​Have you ever wondered what successful startups have in common?

​A great idea, adaptable leadership, solid financial backing, and… a top-tier team.

​Your early hires will be instrumental in shaping your company’s direction and could be the deciding factor in whether your startup thrives or falters. That’s why we’re doing something different this time.

​Nubel Connect presents: How to Hire a Top-Tier Team — Founder’s Edition

​If you're building a company, launching a business, or think you've got what it takes to be a first hire, join us for this one-of-a-kind panel featuring four professionals from diverse backgrounds — each with firsthand experience hiring (and being) a top-tier team.

​Who Should Attend

​This event is designed for anyone building or joining early-stage teams:

• ​Founders navigating their first key hires and looking to avoid common hiring pitfalls

• ​Early-stage operators tasked with building culture, recruiting talent, or scaling headcount

• ​Aspiring first hires who want to understand what startups look for—and how to stand out

• ​Investors and advisors who coach or support startups through early team formation

• ​Talent professionals and recruiters curious about what top-tier hiring looks like from the inside:

​Register now! Seats are limited.

Thanks to Cornerstone Community College for hosting this panel in partnership with Nubel!

​Meet our panellists:

​Greg Gunn is the CEO and Co-Founder of Commit, a professional community for top startup engineers. A lifelong entrepreneur, Greg’s journey began in Victoria, BC, and led him through startup exits and a pivotal six-year run at Hootsuite, where he launched their $200M+ Enterprise GTM strategy. Passionate about building high-performing teams and remote-first cultures, Greg believes in thoughtful hiring, transparent leadership, and rethinking outdated work norms. A former Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Inovia, he founded Commit to help engineers find meaningful startup opportunities and reshape how early-stage hiring works in the remote era.

​Noorain Panjwani, known online as YourTechBud, is a founder, consultant, blogger, and speaker passionate about AI, agents, and data-driven workflows. At Xebia, he’s leading the development of an Agentic platform for multi-agent AI systems, and previously helped enterprises adopt Kubernetes at scale across cloud environments. With a background in engineering and a passion for teaching through content, Noorain uniquely bridges technical depth and people-centric leadership. He brings sharp insight into what makes early hires successful, and how founders can build teams that move fast, adapt quickly, and ship production-grade systems from day one.

​Simran Mangat is a community builder and field marketer with a deep understanding of how meaningful relationships drive startup success. As the first community hire at Canopy, a boutique co-working space for founders and VCs in San Francisco, she spent seven years shaping a culture where ambition met belonging. Now based in Vancouver, Simran brings that same community-first mindset to sales and marketing, helping companies design events that do more than generate leads—they spark real connection. With a career rooted in intentional engagement, she offers a unique perspective on how culture and community influence team building from day one.

​Taj Chhina is the Recruitment Lead and a relationship builder at Career Contacts, a Vancouver-based recruitment and HR consulting firm with over 25 years of experience supporting companies across North America. Known for a people-first approach, Taj works closely with founders and scaling teams to align hiring strategies with long-term culture and retention goals. Career Contacts has helped businesses navigate every kind of job market—from the dot-com boom to COVID—by staying focused on fit, flexibility, and integrity. Taj brings a grounded, real-world perspective to what makes a great hire, and how to build teams that thrive in both challenge and growth.