Archive for the ‘Montreal’ Category
StartupCamp Montreal follow-up
January 24th, 2008
As you probably know, yesterday was the first edition of StartupCamp Montreal. The SAT was literally packed with 100+ entrepreneurs, VCs, service providers and of course, sponsors. I was very surprised to see so many people considering that it was a first time event. I think it shows that once again, Montreal can make it happen and the startup community is alive. I took some pictures of the event but they all turned out to be bad because of the weird light conditions (dark room with red spotlights) so if anyone has good pictures, please let me know!
Graham Hill started the night with his lessons top 9. I was too busy listening that I forgot to take good notes but basically, what I remember (and I guess they are the most important ones) is that regardless of what people will tell you, it’s the market who will decide whether your idea is great or not. So forget about focus groups and such. I don’t agree 100% about this but I’d say he’s 80% right. If everyone says your idea sucks before it’s even out there, it probably does (the converse would not be true however). Then it was about network, network, network (as in the computer is the network). I guess we already knew that, but perhaps VC’s didn’t know so that’s a great reminder for them. The future is obviously “online” and things like Gmail, Google Docs, SlideShare and so on are the early pioneers of something bigger. The last thing I remember is that you never sell a company; you’re bought by someone else. You never want to sell as this like saying to others that you failed. I never really thought of it that way but it makes sense. If you’re successful then people will come see you. And who wants to sell something successful anyways? No one. So if you’re selling, then it seems like there’s a problem underneath.
After Graham’s Top-9 list, 5 companies presented and had to answer questions from the audience. Some questions were very tough in my opinion but most managed to get answered. Being a CEO means you must know everything about your company and your competitors too! While I won’t go through each presentation, I must say that I was impressed with the quality of the offerings/products/services. Here are some thoughts in no particular order.
I only knew about Tungle and unless you’re a professional, you won’t really understand the value behind the product. I get frustrated almost every day when I try to setup meetings between different vendors and partners that are not on our Exchange server. This is very neat and I hope Microsoft buys them and integrates that stuff into Outlook.
Then I was surprised to hear that iGotcha was actually from Montreal. I’ve seen some news coverage about them but I’ve never seen anything in real life. Perhaps their pilot in the subway was just for a few days. I take the subway everyday and haven’t seen any of their stuff. Oh well. Even if some members of the audience hesitated, I think this technology rocks and I do see completely computerised windows in the near future (instead of mannequins – or even worse, half clothed mannequins). However one word of warning. I’ve seen this technology in Japan roughly 8 years ago at the Shibuya crossing (it was not a touch screen tough but it was covering multiple stories) so I would be surprised if they didn’t have this by now.
Regarding Cozimo, as I don’t face this pain, I don’t really understand how different they are from vendors like Citrix who already offer many similar products (GotoAssist and GotoMeeting). Then again since I don’t have collaborative problems at work, I can’t really say if the market is really $2.5B. I think it’s a bit high and would be cautious about those numbers.
My expectations were very high regarding YourTeleDoctor. I know the team very well and I do believe in them as they are backed by a very good and trustable advisors. Unfortunately, their presentation probably caused confusion in the room (as someone actually told them). The good news is that they have a beta coming soon and 30 or so patients will test the system. While their presentation wasn’t perfect, I give them points for their idea and I know it will succeed. This is a pain that I have (as a father of 2 daughters) and would definitively use this. They are focusing on an interesting market, especially in the paediatrician area as most first time parents often panic when their baby has a simple issue. Instead of heading to the emergency and waiting for hours, they could get an online check up.
Finally, Albert Lai had a very interesting presentation about his failures. I think that a successful entrepreneur must realise that failures (and I put an S) are simply part of the normal path to victory. And even when you had a victory (like Albert) you can still fail miserably after (roughly 12 times to be exact). Part pessimist, mostly optimist, his speech was very interesting and reminded me of Sylvain Carle’s latest presentation. So what are you waiting for? Go work on your startup now!
Update: Sylvain Carle has a post on the event as well
Posted in Montreal, StartupCamp, Startups | Comments (3)
MontrealTechWatch’s Startup Guide
January 19th, 2008
Heri from MTW did it again. After launching Montreal’s startup map, he’s now writing a startup guide. This is exactly what I was looking for about a year ago when I started blogging and decided to start my own startup. Instead, I had to look for blogs, connect with people, go to {Bar,Demo,Facebook,Startup}Camps. Which is great in a sense as I learned the “hard way”. Even today, I still learn many new things everyday: new contacts, new blogs, new companies, etc.
But in this world where everything goes very fast (ex: building a Ruby on Rails application overnight), I think this will be a gold mine for anyone wanting to start their own company. As we all know, time is money and time is also often a succeed factor even though VC’s don’t really care. I think that being the first one DOES matter (as long as your product is decent).
Anyways, check it out and please don’t forget to send any information to Heri.
Posted in Montreal, Startups | Comments (2)
Coop Entrepreneurship AKA Join me on a quest to change the world!
January 18th, 2008
I’ve been thinking a lot these days and I have a lot of great ideas that I don’t want to forget about. Some of them were ridiculous and I killed them right away. However some are fairly good and good enough that I want to do something with them. Who knows, perhaps one of them will work out. This reminds me of a presentation by Sylvain Carle probably over a year ago about parallel entrepreneurship. Instead of throwing 1 dice, you throw 10 dices hoping 1 or 2 will win. This is also exactly what VC’s do. They spread their risk over many good companies hoping 1 or 2 will bring back 10x their initial investment.
The problem is how to form a team when most people have a day job and are very busy? It’s not easy.
Programmers are good at programming but might lack marketing or business skills. True programmers like to code. They often code after work. They contribute to open source projects.
Business guys are good at business but they are rarely good coders or designers. Business guys always think about ideas. They come up with a new idea every time nature calls, whenever they see someone frustrated at something and so on.
Designers are awesome at creating something neat and fun to use but might not be able to code a large application or find out if a market is profitable or not. Designers can transform any ordinary web page in a work of art.
It’s very hard to find a multi-disciplinary individual (ex: someone who’s both a great coder and a great business man). I always believed in working as a group instead of working for yourself. Being in a team, it’s much easier to talk about a project, to do research, to design and code it. The reason is you have access to other excellent resources. When you do it on your own, you must be very focused and dedicated otherwise you will quit or fail. Being solo doesn’t work very well.
So you might be wondering where all this is heading? Well I had this idea where people contribute to startups in various ways. I call it “coop entrepreneurship”. People join startups like they join open source projects. They contribute what they can: they code, they design, they write business plans, they do marketing, they invest money, etc. Basically, they contribute their skills (or money if they are investors). Their participation is evaluated and shares are given depending on their participation. Once the project is completed, they look for funding and launch.
I’d really like to “test run” this idea with a few people before brining the concept further. So if you’re a programmer, a designer/user interface expert, a business man, a network engineer, a sysadmin, an investor, a mentor, a coach, a lawyer, an accountant, a secretary, an idea guy or if you think you could be part of a startup then please let me know.
I would really like to hear your thoughts about the model itself. On my side, I think the model is viable as the coop model has been around for ages. It is just being applied in a different way and actually, I know that Cambrian House is doing something similar. In the medium term, the goal would be to create a hub where people could meet, find partners and start a business. Some sort of business catalyst or perhaps a very informal incubator.
So… who’s in? Just email me.
Posted in Help wanted, Incubator, Montreal, Startups, business | Comments (4)
Presenting teams at StartupCamp Montreal
January 17th, 2008
Well the news has been out for a few days but I was just too busy to write a post about it. So here it goes. There were roughly 30 startups competing for this event. Some very well known (Standout Jobs, Mobivox and Praized) and some very stealthy (the rest of them basically). 5 “winners” were selected by investors and here they are:
1 - Cozimo
2 - Tungle
3 - Streametrics
4 - iGotcha Media
5 - YourTeleDoctor
Selected companies will each give a 10 minute presentation, then they will receive 5 to 10 minutes of feedback and questions from the audience.
There are still “paying tickets” available (service providers @ 200$ and sponsors @ 1000$) so if you want to participate as a service provider or as a sponsor, please do not hesitate as there might be startups looking for help (lawyers, accountants, consultant and so on).
Non presenting startups will still have the chance to present their company informally so please join us!
Posted in Angels, Montreal, StartupCamp, Startups, Venture capital | Comments (2)
Startupping guide - Help wanted
January 9th, 2008
Heri from MontrealTechWatch is on a quest. He wants to list all the resources a startup can use. This includes:
- Existing designers in Montréal who can help startups, or design companies who specialize in user interfaces,
- Developers or development shops,
- Consultants who provide coaching, business advice to startups
- SEO and marketing experts,
- List of grants, subsidies, loans available from the provincial and federal government,
- Lawyers who specialize in technology,
- Investors, VCs, angels who are active in technology,
- Blogs, and sources of information that might be helpful,
- Organizations, either private or parapublic, which can help technology startups
- And the list of events such as democamps, blitzweekend, barcamps, montreal on rails, etc.
So if you’re one of them, please contact him directly. My only wish is that he adds this to his (already amazing) Google map mashup.
Posted in Montreal, Quebec, Startups | Comments (2)
Join YulNews as CTO
January 3rd, 2008
YulNews is a pre-financing startup whose goal is to offer a new and very innovative breed of web-based social news platform. YulNews is looking for a partner to become the CTO. As a CTO, your first task will consist of developing an initial version of the product from actual specifications.We’re looking for someone who believes in user created content (blogs, videos and pictures) and strongly believes that the current news system must be changed.
Did you miss your chance with Google or Facebook? Do you want to own a lottery ticket where you control the odds? Now is the time to prove yourself while staying in Montreal!
Skills:
Expert knowledge of PHP.
Very good knowledge of JavaScript / AJAX / CSS / XML
Very good knowledge of MySQL (stored procedures, triggers, indexes, table normalization and database design).
Very good knowledge of secure coding practices.
Very good knowledge of scalable development.
Working knowledge of a Linux scripting language (Perl, Python).
Good web design / user interface skills.
Good Linux system administrator skills (installing, configuring and maintaining Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP packages).
Basic graphics skills (must be able to do basic graphic manipulations).
Your profile:
You were ideally a lead developer on a medium/large project.
You are able to work in a “LAMP” environment.
You have a good sense of humor but you’re able to “crunch” when needed.
You “work and live” on the Internet.
You know what “startup life” is and at minimum, you’ve read this article: dotcom.monster.com/articles/startup
You can afford NOT to get paid until angel/venture capital financing is obtained.
Extra points:
Proven ability to excel in fast paced start-up environments.
You enjoy solving those Facebook/Google puzzles.
You found, and fixed, bugs in PHP or any other software.
Benefits:
Be part in a team who wants to change the world of news.
Be part of an exciting startup right here in Montreal.
Be employee #2.
Get the most flexible work schedule ever (you work when and where you want)
Important: No salary will be given until angel/venture capital financing is obtained (You will be given stocks and stock options)
We set the barrier high but we also want to hear from fast learners who aren’t afraid of trying to climb it.
Interested? Send any pertinent information (resume, portfolio, Linkedin/Facebook profiles, etc.) to info@yulnews.com
Posted in Cross post, Montreal, Startups, YulNews, jobs | Comments (0)
