edmonton – StartupNorth

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We have been tracking startups and people for a while. In 2011 was the first Hot Sh!t List, but it won’t be the last. There are a number of amazing individuals in the ecosystem like Mark MacLeod (LinkedIn, @startupcfo), Boris Wertz (LinkedIn, @bwertz), Dan Morel (LinkedIn, @dpmorel), Debbie Landa (LinkedIn, @deblanda), Chris Arsenault (LinkedIn, @chrisarsenault), Dan Martell (LinkedIn, @danmartell), Jesse Rodgers (LinkedIn, @jrodgers) and others. Over the past 7 years the community has grown, and connected, and continues to help each other.

But this list is different.

It’s not about the people who have raised the most money, or who have the biggest social graphs. It’s about who we expect to talk about over the next 12 months. Be it the ideas, the companies, the impact, etc. My goal was to find a mix of the unsung heroes, the founders, the developers, the doers, the troublemakers and the faces of different companies across Canada that we think are amazing/interesting. What do I mean by “interesting”? Well it depends. But these people are doing the stuff we’ll be talking about over the next 12 months.

The list is no particular order. But there is no denying it, these folks are the:

Hot Sh!t List 2012

Chris Ye (LinkedIn, @cye), Uken Games
Greg Gunn (LinkedIn, @gunnr), Hootsuite
Derek Ting (LinkedIn, @enflick), Enflick
Mike Silagadze (LinkedIn, @tophatmonocle), Top Hat Monocle
Devon Galloway (LinkedIn, @devongall), Vidyard
Mazdak Rezvani (LinkedIn, @mazdak), Chango
Eric Migocovsky (LinkedIn, @ericmigi), Allerta
Barbara MacDonald (LinkedIn, @BarbaraEMac)
Ken Seto (LinkedIn, @kenseto), Massive Damage
Garry Seto (LinkedIn, @garryseto), Massive Damage
Daniel Eckler (LinkedIn, @piccsydaniel), Piccsy
Heather Payne (LinkedIn, @heatherpayne), Ladies Learning Code
Raff Pacquin (LinkedIn, @raffpaqin), Modasuite/Frank and Oak
Kyle Seaman (LinkedIn, @kyleseaman), HighScoreHouse
Zak Homuth (LinkedIn, @zakhomuth), Upverter
Dessy Daskalov (LinkedIn, @dess_e), GreenGauge Mobile
Ben Morris (LinkedIn, @bnmrrs), ArtBarn Partners
Nelson Gauthier (@nelgau), Localmind
Gavin Uhma (LinkedIn, @gavinuhma), GoInstant
Alex Blom (LinkedIn, @alexblom), Saleschoice
Omar Ismail (LinkedIn, @omarismail), Streak
Tony Abou-Assaleh (LinkedIn, @tony_aa), TitanFile
Monica Olinescu (LinkedIn, @mochromatic), Discuss.io
Nikolai Bratkovski (LinkedIn, @NikolaiB), HealthAware
Ali de Bold (LinkedIn, @alidebold), ChickAdvisor
James Lochrie (LinkedIn, @jameslochrie), Wave Accounting
Farhan Thawar (LinkedIn, @fnthawar), XtremeLabs
Michael Nussbacher (LinkedIn, @michaelnus), Epilogger
Ben Yoskovitz (LinkedIn, @byosko), GoInstant
Jeff Lawrence (LinkedIn, @datajeff), Granify
Jay El-Kaake (LinkedIn, @jayelkaake), Sweet Tooth Rewards
Mike Lawlor (LinkedIn, @haltingstate), Minbox
Ivan Yuen (LinkedIn, @ivanyuen), Wattpad
Mike McCauley (LinkedIn, @mmccauley), BufferBox
Ariel Garten (LinkedIn, @brain_guru), Interaxon
Adam Meghji (LinkedIn, @AdamMeghji), Uniiverse
Michael Curry (LinkedIn, @mikecurry), Verelo
Sonia Ryan (LinkedIn, @sonia), A Thinking Ape
Temo Chalasani (LinkedIn, @cinemagram), Cinemagram
Patrick Hankinson (LinkedIn, @phankinson), Compilr
Andrew Louis (LinkedIn, @hyfen), ShopLocket
Breanna Hughes (LinkedIn, @unbrelievable), Xtreme Labs

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Ok, it makes me laugh every time I read GrowLab. The only way it could be better is when someone describes the GrowLab companies as “GrowOps”. They really did a great job in creating a corporate name that has a set of nuanced meanings (well maybe it’s not so nuanced).

Our friends from GrowLab are heading out on tour to find their next cohort. They are coming to:

Toronto – February 13, 2012 Register
Waterloo – February 14, 2012 Register
Montreal – February 15, 2012 Register
Edmonton – February 22, 2012 Register
Calgary – February 23, 2012 Register

Sounds like an interesting night with Daniel Debow (LinkedIn, @ddebow), Debbie Landa (LinkedIn, @deblanda) and Jason Bailey (LinkedIn, @YVRJason) talking about startups, entrepreneurship, building companies in Canada, getting connected in the Valley, GrowConf, incubators and other fun things. The panel conversation is:

Are you an Entrepreneur or a Wantrepreneur?

What makes you different from other entrepreneurs trying to build start-ups? You are competing with thousands of entrepreneurs for the same resources, talent, and capital. How are you going to make sure that you attract the best people and funding? Is it about who you know or is it about how great your product is or the reach you have in the community?

In Toronto that I get to host the above conversation, it means that I’m going to have to represent for the “Wantrepreneur” side. Because there is too much awesomeness with Daniel, Jason and Debbie representing the “Entrepreneur” side. It should be a fun event and a great time for entrepreneurs to get or stay connected with each other. This is a great group to provide deep insight into the experience of building companies in Canada and selling them to Silicon Valley powerhouses.

Given the tour includes stops in Bucharest and Budapest, I can guarantee that someone will mention Summify (congrats guys).Also excited that Debbie and Jason will be joining us on Feb 16 for Founders & Funders.