StartupNorth

Category: Startups

  • The Startup's Guide to Mesh

    So, you are going to make the trip to the Mesh Conference in Toronto? Well, let’s take a look at it from a web startup’s point of view and see what we should, and shouldn’t, be doing.

    First off, how far along are you? If you are just in the idea stage, I suggest you get some screenshots done at the very least. You’ll want to have a laptop with you that you can whip open and start pouring the kool-aid with about your amazing product X.

    For the sanity of everyone else there, don’t try to be coy about your startup. If someone asks you a question, you should answer it right away. Do not humm and haw. If you don’t like their question, tell them straight up that you don’t want to, or can’t, answer that question. It saves them from thinking “what’s going on here” and it saves you 10 seconds of a racing heartbeat.

    Are you looking for funding? If so, figure out how much and who you want it from. Don’t waste too much time in the actual sessions, there are always smart people around to talk to.

    Please, take as good as you give. If you burst in to a conversation, or start a conversation with a pitch, nobody is going to listen to you. You will be that guy.
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  • esy – local price comparison – early stage and ambitious

    picture-2.pngEsy Shopping is an early stage startup, based in Vancouver that is aiming to consolidate local shopping inventory information online.

    Esy plans to launch next month, and we haven’t been able to see any screenshots, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt on how they are going to build their database of locally available products. If they can get that right, they are going to do well.

    Esy will generate revenue through advertising alongside the local shopping search results. While they may get some national advertisers, this model may require them to sell ads on a local level. Selling localized ads for the internet has always been tough and my guess is that it still is today. I’m looking forward to seeing how they handle this at launch.

    Just as interesting as Esy itself is it’s 19 year old co-founder Theo Tonca. Theo founded his first company at age 15 and has been hacking away at the web startup thing ever since. Suffice to say, even if Esy doesn’t fly, Theo will be back and swinging for the fences again soon after.

    We will follow up with Esy after their launch to see how things are going.

  • No Better Time than Now

    mothermeasuring.gifEvery 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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  • CreateWorkspace: Web Development Environment

    CreateworkspaceWorkspace is an Ottawa-based startup co-founded by Obaid Ahmed and Marc Windle.

    Workspace provides an online collaboration environment for web development projects, allowing for management of many remote servers through a single interface, a built-in editor (no local machine IDE required) and support for six programming languages. A potential boon to freelancers and consultants, Workspace has 2,000 beta testers from around the world providing feedback on bugs and feature requests since beta testing began at the end of March. Pricing has not yet been determined, but will likely follow the freemium model familiar in Web 2.0 applications.

    Beta users were identified early on (prior to development) by starting with a blog and using Digg to get some attention to the idea from likely customer/users and signing people up with a simple online form. Workspace is currently working closely with their beta users and will be looking for seed funding this summer to expand the team to add more features and to support scale at launch.

  • waka.ca – Real Estate Information Liberation

    logo2.pngWaka.ca is a Quebec City (Quebec City has to be one of the most underrated cities in the world) company that provides a real estate search engine. They have already launched for Quebec, and will be expanding significantly in the coming fall and have been making steady progress since their launch in 2006.

    Waka scrapes data from a slew of sources. From classified ads to real estate agent websites, it’s nice to see someone start to aggregate all this information. Anyone who is trying to buy or lease real estate is probably familiar with how frustrating systems like MLS.ca can be as they constantly try to hide information from you.

    With about 10,000 people coming to the site a week, waka is slogging up the typical curve and will have a lot of hard work to do in order to get wide acceptance, but they will be the first (and currently only) site in Canada that aggregates all of the available sources of real estate listing information. Being the first and best established resource in Canada is going to be a big deal in the next few years as more people start to research their housing purchase online.

    While they do not seem to be actively seeking investment, and are currently funded with friend/family money, my guess is that as their expansion plans get larger, and as some competition starts to move in, Waka may be on the lookout for friendly angel money.

    Waka plans to make money through advertising, which can be a painful process. They will have to focus on pulling in large amounts of visitors, which may take their focus away from more focused goals, such as creating a market or ensuring that their tool drives more off-mls sales.

    With two founders and 4 other employees working on the project, I am looking forward to watching Waka evolve quickly, and we will keep checking in with them.

    Contact Samuel Bouchard

  • Writing a Business Plan?

    bkstckpct.jpgI am currently writing a business plan because I have a very defined reason for needing it. A particular source of income absolutely needs to see one as part of their process. I am OK with that, but it has really made me think more about Business Plans, their usefulness and non-usefulness.

    Business Plans can be very useful in the right situation and for the right reason. If you have never started, run or ruined a business, a business plan can be a great way to run through scenarios in your head, especially if you don’t have a partner to stand in front of a whiteboard with to do dry runs of ideas.

    A business plan can also be a great way to get help from people who are far more experienced and/or smart than you are. When you hand them a business plan, you are telling them that you have put every important idea about your business on paper, and you can give them the freedom to make their own assumptions about what they are reading (rather than giving them less material and forcing them to wonder if they are making a good assumption or not).

    If someone is considering investing in your business, a business plan can be a great way for them to get confidence that you have thought about the future, even if you may not end up anywhere near the business plan you wrote. A lot of investors worry that entrepenurs aren’t thinking beyond getting funding, or getting those first 10 customers, etc.

    So while business plans can be good, they can also be dangerous.

    Writing a single, sensible and usable plan for 3 years in business is unequivocally impossible. Your business will change, your customers will change, your product with change, you will change, your circumstances will change. If there is one thing I have learned about the world it is that things keep on changing, and they don’t care what I have to say about them.

    You are not smart enough to understand the changes that might come. I hate to break it to you (and myself), but the very act of trying to start a business from nothing is a pretty stupid thing to bother doing. You could go get a job for a comfortable 150k a year, wouldn’t that just be smarter?

    So, if it is going to constantly change, isn’t there some sort of easier device to use to keep a running plan of how you are operating your business? I have been using a 10-page slide deck that I ignore for long periods of time and I come back to begrudgingly. In the past, as a business has grown, financials have been the complete domain of my accountant and I keep a little spreadsheet of my own projections.

    Sales projections remain one of the most creative, nonsensical, asked-for and confusing parts of futurism I have had to take part in. Are they bad? No. Are they going to make or break your business? No. Should you spend hours and days on them? No.

    So, I’m not going to tell you not to write a business plan. There are a lot of good reasons to write one, but what I am suggesting is that you cannot rely on your business plan. We need a much more evolved way of understanding how our business is changing each day, week, month and year. Constantly editing a business plan is going to suck your time dry. Updating a deck of 10 or 15 slides will be a lot easier. Blogging about the changes internally for all your company to see will be a far better way of seeing the future take shape. You’ll also learn a lot more about how your business has evovled. “Recent Changes” is far too hard a way to see the real progression of the conversation.

    If you need to sit down to write a business plan, there are some fantastic resources out there. There is the CBSP Small Business Planner which will guide you through almost the entire thing. It’s a great way to maintain some structure, but it also hides all the other pieces of the plan from you as you write it, which helps you keep a focus.

    PlanHQ is also shaping up to be a great tool. It is still young (and it shows), but it will only get better. It also uses a goal-based approach and helps you keep your plan updated on an ongoing basis. Very Nice.

    My best suggestion however is to keep a private blog. Write an entry for each of the main components of your business plan and use comments or new posts to update it regularly as it changes. You can also invite your advisors, friends and employees in to help out as well.

    What about you, what are your experiences with business plans? Good or bad, I want to hear it.

  • Startup Resources: Innovation Synergy Centre in Markham

    IscmlogoI was invited by Catarina von Maydell, formerly of the Toronto Angel Group, to attend a gathering of investors (mostly angel) at ISCM, the Innovation Synergy Centre in Markham north of Toronto. Investors learned about the services that this hub of so-called “4th pillar” organizations offers to small-medium sized growth companies. The invited investors had an opportunity to learn about and meet with some of the companies that ISCM helps prepare for investment.

    This “one-stop shopping” non-profit innovation hub in Markham’s tech office heartland puts the ISCM’s own staff together with partners like NRC/IRAP, Ontario Centres of Excellence, the Health Technology Exchange, York University and Seneca College. It provides mentors, access to a number of business and technology advisory resources and access to an investor network intended to facilitate deal-flow that appears particularly catered to angels.

    Those familiar with Mars in downtown Toronto will be familiar with the basic model. Interestingly, some companies in the 416 apparently make the trip up the Don Valley Parkway to work with them. The scale, however, is smaller and the investment side seems more angel than VC focused.

    I was struck by the experienced team and the attitude of CEO Bob Glandfield and Director of Operations Rod Graham that was very supportive of the grassroots realities of the small-medium sized technology growth company. Bootstrapping garage web startups may be a little too small for ISCM to help, but they are worth getting to know for the high quality of the advisors they have available.

    Ron Smith is a Mentor at ISCM who is beyond the stage where he needs to be working for a living, but who clearly has a passionate connection to the companies he mentors. His low-key, almost folksy, tone and approach was palpable and left me with the impression of a place that had a human touch that is critical to working with businesses that are ultimately very personal.

    What is your experience with ISCM or other similar “innovation hubs”? What are others of note across Canada? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

  • 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!

  • ConceptShare gets a lot of love on the ScobleShow

    Canada’s most loved, and arguably best, startup, Conceptshare has been doing the conference circuit lately, and this past week at Mix’07, Scoble did an interview and demo with Bernie Aho.

    The lesson for startups? When you can afford it, it really is a good idea to get out there and pound the pavement to get some exposure.

    A review, and hopefully interview, with the ConceptShare guys will be coming soon enough.

    ConceptShare is based in Sudbury, Ontario.

  • Lululemon files for IPO

    Lululemon logoLululemon, a hipper than thou yoga wear company, has filed for an IPO to raise as much as $230 Million.

    Founded by Chip Wilson in 1999 after a particularly good yoga lesson, this Vancouver company?s beautiful stores (think Apple Stores for yoga gear) and high prices have stretched its share of wallets. The curious brand name was selected from an original list that included ?Athletically Hip?, wonder where they would be with a name like that…

    A serial entrepreneur, Chip had previously founded Westbeach Sports, a surf skate and snow retailer, in 1979 and grew the company to 8 stores in Canada and an international wholesale business before selling the chain to a publicly traded US corporation.

    The IPO might mark a good place to end coverage, here at StartupNorth. Congrats to Chip & the lululemon team.