Dear clients, Cansultants, partners, and friends,
Wow, what a year!
Startup life is filled with peaks and valleys, and we’re no exception. As we celebrated turning three and as we head into 2024, I’m filled with gratitude, appreciation, and pride of our growth and accomplishments.
Below you’ll find a summary of what kept us so busy in 2023, and an exclusive sneak peek at what’s ahead.
We appreciate your continued support and collaboration as we make 2024 the best year ahead!
— Alex(andra), Founder & CEO of Cansulta.com
A new year is a natural junction for introspection and reflection. Reflecting on the past year, Cansulta has marked several significant milestones to help provide accessible and flexible consulting to companies at any stage of their journey: start-up, scale-up, or enterprise. Some of our proudest moments include…
Awards & Recognition
While our client reviews are enough to fuel our momentum, we appreciate industry recognition as well and 2023 certainly set the bar high as we:
- Won “Best Entrepreneurial Consultancy Platform” at the Corporate Vision Small Business Awards.
- We were Finalists in the “2022 Small Business of Year” category at the CanadianSME National Business Awards.
- We’re named Top Tech Company to Watch for the second year by FoundersBeta and Top Hottest Company Without Any Venture Capital by FoundersPress.
- Our “And So, She Left” podcast won two prestigious Signal awards and was shortlisted for two IWPA awards.
- And, it was an honour for our Founder & CEO Alexandra to be nominated for WXN Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women Award and RBC’s Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award.
We’re also thrilled to enter 2024 nominated in multiple categories of the CanadianSME 2023 National Business Awards: Digital Business of the Year, Small Business of the Year, and Best Business Innovation. Wish us luck!
Learn more about these stories and awards on our newly-launched Media Room page.
Team, Roster & Network Growth
Significant Expansion of Expert Network
To better serve clients, we substantially expanded our roster, which brings us to more than 150 individual “Cansultants”! We also began hosting small independent consulting firms (with up to 40 team members), allowing our clients greater access to even more pre-vetted, specialized experts in a wider range of industries, domains, and regions.
Launch & Growth of Associate Program
We accelerated the growth of our Associate program, first launched in late 2022, which brings opportunities for individuals interested in management consulting or another career in business. In this program, everyone wins: clients and Sr. Consultants can access even more affordable support services, and Associates gain real-world experience. To date we’ve received 2000+ applications, have accepted 25+ Associates, and are focused on expansion by partnering with colleges and universities.
Expansion of our Leadership Team
To support our growth and management through additional products, services, programs, and partnerships, Michele Davies joined as our new Chief Operating Officer (COO), bringing more than 25+ years of experience in management consulting, the mining industry, and the innovation ecosystem.
Network & Partnership Expansion
As collaboration is in our DNA, we have also extended our network of business partners, companies that offer products and services valuable to our community and complementary to our platform. Cansulta is selective in these partners, adding only those we test, use, and trust. We then work hard to negotiate valuable offers, discounts, and benefits for you. Some of our new 2023 partnerships included:
- Hardboot (IT staffing)
- Swoop (funding platform)
- Supplino (supply chain expert marketplace)
- The first Certified Partner for the C-Suite IMPACT family of companies
We also negotiated new offers for our VIP Client and Community members with our own business software “Toolkit” including:
- Castmagic (AI-driven podcast content creation),
- Luna (AI-driven lead generation & messaging)
- Nifty (project management)
- Playhunt (video interviews)
- WP Engine (WordPress site hosting)
- Zoho (business software suite)
Register for free to stay subscribed for new partnership announcements to help your organization in 2024!
New Services & Engagements
Expansion of Coaching Services
Cansulta partnered with The Diversity Agency to provide Coaching services to five Black female entrepreneurs, funded by Unilever brand Shea Moisture’s “Dream Fund”.
Evolution of VIP Membership Program
We updated our VIP Client Membership program, adding new plans (Basic, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) with different options so clients can get exactly the right level of access to ongoing monthly support for their unique needs.
Education & Collaboration with Higher Education
We collaborated with the Business faculty at Humber College to offer their Entrepreneurship students education on consulting frameworks and approaches for business. Five of our consultants presented at weekly workshops, providing real-world stories and feedback to the students:
- Anandi Nagarajan, Performance and Leadership Coach
- Carol Elassad, Business Transformation Specialist
- Isabelle LaCroix Vienneau, Reinvention Consultant
- Kim Fairley, Strategic Advisor
- Sean Danchuk, Business Transformation Consultant
We plan to continue to offer similar educational programs in 2024 and beyond.
First Group Collaboration
A global non-profit organization, WEConnect International, chose us for an innovative project with one of their largest partners, Moody’s Analytics: to develop a new podcast! They saw the unique value in what we offer—a lean team of experts with all the benefits of the Big consultancies, but without the red tape and high prices. This was the first project where multiple Cansultants collaborated: Brand Strategist Katherine Gougeon, Podcast Expert Ethan Lee, and Associate Anton Pirisi worked together. Check out the resulting “To Her Credit” podcast pilot episode.
Launch of “And So, She Left” Entrepreneurship Podcast
Initially created in alignment with Women’s History Month and our mission to support women entrepreneurs, our “And So, She Left” entrepreneurship podcast has profiled 40+ successful women who left the corporate world to pursue their own businesses.
Our goal to inspire and support female founders won us two Signal Awards and shortlisted us for two IWPA awards!
Networking & Events
Striving to connect our community, we…
1. Hosted webinars by our own expert Cansultants:
- “Podcasting: Audience Before Anything” with Ethan Lee, Podcast Expert & Consultant
- “The Startup’s Magic Bullet to Getting Investors to Say “Yes” with Jon Pelzer, Research, Marketing, Sales, Business & Data Expert
- “Managing Workplace Investigations: Navigating Delicate Situations” with Roelf Woldring, Organizational Transformation and Performance Consultant.
Missed the live webinar? Be sure to contact our Concierge team for the recordings!
2. Continued our live drop-in Ask A Consultant series with consultants Naveed, Line, Nick G, Jason, Mathew, Isabelle, Lisa, Suzanne, Soon Ju, Nigar, Brenda, John K, Sherene, Gregory, Sofia, Jon R, Nigel, Rob, Igor, Brack, and Payal.
3. Attended in-person conferences and events in Buffalo, New York City, San Francisco, and Toronto.
4. Launched our own in-person event series for GTA-based business leaders, “In-The-(K)Now”, graciously hosted at CreatorClub studios in downtown Toronto. The nine spectacular talks over four casual evening events were a great way to build connections between trusted contacts. Presentations included:
- “Marketing in a Recession: Maintain or Increase Spending” with Alex Wilson, Fook Communications
- “The Future of Work For the Resilient Organization” with Iliana Rocha, Professional Coach & Management Consultant
- “Effectively Scaling Operations with AI & Automation” with Ana Fernandes, COO, Technology & Operations Consultant
- “WTF is Web3?” with Randall Baran-Chong, Web3 Steward & Architect
- “Be Bold. Be Different. Build A Future.” with Jeffrey Potvin, Open People Network (OPN)
- “From Startup to Scaleup” with Michele Davies, Fractional COO & CEO advisory consultant
- “Guarding the Digital Fortress: Navigating the Future of Cybersecurity” with Alex Plotkin, Cyberwall
- “Embracing Your Inner Villain: Red Teaming for Good (and a Little Mischief)” with Sean Danchuk, Business Transformation Consultant
Missed the live event? Become a VIP member and join our Community to access the recordings and attend future events for free.
5. Co-hosted the new Mentoring Magic series with TorontoStarts and Futurpreneur, connecting startup founders and entrepreneurs with specialized mentorship and support!
Don’t miss out on our 2024 events! See our Events page, Follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe on Eventbrite!
What’s Ahead in 2024
As we set our sights on new heights in 2024, you can expect more virtual and in-person events, adding to our Cansultant roster and selecting new partnerships. You also can expect brand new initiatives including:
- Centers of Excellence (COEs) – We’re making it easier than ever for clients to get specialized industry support from vetted, experienced Cansultants. Coming soon are focused COEs for Manufacturing, Payments, Healthcare & MedTech, Law/Legal, Education & EdTech, Non-profits & NGOs, Food & Beverage, Hospitality, and finally, E-Commerce and Tech Startups.
- Contests – Returning in 2024 will be our #ForTheLoveOfBusiness and #HeadStart contests, designed to bring clients great savings and make progress towards critical-but-often-neglected projects and goals, such as annual goal planning and review.
- Tools & Assessments – To complement our Startup Investor Readiness quiz, there will be new tools & assessments designed for gap identification.
- New Features – Our best ideas come from you, so we’ll be listening, adding features and making improvements based on your feedback. Do you have an idea or request? Email our Product team at feedback@cansulta.com and we’ll try to make it happen!
To keep up to date on everything Cansulta, follow us on LinkedIn and register for free on Cansulta.com to join our mailing list.
About Cansulta:
Cansulta is a global platform that helps business leaders seize every opportunity and solve every challenge by providing easy and affordable access to world-class consultants. Users can log on, browse consultants, and book introductions for free, then schedule live consultations or purchase in-depth services—all on one platform with streamlined contracts and billing.
For media inquiries, please contact press@cansulta.com or visit our new Media Room page for announcements, awards, stories, and more!
