Silicon Valley's best founders are reshaping how the game is played, not just by moving faster but by skipping steps that everyone else treats as mandatory and creating a new baseline.

Chris Neumann, 4X founder and early-stage investor, opens the session with a practical look at what that means for Canadian founders, and what lessons are worth bringing home. Hear from a panel of Canadian founders who recently participated in Game On's San Francisco experience, then a panel of US-based VCs, who will share their insights on how Canadian founders can start playing a different game.

Agenda

9:00 AM - Registration & Networking

9:30 AM - Opening Remarks & Keynote by Chris Neumann

10:30 AM - Founders Panel: Matthew McConnell at Spicenet, Nima Jalalvandi at Ready Plan Go, Pascal Dessureault at Tablevoice

11:15 AM - VCs Panel: TX Zhuo at Fika Ventures, Jason Gray at Pioneer Fund, Andre Charoo at Maple VC, Alex Norman at N49P

11:50 AM - More Networking!

Speakers

An entrepreneur at heart, TX Zhuo has been involved with startups since his college days, where he started then successfully sold an online college textbook marketplace. After a stint at McKinsey, where he was a core member of their financial services and consumer goods practices, he came back to his roots and served as the CFO for an electric vehicle startup, Lit Motors. Thereafter, he worked for Innovation Endeavors, a seed-stage venture fund backed by Eric Schmidt. In 2012, he co-founded Karlin Ventures, based in Los Angeles, where he served as the managing partner for 4 years before co-founding Fika Ventures. He is a strong proponent of transparency and efficiency and is constantly on the lookout for new platforms that seek to disrupt old, antiquated industries.

Once a competitive badminton player who trained 4-5 days a week, he now can be found on the golf course or maxing out his ClassPass account on the weekends. He is also passionate about supporting initiatives that help cancer fighters.

TX holds an MBA from Stanford and a BA in Mathematics and Economics from Wesleyan University.

Jason Gray is the Founder and Managing Partner of Pioneer Fund, a seed fund with offices in Toronto and San Francisco. Pioneer has backed 800+ YC startups, making it one of the most active seed funds globally. Jason is Canadian and went through YC himself in 2015. He has backed dozens of Canadian founders raising their first round of US capital.

Thanks To Our Partner

Co-organized with the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus - U of T Ecosystem team, connecting innovators and leaders shaping the future of tech.

TechTO is Canada’s largest community of tech builders - connecting 60,000+ founders, operators, and investors through year-round meetups, curated dinners, peer tables, and media storytelling. Interested in learning more? techto.org. For sponsorship inquiries, reach out to [email protected].

Toronto Tech Week is a citywide celebration of the people building what’s next. From May 25–29, 2026, founders, investors, and builders come together for hundreds of community-led events across Toronto, connecting tens of thousands of people around Canadian tech. Torontotechweek.com