StartupNorth

Year: 2013

  • Early bird pricing for StartupFest

    TL;DR

    Early bird pricing for tickets to International Startup Festival end on June 1, 2013.

    CC-BY-SA-20 Some rights reserved by Michael Lewkowitz

    We can all gripe about why founders and startups should not attend events, and they should get down to figuring out  if there is quantified market demand for their product.

    But lets face it, summer feels like it is here in Toronto (it’s hot). And we all need to blow off some steam. So why not take some 2-3 days and connect in Montreal (or Vancouver more on that soon). Startup Festival early bird tickets sales end tomorrow (June 1, 2013). There is an amazing lineup full of local, national and international recognizable talent. Come to Montreal. Be prepared to listen to amazing stories from real founders and investors about how they figured out traction for their companies.

    Folks I’m looking forward to hearing stories from:

    Dulcie MaddenDulcie Madden

    Co-founder of Rest Devices, Inc.

    Joe_ChernovJoe Chernov

    VP Marketing at Kinvey

    Fred DestinFred Destin

    Early Stage VC at Atlas Venture

    Jen van der Meer picJen van der Meer

    Advisor, Luminary Labs

    Michael BaumMichael Baum

    Founder of Splunk, Venture Partner at Rembrandt Venture Partners

    The part that I look forward to the most, is the part where I hang out with folks from Toronto (and beyond) because we’re all too busy with companies, family and kids. So I get to hang out with my friends Zak Homuth , Mark MacLeod , April Dunford , Harley Finkelstein , Ben Yoskovitz, Roger Chabra , Andrew D’Souza , Brydon Gilliss
    and Ken Seto .

    I’m going for the opportunity to learn from other people’s experiences. I’m going to connect with folks I’d otherwise have to travel to multiple places to connect with. And probably most importantly, I’m looking forward to strengthening the connections I have with folks I already know.

    Register Now

     

    Image attribution: AttributionShare Alike Some rights reserved by Michael Lewkowitz

     

  • Wanted: Startups for a research study

    microsoft-office-vision

    Our friends at Microsoft are looking to Toronto as a hot bed of startup activity. Don’t take my work for it, the Startup Compass folks ranked Toronto number 8 on their Startup Genome report for startup activity. The study is being conducted by our friend Sam Ladner (LinkedIn), a Senior User Researcher in Microsoft’s Office Envisioning team. Sam is ex-Toronto, she joined Microsoft six months ago in Redmond. She researches trends in the future of work, and helps builds prototype productivity technology based on that research.

    She is looking for participants for this study to help Microsoft learn more about how startups organize themselves, choose technology tools, and their organizational culture. The data will be used to build technology for the next generation of Microsoft products.

    About the Study

    Participants would need to sit down with a researcher and possibly a note-taker for a 1-hour interview, but for observation they would go about their work day as normal. The researcher and note-taker would stay out of the way and simply observe and take notes.

    The researcher would take handwritten notes and some audio recording. With participants’ permission, the researcher would also record video and take still photographs.

    All data collected during the research would be used internally at Microsoft. The data would be held on a secure server that sits behind Microsoft’s firewall. This server is only accessible with valid Microsoft employee credentials.  Raw data such as photographs, fieldnotes, audio recordings and unedited video will only be accessible to the immediate research team. Edited video and/or photo slideshows will be shared with other Microsoft employees. The research report will not be published publicly, though the researchers may refer to the aggregated and anonymous findings in professional conferences or symposia. Participants may opt to have video of their offices and themselves to be included in these conferences or symposia, but by default their identities will only be known to internal Microsoft employees.

    We will build prototype technologies, based on these findings. We hope to build the next generation of tools that startups themselves need.

    Participate in the Study

    Microsoft is currently recruiting for an ethnographic study of startups and freelancers. The belief is the number of these workers will continue to grow, and Microsoft wants to know more about how self-employed information workers use technology. If you are a startup founder, Microsoft wants to meet you. The study involves face-to-face interviewing and some job shadowing. Microsoft offer a cash or software incentive in appreciation of your participation.

    Fieldwork will take place in early July.

    If you want to participate or would like additional information, please complete the form below:

    [gravityform id=”11″ name=”Microsoft Office Envisioning Research” title=”false” ajax=”true”]

     

     

  • What’s happening at Volta?

    Screen Shot 2013-05-24 at 9.02.36 PM

    Things are in full swing at Volta in Halifax. We just had our opening party and announced our new in-house $50m venture fund.

    Here is what is coming up in the next few weeks:

    We have a new company at Volta: ModestTree

    The Modest Tree Suite of eLearning software represents a revolutionary method of creating 3D interactive courseware that will significantly reduce the amount of time and cost to create quality, interactive 3D training.

    The suite of authoring tools provided by Modest Tree can be used directly by experts across many different fields to produce realistic simulations and walk-throughs of complex procedures and tasks, greatly simplifying the process of creating interactive lessons for training.

    Bits of Knowledge: Scaling

    Join us for lunch (sandwiches and pop provided) and over 30 minutes learn
    what it takes to successfully scale a web service and what to think about
    when you are building a product that needs to scale quickly.If you plan to
    attend, please register at: http://bok-scaling.eventbrite.ca
    Who is giving a talk on this: Tim Chipman 
    When is it: 4th of June 2013 from 12PM to 12:45 PM

    CTO Peer 2 Peer Meetup

    Tech CTOs from start-up to mid sized companies come together to
    talk frankly about common issues. Topics include how to manage
    growth, evaluate technologies, best implementation practices,
    how retain and motivate technical talent etc. Moderated by
    GoInstant CTO Gavin Uhma
    Who: CTO’s and Lead Developers
    When: 6 June 2013 from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM
    Where: Volta Event space

    Lunch and Learn: Git

    Today, developers everywhere are migrating in droves to the
    exciting Git platform. Users reference its blistering
    performance, usage flexibility, offline capabilities, and
    collaboration features as their motivation for switching from
    Subversion and CVS. Let’s get started with Git. You’ll be using
    it like a master in no time at all.
    When: 11th of June from Noon to 1 PM
    Where: Volta Event Space
    Who: Volta Network Members interested to
    learn more about Git and best repo management practices

    Marketing Peer 2 Peer Meetup

    Share ideas and best practices or partake in roundtable discussions
    on topics of relevance such as branding, advertising, promotions,
    publications, metrics, social media and public relations and hot
    issues for a rapidly evolving global tech startup. Moderated by
    TitanFile’s Greg Poirier (ex. Radian6, Empire Theaters..)
    When: 13th of June at 5 PM
    Where: McInessCooper Boardroom
    Who: Marketing execs, Metrics zealots and
    lean startup practitioners looking to get the most out of their
    marketing buck.
    Moderator: Greg Poirier

    Design Peer 2 Peer Meetup

    Come together to learn about best practices in product and web design
    and to discuss current trends as well as disect and analyze each
    other’s design work. Moderated by 26ones Brian
    JeffcockWho: Designers and geeks interested in design,
    visual identity & typography. Where: Volta
    Event space When: 19th of June 5 PM to 6 PM

    LSTS (Learn Something, Teach Something)

    Take 5 minutes to teach others something from your experience (results
    of a split test, good design pattern, a neat trick) or share a short
    educational story. If you have something to share (and I hope you will)
    send the summary in the following format to [email protected] (or just reply to this
    email).Name: (eg. Patrick Hankison) Topic: (eg. “What not to do in A/B
    testing”) Have slides: (eg. No)Slides are optional.
    When is it: 22nd of June 2013 from
    5PM     to 6 PM

    Ladies Learning Code: Introduction to Python

    Python is a great language for beginners. Its beautiful and
    clean-looking syntax means you’ll spend less time being confused (it
    looks sort of like English!), and more time understanding and applying
    the fundamentals of programming. Plus, even as a beginner, you can do
    fun things with Python, like make games and draw shapes!
    In this Introduction to Python workshop, you will create an app that
    sells tickets, a “Guess the Number” game (Price is Right, anyone?) and
    as part of your final project, you’ll re-create the schoolyard classic,
    Hangman.
    Where: Volta Event space When: 22nd of June
    2013     from 10
    AM     to 5 PM

    More details and tickets at: http://llchalifaxintropythonjune22.eventbrite.ca

    @Volta

    Introhive is looking for a San Francisco based BD pro and a Halifax
    based inside sales person. Know anyone? ow.ly/lh8iu  

  • AccelerateOTT – June 14, 2013

    AccelerateOTT - June 14, 2013

    It’s almost time to shave off yer playoff beards. Summer time is upon us. And summer’s in Canada mean cottages and startup events.

    Our friends at the C100, who are continually helping to build the Maple Syrup Mafia across the globe, are hosting a series of events in Alberta, Ottawa and Montreal (invite only). The C100 does a great job making sure that connected Canadians from the Silicon Valley attend these events. It’s a great way to meet and connect socially with Canadians who are transplanted in the Valley or who are doing a stint there, but who still have strong interests in seeing a stronger set of Canadian companies. These local events are great low social capital ways to begin building your social network of people that might care (if you aren’t a douche).

    Our other friends (and Hot Shit List 2013 awardees) Tobi and Harley at Shopify have put together an amazing event in Ottawa. As you are driving back to town with working on your mind. Take a side trip from Bobcaygeon, and see the constellations. There is an amazing group of speakers including:

  • Ontario Startup Train Meetup – June 10, 2013

    Update: The event date has changed to June 10, 2013.

    In partnership with Via Rail consider this your official invite to our Ontario Startup Train wine and cheese on June 10th at Union Station in Toronto. We hope to get all our train attendees, alumni from last year and anyone considering coming this year together to start connecting and meeting before we even board the train. If you haven’t bought your ticket, come out and meet us.

    If you don’t have your train ticket yet, grab one now as we will sell out again this year. Our early ticket purchasers get dibs on spots for our on-train mentoring with the likes of Jim Estill, Zak Homuth, Brian Kobus and many more.

    You remember the roadtrips of your youth, some with your parents, some with just friends. For our greatest roadtrips, we remember the journey the rest of our lives but often pause and think “where were we headed?”

    “Sometimes it’s a little better to travel than to arrive”, ZAMM, Robert Pirsig

    Last year we organized a roadtrip for startup founders and funders. We reserved our own car on a Via train and packed it full of entrepreneurs. Our destination was The International Startup Festival in Montreal for three full days of meeting, conversing, learning and working with a truly international audience of startup people.

    This July, we’re aiming to have three cars, two passenger cars along with a bar car that we’ll use for our on-train events.

    Startup conferences are very different beasts compared to their corporate cousins. People aren’t attending “because my boss sent me”. Instead the majority have spent what little pocket change they have to get there. The result is a conference filled with hustlers motivated to get a ton of value out of being there. We hope to help.

    Instead of wasting your travel time, join us on the Ontario Startup Train and let’s get organized before we’re even registered for the conference. Our hope is to get you thinking and sharing what you need to get out of attending this conference before hand. Sharing that with other people on the train means it won’t be just you hunting for an introduction to Dave McClure or speaking to that potential partner you want to invite into your new project.

  • GTA Tech Leaders Concert – May 30 2013 @ Sound Academy

    May 30, 2013 - GTA Tech Leaders Concert

     

    Are you waiting impatiently for Dreamforce? Why Dreamforce? Where else could you have seen: Red Hot Chilli Peppers (2012), Metallica (2011), Stevie Wonder (2010), Black Crowes (2009), Foo Fighters (2008), Inxs (2007), Train (2006), etc. It’s an amazing list of bands but you have to head all the way to San Francisco to find out who’s headlining 2013. Why not try something a little more local and a little sooner.

    Ok, it’s not Dreamforce, but the folks at KPMG have put together  the KPMG GTA Tech Leaders Concert Series – AmaTour (password: KPMG). The event is Thursday, May 30, 2013 at Sound Academy on Polson Pier. It features bands from Ceridian (formerly Dayforce), KPMG, Smithson Martin, Intelex and others. Rumor is there might be a big name or two that take the stage. Alan Smithson is MCing/DJing. If you aren’t familiar with Alan, his Emulator is used by Linkin Park and Infected Mushroom and others. It’s going to be fun.

    The goal of the event is to raise money in support of the Ride to Conquer Cancer. Tickets are $40 each with 100% of the proceeds going to Ride to Conquer Cancer.

    The Toronto startup community lost a good friend in Michael O’Connor Clarke to cancer on October 14, 2012. And we will not forget, and we continue to support fundraising efforts. This is a great opportunity to get out of the office for a social evening with some tunes and make some connections.

    Join us Thursday, May 30 (password: KPMG) for a social event.

    Disclosure: KPMG is a sponsor of StartupNorth.

  • Build launches in Atlantic Canada

    Wall art on the Build Ventures/Volta wall

    Patrick Keefe is announcing his new fund today called Build Ventures, a $50m early and mid stage fund based in Halifax.

    The guy is a Harvard MBA, an Oxford grad, former Atlas Ventures principal, Boston Consulting Group executive and he built over a dozen Starbucks coffee franchises which he then sold back to Starbucks corporate. When you meet Patrick and dig in to his background you start wonder where the hell this guy came from.

    What’s even better is that Build is the in-house fund at Volta, a new startup crash pad in Halifax that currently houses 10 startups. The fund has taken up residence at Volta and has been a key part of getting it started.

    The fund has just launched so it hasn’t announced any investments yet, but we are excited to see which deals they do first.

    Volta and Build are two big leaps for the startup community in Atlantic Canada and when you consider it alongside what has been happening in New Brunswick with Launch36 and Startup Week, as well as a recent string of big exits, it seems like things are accelerating incredibly quickly.

    The next major event is the Atlantic Venture Forum in June which is being keynoted by Paul Singh.

  • Hot Shit List 2013

    Copyright Muppet Studios

    It’s the time of the year where we either make you a hero or we make you hate me a little more. As stated in the previous comments, this could very well be The List of People That David Crow Wants to Be Associated With (but I think I established that is a different list). Either way, the commenter is correct, the list is something and it is highly suspect and by no means complete. If you don’t like the list, leave a comment. If you think I left genuinely left someone off, leave a comment (ps suggesting yourself, either demonstrates your overly inflated ego or you might not realize that your suggestion by itself if a reason to be left of the list). I’m open to being corrected and having the list added to.

    Past issues of the list include 2011 and 2012.

    For 2013, the list is divided between those we expect to break out (Breaking Glass). And those that are taking it to the next level (Going Big). Basically, you will be hearing from or about these people over the next 12 months. So everyone get in a circle, it’s time for the 2013 instalment of the Hot Shit List.

    Hot Sh!t List 2013

    Breaking Glass

    Going Big

    The icons are courtesy of Anil Zaimi, though I haven’t spent the necessary time to make this work with our stylesheet and theme in WordPress.

  • A Startup for All Seasons

    CC-BY-NC-SA-20 Some rights reserved by bara-koukoug
    AttributionNoncommercialShare Alike Some rights reserved by bara-koukoug

    Is it me, or does it feel like there are 2 distinct seasons of activity in the startup community?

    • Post Christmas Pre-Summer (aka golf season) Holiday
    • Post First of School and Pre American Thanksgiving

    Whether it is reality or bad cliche, it feels like there are 3-4 months of the year where nothing gets done. But no more!

    Thanks to events like Startup Festival and Grow Conf, the summer season for Canadian startups is getting stronger and more important. There are localized opportunities to connect with investors, strategic partners, and potential customers at events like the aforementioned Startup Festival and Grow Conf plus Jolt Demo Fest, Atlantic Venture Forum, Metabridge and others. (You could go to CVCA in Banff, and golf with the Canadian VC landscape, that might up your chances of raising funding).

    Things for Startups To Do

    1. Apply to pitch at StartupFest. Startups get access to press, investors, and a chance at a $50k investment prize from the organizing committee.
      Deadline: Friday, May 10, 2013 5pm EDT.
    2. Apply to be one of the 45 Canadian startups at the Metabridge retreat. You’ll get access to investors, advisors and a great cultural event.
      Deadline: Friday, May 10, 2013 5pm PDT.
    3. Apply to throwdown at the Smackdown at GrowConf. Winners will get access to press and investors. Plus more Debbie Landa.
      Deadline: Tuesday, August 13, 2013

    There are a lot of opportunities for Canadian startups to get access to both local and foreign capital, corporate development folks and press by participating in these events. Take a bit of time, and figure out which ones you benefit from attending. Plus it’s a great excuse to get out of the office and hustle.

     

  • Vanity Celebrations

    [Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Brydon Gilliss  founded the shared office space ThreeFortyNine in Guelph where he plays with Startupify.Me, Ontario Startup Train and 20 Skaters. A serial entrepreneur and fervent community builder, he’s also busy organizing a train-full of founders for this summer’s International Startup Festival.]

    The moments we choose to celebrate say a lot about what we consider important. They’re a proxy for the metrics we value, because we’re signalling to others by their very celebration. And yet, I’ve always been of the belief that startups tend to celebrate the wrong things.

    If that’s true, what signals are we sending? We celebrate product launches, government grant acceptance, fundraising, winning pitch contests, and so on. Too often, these are the vanity metrics of our startup ecosystem.

    Of course, some of these events are worthy of celebration. A grant lets us live to fight another day; a winning pitch might drive sales or help us to hire a key employee. But they would be way down on my list, personally, if my goal was to build a real business. Let’s stop concentrating on celebrating events like taking on debt or winning what is often little more than a beauty contest—and focus instead on what we should celebrate but rarely do.

    At ThreeFortyNine, we celebrate the achievements that matter to the business model. Consider, for example, the first time you sell something to a complete stranger. That’s worth celebrating because it’s the first sign your business might have legs of its own. In our Founder’s Club events, we celebrate selling our first train tickets to strangers; Foldigo celebrated its first-ever sale to a stranger. Our plan is to build up this list and move it into our monthly socials.

    We’re building our Startupify.Me program around the concept that talented developers stepping into startup life need options. Incubators, accelerators and government grant programs funnel them into a single, traditional path thereby discouraging experimentation. We want our cohort to have the option to create a lifestyle business or a even a small, local business—if they choose. Of course, any of them can still try and swing for the fences, but they have all options in front of them.

    “We didn’t get to where we are today thanks to policy makers – but thanks to the appetite for risks and errors of a certain class of people we need to encourage, protect, and respect” – Nassim Taleb

    CC-BY-NC-ND-20 Some rights reserved by RahelSharon

    Only in recent years have books like Lean Analytics begun to draw out the real risks of obsessing over feel-good data that does little for the business—so-called “vanity metrics”. There’s a very real danger if a young entrepreneur believes that success comes in the form of taking on debt, winning a pitch contest and launching a product. Those may be required for some businesses but they shouldn’t be misconstrued as success.

    Part of the challenge here is the proliferation of what I call success turnstiles in our ecosystem. These are entities whose prime motivation is to funnel as many businesses as possible through their turnstile. It’s a pure numbers game for them as they chase their success metrics. These entities tend to be government funded and these success metrics are defined by bureaucrats and can be tracked up the organizational hierarchy to a speech-writer’s desk.

    We need to lead real conversations about what success is because it comes in many shapes and forms. Advocates of this more mindful form of celebration include Jason Cohen imploring founders to get 150 customers instead of 1000 fans and Rob Walling helping startups to start, and stay, small.

    Here’s an initial list of milestones and accomplishments worth celebrating to get you started.

    • Performed 30 interviews with real potential users.
    • First customer acquired.
    • First customer acquired and you have no idea where they came from.
    • Covering your monthly personal costs.
    • Identifying the first product feature a potential customer will pay cash for.

    Which vanity metrics need to stop being celebrated? What do we need to celebrate more?