Carol Leaman: The Riskiest Bet of Her Career | Scale Canadian Founder Series

Carol Leaman started Axonify in the middle of a divorce. She turned down a job at Google to do it. It was, in her words, the scariest decision she ever made. It also became one of Canada's greatest enterprise software success stories, eventually sold to private equity. In this episode, Graphite Ventures GP Aaron Bast sits down with Carol Leaman - who went from a VC-backed founder to advisor and LP at Graphite Ventures - to unpack the discipline behind her serial entrepreneur career, and why the flywheel she's now part of makes the Canadian tech ecosystem's "it takes a village" model a strategy, not just a sentiment. They cover: • The decision to start Axonify in the middle of a divorce instead of taking a job at Google, and why she still calls it the best and scariest choice she's made • How an accidental CPA background turned into obsessive financial discipline, and how that discipline saved Axonify's first outside financing round when a Walmart contract came down to the wire • Why she chose to acquire Nudge, a Canadian company, over a Netherlands-based rival, and what that decision reveals about building close to home • How "no ego" became an operating principle at Axonify, and why she believes unaddressed culture problems behave like a virus inside a company • Why she remains one of the most vocal advocates for female founders in the Canadian ecosystem, sparked by a blunt question a friend once asked her • How going from funded-founder to funding-LP turned Carol into part of the flywheel that is reshaping the Canadian tech ecosystem Scale Canadian is Graphite's commitment to helping exceptional founders build globally competitive companies from Canada — and proving that Canadian seed investing can deliver both world-class returns and lasting economic impact. Learn more at scalecanadian.ca. _____________________________ Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:57 What Makes Carol a Serial Entrepreneur? 02:56 How Does a CPA Background Shape Risk-Taking? 04:41 How Did Capital Discipline Save the Axonify Walmart Deal? 08:05 Why did Carol become an LP in Graphite Ventures? 09:42 Why Did Axonify Choose to Acquire a Canadian Company? 12:38 What Does It Take to Build an Ego-Free Culture? 15:48 Why Is Carol Passionate About Mentoring Female Founders? 20:39 How Does Carol Coach Founders on Giving Back? 23:17 What Does Full Circle Success Really Mean? 25:35 Lightning Round Stay Connected: ➡️ Watch more from the Founder Leadership Series:    • Scale Canadian Founder Series   ➡️ Follow Graphite Ventures on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/graphitevc/ ➡️ Follow our GPs on LinkedIn: • Aaron Bast: linkedin.com/in/aaron-bast-4834b723/ • Craig Leonard: linkedin.com/in/vcyogi/ • Kevin Madill: linkedin.com/in/kmadill/ ➡️ More on Scale Canadian: scalecanadian.ca Graphite Ventures is Canada's seed-stage venture capital firm for B2B founders. We invest in Canadian B2B software and hardware companies, helping founders scale globally with capital efficiency and discipline. Learn more at graphitevc.com. #ScaleCanadian #CanadianTech #VentureCapital #CarolLeaman #CanadianVentureCapital #CanadianStartups