In Between Meetings, Max Schramm, President & CEO of Lufthansa Technik Canada, shares how growing up in Eastern Germany shaped his resilience and leadership, and what brought him to Canada. We dig into why Lufthansa Technik expanded in Calgary (not the obvious choice in a Montreal-dominant aerospace country), what it takes to build a world-class engine maintenance operation, and how the SAIT partnership aims to solve a skills and accessibility gap, not a “labour shortage.” Max also compares Calgary’s ecosystem to Montreal’s, explains what’s still missing locally, and paints a vision for what a thriving aerospace and MRO hub in Alberta could look like over the next decade.

Takeaways:

• Canada doesn’t have a labour shortage, it has a skills and accessibility shortage.
• Quality, reliability, and safety are non-negotiable operating principles.
• Calgary’s edge is collaboration, agility, and a can-do mindset.
• SAIT partnership builds a direct pathway into engine maintenance skills.
• Accessibility matters: tuition, salary, and tools remove invisible hurdles.
• Montreal remains critical; Calgary adds new capacity and westward coverage.
• Calgary needs stronger ecosystem connection and a unified industry voice.
• A thriving future means world-class MRO density and stronger airline networks.

Max Schramm is President & CEO of Lufthansa Technik Canada and has spent 16 years in aviation within the Lufthansa group. He leads growth, workforce development, and ecosystem-building initiatives designed to expand Canada’s aerospace maintenance and engine repair capabilities.

Between Meetings is a video podcast with industry leaders, startup founders, and ecosystem builders. Each episode explores the realities of building, investing, and supporting innovation while catching guests between meetings during a car ride across town. Along the way, they share inspiring stories, personal experiences, industry insights, and practical advice. Since 2023, Between Meetings has been helping tell Calgary’s innovation story one conversation at a time.

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In this Between Meetings episode, Lisa Davis shares how STEM Innovation Academy went from idea to Alberta’s first new charter school in 25 years, the policies and facilities that made it possible, and how a clear instructional model keeps culture consistent across campuses. She details the UCalgary MOU, the MIT partnership that enables advanced STEM content for teachers and students, and how industry-aligned projects build confidence and career clarity. Looking ahead, Lisa calls for more ambition in education, expansion to meet demand, and a provincial STEM Centre of Excellence.

Takeaways:

• Opened Alberta’s first new charter school in 25 years, built for innovation.
• Charter schools are the entrepreneurs of public education.
• Turned an office tower into a “Charter Innovation Hub.
• Clear model, shared assessments, and data keep culture consistent.
• Partnerships (UCalgary MOU, MIT) tighten the school-to-university transition.
• Real industry projects make learning relevant and practical.
• Multiple on-ramps (robotics levels, biomedical) help close participation gaps.
• Call for more provincial ambition and a STEM Centre of Excellence to share playbooks with any Alberta school.

Lisa Davis is the Founder of STEM Innovation Academy and STEM Collegiate two of Alberta’s top-ranked STEM charter schools. Her schools lead the province in Math and Science achievement and hold Canada’s only K–12 partnership with MIT’s Beaver Works. She’s passionate about expanding access to STEM education and building Alberta’s future innovation talent.

Between Meetings is a video podcast with industry leaders, startup founders, and ecosystem builders. Each episode explores the realities of building, investing, and supporting innovation while catching guests between meetings during a car ride across town. Along the way, they share inspiring stories, personal experiences, industry insights, and practical advice. Since 2023, Between Meetings has been helping tell Calgary’s innovation story one conversation at a time.

Support the show

🎙 Follow the host Marian Danko on LinkedIn.

Find us on YouTube and LinkedIn.

Thank you for listening/watching.

In Between Meetings, Adam Cragg, Partner at Osney Capital, shares lessons from building entrepreneurship programs at MIT, NYU, and the University of Calgary, his time at Innovate Calgary helping researchers move from lab to market, and why Osney is focused exclusively on cybersecurity. We get into portfolio construction, what he looks for in founders, how he builds relationships months before a round, and why the UK and Canada are primed to grow in cybersecurity amid shifting global dynamics.

Takeaways:

• Entrepreneurship builds self-reliance in an increasingly insecure job market.
• University systems still bias toward academia; commercialization needs new incentives.
• Tight industry–lab connections shorten the path from novel IP to real products.
• Cybersecurity fits seed investing: faster cycles and robust M&A (vs waiting for IPOs).
• Portfolio lens: earlier entry, sensible paths to £300–500M outcomes can be strong wins.
• Top founder signal: deep problem insight + precise go-to-market against incumbents.
• Meet founders early; help with design partners and avoid common first-time mistakes.
• AI adoption is surging—and so are security risks; securing AI workflows is a major theme.

Adam Cragg is a Partner at Osney Capital, an early-stage VC focused on cybersecurity. Previously, he helped build university entrepreneurship programs (MIT, NYU, University of Calgary) and worked with researchers at Innovate Calgary on moving innovations to market.

Between Meetings is a series of on-the-go interviews featuring industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and corporate innovators. In these interviews, we delve into the latest trends and developments in innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship, catching our guests between meetings in a car ride across town. Along the way, they share inspiring stories, personal experiences, industry insights, and practical advice on how to scale your way to success. Each interview is packed with valuable information and inspiration for anyone looking to make an impact in the tech and innovation world.

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🎙 Follow the host Marian Danko on LinkedIn.

Find us on YouTube and LinkedIn.

Thank you for listening/watching.

In Between Meetings, Andrew Browne, co-founder of Thin Air Labs, explains how founders can use non-dilutive capital to extend runway and keep ownership. Andrew reflects on Calgary’s maturing startup ecosystem, unpacks why venture capital is a specific tool for a specific job, and shows how to build a capital stack that fits your goals. He defines non-dilutive funding, shares common founder mistakes, and explains how to balance equity, grants, tax credits, and debt to move faster with fewer tradeoffs.

Takeaways:

• Non-dilutive funding is not free money, it’s strategy and leverage.
• Venture capital is one tool, use it when speed or deep-tech risk demands it.
• Plan funding early, don’t react to programs at the last minute.
• Don’t bend your business to fit grants, customers are your customer.
• Map capital type to use of proceeds; equity is flexible, grants are scoped.
• Use equity to unlock grants and credits; extend runway with less dilution.
• Think in 12- to 24-month objectives; build the mix that gets you there.
• Calgary’s ecosystem is maturing fast, with founders aiming global from here.

Andrew Browne is the co-founder of Thin Air Labs. He helped raise and deploy a 20M dollar seed fund and built the Funding Catalyst practice that supported startups in securing more than 80M dollars in non-dilutive capital. With more than a decade across startups, venture building, and ecosystem work, he helps founders design, fund, and scale companies that solve real problems.

Between Meetings is a series of on-the-go interviews featuring industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and corporate innovators. In these interviews, we delve into the latest trends and developments in innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship, catching our guests between meetings in a car ride across town. Along the way, they share inspiring stories, personal experiences, industry insights, and practical advice on how to scale your way to success. Each interview is packed with valuable information and inspiration for anyone looking to make an impact in the tech and innovation world.

Support the show

🎙 Follow the host Marian Danko on LinkedIn.

Find us on YouTube and LinkedIn.

Thank you for listening/watching.

In Between Meetings, Chris Edwards, Managing Partner at Tall Grass Ventures, shares how his background in large-scale capital projects shaped a hands-on approach to early-stage investing in ag and food tech. We talk about TGV’s values-in-action model, its pre-Series A focus, how Chris evaluates founders beyond the deck, and why longer diligence builds stronger partnerships. He also explains how a diverse LP base shapes strategy, how agtech portfolio math differs from typical VC, and why he believes exits are picking up—a positive sign for new founders entering the space.

Takeaways:

• Values to actions: help-first, shoulder-to-shoulder support
• Clarity first: problem, solution, model—no fluff
• Longer diligence, better partnerships
• Portfolio math: reduce failure rates; returns can compound
• LPs as strategy partners and customer access
• Agtech is global: build for Canada, source globally
• Exits picking up: signals of a new cycle

Chris Edwards is the Managing Partner at Tall Grass Ventures, a Calgary-based agri-food tech venture firm investing pre–Series A across Canada and select global markets. With two decades of experience allocating capital to multi-million-dollar projects, leading M&A, and managing international teams, Chris brings a rigorous, empathetic, and hands-on approach to helping early-stage founders commercialize and scale.

Between Meetings is a series of on-the-go interviews featuring industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and corporate innovators. In these interviews, we delve into the latest trends and developments in innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship, catching our guests between meetings in a car ride across town. Along the way, they share inspiring stories, personal experiences, industry insights, and practical advice on how to scale your way to success. Each interview is packed with valuable information and inspiration for anyone looking to make an impact in the tech and innovation world.

Support the show

🎙 Follow the host Marian Danko on LinkedIn.

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In Between Meetings, Victoria Bennett shared how a Calgary Boy Choir campaign sparked her path into crowdfunding after nearly two decades in marketing with Pampers, Tide, ENMAX, TD, and the University of Calgary. She explains what crowdfunding really is, the five main models, and where it fits alongside bootstrapping, angels, grants, and VC. Victoria busts myths about messy cap tables, shows how crowdfunding validates businesses, and highlights the power of storytelling and community in turning one-time backers into long-term supporters. Looking ahead, she discusses blended rounds, community raises, and the future of crowdfunding with AI, blockchain, and secondary markets.

Takeaways:

• Democratization of capital opens early-stage investing to all
• Crowdfunding bridges bootstrapping and VC
• Cap tables stay clean with nominee/trust structures
• Campaigns validate demand and attract institutional investors
• Storytelling connects emotionally with backers
• Modest goals create momentum
• Community matters more than money

Victoria Bennett is the founder of The Crowdfunding Hub and a longtime marketer with experience at Pampers, Tide, ENMAX, TD, and the University of Calgary. She helps startups and growth companies design and execute crowdfunding campaigns to validate markets, attract capital, and convert backers into long-term advocates.

Between Meetings is a series of on-the-go interviews featuring industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and corporate innovators. In these interviews, we delve into the latest trends and developments in innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship, catching our guests between meetings in a car ride across town. Along the way, they share inspiring stories, personal experiences, industry insights, and practical advice on how to scale your way to success. Each interview is packed with valuable information and inspiration for anyone looking to make an impact in the tech and innovation world.

Support the show

🎙 Follow the host Marian Danko on LinkedIn.

Find us on YouTube and LinkedIn

In Between Meetings, Neeraj Gupta shared his global journey and why he believes Calgary can become the startup capital of North America. He spoke about Alberta as a validation hub, the rise of aerospace and defense, deep-tech investing, and the importance of aligning IP with business goals. Neeraj also discussed the CDL focus model, founder red flags, and why time, money, and equity are the three resources every entrepreneur must guard.

Takeaways:

• Ecosystems need seven ingredients: data, domain, talent, research, IP, infrastructure, capital, markets
• Calgary can be a validation hub and gateway to North America
• Aerospace and defense are Alberta’s next bet
• Deep-tech investing requires patience and corporate validation
• IP must serve business strategy, not vanity metrics
• Focus on one market beats chasing five
• Time, money, equity are the most limited founder assets

Neeraj Gupta is an investor, entrepreneur, and mentor whose career spans scaling deep-tech ventures, advising governments, and guiding founders on strategy and intellectual property. Based in Calgary, he plays active roles in investment, mentorship, and ecosystem building—helping position Alberta as a rising hub for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Between Meetings is a series of on-the-go interviews featuring industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and corporate innovators. In these interviews, we delve into the latest trends and developments in innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship, catching our guests between meetings in a car ride across town. Along the way, they share inspiring stories, personal experiences, industry insights, and practical advice on how to scale your way to success. Each interview is packed with valuable information and inspiration for anyone looking to make an impact in the tech and innovation world.

Support the show

🎙 Follow the host Marian Danko on LinkedIn.

Find us on YouTube and LinkedIn

In Between Meetings, Matt Wilson shared his path from founder to investor and the lessons that shape how he leads Allied Venture Partners today. He explained the importance of balancing empathy with objectivity, building a strong investment thesis, and why early traction matters. Matt also reflected on Calgary’s angel ecosystem, his early investments in Lyft and Pinterest, the dangers of predatory angel terms, and why “the opportunity is in the imperfection.”

Takeaways:

• Best investors are often former founders but objectivity is key
• Clear investment thesis removes emotion from decisions
• Founders should build before raising, traction wins
• Calgary’s ecosystem is growing but funding gaps remain
• Predatory angels can ruin cap tables for future VC rounds
• Perfectionism is a trap, MVPs matter most
• AI is here to stay, but hype isn’t a strategy

Matt Wilson is Managing Director at Allied Venture Partners, an angel group of 2,000 investors that has deployed over $6 million into tech startups. A founder turned investor, he has built and exited companies, led sales at Nestlé and Coca-Cola, and co-founded Calgary Beer Week. An early investor in Lyft and Pinterest, Matt now helps founders scale and contributes to shaping Alberta’s startup ecosystem.

Between Meetings is a series of on-the-go interviews featuring industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and corporate innovators. In these interviews, we delve into the latest trends and developments in innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship, catching our guests between meetings in a car ride across town. Along the way, they share inspiring stories, personal experiences, industry insights, and practical advice on how to scale your way to success. Each interview is packed with valuable information and inspiration for anyone looking to make an impact in the tech and innovation world.

Support the show

🎙 Follow the host Marian Danko on LinkedIn.

Find us on YouTube and LinkedIn