C100

There are 5 posts tagged C100 (this is page 1 of 2).

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:

CVCA, #FFdemoday and AccelerateMTL

Chris Arsenault (LinkedIn, AngelList, @chrisarsenault) sent me a message yesterday about writing about the CVCA conference. And I was looking at the conference trying to figure out why as an entrepreneur that I might want to attend this event. It is “the premiere networking and professional development event for Canada’s venture capital and private equity industry”. Well I don’t work in venture capital or the private equity industry, and the professional development I can get that at Ladies Learning Code or Udemy or O’Reilly. So why should I care? Maybe a “free Blackberry Playbook” would get me to pay for the registration. Disclosure: RIM is a sponsor of StartupNorth, though we don’t have any free Playbooks. 

Then it struck me.

  1. FounderFuel DemoDay
  2. AccelerateMTL
  3. CVCA

My goodness, this is an incredible opportunity for Canadian entrepreneurs. If you plan this correctly, you can connect with investors, other founders, folks form NYC, Boston, the Bay area. While the specific sessions at CVCA aren’t necessarily my cup of tea, you could sit in the lobby at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth and meet every investor in one shot.

CVCA attendees will have a “free Blackberry Playbook” . Just like LinkedIn, I’d be building an HTML5 optimized version of my application and making sure as hell it works like gold on a Playbook (which has a great implementation of WebKit browser). You could call the Fairmont and set up an espresso stand and give away coffee to everyone that demos your application. Hell if nothing else a big sign with “Free Latte” for all of the hung over CVCA attendees and have a student running to a local coffee shop for fulfillment. Great opportunity to get out and hustle.

On top of all of this you get to see some brilliant demos at Founder Fuel. This is going to be a killer event, and you could make it a very interesting opportunity to get in front of potential investors, partners and folks from outside Canada for relatively little cost.

5 Thoughts on 5 Things I learned in 48 Hours

5 Things I learned in 48 Hours – Techvibes.com.

Some of my thoughts on some of his thoughts:

#1 The Valley Feel- yes, it is true it does exist and it is unique to Silicon Valley.  That is not to say other areas don’t have a great innovation vibe, far from it! Some other areas have great innovation. But regardless where you are, it is good to stay on top of what is happening in the Valley.

#2 The Valley Model- This I could take or leave. Yes, the Valley does have a unique VC-backed approach to innovation. But it isn’t the only way to fund and promote start-ups.

#3- Think Small in Scope, and Large in Market- I love this idea. So true. Focus on what you want to do, do it super-amazing well, and then do what you do to conquer a huge (and growing) market.

#4- You Can’t Phone It In- You really can’t. It takes work and preparation.

#5- Be Yourself- Leave the impersonations to the comedians.

#6- Start Local- I think this is the most interesting and ties in with points #1 and #2. Yes, be aware of what is happening in the Valley. Hell, be inspired by it, but don’t try to copy it (so I guess this ties in to point #5 also.) Find what is unique about your area and then build on that existing strength found, fund and grow your start-up.