For media and organisers
Ottawa · EN · UK · RU
Maksym Stepanenko
Talks, interviews,mentoring, judging
Business consultant: strategy, law, marketing, finance
For 14 years I have taken client businesses to the next level, protected them and helped them grow faster. I turn the chaos a founder lives in into a system that runs without daily hands-on control. Thousands of companies in 50+ countries.
Talk 15–30 min · workshop 60–90 min · panel · webinar · judge · mentor. Online or in person: Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal. Languages: English, Ukrainian, Russian.
01
Expertiseand competencies
On the left, the documentary trace of each competency. On the right, what people bring to me because of it.
Companies and finance
25.07.2023
CBCA 1522612-1
Companies abroad, tax, finance, banking
Director of INNOVA CONSULT (Innova Consulting Group, Ottawa). Choosing a jurisdiction, incorporation, tax structure, finance and accounting, bank accounts and reporting: Canada, the UK, the US, the UAE, Estonia, Singapore and more. Fourteen years of this work, thousands of small and medium business clients in more than 50 countries.
Law
05.03.2013
Insolvency practitioner licence No. 157, Ministry of Justice of Ukraine
Legal practice and insolvency
Ran the Legal Solutions law firm in Kyiv for nine years (2014–2023). Worked as a court-appointed insolvency practitioner and handled a liquidation with UAH 55 million in creditor claims. Before that, development director of a Kyiv law bureau (2010–2013).
Marketing
18.06.2013
EDRPOU 38735404 · Marketing Mix LLC
Marketing and sales for small businesses
Owner of the Marketing Mix (MMIX) agency since 2013. Websites, promotion, lead generation and lead handling for small and medium businesses in Ukraine and Canada. Now also how a company shows up in ChatGPT answers and Google's AI overviews.
Canada — Ukraine
19.08.2024
ONCA 1000983432 · Ukrainian Community of Lanark County
Business between Canada and Ukraine
Living and working in Ottawa since May 2023. Incorporating in Canada as a Ukrainian owner, the modernized Canada–Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (services, investment and digital trade since July 2024), public procurement, export support programs. Co-founder of the Ukrainian Community of Lanark County and the UAFest festival.
Systems and operations
Build North 2026
Top-10 finalist · Georgian, Toronto
From chaos to a system
I find where a business loses money and time, then build the system: company structure, contracts, reporting, lead handling, regular numbers for the owner. After that it runs without daily hands-on control. Part of the routine in these systems runs on AI agents. My team was a Build North 2026 finalist with RedactGate, a tool that protects client personal data in documents.
02
Talktopics
Each topic comes from client work. I adjust length and format to your programme.
Talk T1
talk 20–30 min · workshop 60–90 min
founders, SME owners, exporters, accelerators
Your first company abroad: how small firms pick the country
Most founders start with "which country has the lowest tax". After 14 years and 50+ countries, I ask that question last. Where the customers and the bank are, who will be the director, where the company is actually managed, what reporting the home country expects. Cases from Canada, the UK, the US, the UAE, Estonia and Poland: the company that could not open a bank account, the 0% structure taxed at home, the LLC with a missed Form 5472.
Talk T2
talk 20–30 min · panel · workshop
SME owners, chambers of commerce, BIAs, accelerators
AI in a small business: what to hand over first and how to measure it
Small firms do not need an AI strategy deck. They need one process that costs hours every week and a number to check after a month. How we pick that first process in our own firms and for clients: lead replies, follow-ups, document intake. What we measure, where the pilot fails, and which tasks we keep with people.
Talk T3
talk 15–25 min · panel · lightning talk
tax, legal and accounting firms, legal tech, privacy events
Client data and AI in tax, legal and accounting firms
Staff at small professional firms already paste client documents into chat assistants, and bans do not stop it. What Canadian firms may do with client personal information, what regulators and professional bodies have said about generative AI, and a working approach: strip identifiers before a document leaves the firm, keep a log, give the yes or no to one compliance person.
Talk T4
talk 20–30 min · panel
diaspora business forums, trade events, chambers, export programmes
Canada–Ukraine business: what small firms can use today
The modernized Canada–Ukraine Free Trade Agreement has covered services, investment and digital trade since July 2024. The practical routes: setting up in Canada as a Ukrainian-owned company and what it changes for tax and funding, selling services across, procurement registration, export support programs, and the mistakes I see most often in director residency, banking and CCPC status.
Talk T5
talk 20–30 min · workshop
SME owners, marketing events, BIAs, franchise events
Leads small firms lose: response time, local search and AI answers
Small businesses pay for leads and then answer them the next day. Buyers now also stop at the AI answer above the Google results. From running marketing for small businesses since 2013: how fast a firm has to reply, what to check in Google Business Profile and reviews, how to see what ChatGPT and Google's AI overview say about your firm, and which channels still bring paying clients.
03
Judgingand mentoring
The same five questions I ask a business before it sets up abroad. As a mentor I go through them with the founding team.
What I check
5 questions
01
Business model and pricing
Who pays, how much, how often, and what it costs to deliver.
02
Go-to-market
The first hundred customers: channel, sales cycle, cost of a lead.
03
Incorporation and cross-border structure
Where the company sits, who the directors are, where the bank and the customers are.
04
Regulatory and privacy risk
Licences, client data, AML and the rules the team has not looked at yet.
05
Whether the AI part solves a paid problem
A process a customer already spends money or hours on, and a number that shows the change.
Startup pitch competitions · hackathons (business and feasibility track) · accelerator demo days · student venture competitions · diaspora and newcomer founder programmes
04
Publicationsand appearances
Only what has come out and has an address is listed as published. Everything else is marked as submitted.
Published and held
3
- Hackathon final: RedactGate in the top 10, Demo Day on 29 October 2026
- Own channel: law, tax, immigration, business in Canada — 176 videos
- Daily carousel breakdowns: companies by country, tax, banking, AI in small business
Submitted to editors
27.10.2026
10
These columns are waiting for an editorial decision. The link will appear here once a text is out.
- Canada's exports to Ukraine are 2.5 times the 2021 level. Accepted by the editors, to run in English and Ukrainian
- Bill C-40 and small defence suppliers
- Small firms adopt AI, few train their staff
- Ukrainians in Czechia and their own s.r.o.
- The agreement with Canada now covers services
- The Canadian defence market for Ukrainian tech companies
- Small businesses can move ahead of corporations on AI
- Six routine tasks an AI agent takes off a small business owner
- Funding without dilution for a Ukrainian founder in Canada
- Why AI agents die after the demo
05
For mediaand organisers
Everything for an announcement, a programme or an article in one place. Writing works best: I reply in writing within one business day.
What I offer
Interviews · talks · mentoring · judging
Interviews and comment
Companies abroad, tax and banking for small businesses, AI in operations, Canada–Ukraine business. In writing or on air.
Talks and panels
The five topics above; I adjust length and angle to your audience.
Mentoring
Founders going to market and abroad: model, structure, first sales.
Judging
Pitch competitions, hackathons, demo days, student competitions.
Bio
EN · RU
Short
Maksym Stepanenko is a business consultant based in Ottawa and director of INNOVA CONSULT: strategy, law, marketing, finance. For 14 years he has taken client businesses to the next level, protected them and turned a founder's chaos into a system that runs without daily hands-on control. Thousands of companies in 50+ countries.
Long
Maksym Stepanenko is a business consultant and strategist based in Ottawa, director of INNOVA CONSULT (Innova Consulting Group). He has spent 14 years in business consulting, law, digital marketing and finance, helping thousands of small and medium businesses in more than 50 countries enter new markets, choose a jurisdiction and tax structure, open bank accounts, register trademarks, close legal risks and find customers.
He trained as an economist, ran a legal firm in Kyiv for nine years and worked as a court-appointed insolvency practitioner. In 2013 he founded Marketing Mix, a marketing and web agency for small businesses in Ukraine and Canada.
His work with a client starts where the business loses money and time and ends with a system that runs without daily hands-on control. Work that used to take a team now partly runs on AI agents, which makes it faster and cheaper for clients. In 2026 his team was a top-10 finalist at Build North (Georgian, Toronto).
He co-founded the Ukrainian Community of Lanark County and speaks English, Ukrainian and Russian.
Photo
JPG · 1080 × 1004
Photo and media kit
Use the portrait in announcements, programmes and articles. The media kit is one A4 page: role, talk topics, bio, contact.
Contact
Get in touch
Describe the event or publication, the date, the format and the audience. I reply in writing within one business day.
The same profile elsewhere
- Sessionize
- Speaker page on the INNOVA site