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Rush Week

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The next week has a set of crazy awesome events for  startups, founders, marketers, community builders and the like in Toronto. (Check out a fuller list of events at Toronto Startup Fall Event List 2012). Personally it looks like I will be attending JoltCo Demo Day, Royal Canadian Mint Challenge Awards Ceremony and A Conversation with Brad Feld about Startup Communities. If you’re interested in understanding Toronto’s startup landscape and participating, you could consider this rush week without the complete stupidity.

It feels like a crazy two weeks. I was in Halifax for HPX Digital last week. I skipped Hacking Health this weekend (Thing 1 learned to ride her bike this weekend, so it was totally worth skipping this event). This doesn’t event take into consideration that I’m going to see New Order on Oct 23 and there is a second show on Oct 24 with tickets still available.

Oct 23 – JoltCo Demo Day
Looks like an amazing cohort of startups presenting. Includes eProf, GreenGauge Mobile, ShelfLife, SlingRide, tout.it, Venngage. I’m excited to see the pitches/presentations and the progress that each of these teams has made. 
Oct 25 – Royal Canadian Mint Challenge Awards
What can I say I’m a judge…But seriously this event has an amazing lineup. David Wolman and some other big thinkers in commerce, currency and the future of money. The Royal Canadian Mint has done a great job.
Oct 25 – AndroidTO
This is a great lineup. Boris Chan of XtremeLabs who is on our 2011 Hot Sh!t List; Mike Beltzner of Wattpad; Oleg Kosteur of Pair – back after raising $4.3MM, etc. If you are building on Android and in Toronto. Get tickets to this event!
Oct 25 – Startup Grind Toronto
A fireside chat with Nikhil Kalghatgi, an NYC-based VC with Softbank Capital, whose portfolio includes Huffington Post, Zynga (back when the model was working), Gilt Groupe and Buddy Media.
Oct 26 – TEDxToronto
Always inspiring talks this year includes Steve Page formerly of the Bare Naked Ladies, Dr. Joseph Cafazoo of eHealth Innovation, Sonya JF Barnett and Heather Jarvis of Slut Walk (ok not purely startup but it should be interesting)
Oct 29 – HackerNest Social
A fun, laid back social event to connect with developers, designers, marketers, and others. Hosted by ex-Extreme Labs participant Shaharris Beh (LinkedIn) and others.
Oct 30 – A Conversation with Brad Feld on the Starutp Community in Toronto
We’re hosting this event. Do you love or hate the Toronto startup community? Lots of people talk crap, but this is an opportunity to participate in a conversation with Brad Feld. Brad wrote the “Boulder Thesis” about growing, building and sustaining an entrepreneurial community in Boulder, CO. Join us and help make Toronto a better place for startups.
NOv 1 – Startup Ping Pong TO
Ping Pong, startups, do I need to say any more? Get your tickets! And come out and hustle.

“Community is the platform on which all of our individual actions stand.“

There are a lot of great events happening in the next 7 days. My advice is pick one or two events to attend and participate. A long time ago, Mark Kuznicki quoted me as saying “The Community is the Platform” and others have elaborated. My advice is get out there and participate.

The Boulder Thesis – A Sketchbook

The folks at the Kauffman foundation have put together a Sketchbook video of Brad Feld talking about the Boulder Thesis. We’re hosting a conversation with Brad Feld on October 30, 2012. We hope that you will join us. Tickets are $25 and include a copy of Brad’s book. My recommendation before attending is that everyone watch the sketchbook, it provides an effective overview of the book, and the basis to participate in the conversation.

I love this book. It captures many of my thoughts and philosophies, that I have not been able to articulate as succinctly or clearly as Brad. I have worked in high potential growth software since I joined Trilogy Software back in 1997. This was 15 years ago. I hope that I will still be working in high growth software in 15 years (that’s 2027 for those keeping track). I love the opportunities that I have had in Toronto. I am very happy to see new world-class startups that are scaling and growing in this city and across the country (go read my post on the Toronto Startup Ecosystem). I’m excited to see many entrepreneurs trying to build massive companies and stay in Canada.

We have both leaders and feeders participating in the conversation. We hope that you will join us to learn more about what Feld says sustainable entrepreneurial communities MUST HAVE:

  • Two types of people: leaders (entrepreneurs) and feeders (people who support startups, such as government agencies, funders, service providers). While the “feeders” are the very fabric of the community, the entrepreneurs must be in the lead.
  • A long-term view and commitment to building this community
  • A philosophy of inclusiveness that welcomes everyone with an interest, not just entrepreneurs
  • Substantive activities that engage the entire community to help startups move forward

Join us on October 30, 2012. I was speaking with Katherine Roos at Enterprise Toronto and we were talking about who should participate? Who do you think should attend?

Toronto Startup Heatmap

Joe Greenwood is directing a new project that pulls together data to track Ontario’s startups. One of the first data sources to be tapped was the StartupNorth Index, which in conjunction with MaRS client data has been crunched into a heatmap of 670 startups across Toronto. Not surprisingly, the ideal office is inexpensive, accessible by transit, and close to good coffee. How can you help fill in this map? Build an amazing startup of course.