By Mehr Sokhanda
In a recent Tech Uncensored podcast, Usha Srinivasan, founder of BReady Talent and former ecosystem builder at MaRS, Elevate, and Brampton Venture Zone (BVZ), discussed her transition from supporting founders to becoming one.
Born into an immigrant family, she was steered toward a career in medicine, like many children of first-generation parents. “I think my parents wanted me to be a doctor, but I didn’t want to pursue that path,” she recalls. Her father was a paediatrician, and though she didn’t follow that route, she gravitated toward research and the sciences. “Eventually, research became the alternative—the second-best option was becoming a PhD doctor rather than a physician.” She loved working in the lab and imagined herself becoming a university professor
Her story offers a dual perspective — her intention to create access to resources and systems for startup founders and firsthand experience of what it takes to build her own business from scratch. Here are the learnings from Srinivasan’s journey.
1. You Can’t Build for Founders Without Becoming One
Srinivasan’s first pivot came when she left the lab to join Frost & Sullivan, a global market research firm. There, she spent nearly a decade leading the Building & Materials Technology practice for North America. But something nagged at her—something she saw repeatedly. “A lot of startups would come to Frost & Sullivan looking for market research, but most of the time they couldn’t afford our consulting services or even the reports we produced. I saw this as an untapped opportunity within the startup community,” she said.
This realization pushed her toward MaRS Discovery District, where she pitched herself for a role that didn’t yet exist. She was soon hired to build what would become the now-renowned MaRS Market Intelligence Services—providing startup-friendly access to high-value research typically priced out of reach.
“I was extremely lucky to have joined MaRS at such an early stage. I was employee number 25 back in 2008 and MaRS itself was very much a startup… it was like drinking from a firehose most days as I stepped out of my comfort zone in market research into areas like entrepreneurship education, startup engagement, and program management.”
During her decade there, she helped launch national-scale services, online education programs, and managed multiple divisions. But even then, something still felt off.
“Working in that environment, surrounded by startups day in and day out, you start to wonder: should I try entrepreneurship myself? Is there something I want to build? And honestly, I began to feel a bit like an imposter. I was creating programs for founders, but I didn’t really know what it meant to be a founder,” she explained.
That sense of disconnect ultimately led her to take the leap.
2. Timing Is Personal—Entrepreneurship at Different Life Stages
There’s often an unspoken belief that startup life is meant for the young. But the entrepreneurial journey isn’t bound by age — it’s bound by mindset, experience, and risk tolerance.
Srinivasan transitioned into entrepreneurship while her children were in high school and after building a decade-long career in research and ecosystem development. “When you’re young and starting out, you may not have many responsibilities. You can live in your parents’ basement, avoid paying rent, skip savings, and get by on simple meals. That level of sacrifice is often more manageable,” she stated.
After leaving MaRS, she didn’t jump headfirst into full-time entrepreneurship. Instead, she negotiated a unique part-time role with Elevate’s then-CEO, Razor Suleman, allowing her to split the year between Elevate and building her food-tech startup, House Chef. “It was a calculated risk… I was moving from a full-time job, still with a family to support, into a part-time role while pursuing my goal of launching a new business,” she explained.
That meant juggling two intense paths—event planning and entrepreneurship—at once. “Running an event like Elevate, with 20,000 attendees, was extremely fast-paced and demanding. The event business alone operates at a relentless speed,” she said.
For younger founders, the low overhead and freedom to experiment can be advantages. They’re more likely to take bold risks, move quickly, and absorb setbacks without severe long-term consequences.
But older entrepreneurs face different experiences. Srinivasan explains : “As you get older, even if you have some financial stability or savings, your responsibilities increase — especially if you have a family and children. It becomes more about your personal comfort level and what you’re willing or able to risk.”
When she made her leap, it wasn’t just a career decision—it was a lifestyle shift. Srinivasan left a structured role at MaRS and entered a hybrid arrangement with Elevate so she could split time between her day job and building House Chef. This balancing act is one many older founders face. But that doesn’t make the journey less entrepreneurial. In fact, it often makes it more strategic.
Srinivasan also highlights a crucial truth — the emotional texture of building a company changes with age. There’s more patience, better context for decision-making, and a broader sense of why the business matters beyond financial outcomes. For her, the motivation was rooted in community impact — first with food tech and later with BReady Talent.
She acknowledges the energy cost of entrepreneurship later in life. When she worked on Elevate’s flagship events, supporting a team of 300 and running multi-thousand-attendee productions, she admitted: “It was an extremely fast-paced and demanding lifestyle. The event business alone operates at a relentless speed… So yes, it’s a high-intensity lifestyle with very little downtime.”
Yet, despite the demands, she saw entrepreneurship not as something she should have done earlier, but something that aligned with the season of life she was in. Her skills, perspective, and lived experience all prepared her to lead more effectively—and more thoughtfully.
3. COVID Didn’t Just Pivot the Business — It Pivoted the Founder
By early 2020, both of Srinivasan’s ventures—House Chef and Elevate—were gaining momentum. Then COVID hit. In one stroke, both food-tech and events became unviable. “No one was going to go for home social dining anytime soon; people were terrified of getting sick from a virus no one really understood,” she stated.
Elevate, too, faced massive disruption. As Chief of Staff, she had a front-row seat as budgets were cut, and staff was let go. “He [Razor Suleman] had to make some very tough decisions… The organization shrank very quickly to just a few people. So, I was out of a job—plain and simple,” she explained.
But for Srinivasan, this wasn’t just a professional loss — it was a clarifying moment.
“That experience forced me to really think hard. For any entrepreneur considering building something, the truth is, anything can happen at any time. You might find yourself in a market that becomes completely unviable overnight. Just look at how today’s tariffs are affecting many startups,” she lamented.
Suddenly out of work and recovering from dual business closures, she didn’t panic. She asked, ‘What now?’ What would it look like to build something more resilient, more aligned with her values, and more grounded in lived community needs?
That question became the seed of Brampton Venture Zone
4. Know the Community You’re Building For
After losing her job during the pandemic, Srinivasan was offered a chance to build something from scratch again—this time in Brampton, a city she hadn’t yet explored deeply. Hence, when Srinivasan set out to launch Brampton Venture Zone (BVZ), she didn’t begin with strategy decks or borrowed models. Instead, she got in her car and drove across Brampton, through its neighbourhoods to observe, absorb, and understand the community she was about to serve. “Too often, smaller communities borrow models from other places without really thinking it through. You have to be honest and true to the community you’re building for,” explained Srinivasan.
This wasn’t just due diligence—it was a values-based approach to ecosystem design. Srinivasan understood that effective innovation support starts not with assumptions, but with presence. And in Brampton, she saw a vibrant, overlooked mix of industries —logistics, food processing, healthcare, and manufacturing — that were central to the city’s economic fabric.
Instead of trying to position Brampton as the next fintech capital (despite lacking major financial institutions), Srinivasan made a different choice. She built the incubator around the region’s existing strengths.
“This was about giving back to the community. I wasn’t interested in taking a random approach, inviting any entrepreneur to build whatever they wanted. It had to be intentional, rooted in the needs of Brampton’s existing economy,” she explained.
That clarity of purpose led to one of BVZ’s most unique initiatives: the Problem Lab. Srinivasan and her team sat down directly with local businesses to understand their operational pain points—everything from supply chain inefficiencies to digital transformation struggles. Then, they used those insights to attract and vet startups who could solve those specific problems. “This approach allowed me to attract very specific startups. It also gave me the ability to say no to startups that weren’t clear about the problem they were solving,” she explained.
Whether you’re building a product, a community, or a company, proximity to the actual pain point is everything. It’s easy to chase what’s trendy — AI, blockchain, fintech — but true traction happens when your offering solves a problem people already feel.
5. Don’t Ignore SMEs—They’re Undervalued and Under resourced
One of Srinivasan’s biggest insights came while organizing BVX Fest. Though the event attracted over 1,700 people, she noticed a surprising pattern: 70% of attendees weren’t there to start businesses, they were looking for jobs.
This was a lightbulb moment that led her to create BReady Talent, a platform to match immigrant and underutilized talent with SMEs and startups. “There are over 200,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in this region. Many people don’t realize these $20 million companies with 200 employees need great talent too,” said Srinivasan
Yet, these employers struggle. They can’t pay $150/day to post on LinkedIn or screen 500 resumes. BReady Talent fills that gap by offering a searchable talent bank and matching system. It’s not just a job board — it’s infrastructure for startup hiring.
6. Build Diversity into Your Model—Not Just Your Language
As Srinivasan developed BReady Talent, she encountered the common disconnect in how companies approach diversity. For her, DEI wasn’t just a buzzword — it was about unlocking real business value through untapped talent.
“No one wants to be hired because they’re a quota. These are highly qualified individuals with multilingual capabilities who could help you expand into new markets,” explained Srinivasan.
Rather than pitching diversity as a moral imperative, she positioned it as a strategic advantage. Many of the candidates on BReady’s platform speak multiple languages—Tamil, Arabic, Farsi, Spanish — and have worked across continents. That means they don’t just bring technical skills; they bring cultural fluency, global networks, and the potential to help companies access new customer bases.
Srinivasan is clear: hiring for diversity isn’t about tokenism or optics. It’s about building smarter, more adaptable teams. For startups especially — who may be eyeing international expansion or need fresh thinking to stay competitive — this kind of talent is a goldmine.
As Srinivasan said, “With diversity — whether it’s age, gender, ethnicity, or lived experience — you strengthen your company. If a business leader understands that, they will succeed.”
The takeaway for founders? Don’t limit your hiring pool to what looks familiar. Treat diversity as an innovation strategy. The broader your team’s perspective, the better your product, your market reach, and your odds of long-term success.
7. Your Support System Needs to Be Built with Intention
Despite having held leadership roles at MaRS, Elevate, and Brampton Venture Zone, Srinivasan isn’t currently part of any incubator or accelerator as a founder. And her reasoning is telling: “For any incubator, the pace at which you do things matters. Entrepreneurs don’t have time. If they need something at 8 PM, they need it at 8 PM.”
She emphasized that startup life is 24/7. It’s not constrained by business hours, and the support systems meant to empower founders shouldn’t be either. Too many accelerators, she noted, operate like traditional institutions — slow to respond, burdened by red tape, and more focused on programming than responsiveness.
Founders, meanwhile, are often juggling survival-level decisions — whether it’s landing their first customer, patching product bugs, or negotiating funding terms. A one-month wait for mentorship, or a delayed funding referral can mean missed opportunities or burnout. “Entrepreneurs may be foregoing serious things — like dental work — because they’re bootstrapped. If you tell them, ‘I can meet with you next month,’ that’s way too late,” said Srinivasan.
Her advice to both support organizations and founders is clear: build and choose support systems that are nimble, empathetic, and aligned with startup urgency. Seek spaces that don’t just talk about innovation—they operate like innovators. Founders shouldn’t have to cobble together resources from five different places. The best support is intentional, immediate, and genuinely founder-first.
8. Diversify Your Income—Always
For Srinivasan, the importance of diversified income isn’t just theory—it’s a lesson she learned the hard way. In 2020, just as she was juggling two high-energy ventures —events at Elevate and her own food-tech startup, House Chef — the pandemic hit: “I had chosen to build a food tech business and work in events — two industries that were completely disrupted. No one was going to go for home social dining anytime soon,” she explained.
It was a wake-up call. Founders often go all-in on a single idea, driven by passion or urgency. But Srinivasan stresses that this can leave you dangerously exposed, especially in industries that are vulnerable to economic shifts, public health crises, or policy changes. “Make sure you have diversified income streams. It’s absolutely essential. If you’re building a startup, ensure you also have a secondary source of income—whether that’s rental income, investments, or a side hustle generating passive income. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket and approach your investments more strategically,” said Srinivasan.
She emphasized that this is even more critical for women entrepreneurs, who may already face systemic barriers in fundraising, visibility, or balancing family responsibilities. Diversifying income helps reduce stress, extend your runway, and protect your ability to stay in the game when markets shake. maybe expand a little bit more
9. Side Hustles Build Entrepreneurial Muscle
Before launching BReady Talent, Srinivasan was already exploring entrepreneurship on her own terms. She ran a bakery in Toronto’s Beaches neighbourhood, helped manage a reggae record label, and co-founded House Chef. These ventures weren’t always scalable or long-term — but they were deeply formative. “Having side hustles forces you to learn the tools. I wouldn’t have learned all the tech I use today if those businesses didn’t demand it,” explained Srinivasan.
Every side hustle required her to wear multiple hats — doing her own digital marketing, managing customer relationships, learning e-commerce, budgeting in tight cycles, and later, navigating platforms and automation. Those early experiments gave her the technical fluency and operational mindset that would later prove essential when building a tech-enabled platform like BReady.
Srinivasan strongly believes that side hustles are a low-risk training ground. They offer aspiring founders a way to experiment, validate assumptions, and understand their own working style—without the high stakes of quitting a job or raising capital too early. They also force a level of creative problem-solving that corporate environments rarely demand. She stressed: “I’m dedicated to being a lifelong learner. If you’re learning new things, then you should go into it.”
Srinivasan’s story is one of empathetic leadership. Her transition from ecosystem builder to founder wasn’t just a career move—it was a shift in perspective.
As a founder, the takeaway is this: Build with curiosity. Lead with empathy. And solve real problems with real people in mind.
In a startup world obsessed with scale and speed, Usha Srinivasan reminds us that sometimes the best companies are those built slowly, thoughtfully, and locally—with a problem-first mindset and a founder who genuinely cares.
Want to hear more?
Catch the full conversation with Usha Srinivasan on Tech Uncensored, hosted by Hessie Jones.
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