Disqus - Latest Comments for davidcrow

Re: How To Stimulate a Growth Economy

davidcrow — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 11:49:48 -0000

Thanks Dan. I have spent a long time trying to build the community that I wanted and occasionally tried to build companies at the same time. It is much easier to build a community around successful companies ;-)

The entrepreneur first is key. The other challenge is that we need to support an ecosystem that makes it easy for people to have "job portability", i.e., where people feel able or encouraged to move between organizations. Long gone are the days of working for one entity for your career, you know that the company might only last as long as this round of financing. So there needs to be enough density that potential employees have the ability to find other jobs and stay in the region.

The mentorship piece not having to be local is very interesting. It explains Clarity a little more to me. But it makes complete and total sense. Not every expert can live in Moncton. So why not bring the expertise to entrepreneurs. It is really a brilliant solution.

I wonder if there is a similar solution to group engagement. One that is less link sharing and more like Slack but across organizations. How do you build connectivity amongst the community? We've tried a shared Skype chat room, Facebook groups, wikis, etc. All have lacked the intensity/validity/reliability of in-person events.

Re: How To Stimulate a Growth Economy

davidcrow — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 10:44:19 -0000

Hey Dan,

It's a great post. It reminds me a lot of the great work that Brad Feld has done with Startup Communities http://www.startuprev.com/s...

One of the key points that Brad makes is that it is "the real value - fresh blood into the system". Being able to have new ideas, new talent, new inspiration. Often this is a relationship or proximity to a post secondary institution. There is implicit turnover every 2-4 years as a new batch of undergraduates is looking for coops, internships, jobs and hopefully starting new companies. It is also about building a culture that accepts and encourages n00bs. Making sure that there is a way to accelerate the connections for people new to the ecosystem.

Kathy Sierra talks about how to build passionate users http://headrush.typepad.com... to build a passionate pool of people that are encouraged to ask questions and a even bigger pool of people to share their experiences and try to answer them. This part is particularly hard to build in, but it is key.

I love the R&D. It was always "Rip. Mix. Burn." here. Observe something that is working. Try to figure out how it applies to the specific constraints of the local environment ("most well adapted to the current environment"). Always looking for better ways to connect, inspire, encourage, collaborate, etc.

You nailed it. It needs to be led by entrepreneurs. And there needs to be an understanding of the difference between small business and high growth startups. Both are necessary but they are different.

Re: On the Math: How a 10-year fund life impacts your startup

davidcrow — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 09:16:28 -0000

You nailed it.

Understanding where a fund is in the current lifecycle is critical to an entrepreneur. This combined with how much "dry powder" is left unallocated. As an entrepreneur you can figure out where you would stand relative to other investments. It's also important to understand what the fund thinks is the most probable outcome for your company and how much capital they are allocating to future rounds, pro-rata, etc.

It will be interesting to see how the Collaborative Fund and Alignment Holdings work together in follow on rounds and pro-rata sale.It seems to be a similar beast to the USV Opportunity Fund. https://www.usv.com/posts/t...

Re: Making of the iNovia Capital ALS #IceBucketChallenge Video

davidcrow — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 14:29:18 -0000

Chris, thank you and the entire iNovia team for responding with so much style. I hope that as a group we were able to raise money and awareness to a disease that affects between 2500 to 3000 Canadians. I hope that startups and founders and others in the community has as much fun observing as we did doing.

I'm hoping everyone will watch: http://youtu.be/h07OT8p8Oik to understand that even raising awareness for this disease it is a potential to help fund and cure it.

And don't forget to donate. Every little bit helps: http://als.ca/icebucketchal...

Thank you!

Re: OMERS Ventures CEO John Ruffolo takes top spot in ‘Canada’s 50 Most Powerful Business People’ list

davidcrow — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 15:29:41 -0000

Hey Ian, the list of portfolio companies should have BusBud not BudBud.

Re: #Icebucketchallenge: OMERS Ventures Calls Out Real Ventures, iNovia and Georgian Partners

davidcrow — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 12:19:32 -0000

PS Don't forget to donate http://www.ALS.CA/ICEBUCKETCHALLENGE

Re: Can you build “Silicon Valley” companies outside of the Valley?

davidcrow — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 10:27:18 -0000

This is the thesis of AnnaLee Saxenian in The New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a Global Economy http://www.hup.harvard.edu/... Similar to PhD students as knowledge vectors, and it is the cultural experience and professional networks that allow the creation of global companies. But it is the need to be a global actor from day 1, to look for opportunities to raise capital, subcontract manufacturing, market products and services beyond the local geography.

Take advantage of local resources, and hire the best talent regardless of geography (and don't assume your geography is the best at anything).

Re: Backstreet’s Back: Extreme Venture Partners Returns with a New Accelerator, But No Amar Varma

davidcrow — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 07:23:13 -0000

@betakitcanada just to point out that @omersventures is one of the founding investors in Extreme Startups along with @rhocanada @relayventures @bdc and the former @xtremelabs.

BTW <3 the Rough Riders/Roughriders comparison!

Re: Are Canadian Corporations Afraid of VC?

davidcrow — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 18:41:33 -0000

OpenText announced their intention to create "a $100 million OpenText Enterprise Applications Venture Fund" (http://www.newswire.ca/en/s... ).

Telus Ventures http://about.telus.com/comm... is active with investments in VisionCritical and others.

Cenovus Environmental Opportunity Fund http://www.cenovus.com/oper...

"GSK Canada Life Sciences Innovation Fund, a new national $50 million fund that will significantly advance the commercialization of scientific innovation in Canada by investing in early stage breakthrough research" http://www.gsk.ca/english/h... managed by SROne http://www.srone.com/

Pangea Ventures has LPs that include BASF, Ciba Chemicals, etc. http://www.pangaeaventures....

Eli Lilly is an LP in TVM Capital http://www.tvm-capital.com/ along with Teralys (May 2012).

I wonder if CVCA has any data....

Probably still some room for Canadian banks and other corporations like Weston Limited for investment.

Re: 9 Tips to Network Your Way into a VC Job

davidcrow — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 12:11:26 -0000

Rarer than a Unicorn the Canadian VC job.

Re: Policy Wonking

davidcrow — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 19:31:27 -0000

hey @Jason Dea, Andy is a world class guy. Startups would be lucky to have him around the table providing advice and guidance.

Re: When should startups pursue a patent strategy?

davidcrow — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 15:41:17 -0000

@Mark MacLeod put together a great IP 101 for entrepreneurs back in 2010 when he was VC.

http://www.startupcfo.ca/20...

I think slide 23 is my favourite. The categories of IP and their relative usefulness vs costs. Patents are expensive and not particularly useful early in a companies lifecycle. But they can be very useful as a company matures. What I like about the view espoused by Bob and Andrew is making an informed decision about the tradeoffs. The argument is not that patents make sense at every point for every startup. But that as a founder you need to understand the tradeoffs and risks to a business of certain behaviours (or the lack of behaviours).

Re: Where are the RIM alumni?

davidcrow — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 15:35:35 -0000

There are folks like Dennis Kavelman now COO at Desire2Learn. The diaspora is increasing, but there was a long window before this started to happen.

Re: Where are the RIM alumni?

davidcrow — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 15:33:15 -0000

Things have definitely changed post 2008. Hard to believe such significant change in <6 years.

Re: The Unicorn Awards 2013

davidcrow — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 07:51:56 -0000

We are too nice.

I love the snark. And a couple of your suggestions surprised me. Which is great.

I've had a few folks mention treading lightly.

Re: The Unicorn Awards 2013

davidcrow — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 15:23:21 -0000

Odds are depending on the winners, someone gets punched.

Re: Does Toronto Have What It Takes to Become the Entrepreneurial Capital of the World?

davidcrow — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 11:11:31 -0000

See @betteridgeslaw http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Re: The Tough Call on Startup Conferences

davidcrow — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 11:01:45 -0000

Ah crap, I failed to update that in Wordrpess. Sorry @kevin_swan and @SwanLover

Updated. I completely failed. Not intentional.

Re: The Tough Call on Startup Conferences

davidcrow — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 16:42:10 -0000

Startups have bosses? (investors or board members? I guess).

Re: Stop stressing about startup competitors

davidcrow — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 10:11:57 -0000

I really hate pitches that have "we don't have any competition". It is a HUGE red flag, usually means that the individual is so egomaniacal they haven't bothered to do a Google search.

Re: Why You Should Give Before You Get

davidcrow — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:59:47 -0000

I think that @timoreilly captured it best for me:

"Create more value than you capture" http://radar.oreilly.com/20...

And @msuster thank you for creating more value that you capture. The blog posts and the education have saved me countless dollars.

Re: A Public Service Announcement

davidcrow — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:12:26 -0000

Working on it.

There are:

@marsdd Sample funding docs for Ontario http://www.marsdd.com/artic... and their Open Soruce Seed docs http://www.marsdd.com/2010/...

@sama A Founder Friendly Term Sheet http://blog.samaltman.com/a...

YCombinator and Wilson Sonsini Series AA Equity Financing Docs http://ycombinator.com/seri...

Founders Institute Plain Preferred Term Sheet http://www.founderinstitute...

Series Seed Financing Documents http://www.seriesseed.com/

TechStars Model Seed Funding Documents http://www.techstars.org/20...

h/t to @fredwilson http://www.avc.com/a_vc/201...

Re: A Public Service Announcement

davidcrow — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 11:57:38 -0000

Some one has said they have a paper on the impact of funding percentages on moral/motivation and outcomes between US, Israeli and German entrepreneurs. I'm looking for the paper but can't find it.

Re: A Public Service Announcement

davidcrow — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 11:56:30 -0000

Agreed, I do have a very tech focused lens. And outside of high potential growth, venture fundable companies this changes.

But my argument is the it is up to the entrepreneur to understand the ecosystem/market and the valuation and investors who are the players they need to engage.

Focusing on after the fact analysis of the impact of a previous investment on the attractiveness to future funders or to broad segment trends.

Re: A Public Service Announcement

davidcrow — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 17:51:18 -0000

Great points.

@Kevin Swan but you are one of the good guys. You don't do this kind of shit. Other good investors don't do this shit. Good investors are partners. The notion of self awareness is that most entrepreneurs are lacking much of this self awareness.

I don't know anymore. But I'm sick of entrepreneurs blaming investors. I'm sick of bad investors exploiting ignorant/ill informed entrepreneurs.