EP #124: Usha Srinivasan - Founding Director At Brampton Venture Zone, Serial Entrepreneur & Angel Investor

Usha Srinivasan has a fascinating career spanning over 30 years - as a scientist, market research consultant, innovation ecosystem builder, entrepreneur, and now also an Angel investor. She is the Founding Director of Brampton Venture Zone ( @bvzbrampton ), a non-equity, purpose-driven incubator operated by TMU and funded by the City of Brampton. Before that, she was VP of Partnerships at Elevate Tech Festival ( @elevatetechca ) and COO of a Food tech startup. Her most significant role in the past 15 years has been with MaRS Discovery District ( @marsdiscoverydistrict ), where she was VP of venture and talent programs. She spent ten years building entrepreneurship programs and supporting the growth of regional innovation centers across the province of Ontario with her team.  Her career experiences working in academia, corporations, consulting firms, and startups also included living and working in multiple countries worldwide, including Iran, Dubai, the UK, the US, and Canada. She is dedicated to being a lifelong learner and always has a side hustle - including a French patisserie and a record label business. She believes in a life driven by purpose and unconditional giving.

She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss her work as Founding Director of Brampton Venture Zone, being born in South India (Chennai) and living internationally, the 10+ years she spent at MaRS Discovery District building entrepreneurship programs, never applying for a job as it was advertised but rather pitching herself to make opportunities, being a lifelong learner and embracing new challenges, being a breast cancer survivor, and so much more.

Follow Usha:
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/srinivasanusha/)

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Usha Srinivasan
02:29 - Usha speaks on the skills/perspective developed by moving every three years
05:33 - How she accidentally ended up in Toronto
09:10 - Will she ever go back to the United States?
10:18 - Working for MaRS as employee #25
15:35 - Why she left MaRS; the importance of relationship-building to secure jobs
17:51 - Managing a full time job and family while starting a bakery (Petit Paris); her experience
23:38 - The importance of making mistakes; encouraging her kids to be lifelong learners
26:40 - How did Usha transition from coaching her kids to becoming their friends
29:08 - The food-tech start-up (House Chef) she worked with prospering before COVID
37:02 - Brampton Venture Zone; what it is and what her role entails
40:34 - Companies that have experience rapid growth/and that she’s excited about
45:50 - Advice she would give her 16-year-old self
47:22 - The personal legacy she wants to be remembered for by friends and family
48:38 - Creator Confessions
56:53 - The Wrap Up

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan