Developing Edmonton’s entrepreneurial ecosystem

Learning from the pros

Learning from the Pros interviews professional entrepreneurs who are currently in the trenches growing their businesses. Through insightful conversations, we unpack their common business challenges and identify the lessons every business owner needs to learn so they can accelerate their own business growth. Learning from the Pros is produced by Amplomedia in partnership with Troy Media.

Today we’re joined by Colin Tran, the founder, and president of NXT-GEN at the University of Alberta. At a high level, NXT-GEN was originally founded to bring entrepreneurship to the high school level. It has since evolved into an organization that connects those students – that next generation of Edmonton entrepreneurs – with our city’s rapidly developing entrepreneurial ecosystem. This program was developed with the dream of helping to launch the next generation of young entrepreneurs into that ecosystem and get them started on their entrepreneurial journeys.

Today’s Guest

Colin Tran is the Founder and President of NXT-GEN UAlberta, a not-for-profit student group focused on developing the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders with a student entrepreneurship accelerator program connecting students to the broader entrepreneurship ecosystem. Colin has started and grown several other student-led organizations in leadership roles, has teaching experience at the high school and university levels, and has won numerous awards and competitions relating to entrepreneurship, business strategy, and leadership, including being the youngest-ever recipient of an ASTech (Alberta Science and Technology) Award. His industry experience is highlighted by his current role as VP Corporate Affairs with Trust Science, a locally-headquartered FinTech SaaS company that leverages alternative data and a proprietary AI/ML platform to provide highly predictive credit insights to find great borrowers for lenders, where he has ably led the marketing team and grant initiatives while also providing People and Culture, Sales, and Executive Strategy support. During his tenure, the company has had a 13 times growth in annual run-rate with ARR exceeding $3M.

Our Host

Lance Johnson

Lance Johnson is the president of Amplomedia, an innovative digital marketing agency specializing in motion graphic video production and digital marketing services. He leverages more than 20 years of experience in marketing and business strategy to help clients identify how best to engage their audience while effectively communicating their messages with clarity and impact.

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