DISQUS

Dan,

It's great to see Canadian entrepreneurs trying. There are a lot of other programs and support mechanisms in Toronto, not all of them are formalized. I know that Jevon - http://startupnorth.ca/, Leila - http://blog.ideeinc.com/, Stuart - http://tripharbour.ca/ and others (like me) have all provided mentoring for early stage software entrepreneurs.

There is a great community of entrepreneurs building on Rails. Including LearnHub, TSOT, and Unspace.

And I'm happy to buy you a coffee, beer or lunch. You'll have to tolerate a MacBook Pro toting Microsoft Canada employee.

Why not come out to DemoCampToronto18 and meet some of these folks.

More about the happenings in Toronto in the National Post - http://www.financialpost.com/trading_desk/finan...

More about the happenings in Toronto in the National Post - http://www.financialpost.com/trading_desk/finan...

I don't think that Ali is wrong. I'm curious what others think about the value.

http://www.polldaddy.com/s/D6FCB7A1FF6716AE/

I don't think that Ali is wrong. I'm curious what others think about the value.

http://www.polldaddy.com/s/D6FCB7A1FF6716AE/

Jevon, I think it speaks to the history of the *Camp movement in Canada. I think in Toronto the DemoCamp and BarCamp scenes we're initially divided between 3 groups: entrepreneurs; developers; and designers but we did not solely focus on startups, i.e., we had a demo from Adam Goucher about an HP security product, we had SR&ED credit talks, etc. This let the community grow, however, it has left the focus a little fuzzy.

Jevon, I think it speaks to the history of the *Camp movement in Canada. I think in Toronto the DemoCamp and BarCamp scenes we're initially divided between 3 groups: entrepreneurs; developers; and designers but we did not solely focus on startups, i.e., we had a demo from Adam Goucher about an HP security product, we had SR&ED credit talks, etc. This let the community grow, however, it has left the focus a little fuzzy.

This is awesome!

First a celebration that somebody is doing this. We've had a lot of startup DNA in the TorCamp/DemoCampToronto blog. But it is fantastic that you guys are taking the lead.

Secondly, this is not DemoCamp. This is for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs. AWESOME!

Thanks Jevon and Jonas.

This is awesome!

First a celebration that somebody is doing this. We've had a lot of startup DNA in the TorCamp/DemoCampToronto blog. But it is fantastic that you guys are taking the lead.

Secondly, this is not DemoCamp. This is for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs. AWESOME!

Thanks Jevon and Jonas.

it was refreshing to see a gathering of interested people share their experiences and advice. It is questionable about the quality of the ideas and the advice (partially because a lot of the advice was mine ;-)

I hope others take you up on your challen to run their own events.

I think DemoCamp has it's place but it is probably as a community event with short presentations, DemoCamp probably should be renamed. It's the TorontoTechnologyThreeRingedCircus or FlamingMonkey+Candle night.

Thanks for keeping the original vision alive.

it was refreshing to see a gathering of interested people share their experiences and advice. It is questionable about the quality of the ideas and the advice (partially because a lot of the advice was mine ;-)

I hope others take you up on your challen to run their own events.

I think DemoCamp has it's place but it is probably as a community event with short presentations, DemoCamp probably should be renamed. It's the TorontoTechnologyThreeRingedCircus or FlamingMonkey+Candle night.

Thanks for keeping the original vision alive.

Omar,

You are missing the point!

90% of the pitches are bound to be non-fundable. The problem is that most of those pitches never see the light of day. Instead we're putting "entrepreneurs" on air because they make good television. This is not about educating potential Canadian entrepreneurs. It's about pure entertainment. Just like watching William Hung isn't about how to become a best selling popstar.

Watching other people pitch is important. There are lots of examples of great product and venture pitches. These aren't happening on the Dragon's Den. These aren't venture pitches. These aren't product pitches. To see better examples, check out Guy Kawasaki's How to Be a Demo God - http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/01/how_to_be_a... or watch the pitches at Demo - http://www.demo.com/

Don't be fooled into believing that a Canadian copy of a British television show demonstrates relevance or talent of the people they put on. Shows like Venture - http://www.cbc.ca/venture/ that show the challenges of running, growing and operating a business are much better and much more relevant to entrepreneurs.

We should look for content that inspires, as well as entertains.

Omar,

You are missing the point!

90% of the pitches are bound to be non-fundable. The problem is that most of those pitches never see the light of day. Instead we're putting "entrepreneurs" on air because they make good television. This is not about educating potential Canadian entrepreneurs. It's about pure entertainment. Just like watching William Hung isn't about how to become a best selling popstar.

Watching other people pitch is important. There are lots of examples of great product and venture pitches. These aren't happening on the Dragon's Den. These aren't venture pitches. These aren't product pitches. To see better examples, check out Guy Kawasaki's How to Be a Demo God - http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/01/how_to_be_a... or watch the pitches at Demo - http://www.demo.com/

Don't be fooled into believing that a Canadian copy of a British television show demonstrates relevance or talent of the people they put on. Shows like Venture - http://www.cbc.ca/venture/ that show the challenges of running, growing and operating a business are much better and much more relevant to entrepreneurs.

We should look for content that inspires, as well as entertains.

Isn't/wasn't Bubbleshare based here in Toronto, not Ottawa?

At least there's no snow (yet)!

Kristin and I just returned from China. We had a fantastic trip.

http://flickr.com/photos/davidcrow/sets/72157594386355758/

The culture is unique. Definitely 3 distinct personalities of cities and their people when comparing Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. I really wish I had read more about Chinese history before visiting. The socio-economic and socio-political changes the resulted in the People's Revolution (plus the 2 revolutions immediately before and the Cultural Revolution that followed) would have been insightful. A short history is available at http://www.asterius.com/china/

Dang it, no one tells me about these things. This is the problem with the Toronto community. We just need to to talk more.

You guys should be sure to check out thte next iteration of BarCampToronto aka TorCamp http://barcamp.pbwiki.com/TorCampDemoCamp3