Most 25-year-olds are just figuring out their careers. Essam Abdelhamid is already on his third act.

After surviving messy co-founder fallouts, a global pandemic that crushed his first tech startup, and the brutal reality of burnout, he didn’t quit—he leveled up. Instead of just complaining about a broken healthcare system, he decided to build Lifelink to fix it.

Join us at Platform for an unfiltered look at what failure actually costs, how to build a resilient mindset when everything falls apart, and why the best solutions often come from the people who refuse to accept the status quo.

Why You Need to Be Here:

This isn't your standard "how I made millions" keynote. This is a raw conversation about the grit it takes to build something real. You will walk away with:

• The Survival Guide: Real talk on how to bounce back from dead-ends, failed products, and co-founder breakups.
• The Outsider’s Edge: How moving 7,000 miles across the world at 18 rewired Essam's brain to spot opportunities everyone else misses.
• System Disruption: The mindset required to look at a massive, overwhelming problem (like Canadian healthcare) and actually start building a solution.
• High-Value Networking: Connect with Calgary's most driven doers, builders, and innovators before and after the chat.

Who Should Join:

• Founders: If you want the real, unglamorous truth about building a startup, this is for you.
• Tech & Healthcare Professionals: Anyone fed up with broken, inefficient systems who wants to learn how to drive actual change.
• Young Professionals: If you want to skip the traditional corporate ladder and build your own path.
• Anyone Feeling Stuck: Dealing with a pivot, burnout, or a recent failure? Come get the inspiration you need to start your next chapter.
• Anyone interested in networking: meet Calgary's most driven doers, builders, and innovators.

Your Host:

Hosted by Alish Shams and Startup Grind Calgary. We are dedicated to bringing you the most authentic, inspiring, and actionable conversations in the city's tech and business ecosystem.

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Linked.Club is a community built for Calgary’s real doers, founders, and professionals who actually want to get things done. We host events that skip the fluff and get straight to the unfiltered reality of building a career or a business.

Don't let the conversation end when you leave Platform. Join Linked.Club to get early access to our next sessions, connect with driven innovators like Essam, and surround yourself with the people who will help you build your next chapter. We host 8+ events every single month!

👉 Join our community here (Use code SG30 for a 1-month free trial)