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/) Timestamps00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Usha Srinivasan02:29 - Usha speaks on the skills/perspective developed by moving every three years05:33 - How she accidentally ended up in Toronto09:10 - Will she ever go back to the United States?10:18 - Working for MaRS as employee #2515:35 - Why she left MaRS; the importance of relationship-building to secure jobs17:51 - Managing a full time job and family while starting a bakery (Petit Paris); her experience23:38 - The importance of making mistakes; encouraging her kids to be lifelong learners26:40 - How did Usha transition from coaching her kids to becoming their friends29:08 - The food-tech start-up (House Chef) she worked with prospering before COVID37:02 - Brampton Venture Zone; what it is and what her role entails40:34 - Companies that have experience rapid growth/and that she’s excited about45:50 - Advice she would give her 16-year-old self47:22 - The personal legacy she wants to be remembered for by friends and family48:38 - Creator Confessions56:53 - The Wrap UpIntro MusicProduced And Mixed By:- The Tamil Creator- YanchanWritten By:- Aravinthan Ehamparam- Yanchan Rajmohan    Support the show