This week, our full episode is an hour-long conversation with economist Larry Smith, longtime instructor at the University of Waterloo. Smith has been advising technology entrepreneurs in Waterloo Region for decades, starting with BlackBerry (then RIM) in the 1980's. He's taught about 10 per cent of the University of Waterloo's total alumni, and is a beloved institution at the school. His TED talk, "Why you will fail to have a great career," has been viewed millions of times.

Smith gives advice for young people starting their careers and older people transforming them; and shares his thoughts on demographics in the workplace, the Waterloo Region tech ecosystem, his favourite film and a lot more. He also offers advice for companies at three stages of growth: small, medium and enterprise.


Our short episode this week is a pared-down version of the same conversation. Cut to just over a half-hour, this episode is just Larry's advice. He shares what he thinks people should focus on when changing careers, starting them, or growing a company from an idea to a multimillion-dollar enterprise.