With four successful companies and two acquisitions under his belt, Ohad Broide is excited to bring his skills and expertise to Atlantic Canada.

He has decided to continue his entrepreneurial journey in Canada, after previously living and working in Israel. This was a decision that he put years of thought into, and felt would be the best move for him and his family long term.

“We literally opened the globe and asked ourselves where would be the best place for our children in 20, 30 years from now, and Canada was the best place we could find for them,” Broide said.

While he could have moved to a lot of places to be involved in tech, he landed in Halifax, which was a great opportunity for him.

“We love the people here and their humbleness. We appreciate the simplicity of things here, and we are very, very grateful to be here … we want to give back by helping our ecosystem to advance and solve the big challenges, making Halifax the central hub that it can actually be,” he said.

While his journey has certainly led him to see a lot of success, the path wouldn’t have gone that way had he not seen some setbacks.

Ohad spent some time working as a Software Developer after graduating from university, and he quickly realized that the 9am to 5pm work schedule wasn’t for him.

“I needed something more dynamic,” Ohad said. “After I finished university, everything was new and exciting. I didn’t know anything about business and all I was taught was to find a good decent job at a good decent company.”

He quickly realized he wasn’t happy in this role, and needed to find another passion to pursue. “I was underperforming, and I wasn’t happy because I didn’t have any real impact on anyone’s life…so they fired me,” Broide said.

After working as a waiter, he noticed how much happier he was interacting with people and decided it was time for a change.

“The best advice that I would give to someone caught in a rut in life is if you’re not passionate about something, then don’t do it. Period. Because entrepreneurship is an inner voice that tells you that there’s more to life than the paycheque. If you feel that inner voice, don’t waste time figuring things out. Just do whatever makes you happy,” Broide added.

This is why he always reminds himself to follow his passion and implements this principle in every business decision he makes.

In terms of actually getting your startup to be successful, grow and scale, Broide recommended looking at entrepreneurship as the business of value creation over anything else.

“Founding a startup is like beginning a journey in the middle of a desert, where you have very limited resources, which is the capital that you need to use as efficiently as possible.”

“Founders are not in the business of development, or in innovation … they’re in the business of value creation. So the best advice I would give to Founders is to figure out the game correctly and try to make the most value with their limited resources and creativity,” Broide added.

Broide said he is excited to get more involved with the Atlantic Canadian ecosystem, and Volta overall. He will serve as a judge on our panel for the Pitch Competition, taking place on Wednesday, February 24 at 12pm.

In regards to what Ohad is looking for from the pitches, he has put an emphasis on overall business awareness.

“Charisma always helps, but it’s not necessarily the top quality that I’m looking for. The most important component to me in a pitch is the business relevancy and awareness,” he said.

“In your pitch, show how fast you ran so far, since the global market doesn’t wait for anyone, and if you can’t run fast enough, you’ll probably be left behind. So show me that you know how to run.”

Making quality decisions and raising startups’ valuations fast with great leadership is what makes the startup ecosystem so exciting to Broide.

He loves to see the success of companies and is looking forward to continuing to work with them.

While companies achieving the big wins are of interest to him, he’s passionate more about their journey along the way, the small wins, and the decisions that shape their identity.

The success stories that he continues to strive for within the Atlantic Canadian ecosystem is to have companies thinking on more of a grand scale.

“I want to encourage Founders to learn more about the global market perspective because when they build companies, the global competition dictates a different set of decisions, tools, professionals, and leadership style.”

“I look forward to working with Volta and helping our ecosystem grow,” he added enthusiastically. Broide will be serving as a judge at our Quarterly Pitch Competition on February 24. Register to attend at http://bit.ly/3prsVg0