Having learned the ropes as Directors of Sales at Sandvine, cofounders Michael Ho and Nicolas St-Pierre set out to develop technology enabling the delivery of hyperlocal geo-targeted online advertising.

With a major pilot customer signed on and patent-pending privacy architecture, Bering Media has now secured Series A financing from Tech Capital, GrowthWorks Commercialization Fund, and the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund.

Congratulations to the Bering Media team on the raise as well as Tech Capital for successfully bringing in the OETF on this deal, the first co-investment from the $250M fund.

After a few years and a handful of blog posts, I am at a loss for words other than to say I am glad things are finally rolling and CommunityLend is open for business in Ontario (for accredited investors).

Similar services have both thrived and suffered in the United States in the last 2 years. They have been occasionally targeted by regulators. Prosper.com for example is currently in a “quiet period“,

CommunityLend has taken a much different tact here in Canada however, and they chose to work with regulators rather than taking a litigious approach. In the end the hope is that this will mean a more stable and compliant environment for peer-to-peer lending in Canada.

A few weeks ago I posted my thoughts on what being a startup should really be about.

I know some people don’t like posts like that, because it goes against the "you rock!" back-patting mentality of a room full of entrepreneurs. But it seems just having a website is often good enough to get all the congratulations you want.

Of course, I love cheerleaders.

People who connect startups to people they need to know and who they can work with. Anyone can tell you that when I like a startup, I love them. I make phone calls, introductions, and provide whatever help I can. I never get paid for it, I just do what I can.

The truth though, is that being a web business is a lot different than it used to be and the formula is changing. You can no longer just be the online-version of a bookstore or anything else. You have to compete on the web with other retailers, service providers, and products.

Just because you can do something on the web doesn’t mean you should.

It is easier than ever to get things started and to manage the costs of being a web startup, but it is harder than ever to get distribution. The Facebook App mania and the mass migration to the iPhone give you an idea of the thirst for distribution that developers have right now. If you get to the distribution channel early, and you build something that is perfectly timed, then you can win in the short term.

In the long term however, aggregators arise, and distribution gets consolidated. This same race is the one that killed movie producers decades ago, and indie game developers more recently. As Jonas pointed out, managing costs is only a small part of the equation.

Building something on the web is still the best place to do it.

• The web reduces costs.
• The web gives you direct and wide distribution.
• The web gives you more opportunities for scale.

But as I pointed out, those things do not come as easily as they used to, and all of the stories and advice you have heard in the last 10 years have a timer on them. They are quickly becoming irrelevant.

People put a premium on speed right now, it is called Shiny Object Syndrome and it has been very real both in the market and with entrepreneurs. Building on the web is no longer going to be about being first and being quick, it is going to be about being better and being reliable.

Don’t get caught building something because it is quick, easy, and the distribution is free.

Those aren’t good enough reasons anymore.