Building Fast, Scaling Smart with Google, Handshake, and MaRS IAF

​As part of Waterloo Tech Week, Mars IAF is proud to partner with Google and Handshake.app for a candid panel on how founders can balance speed, customer signal, and long-term scalability. Startups often wrestle with the tension between moving fast to capture momentum and building something durable enough to last, and those choices can make or break a company.

​In 2025, new tools like AI make it easier than ever to build quickly, but the underlying challenges remain. This panel will explore:

• ​How to ship faster by building on strong foundations and avoiding costly rebuilds

• ​How to separate hype from real customer problems and feedback that matters

• ​How to decide when “good enough” is enough to launch, and when more polish is worth it

​Panelists:

• ​Yvonne Monterroso (Firebase PM @ Google) — perspective on how strong infrastructure helps founders ship faster and scale.

• ​Filip Nikacevic (Co-Founder @ Handshake.app) — lessons from scaling quickly inside a voice AI startup.

• ​William Ma (VC @ Mars IAF) — representing one of Ontario’s most active early-stage investors, sharing how speed and scalability shape outcomes.

​We are official event hosts with Waterloo Tech Week 2025, a celebration of what’s been built here, and what’s still to come. We’re building something great together. September 8-11, 2025. waterlootechweek.ca