This is probably one of the most common phrases you hear from venture capitalists. It has become the de facto phrase from an investor that really isn’t interested in your startup, but wants to let you down easy. I make a conscious effort to avoid taking this backdoor, but I know that I have been guilty of it as well. Click to continue »

There has been a lot of discussion recently on the changing landscape of venture funding and what it is leading to. I thought that it would be worth digging into this a bit and, as most of the discussion and data is from the United States, put a Canadian spin on it as well. Click to continue »

You may have already heard the news – Canada is getting a new tech accelerator. I am extremely excited to be working with the team behind GrowLab and the amazing group of mentors, investors and supporters who have committed to building something pretty sweet here in Canada. I have had the opportunity to work with Boris (previously my boss!), Debbie, Jason and Leonard in the past and have a tremendous amount of respect them. But, enough about the news, lets talk accelerators. Click to continue »

I originally planned on writing a post titled “Two Weeks as a VC” sharing my early experiences in this new world, but things got a little busy as I was able to hit the ground running. As anyone who has a blog says at this time of year – I hope to make blogging a higher priority this year.

I wanted to share some quick observations and experiences from my first 2 months working as a VC. So far it has been great being on “the other side of the table”, but a lot different than my previous experiences in the angel space and as an operator running a company. Click to continue »

Jevon MacDonald wrote a great post about the venture capital industry in Canada. In it, he highlighted how we tried to follow our “big brother” to the south and raised some large funds just like the big boys on Sandhill Road, but failed. Jevon proposes that it is now time to forge ahead with our own path in Canada and bring together entrepreneurs, venture investors and governments to work towards some mega-exits in the future.

First off, I love Jevon’s passion and completely agree with the direction he is proposing – building great entrepreneurial communities (thanks for the shout out to Edmonton!) and seeing a new breed of venture investors. But, I can’t help but think this is not really a new path, rather the same one that our “big brother” started on after the dot-com crash. Click to continue »