From 2009-2014 StartupNorth had an index of Canadian emerging technology companies and service providers. We have removed this feature.
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Mesh 14 Hosted Startup Program
I love Mesh Conference. I’ve called it “Toronto’s most important DIY conference“. It is an event that ebbs and flows with the opinions and interests of it’s founders: Stuart MacDonald, Mark Evans, Mike McDerment, Rob Hyndman, and Mathew Ingram.…
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The children are our future
We’ve been talking about how much support and infrastructure has changes for young entrepreneurs. When I graduated from the University of Waterloo, I did not know about startups. I looked at places like Interval Research Corporation, Xerox PARC,…
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Syndicating Canada
In 2013, Angel List launched its syndicates feature, a way for angel investors to pool their funds. By turning syndicates into a turn-key process, Angel List has made this fundraising option broadly available and drastically lowered the barrier…
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Get them out of the building: Travel support from Volta
When Ben Yoskovitz moved to Halifax to join us at GoInstant he left the growing Montreal community and brought a lot of fresh perspective to what needs to happen in Nova Scotia to grow the startup ecosystem. The…
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The Unicorn Awards 2013
Our friends over at TechVibes have posted a call for nominations for 2013 Canadian Startup Awards. This just screams that we also need an Ig Nobels/Darwin Awards equivalent. Zombie Startup of the Year Award – Recognizing a Canadian startup that continues…
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Where’s Waldo?
I’ve written about CIX Top 20 Follow @CIXCommunity in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. To follow my pattern here is my post for 2013. Full disclosure: I sit on the Advisory Board for CIX. There are 3 core events in the Canadian startup calendar: Canadian…
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What is the problem accelerators are solving?
There is currently a preoccupation with accelerators in the entrepreneur world resulting in a large increase in programs. Arguably, the result of this frenzied growth is that ‘entrepreneurship’ is as commoditized as college. Unlike college, it is extremely hard…
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The Odds are You’re Going to Fail
I mean that in the most constructive way possible! You’re unlikely to recruit founders, raise money, gain traction, earn revenue, get acquired or go public. You’re very likely to fail. Here’s How Bad Your Odds Of Success Are…
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Fireside Chat with Albert Wenger – Oct. 23rd
We’re very excited to host Albert Wenger of Union Square Ventures on Wednesday October 23rd 2013 in Toronto, at the spanking new OneEleven Accelerator, from 5:30pm to 8:00pm. William Mougayar, founder of Startup Management will interview Albert on stage, and there will…
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Make stuff
I’m really looking forward to Maker Faire Toronto. It is happening Saturday and Sunday, September 21-22, 2013 at the Wychwood Barns. This is an amazing opportunity to celebrate the Maker Movement. I’m excited to see the inventions, the…
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Risk Tolerance
If there is one thing in Canadian startup land I have heard repeatedly since moving back from California it is in regards to the lack of ‘risk tolerance’ of VCs here. When I was on the operational side…
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A Perspective on Investor/Mentor Whiplash
Some rights reserved by nocklebeast The other day Fred Wilson posted an opinion and some tips on Investor/Mentor Whiplash. He took the position that that is a big problem for accelerators as well as early stage and seed environments. Brad Feld took…
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Atlantic House @ Grow next week in Vancouver
The buzz has been awesome about the GROW conference next week. Just a few weeks after Startup Fest in Montreal. The summer season is moving quickly… A Startupnorth we’ve helped organize the Ontario House along with Communitech and…
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Music Hack Day – Aug 10-11
Some rights reserved by TonyFelgueiras “Music is the soundtrack of our lives.” – Dick Clark There are an amazing set of Toronto based music startups emerging. Milq Rithm Strings.fm Smithson Martin Tunezy It should come as no surprise that with…
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Ontario House – Aug 14 @ The Portside Pub
We’re on the official Grow Conference schedule. Together with Communitech, we are hosting a party. You can decide for yourself if these conferences are right for you or your business (need help, check out Kevin Swan’s piece for insight).…
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Testing the market before you build a product
Jason Kottke’s just shared an interesting story about Instagram shops which are doing gangbusters in Kuwait. A description from ‘shop’ owner Fatima Al Qadiri: If you have an Instagram account, you can slap a price tag on anything, take…
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SaaS vs. Traditional Software Licensing Model
Global software vendors are starting to feel the disruptive effects of the software as a service business model (“SaaS”). The SaaS model is growing at an annual rate of 15%-20% and will likely represent approximately 25% of the…
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The Tough Call on Startup Conferences
Some rights reserved by miketippett A great dialog recently broke out on Twitter after this tweet from Debbie Landa calling out Alberta and Quebec startups to step up and have a presence at the upcoming GROW conference in Vancouver. Having my home in Alberta I immediately…
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FREE…It May Cost You Your Startup
First, a quick quiz…For this quiz, time is important as we want your gut instinct so you only have five seconds to answer before the submit button goes away. It’s multiple choice, there are only two options and…
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Ontario Place @GrowConf
We’re heading to Grow Conference in Vancouver. You should join us at the Portside Pub on August 14, 2013. With our friends at Communitech, we are hosting Ontario Startup House during Grow Conference. The goals is to build a “house…