As an early-stage founder, do you find yourself struggling with financial concepts and projections, hindering your ability to secure financing and make informed decisions? Do you want to be able to speak knowledgeably to your accountant, bank or investors about your company finances? Join us for Introduction to Financial Forecasting, where we’ll help you bridge the gap in your financial knowledge and gain the confidence to navigate the world of finance effectively.

Whether you lack a financial background or find financial projections daunting, this workshop is designed to empower you with the essential skills to take ownership of your business’s financial health and make informed decisions.

Workshop Schedule:

• May 25, 2026, 9:00-11:00am ET
• June 1, 2026, 9:00-11:00am ET
• June 8, 2026, 9:00-11:00am ET

Please note that this is a 3-part session, and each session is 2 hours long. Attendance is required for all sessions.

Key Takeaways:

• Understand the key metrics of financial projections, even without a financial background
• Grasp essential financial terms, ensuring credibility in financial discussions
• Gain proficiency in financial projections and develop accurate financial forecasts
• Receive a financial model that will help get you started on your own financial forecast
• Prepare for investment opportunities by creating compelling financial presentations
• Receive real-time feedback from our expert facilitator to refine your strategies

Who should attend:

• Founders looking to enhance their understanding of financial terms and metrics associated with projections
• Startups with a prototype/ beta or minimum viable product (MVP)

Only available to Regional Innovation Centre (RIC) clients. Please contact us for more information.
Please note that to benefit from the peer-to-peer nature of these sessions, all attendees are expected to engage and remain for the full session.

Deposit

In order to take advantage of MaRS Everest, we require participants to give a deposit of $25. This deposit is fully refundable ONLY upon completion of the post-session survey following each session within 5 days of the last session. Given the intimate nature of Everest, and because the success of each session relies on the attendance of ventures, we use the deposit to ensure that ventures will attend when they sign up.

If you are no longer able to attend the session, we require 2 business days’ notice. Please email workshops@marsdd.com. We regret that failure to do so may result in the loss of your deposit.

Meet the speaker

Patrick Heffron, CPA, CA, COO / CFO & Advisor

Patrick Heffron has more than 20 years of ICT leadership experience and expertise in both operations and finance. As well as being a facilitator in the Entrepreneurship Programs at MaRS, Patrick is responsible for finance and operations at the early stage eCommerce company, StickerYou.Previously, Patrick has held COO and CFO positions with Wysdom.AI, Esna Technologies, Clickfree as well as for several technology companies on a fractional basis. Patrick’s early career included executive roles with Bell Canada and IBM.Patrick is passionate about opportunities to assist entrepreneurs execute on their vision. He is an active community volunteer and has been a board member with both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations such as TechConnex,and yLab..