence at Simon Fraser University Venture Connection and a guest lecturer at the New Ventures BC program.
Thomas has worked with a series of start-ups over the past decade and was a member of the management team for four venture-backed tech companies. He is currently an advisor to companies, an entrepreneur, an angel investor and a shareholder in angel seed funds. He has an MBA from UBC and was a member of the coaching staff for Canada’s Olympic Sailing Team on four occasions. An enthusiastic sailor, Thomas is a partner in two sailing schools, one at Jericho in Vancouver and a second initiated in 2010 in Shenzhen China.
Doug Fast - Lead eCo-op Mentor
Areas of specialization
Leadership Development, Embedded Systems, Product Management, Systematic Innovation
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Doug is the Chang Institute’s Lead eCo-op Mentor, is a sessional instructor for the Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and directly mentors founders and ventures through Mentor Meet, SPARK, Venture Prize, and as lead mentor for many Venture Connection incubator teams.
Douglas enjoys coaching product-focused companies and sharing his experiences bending metal, writing code, building boards, and preparing for manufacturing.
He is the Founder and Alchemist of Dark Water Tek, a consultancy that provides guidance to clients in navigating the fog of new product development.
He has a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering and is a Citizen of the Metís Nation of BC.
Prior to founding Dark Water Tek, Douglas held the roles of CEO at Nyce Control, President of Spectrum Signal Processing, and Executive Vice President and Vice President of Research and Development at Vecima Networks Inc. Douglas joined Vecima in its early days and played several key roles in helping scale the company to success at 921 staff and top line revenue of C$120M.
Finlay MacNab
Areas of specialization
Life Sciences, Science and Technology, Commercialization, Scientific innovation
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Finlay MacNab is an accomplished research scientist with a broad understanding of the BC innovation ecosystem. He has over a decade of experience as a research scientist building novel telecommunications, microelectronic, and photovoltaic devices. Finlay holds a doctorate in materials chemistry and a graduate certificate in technology commercialization from SFU.
Ken Fielding
Areas of specialization
People and Culture Development (within teams / organizations / institutions), Strategy and Competitive Positioning, Energy Efficiency Adoption and Sustainable Development
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Ken Fielding’s more than 25 years of experience in the technology industry has been fully centred on innovation and change in the energy efficiency sector. He is now advising and being an ‘ear’ for founders of emerging growth tech/innovation-backed companies. Previous to this, Ken was the CEO of Delta-Q Technologies, a power electronics company he co-founded in 1999 supplying the electric vehicle industry.
From initial back-of-the-envelope business idea through to profitable growth and eventually a successful acquisition by an International company, Ken has been involved in all facets of growth. Along the way, Ken gained experience with raising capital from government sources, angel investors and private equity not to mention the many challenges in running a start-up through scaled growth and the commercialization of new technologies.
Rachel Chase - Associate Lead, Life Sciences
Areas of specialization
Market Research / Discovery, Fundraising Strategy, Ecosystem Building, Business Strategy Building, Initial StartUp Functions
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Rachel Chase is a healthcare founder and innovator. She is a co-founder and former CEO of Zennea Technologies, a medical device company that developed a treatment and management system for mild obstructive sleep apnea using novel neuromodulation and sleep-tracking technology. She has a background in hardware and financial product sales. Rachel loves diving into problems, and through that passion, she was a teaching assistant for introductory entrepreneurship classes at SFU.
She learned how to build a business and scale a startup from world-renowned accelerator programs such as SOSV’s HAX, Google’s Inaugural StartUp Accelerator for Women, Johnson and Johnson’s JLABS, Creative Destructions Labs, and was a graduate of SFU’s Venture Connection. Rachel really enjoys working with companies interested in understanding the pain point to not only create a customer-centric product/service but to create informed marketing decisions.
Lynn Warburton - Creative and Digital Lead
Areas of specialization
Communications / Marketing Plans and Tactical Execution, Media Relations, Relationship Building / Stakeholder Engagement, Partnership Development, Corporate Social Responsibility Development, Municipal, Provincial and Federal Government Relations, Aligning Marketing Activities with Business Plan Goals
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Lynn Warburton, Managing Partner at Emdoubleyu Communications + Design, is an expert in engaging stakeholders in values-based conversations. She empowers those she works with to develop their voice through strategic communications to inform, persuade and influence behaviour. Her clients are municipalities, institutions, businesses and non-profits. She’s an advocate for social innovation through sustainability, diversity and health care. Through award-winning materials, online campaigns, branding and public relations tactics she addresses issues with sensitivity and authenticity to raise awareness and strengthen communities.
She develops brand platforms, campaigns and messaging for the City of Surrey and signature projects at the University of British Columbia. She recently facilitated dialogue to advance Indigenous housing issues with the federal government for the Aboriginal Housing Management Association. She’s a compulsive volunteer and fundraiser who sees generosity almost everywhere.
She loves epic road bike rides, lively dialogue and eating outdoors.
Timothy Ames
Areas of specialization
Idea Viability Strategic Planning, Operational Planning and Start-up, Project Management, CEO Capacity Building, HR, Collaboration, Board Cultivation, Innovation / Sustainability, Rapid Growth, Equity-Based Design, Not-for-Profit – Society Governance
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Tim brings over 30 years of experience in business, sales, general management, executive leadership as well as personal development. During his career, Tim has worked and contributed to the success of both start-ups and seasoned businesses from nominal to $ 250M in annual revenues. He hparas held significant roles at “for profit”, “not for profit” and “charitable” organizations and has experience in the tech, lighting, disability, government, education, foundation and personal development sectors. Tim is very comfortable in strategizing with organizations for early and late-stage growth, identifying and removing barriers, people and culture as well as organizational planning.
Anthony Marotta
Areas of specialization
BioTech and Life Sciences, Business Operations, Product Development, Systematic Innovation
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Dr. Anthony Marotta, Ph.D. is a serial entrepreneur and a proven scientific and clinical leader whom also has a very strong business and operational acumen which is key in delivering shareholder value. As part of his professional tenure, Marotta has co-founded companies including Augurex Life Sciences Corp and Peqish Group and has been a business and clinical advisor for various companies including DueNorth BioDev, Network Immunology and SignalChem Life Sciences Corp.
During Marotta’s eleven-year tenure at Augurex he was responsible for the development of the 14-3-3η biomarker programs, and the successful approvals and launching of the blood tests in Canada, Europe, Australia and United States. At Peqish, Marotta has played a critical role in assisting the business in differentiating itself from other food vendors centered on the concept that “food is medicine”. Marotta has also been key in assisting the Peqish team to operationalise business processes and achieve double digit profitability on EBIDTA.
Prior to Augurex and Peqish, Marotta served as the Director of Business Development for Stressgen Bioreagents where he tactically grew the product portfolio by 30% through developing strategic collaborations. He also played a key role in training lab, sales and technical staff and was involved in several aspects of the day-to-day operations of the whole business.
Marotta holds several patents, has co-authored, and presented at various international conferences, and has strong relationships with clinicians worldwide. Marotta began his career in research at Kinetek Pharmaceuticals whilst pursuing his Ph.D. in Experimental Medicine at the University of British Columbia.
Romain Roux
Areas of specialization
Early-stage Research & Development. Medical Device Development, Fast-Paced Iterative Design, In-House and Outsourcing Manufacturing, Product Development Strategy
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Romain Roux, an accomplished R&D engineer specializing in bioengineering, boasts a robust educational background with a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from McGill University and a Master’s in Translational Medicine from UC Berkeley & UCSF. His professional journey has been marked by significant contributions at Theranova LLC, where he played a pivotal role in the development of various medical devices. Notably, his tenure at Theranova led to the co-founding of Alsus Medical, where he spearheaded the creation of cryogenic microfluidic catheters for BPH treatment, underscoring his adeptness in guiding products from conception through clinical trials.
Demonstrating a sharp eye for detail and a fervent commitment to problem-solving, Romain has a distinguished track record in device ideation, modeling, prototyping, and testing. His expertise encompasses CAD modeling, proficiency in multiple programming languages, and hands-on experience in conventional machining, CNC machining, and additive manufacturing techniques.
Madeleine Shaw
Areas of specialization
Leadership, Design Thinking, B-Corp Social Enterprise Development, Impact Measurement
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Madeleine is a serial social entrepreneur with three decades of leadership experience in the menstrual health and equity space. As the recently exited co-founder and Chief Impact Officer of Aisle (formerly Lunapads), she is widely credited with laying the foundation for a game changing, high growth industry. Her experience additionally includes designing socially innovative non-profit services (Nestworks family-friendly co-working) as well as founding G Day, a national event series that operated as a registered charity from 2014 to 2020.
She is the author of The Greater Good: Social Entrepreneurship for Everyday People Who Want to Change the World, and writes regularly on Medium.
Madeleine is a graduate of Queen’s University, BCIT and the THNK School of Creative Leadership.
Rochelle Grayson
Areas of specialization
AI Applications in Business, AI Business Models & Strategies, AI Readiness, Transformation & Performance Management, Digital Monetization, Analytics, & ROI Digital Strategy & Marketing
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Rochelle is an Afro-Latin, trilingual, serial entrepreneur, and digital strategist with over 30 years of experience in business, marketing, finance, tech, and education. She has worked with several women’s organizations, been nominated as one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women, was awarded Vancouver’s Top Forty Under 40, and was named one of Vancouver's Top 10 Women in Technology.
She is also the founder of Mosaic Accelerator, an early-stage accelerator empowering non-technical, marginalized, and BIPOC women to build successful, sustainable, tech-enabled businesses.