On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on a TechTO stage in 2016. Every TechTO talk is searchable — ask the archive about Ali ↗
In their words
ChickAdvisor's actually been around for about 10 years. We were the first product review site in Canada. At the time that we launched there was no such thing as a place where you could go and find reviews for mascara, so that was my problem to solve.
They had the term sheet turned upside down on the table, and then they said, okay, here's the deal guys: Alex, we think you're great, would totally love to invest in you. Ali, not so much. They told me they thought women were too emotional.
The first couple of years I was actually in school full-time, so it took a couple of years before I could even pay myself. It's only really been in the last, I would say, five years that we've gotten to that point.
Quick answers
What does Ali de Bold do now?
She is founder and CEO of Butterly, which she launched in March 2020 as the technology-heavier evolution of ChickAdvisor. Butterly lets consumer brands run their own communities — product trials, ratings and reviews, ambassador programs, surveys — and keep the first-party data. As of a February 2026 interview she was still running it.
What is ChickAdvisor and does it still exist?
ChickAdvisor is the product review site Ali and her husband Alex de Bold started in 2006 — the first of its kind in Canada, built so people could find reviews for everyday products like mascara. It still runs as a consumer property, and ChickAdvisor's old Product Review Club now operates under the Butterly brand.
How did Ali de Bold fund ChickAdvisor?
She didn't raise. She told the TechTO audience in 2016 that they tried, met multiple VCs, and 'got laughed out of a lot of meetings because who would ever want to review a lipstick.' A pair of angels came in with a term sheet, then said they would back Alex but not her. The de Bolds bootstrapped instead.