Daneal Charney

Worth knowing

She has watched more than 200 startup teams go from seed to exit, which means she can tell a founder what usually breaks first: the wrong first VP, cofounders that are misaligned on key aspects of the business, a leadership team that doesn’t take full ownership. She runs the offsites and coaching conversations where those things get fixed. Worth a note if you are a founder or executive scaling a team faster than your management habits.

Story

Daneal's tech career began in 1997 with a leadership role at Intel in China, and she went on to HR leadership at Aviva before turning to startups. At MaRS she became an Exec in Residence, advising high-growth companies, mostly B2B SaaS, on how to lead through fast growth. She now runs FIVEX from Toronto, coaching executives and facilitating offsites. She also convenes the People Tech Partners Toronto chapter, the community she built for people leaders who are investors and advisors in the HR and worktech space.

Canadian story

Grew up in South Africa, moved to Canada at the awful age of 11 where having an accent was embarrassing. My tech career started as an expat in China working for Intel. Many people know me as an EIR at MaRS discovery where I had a front row view to hundreds of high growth companies B2B SaaS companies—from seed stage to exit—helping founders and leadership teams navigate the real challenges of scaling: people, performance, and leadership. Currently I am the founder of FIVEX where we offer executive coaching, leadership workshops, and offsite facilitation.

Highlights

• Named to Canada's Top 100 HR Influencer (2026)
• Executive in Residence, MaRS Discovery District (2019-2024)
• Author, "Hitting Stryde: A Gen Y Career Survival Guide"
• Executive Coach and Fractional Advisor, Shoplogix (Constellation Software)
• MA, International Leadership; Certified Co-Active Coach; CHRL