In this latest podcast episode from the entrepreneurship frontier, Co-Hosts Braden Kemp and Tracy Morningstar join Sydney Robinson, Co-Founder & CEO of southern Ontario-based start-up, Vessl Prosthetics, for a conversation about business, innovation and defining company culture from the beginning. Sydney is a mechanical and biomedical engineer working on an isoform socket to improve prosthetic solutions: “we are dedicated to amputees and being the best company we can be.”
Themes we encounter during this episode include:
- Biomedical engineering innovation and iterative, user-driven design
- Business model, innovation commercialization and regulatory strategies for prosthetics start-ups
- Social media
- Food and travel, and sources of inspiration
- Building a strong company culture
Vessl secured $25,000 in matching, performance-based seed funding from NCFDC's thriveFORWARD initiative, with the support of FedDev Ontario and the Government of Canada's Jobs and Growth Fund (JGF).
The Executive Producer of the Frontier Entrepreneurship Podcast is Robert Washburn. Special thanks to NCFDC’s Victoria Pichler and John Hayden. This project is made possible with the support of FedDev Ontario and the Government of Canada.
Quick Links and References:- Vessl Prosthetics official website
- Earned media: Global News, CTV News, University of Waterloo.
- Mechanical Engineering (Queen’s University, Kingston, ON)
- Western Medical Innovation Fellowship (Western University, London ON)
- Key vocabulary: ”Prosthesis” (Wikipedia), ”Osseointegration” (Wikipedia), ”Physiatrist” (Johns Hopkins Medicine)
- Brené Brown (brenebrown.com)
- NCFDC’s thriveFORWARD initiative and portfolio.
Bioenterprise is Canada’s Food and Agri-Tech Engine, a community of entrepreneurs, researchers, accelerators, and partners, committed to driving innovation across Canada in the agri-tech and food industry. To learn more, and discover opportunities for collaboration, head to bioenterprise.ca.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.