The only opportunity to get a ticket now is to put your entry in to Austin’s giveaway.
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10 Free Entrepreneur Packages for Startup Empire – A Contest
Guest post by Austin Hill, CEO of Akoha & Founder of Brudder Ventures.
I’m really pleased to be speaking at Startup Empire on November 13th in Toronto. I’m going to be running a hands on workshop for entrepreneurs entitled “Slow down & Speed Up – Managing A Startup in Turbulent Times”.In my workshop I’ll be sharing some strategies & tools for the following aspects of your business,
- Avoiding the wall – Raising Cash and Extending Runways in a Economic Downturn .
- Risk Reduction Roadmap Planning, linking financing, scenario planning & risk reduction.
- Performing Honest Assessments of your Market, Team & Capabilities to Win.
- Who is investing now in Canada?
Jevon McDonald & David Crow have put together a great line up of speakers and sponsors.
The organizers have recently dropped the price to a very affordable price of $69 for the entire day conference.
At the same time I know many entrepreneurs who watching budgets & may not feel they can afford to attend (travel & conference fees) so we are announcing a quick contest for entrepreneurs interested in joining us at the conference.
FlowVentures, AngelSoft and Brudder Ventures StartupEmpire Contest
In the spirit of creating great opportunities for entrepreneurs I have partnered with my friend Raymond Luk from FlowVentures and the team from AngelSoft to sponsor 10 entrepreneurs to get the following packages.
- A free pass to StartupEmpire.
- A copy of Guy Kawasaki’s brand new book Reality Check which I recently read and is a great collection of essays & practical advice on many of the aspects of running a startup.
- A copy of Randy Komisar’s “The Monk and the Riddle” one of my favourite startup books which is a quick read about startups & finding meaning as an entrepreneur written during the last tech collapse.
- A $100 credit towards any travel costs you incur to attend (To help out of town attendees get to Toronto. If you win & are in Toronto we’ll ask you to donate your travel subsidy to one of the other winners who are travelling farther)
- Angelsoft has donated a number of discounted and free applications to their OpenDeals program where you can submit your company to be viewed by over 10,000 angel groups. These will be given to startups that apply and qualify as companies looking for funding ($100-$250 in value).
The contest is open to any entrepreneur, startup or aspiring entrepreneur who working building a technology startup.
To enter the contest all you need to do is send an email to startupempire [@] brudderventures.com answering the following 3 questions. Submissions must include your contact information, URL & Company contact details (if applicable) and should not exceed 1 page per answer.
- If you are a startup tell us about your company, size, market, product and what stage you are at in your growth. (If you are not part of a formed startup but) If you are an entrepreneur, programmer or aspiring entrepreneur tell us about your background, your plans as an entrepreneur. Tell us what you’ve done to advance your entrepreneurial aspirations.
- Why do you want to attend Startup Empire – what do you want to accomplish there?
- What are the 3 questions that you would want answered by any of the speakers @ StartupEmpire?
All entries should be received by this Saturday November 8th.
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Microsoft BizSpark – Software and Support for Startups
Microsoft is launching a new program focused on helping Startups get up and running. The program is called BizSpark and according to Microsoft, the biggest benefits are
- Software. Receive fast and easy access to current full-featured Microsoft development tools, platform technologies, and production licenses of server products for immediate use in developing and bringing to market innovative and interoperable solutions. There is no upfront cost to enroll.
- Support. Get connected to Network Partners around the world — incubators, investors, advisors, government agencies and hosters — that are equally involved and vested in software-fueled innovation and entrepreneurship who will provide a wide range of support resources
- Visibility. Achieve global visibility to an audience of potential investors, clients and partners
Basically, you enroll and are given access to a almost all the nessecary server and development software you need. The server licenses are even prouduction grade, so you can deploy (from what I can tell) cheaply. You are getting a high end MSDN subscription and a lot more, all for free.
My first few startups were Microsoft-based. Believe me, things have changed. We used to have to scrape together $6000, $12000 or $18000 to pay for MSDN subscriptions. That was always incredibly painful. Microsoft eventually announced a program (PowerISV) that brought down the cost, but was still really weak on support. BizSpark eliminates almost all the licensing/software costs involved in being a Microsoft Based startup.I am not going to get in to any religious wars here. 90% of the startups I see (at the early stage) these days are Open Source based. The reasons for going Open Source are obvious for many of them, but for others it is not such a simple decision. For those building software focused on businesses, Microsoft brings some very big opportunities to the table, especially with the Azure Services Platform.
The other thing that tells me that Microsoft is starting to finally “get it” is that they don’t care if you are a 100% Microsoft based startup, or if you are Open Source based and just need to connect to Microsoft tools. The program is open to everyone.
If you are coming to StartupEmpire, Microsoft is going to be throwing the after-party to celebrate startups and the new BizSpark program. There will be Microsoft execs on hand to answer your questions and to explain the program.
In case you are wondering, no: this is not a pay-to-play post. Nobody from Microsoft asked me to write it. I believe this program stands on its own.
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StartupEmpire – One more iteration: 1 day, $65, same great opportunity
Any good startup has to iterate constantly. Market changes, product changes, management changes. Every part of the organization is help up to a high standard and when it does not make the cut, it has to change. With that in mind, we are announcing some changes to StartupEmpire, our conference that is just over one week away.
These are tough economic times, we are in a period where start-ups need to buckle down and manage their cash flows closely. Likewise, a lot of individuals are considering more closely where they invest their time and money.
In order to make StartupEmpire more accessible, we are reducing the conference to a 1-day event and we will be reducing the price of a ticket. This is to allow start-ups to continue to be more responsible with their finances and still have the opportunity to participate in conference designed to provide real-world education for start-ups about starting, building and growing successful companies.
Therefore we are taking the following steps to help start-ups, students and entrepreneurs attend StartupEmpire:
- Reducing StartupEmpire to a 1-day event and changing the venue to This is London, November 13th 2008
- Reducing the price of a ticket to StartupEmpire to $65/ticket + GST
- Refunding the difference to all registered attendees.
We believe strongly that this event is something that the startup community needs and we have worked hard to ensure that it is still of the same high quality as the original event.
The opportunities available at StartupEmpire are important for everyone: Real world examples of success and failure by entrepreneurs, Learn about the pitfalls of having the wrong business model, customer acquisition, financing, incorporating, getting sued, social marketing, technology selection and product development from entrepreneurs in the trenches can help you learn what to do and what to avoid with your start-up.
The lineup includes world-class entrepreneurs including: Don Dodge, Lane Becker, David Cohen, Howard Lindzon, Rick Segal, Austin Hill and others. Along with the conference program there will be social opportunities to meet angel investors, venture capitalists, lawyers, accountants and others with expertise helping Canadian startups get to the next level. The day will end with a wonderful social event hosted by Microsoft Canada.
I apologize for making these changes so close to the event. We are working to ensure the best experience for a reasonable cost for all attendees, and to make sure that as many people as possible have an opportunity to participate.
I would like to thank our sponsors who have been understanding and who have helped out in many ways.
Ontario Centers of Excellence,
and JLA Ventures.
Visit www.startupempire.ca for more information on the conference and to register. -
Weekend Reading – November 1, 2008
The BlackBerry Partners Fund invested in 3 startups. $8M in MobiMate (a mobile travel planning system – Israel), $5.5M in Digby (a mobile commerce platform – Austin), and $3.2M in Buzzd (a mobile city guide – New York City).
Bumptop gets some love from Danish VC Morten Lund. “I just love when I see someone presenting his product – being proud like a king!!” Now that’s a compliment you don’t hear everyday! (Guess you have to dress for success…)
My favourite rejections by VCs.
Vengrowth and JLA Ventures scored with portfolio company Q9 Networks being acquired for $355M by ABRY Partners.
W Media Ventures’ Boris Wertz, pipes in with his thoughts on “why these tough times are good for Canadian Internet start-ups.” Read this.
And finally a collection of resources you should take a look at.
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Yaletown Ventures closes $65M
It might be the end of the world as we know it for venture capitalists. But Vancouver VC, Yaletown Venture Partners, announced their $100M Second Fund with $65M closing today. The fund is focused on early-stage investing in clean tech and IT in Western Canada.
"The support that Yaletown has earned for its first two funds in extremely challenging market conditions, from institutional and technology industry insiders alike, is a strong endorsement of this team and its investment strategy," said Haig Farris, retired co-founder of Ventures West and one of Canada’s most respected angel investors.
This quote by the retired cofounder of Ventures West says it all. A strong investment team with a strong thesis can raise money in down times. This is true of entrepreneurs and startups. Good ideas, good businesses and great execution make it easier for startups to raise money even in tough times.
Yaletown has done a number of IT investments including:
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Just Launched: Bizzia – b5media's business news portal
Earlier today b5media launched Bizzia, making their second foray into the world of blog aggregation. Bizzia is centered on business news, initially pulling together posts from 30 established b5 blogs and videos from content partner Your Business Channel.The Wall Street Journal it is not, and many of the questions I posed when Starked (their entertainment portal) launched remain. Namely, will consumers of niche content be interested in aggregation around a generic vertical? Time and traffic will tell… For your consideration two data points: First, in under a month Starked has managed to attract an audience size similar to that of StartupNorth (at least according to Compete). Second, Starked does not yet nearly rival other niche b5 blogs like JuniorCelebs.
Finally a survey for the peanut gallery: any thoughts on the palindromesque brand / logo?
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Your Business 2.0
One type of pitch companies sometimes make goes something like this:
- Founders have a reasonably successful consulting services company where they do development or other project based consulting in a particular industry niche.
- Based on their knowledge of the space and seeing a need, they come up with an idea for a product.
- They divert some of their companies time/money to develop the product and maybe get a beta version installed at a couple of their customers.
- Now they are looking for money to take things to the next level.
In comparison to a ground-up startup, this type of investment opportunity does have its share of advantages due to the consulting services part of the company:
- There is some level of cash flow to help fund the new company
- There are existing relationships with customers in the industry
- Management has proven their ability to run a services company in the industry
However, in terms in of pitching to investors, there are a few aspects that need to be positioned compared to a ground-up startup.
Company – investors will probably not be that interested in investing in a low ROI services based business. The up-side will be with the product business. As such, since you are looking to bring in outside investors, now is the time to formally split the two parts of your company. This means separating into 2 different legal entities, setting the share capitalization of the new company, transferring any assets into the new entity, etc.
Intellectual property – since you probably did a large part of the development of your product as a side project to your consulting services business, you need to be clear where the intellectual property lies and who has ownership of it. Often the exit value of a company will be heavily dependent on its IP. Investors will not want to get into a situation where the services entity of the company retains the IP ownership and the product entity does not own the IP.
Revenue – past revenue generated by the services part of your business is not meaningful in terms of the new product part of your company. It is good to show for historical purposes to show stability, growth, etc of your consulting services business. But in terms of how well your product is selling, investors will want see this separately as most likely its only a small part if any of your current revenue.
Management – until the new product company takes off, most likely management will be splitting their time on the new company as well as keeping things running on the services side of the business. Investors will want assurances that management will be able to devote enough time to grow the product company without getting bogged down in fighting fires to keep current customers happy on the services company.
In today’s challenging investment climate, start-ups are going to have to rely on bootstrapping even more than ever. Providing cash flow by doing consulting services is a perfectly viable way to do this. When looking for outside funding, you just need to ensure you correctly communicate some of the unique structural aspects of the deal.
craig at mapleleafangels.com
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Pipeline – US Venture Funding for Canadian Startups
Looking for venture funding? Consider participating in the following initiative run by PWC and Burns & Levinson LLP.The US/Canada Venture Capital Pipeline links venture capital firms and investment banking firms based in the US with Canadian companies seeking financing. The event is designed to build relationships and create business opportunities between US investors and Canadian companies. This December 4, 10 Canadian IT companies will head to Boston to meet one-on-one with U.S. investors.
The deadline to submit applications is November 14.
Here are all the details. If you are interested in applying, please contact:
Leonard Gold
Managing Director
Burns & Levinson Canada Co.
Partner, Burns & Levinson LLP
lgold(at)burnslev.com
617.345.3831Charles Godbout
Vice President, Corporate Finance Inc.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
charlesgodbout(at)ca.pwc.com
514.205.5020
