Disqus - Latest Comments for Michael Garrity

Re: Is money the root of our problems?

Michael Garrity — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 07:02:00 -0000

Hey David. Good topic and certainly not an easy one to answer. Here's what I can throw into the mix having just recently completed a good sized financing for our Canadian company. I agree with Daniel that sometimes the delay in getting funding is partly due to the entrepreneur not aiming right. Most VC's have a particular formula for investing which works for them. If you're the type of company that easily falls into that formula and you can do a relatively reasonable job of selling it & there is a good chance there will be money available here (terms based on how many other VC's want your deal). If you don't match the formula and you're not interested in changing your company to try to match it (which I wouldn't recommend), then you have to refocus your aim and go after capital elsewhere. For us, the right formula was to widen our search outside of Canada and to look for Angel investors who had a passion for our particular business. It certainly wasn't easy but we were successful in getting the capital we needed and a group of folks with essential domain knowledge and passion for our business.

Re: Guilt-free Holiday Reading List 2008

Michael Garrity — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 07:12:26 -0000

Hey David - I read Soros' book and enjoyed it. It doesn't live up to it's title IMHO and is light on solutions but he is clearly a powerful thinker with deep industry knowledge. Also, he earned the right to brag about being right because 2 years ago folks were saying he was a chicken little. Good lesson there.

- M

Re: » It’s a wrap - Founders and Funders Toronto | StartupNorth

Michael Garrity — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 13:56:02 -0000

Great event. Well executed. David, terrible math skills. Thanks again.

- M

Re: » April Fools: We are funded! StartupNorth takes a $3.2 million series A financing | StartupNorth

Michael Garrity — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:55:41 -0000

Jevon, Jonas and David - HUGE congrats, guys. You've each done a lot to bring energy and attention to the tech community in Canada already and I'm sure it's just the tip of the iceberg for you. Keep the fire blazing, amigos.

- M

Re: » April Fools: We are funded! StartupNorth takes a $3.2 million series A financing | StartupNorth

Michael Garrity — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:29:55 -0000

Also, I guess with all that cash in the bank now, it means that you will all be picking up your own bar tabs from now on.

- M

Re: » 17 Mistakes Start-ups Make | StartupNorth

Michael Garrity — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:37:09 -0000

Great stuff, David. Really good reminders in there for all of us. Number 7 I've always found to be the most difficult.

Re: » IT LAUNCHED! PlanetEye finally goes live | StartupNorth

Michael Garrity — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:16:22 -0000

Big congrats to Mark, Butch and team on the launch. The new site looks great. Clearly you got some good feedback from early users! : )

- M

Re: » 30 Ideas that need to be Funded | StartupNorth

Michael Garrity — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:28:55 -0000

Hey David - I saw this list recently and thought it was great, I actually sent it to all of our shareholders. It was quite affirming to see how our launching a lending and investment auction (#10) which employers could use for offering employee loans (#07) and borrowers could use for an alternative payment method for big debts(#17)could fit into their list. Cheers.
- M

Re: Twitter: A micro-financing vehicle?

Michael Garrity — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:59:10 -0000

Hey Mathew - I saw this string at TechCrunch yesterday and thought of wading in to illuminate the issue as it relates to "social lending" in general but thought the US nature of the discussion wasn't relevant. Now that you have has brought the issue home though, I'll wade in. At CommunityLend, we know this issue PARTICULARLY well as it is one of the central defining issues in launching a social lending service in Canada. Rest assured, there are ways of still using social networks for collecting people around financial requests that stays within the heavy constraints of Canadian law (as we will demonstrate in our planned launch in the next couple of months) - it's just VERY complicated. I take it we can count on you as an early user. : )

Re: It’s a wrap - Founders and Funders Toronto