Nothing. Nada.

I expanded my search to Canada and found a couple of dealers. I then expanded by research to the USA and found many dealers. Most offering very good prices, cheaper than local dealers – even when factoring delivery – which cost about 100$.

This is just an example. I’m sure you got frustrated by not finding what you wanted online. Why? Why is online shopping in Quebec so poorly developped? I’m amazed at how many times I have to order something on eBay or Amazon – from the USA – just because I can’t find it here.

High speed Internet is easily available at a reasonable cost. Credit cards are common. If I had a store, you can be assured that I would be online too. Why limit your market to your city?

What are your thoughts on this? Why do you think store owners are not online?

While I am somehow doubtful this funding model will work, Mr. Taimen says that it has attracted some interest from a lawyer firm (Fierasfer, Ilisha, Saury & Huchen) and many investors from Quebec, Ontario and, interestingly enough, most coastal provinces.

• 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.

Also of interest is Montreal’s upcoming DemoCamp5 on October 30th. I strongly suggest you attend as well as fine presenters will be there.

If you have topics to talk about, please update the wiki as it’s slowly but surely filling up. Strangely, it is not sure if the event will be at SAT. If so, here’s the map for you guys outside of Montreal:

View Larger Map

Finally, since this is a country-wide event, I thought it would be great to add a column where attendees could add their city/province. This will give everyone a better picture of the success of the event. Anyone seconds this motion?

I would like to take some time to ask you what additional  features would be neat. Here are some ideas I have in mind:

• A “PR center” where startups can post their own PR, hopefully gaining some local interest
• A listing of resources bringing value to a startup. For example:
  • Government entities willing to help entrepreneurs
  • Coaches, business veterans, volunteers
  • Angel “groups” and Venture capital
  • etc.
• Ability for startups to setup polls to tests new ideas
• A jobboard, if heri doesn’t create one ;)
• Help wanted / Looking to help section

So please visit the Startup section and add your own profile!

I’m also working on a new service for startups in Quebec. Basically it’s a clone of CrunchBase (although slightly improved) for companies in Quebec. And yes, I know YulStart has a list as well, I wanted to make it very detailed and keep control of it. Wiki’s are nice but are too easy to modify (in a malicious way). If you have any feature requests then please go ahead and let me know. It should be ready soon. Just trying to juggle with work, projects, blog and a sick child :(

Si vous êtes intéressé, contactez-moi (denis@quebecvalley.com) et je vous enverrais un questionnaire à remplir. Veuillez noter que les réponses devront être en français.
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I am writing an article about startups in Quebec and I’m looking for founders willing to be interviewed. This will be a great chance for you to promote your company regardless of its current stage (i.e. stealth or running). If everything goes as planned, the article will be posted on a site having a lot of visibility.

If you are interested, please email me (denis@quebecvalley.com) and I will send you a small questionnaire. Please note that the answers must be in French.

Étant moi même un “entrepreneur en herbes”, je suis vraiment déçu par cette situation et il serait dommage que plusieurs compagnies Québécoises aient à déménager au sud de la frontière simplement pour se faire remarquer. Dans le monde Internet, l’adresse du siège social importe peu. Je urge donc tout les gens impliqués dans une startup de contacter la FTQ afin de leur faire part de votre mécontentement mais également de votre recherche de fonds, s’il y a lieu. S’ils ne sont pas au courant de ce qui se passe au Québec alors c’est à nous de faire leur travail…