Building Canada's Next Flagships | Amiral Ventures

Описание: We burned the boats. No plan B. Nearly 3 years to close Fund 1 — here's the real story of building Amiral Ventures from scratch. 🚀
🔗 Learn more: https://amiral.vc

Two years ago, we recorded an episode asking: what is Amiral Ventures, and why are we doing this? A lot has happened since. Fund 1 is officially closed.

In this episode, partners Nectar, Fred, and Dom sit down for the most honest conversation we've ever recorded — what it actually took to raise a fund with no product, no customers, and no guarantees. Just conviction, complementary experience, and a refusal to quit.

We cover the genesis story (Fred's decade in wireless tech and LTE, Dom's 25 years in M&A and two IPOs at Expand Capital, Nectar's journey from consulting to VC), the hard lessons of a 3-year fundraise, and why we believe the next great Canadian companies will be built right here.

If you're a founder, investor, or builder in the Canadian tech ecosystem — this one's for you.

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⏱️ CHAPTERS
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0:00 – Cold open: "You just have to be completely naive"
1:00 – Welcome back: Two years later, Fund 1 is closed
2:00 – The genesis story: Why Amiral? How did the three partners meet?
4:00 – Dom's background: Investment banking, M&A & Expand Capital
6:00 – Fred's background: Wireless tech, LTE & founding two startups
8:00 – How Nectar joined: From P&R consulting to Amiral co-founder
10:00 – Nectar's backstory: The pandemic pivot & the decision to launch a fund
11:00 – Lesson #1: Building trust is the whole job
12:00 – What's actually missing in Canada: Conviction, not capital
13:00 – The quality of Canadian founders surprised us
14:00 – The gap has moved: Seed & pre-A is where leadership is needed
15:00 – The hardest transition: From founder to CEO
16:00 – Why Canada keeps losing its best founders to the US
17:00 – The LP network: Successful founders investing back in
18:00 – The Amiral pitch: Lead/co-lead, $1–2M checks, 15 companies
19:00 – Prosperity Decoded: Our investment thesis explained
20:00 – How we help portfolio companies day-to-day
21:00 – Why founder-led funds matter
22:00 – Portfolio spotlight: Maxa — AI for CFOs & FP&A
23:00 – Portfolio spotlight: Maquette — AI for residential architecture
24:00 – Our AI thesis: Platform innovation, not LLMs
25:00 – What surprised us most: Canadian startups fleeing south
26:00 – The decline of grassroots tech movements in Canada
27:00 – Builders on the cap table: Community as competitive advantage
28:00 – Rising tides: Our community strategy & giving back
29:00 – The partnership: No plan B, burning the boats
30:00 – Lesson #2: Radical transparency — even when the answer is no
31:00 – The "Book of No": Fred's fundraising story at nobo
32:00 – Giving back beyond tech: TechAid, DPG Foundation
33:00 – The singing story 🎤
34:00 – Where we're going: The next 10 years & Fund 2
35:00 – Outro

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🔗 LINKS
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• Amiral Ventures: https://amiral.vc
• Flagship Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4c48AlN...

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🎙️ LISTEN EVERYWHERE
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• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4c48AlN...
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast...
• Website: https://amiral.vc


The Flagship Podcast goes inside the Canadian technology ecosystem — conversations with founders, investors, and builders sharing the hard-earned lessons behind building world-class companies.