Author Archives: Ashley Alfred

Modern Medicine: Convenience, Create, & Control

Patient entering an MRI scanner in a hospital setting

The advantages that technology offers modern medicine are beyond belief. This includes online references for patients, (Wikipedia/WebMD) online appointment booking, paperless healthcare facilities, and smartphones that strive to make healthcare both convenient, and accessible.

The use of AI coupled with robotics has been instrumental in the development of prosthetics that communicate with the brain to replicate the human body’s natural movements. Genetic testing enables people to make more informed decisions with respect to family planning and preventative measures related to their own health.

Convenience: Accessibility & Affordability
Since the dawn of the smartphone and App stores, providing healthcare at the touch of a screen has been first and foremost in creating an accessible healthcare experience. As of 2018, there were over 318,000 health apps available on the top app stores worldwide. That number has increased. Some of these include: connecting patients with specialists at rapid speed, having prescriptions refilled online and delivered right to your door and checking wait times before venturing into the cold winter weather with a feverish toddler. Convenience is at the core of the future of healthcare. There are several apps that facilitate real-time crisis counselling , helping those that are unable to wait for the next available appointment. For many with anxiety disorders including PTSD, leaving the house can be a feat in and of itself and these services give them the comfort and security of remaining in their own home. Physical therapy requires multiple and usually expensive treatment methods and travelling can be a painful experience. Now, with a quick online search, you can find at home Physio services or just use YouTube videos designed by licensed specialists that offer a plethora of exercises for almost all kinds of aches, pains, and injuries. These are accessible any time, any place and at no cost. Of course, consulting with your doctor is always vital prior to starting any type of healthcare routine, (but that can also be done conveniently via email).

Create: Invention & Reinvention
Injuries or illnesses resulting in loss of a body part are unimaginable, and the road to recovery is even more difficult for those affected and their families. Thankfully with the progression of AI, mind-controlled prosthetics with sensory feedback are becoming reality.

Surgery is more advanced than ever before and now offers in-utero surgery for fetuses. In 2017, Canadian doctors performed their first-ever in-utero surgery for spina bifida at 25 weeks pregnancy resulting in the birth of a healthy baby girl who hasn’t needed any further medical intervention. This surgery spared the family the emotional and financial stresses of having travel to the US for expensive specialized surgeries.

3-D printing of organs allows surgeons to create a clear plan to take before they undergo complicated and intricate surgeries. More importantly, it gives these surgeons the opportunity to practice the surgery, anticipating any challenges. This results in a much higher success rate while minimizing associated risks and recovery time. Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto has been using 3D printed hearts to prepare for pediatric surgery.

Control: Be Informed
One of the greatest aspects of modern medicine is the amount of control it gives us over our own health. We have the ability to know our blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, body mass index, blood sugar levels, and sleep rhythms without even going to the doctor by using health wearables. A watch not only tells the time; it gives us a picture of how our health is functioning and how well we are performing physically. Wearables have even provided access to life-saving technology for people in remote and impoverished regions throughout the world. Digital necklaces that contain an infants’ medical history are less than $1.00 and sleeping bags that help cure hypothermia are available at a fraction of the cost of radiant heaters, making them not only accessible but also a reality for several developing countries.

The Future is in Our Hands
The future of tech not only enables us to be bigger, better, and faster, but it enables us to healthier, stronger, and more mobile. Modern Medicine has made accessible information, Health Tracking Smartphone Apps, Machine Learning, AI, Robotics, Health Wearables, 3-D Printing, Biometrics Scanning, Cloning, and Transplants all very real and will change the future in ways that we can’t begin to imagine. We can only hope for the ongoing success of all of the dedicated researchers, engineers, scientists, physicians, and all others involved in continuing to make these medical marvels possible.

The Plight of a Start-up Recruiter

I have been sourcing technical and executive positions for startups for nearly a decade. It’s not an easy job and sometimes it seems thankless. I understand that most recruiters shy away from startups; many won’t work with a start-up until they’re cash-flow positive or have over 20mm in funding, where others will steer clear of them altogether. Personally, I think that’s a mistake.

If you check out some start-up statistics, you will notice that only 56% of businesses make it to the 5th year. You find articles that discuss the “90% start-up failure rate” and others tout about the inexperience of start-up managerial teams and overall risk of start-up companies.

It makes sense why recruiters are so afraid to work with start-ups, the chances of success are not very high for most. On the other side, if the company is successful and does get acquired or IPO’s, your contacts are likely to leave or the company recruitment strategies can simply change focus. You’re constantly starting over again and again and again.

I’m the first to admit that my job isn’t easy. Everyone I have ever known in the industry outside of my mentor, who has since retired, has gone internal. Internal is much simpler. You get to leave work at 5 pm, where my day doesn’t end until 7 or 8 pm on most days. I work weekends and evenings more often than not. I see failure, again and again, only to pick myself back up again and again.

So Why Do We Work With Start-Ups?

Well, I think these articles are all mistaken. Working with start-ups is extremely rewarding and constantly challenging. You’re not just qualifying a job, you’re also qualifying a company, a Founder and every leader in the business. You’re doing research and digging into their financial situation, their culture and the future or the company. Everything is faster; you have to move fast but, at the same time, you have to find the best of the best. It’s quite frankly much more challenging and I find it invigorating.

TBH, I’ve always been the type of person to get bored easily. Before I was 20 I had done 6-8 different jobs and none lasted longer than 6-months. I am now having my 6-year anniversary at Sage Recruiting and that’s because every day is a challenge. In addition to being more challenging, I also find it more rewarding. I have grown so many startups I can’t count (but I will) and I know that I have made a real impact on their businesses.

For instance, I placed the first Software Engineer of Hubdoc, a former-startup that was recently acquired by Xero for 70 million dollars. I was able to place a good portion of the first team at WealthSimple, a former startup that has now grown to over 200 people and manages over 2 billion in assets. I was lucky enough to place a VP at Real Matters before they did one of the biggest IPO’s in Canada and valuing the company at 1 billion dollars and placed countless people at The Secret Location from the start, before their acquisition to Entertainment One.

So How Did We Do?

In order to quantify my success, I decided to do some math. I have actively worked with a total of 12 clients that have sold or done an IPO in the past 5 years. To put this in perspective, in the past five years in Canada, 183 Canadian companies have been acquired. That’s nearly 10% of all acquisitions in Canada … for one person!

Hiring key roles for a start-up that got acquired is extremely rewarding, but it’s certainly not the “end all, be all”. I’ve watched candidates that I have placed grow from developer to lead to the manager to director in a matter of a few years, which is not the type of fast-paced growth you typically see in a big company. I have received cards and gifts from Candidates that have profited from an exit or are simply thankful that they have found their “perfect company”. I am constantly reading reviews about my business from business owners, leaders and candidates that took the time to write on to thank me for my work. I’ve had a chance to get to know business leaders and executives on a personal level.

This level of closeness with the owners and leaders is part of what makes me so good at what I do. Yes, start-ups have their challenges, but I wouldn’t trade them in for anything in the world.

Welcome to the Future

When I grow up….
In the future….
One day….

To 80’s kids & the generations prior to us, 2020 sounded like a faraway utopian land. To me, it was a place where the Jetson’s lived and we would be travelling in flying cars with robots as our ‘hired help’.

We grew up without seatbelts or helmets. We sat at local libraries using pens and paper for our research papers. Children today are safer and more protected. They have the ability to write faster, learn faster, do faster. They’re uploading assignments to cloud accounts for teachers to grade remotely from Airbnb’s in foreign countries. Tutoring is easily available online. Learning is mixed with gamification and has even become “fun”.

Technology has afforded us so many incredible opportunities that have enabled us to be bigger, better, faster, stronger, wiser, and more globally unified. In the past century, we have gone from travelling across continents by boat to travelling by rocket ship to outer space. Our neighbours used to be the people on our streets, now they are the countries that surround us.

The past twenty years have brought about an explosion of social media, which has changed the world as we knew it. Marketing, communication, dating, travelling, and shopping have all changed in one way or another. We send Snaps, marketing ads are in real-time, we swipe left or right to determine who we want to date and restock our shelves via Amazon all while travelling to a shared office space in our Uber pool. Space is reducing, but through technology, we are finding a way to manage.

There have been extraordinary advances in medicine with the pioneering of 3-D printers, genetic testing, and robotic instruments in the operating room. We have built technology that helps the blind to see, wireless brain sensors, a machine that prints skin, new brain imagery and artificial organs. Neurofeedback enables those with Anxiety and ADHD to thrive. These medical marvels are enabling us to live longer lives, become stronger and healthier and have more opportunities to thrive. At the same time, stress and anxiety are almost the norm. ADHD, Cancer, and Heart Disease have become a part of our vocabulary when addressing friends & family.

Are we living in a world of flying cars and robots? Not yet, but we are certainly close. Importantly, we’ve changed the face of healthcare and opened up new doors and avenues for personal growth. We have come so far and technology has improved the lives of the many. We are growing as a culture and a community but there are still many hurdles that we face. Climate change is happening and our world sometimes feels like it’s at the end. We have one life, one planet, and one opportunity to get this right. Technology has taken us far, but I wonder, what’s next?

Not ‘looking’ for a job…

I’m a recruiter in Toronto and work with high-caliber candidates for some of the top companies in the GTA. My focus is executive and technical search and 95% of the time I’m headhunting. Yes, 95% of my time is spent calling random people and asking them if they are open to hearing about better offers. If you ask one of these potential candidates if they’re looking for a job, the answer will always be no. NO! Not one of these people are “looking” for a job. These are successful, senior level engineering and professionals working for some of the biggest brands in the world! Of course they’re not LOOKING for a job!!!

So if nobody is “looking” for a job, why am I here?

Well, a lack of active candidates on the market IS reason why I’m here. Talent is becoming more and more passive; recruiters not only fill jobs, they also create opportunity. We create opportunity for companies to flourish and grow faster than they could without us, but importantly, we create opportunity for employees by way of creating the need for retention strategies. If candidates are being called by umpteen recruiters on a daily basis, employers will do more to ensure they are happy (catered lunches, anyone?). So, to anyone out there that says they don’t like recruiters, think again. What you don’t like is where the industry has headed, the mass approach lead by an army of junior recruiters that won’t last 6 months and don’t have a clue. The profession itself (and the good ones in it) is another story; thanks to the mass increase in recruitment, companies are competing against each other to attract AND retain talent, continuing to add perks and benefits like never seen before. The trick is to find yourself someone that’s actually good at their job and stick with them as long as you can. That’s not always easy to find, but then again, you can always call me 😉

One other thing I just had to say to the candidates out there interviewing. It’s okay to talk to a recruiter if you’re not serious, as long as you communicate that to them. I am always open to talking to anyone proactively! That said, if you go to an interview, you’re looking for a job. The single act of interviewing with a company means that you are now “looking” for a job. An interview is not a coffee at a coffee shop with a hiring manager, I get that there are proactive meetings, but if you’re going in and writing code on a whiteboard with half the team, you’re looking for a job. Just had to get that out.

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