No Better Time than Now

Every couple of weeks I get asked by someone if I think they should take the leap and really dedicate themselves to their idea. Is it a good time of year? Are they the right age? Do they have enough of a cushion?

My advice is that there usually isn’t a good reason to quit a comfortable full time job to focus on a startup, and that you should be able to run a startup on the side until you know if it will fly or not.

The bad thing about that advice is that I really don’t have a clue if it is good advice or not. I have been one of the lucky few who has always been working on a startup with my own great-to-good-to-mild-to-terrible levels of success.

Statistically, most people take the leap and attempt a startup in their mid to late 30s. I’m not sure why that is, I suspect it is a big group of people who have been making nice salaries since their late 20s, have the house well on it’s way to being paid for, and have the college fund tucked away for the kids.

When is the best time to attempt your first startup? I am going to take a leap and say that High School is actually the best time. There is absolutely zero risk, but there is generally absolutely zero capital as well. While you are in the teenage years induced haze you can be at your most creative, but you also have a low probability of completely executing on something, unless you are above average (which I expect you are).
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Off to a great start, thanks!

StartupNorth has gotten off to a great start. We are only just over 2 weeks old but already up to 300 visitors a day and about 80 (give or take) RSS subscribers according to FeedBurner.

While these numbers are still tiny in the grand scheme of things, they are a respectable amount of growth in 2 weeks and I think it shows that there is a need out there for a place to talk about being an entrepreneur in Canada.

We are going to focus on getting more west-coast content. As one of the most active startup regions in the country, BC really needs some coverage. We have also started to hunt for great startups in Atlantic Canada and I think we’ll all be surprised at the quality of the ideas coming from the east.

So, keep the startups coming in and don’t hesitate to ask about contributing to the site. As the site’s popularity grows, we will all benefit from having a healthy community and we will try to find ways to make things less one-to-many and more about helping people connect.

Why I won't be on The Dragon's Den

The Dragon’s Den on CBC is taking applications for startups who want to get funded on national TV.

It probably seems like an OK idea to begin with. You fill out an application, show up in front of some cameras and pitch your company to a bunch of high-end angel investors that you would never have a chance to pitch to otherwise.

In fact, for the startup community as a whole, The Dragon’s Den should be a good thing. It draws attention to the idea of starting your own business, makes it a little sexy and the show is balanced enough to show the failures along with the successes.

It really is good entertainment, I’ll be watching every episode this coming season. If they want to really up the entertainment value, they should make Sean Wise the host — he would be much better than Dianne Buckner. Not that I mind Dianne.

Would I take my startup on The Dragon’s Den? Not a chance in hell, and for a few reasons.

The first reason is that you are being lumped in with a swath of absolutely ridiculous businesses, why let yourself be tainted by the Bikini Weenie or that umpire guy.

The second reason is that you are giving up all control of the portrayal of your business. I don’t know about you, but when I go in to a “dragon’s den” to do a presentation, I take some comfort in knowing that I have control over how my business idea is communicated. By pitching on national television, you are letting an editor decide how your business should look, sound and feel. No deal!

The third, and biggest, reason I wouldn’t think of going on the Dragon’s Den is because there is absolutely no incentive for the “Dragon’s” to make a good deal with me or my startup. Why? Because they aren’t there to make good investments. Judging by the tiny size of their investments, my guess is that the CBC offers them indemnity from loss up to a certain amount (the investments can go bad, and the CBC will compensate them).

That may not be the case, but it doesn’t matter much anyway, because the real investment that the four investors are making is in themselves. If they lose 400k on investments on the show, that is still 400k well invested in raising their own national profile. The payoffs of being a TV star can, at times, be lucrative. Especially as these four behave a bit like their are thinking semi-retirement.

So, you won’t see me there, but I’ll be glued to the TV!