A New Wave Podcast

Magaly Charbonneau: Understanding the Journey

portrait of Magaly Charbonneau
Magaly Charbonneau Magaly Charbonneau is a seasoned entrepreneur and investor in many Montreal-based high tech startups. She is currently a Partner at inovia Capital and serves on the Board of Directors at Busbud, Tracktik, RenoRun, Rewind and the Mila.

Season 5 — November 9, 2022

How does your previous experience as an entrepreneur and executive in tech startup companies, help you be a more effective venture capitalist?

  • I have experience with the startup journey. As an investor, I understand the desire to bring value to the CEOs and find the founding teams as quickly as possible. Some of us are past operators, so it’s not about just the investment, it’s about building a relationship trusting relationship, and it’s about aligning our values.
  • We help businesses operate and scale their business. It’s obvious to me when I speak to a CEO about his challenges and problems. I have empathy for them because I’ve been there, and I understand deeply how hard it can be to navigate these issues. As a Venture Capitalist, I try to have as many honest conversations about challenges with CEOs and try to bring value by offering them constructive advice.

What are the main ways that you aim to add value as a board member on the boards of different technology companies?

  • The goal of being on the board is to invest in a company but to also ensure that your investment is safe, and the value is really in between the boards.
  • Our job is to touch base with the entrepreneurs we’re working with and give them playbooks for HR for sales and marketing for mergers and acquisitions.
  • The value that I personally want to bring to the board is to be an extension of their team, to be the friendly investor that’s got their back, and initiative that we’re not there to help them make decisions, but we’re there to guide them and we’re there to help them operate and scale and grow.
  • Whether it’s connecting them with people in my network in our network, helping them with expansion in Europe or in America. Our approach is really to be the friendly investor, that is there to hold their hands and guide them.
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