Cultivating Startups

Lots of ideas for startup ecosystem builders to discuss, debate, adapt and adopt in the 2018 Startup Genome report. It's one of the few examinations of what world-class ecosystems look like and how to get there—and something that every ecosystem organization should read and consider. Some of the topics discussed on this episode: Local Connectedness: New in this year's report and a critical component of all strong ecosystems. We give a big thumbs up to the report's contention that "collisions" and events aren't enough to build a startup community. Subsectors: Startup Genome looks at the growth of "deep tech"—technology subsectors that are typically more research-heavy and attract older, more experienced and educated founders. They see these subsectors as an opportunity for smaller ecosystems to become leaders. We look at what they identify as the subsector strengths of Canada's ecosystems. Founder Mindset: Are there attitudes and traits that are more likely to lead to strong startup founders or business bu

The Canadian federal budget was delivered on Tuesday and we start the show with a quick look at two items that may not get a lot of attention but may have a big impact on the startup ecosystem. It wasn't said directly, but it looks like the CAIP program will not be renewed next year. It has provided millions of dollars in funding to organizations like Communitech, MaRS, Ryerson DMZ, Invest Ottawa and many others across Canada. IRAP has been a source of funding for some of Canada's top startups, but the government wants to see them supporting larger projects, which will likely mean larger companies as the recipients. We also run through the supercluster winners, announced since the last show. We then take a deeper dive into a planned incubator in Gananoque, Ontario and look at the bigger issues around how small urban and rural areas can reasonably participate in the "startup revolution." The business plan says "The incubator’s success will be predicated on its ability to position itself as a world-class

An expert review panel recently completed a report on the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE)—the main program of the Ontario government for providing funding to organizations supporting tech or innovation companies and startup ecosystem. The ONE's Regional Innovation Centres are located in 18 cities across Ontario. And the review panel has recommended big changes: they want the government to become "a strong central authority" in the management of the program and recommend a diminished role for MaRS and for many of the regional organizations at the core of the ONE—many of which would no longer be called regional innovation centres. Communitech and Invest Ottawa would be promoted to Provincial Innovation Centres, and the panel recommends a "significant increase" in the province's funding of innovation programs. On this episode, we dedicate the entire show to a look at the expert review panel report with a focus on some of the more contentious recommendations. The panel humbly suggests that its recommenda

We're back this week and it's the show we can only do once every five years. What are the fastest growing tech/ICT/software centres in Canada? You'll see rankings like this all the time, but we really only have good data on this every five years when the Census numbers come out. And they just came out and we go through them on this week's show—while also looking at why it's not as simple to come up with these rankings as you may think. So, there's a lot of Waterloo in these rankings, and plenty of Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Montreal—as you'd expect—and Fredericton and Windsor and London and Saskatoon and many others from coast to coast—from Nanaimo to St. John's. We can't do this again until 2022! It's a show packed with top 5 rankings. And you can follow along with these tables for most of the rankings discussed on the show, along with details of which industry (NAICS) and occupation (NOC) codes were used. Links: Data tables, 2016 Census 2011 National Household Survey: Data tables LinkedIn post

Hot DesQ is a program run by the government of Queensland in Australia through its Advance Queensland initiative to bring startups from around the world to Queensland and get them engaged with the local startup community. Through the program, startups receive $50,000-$100,000 in funding plus space at a coworking site in Queensland of their choice for six months. In return, startups agree to participate in local startup activities and build connections with companies in Queensland, while passing along some of their experience in growing a startup and building startup communities. This week we talk to Murray Love, CEO of Waterloo-based Ark Paradigm—one of three Canadian startups that have been accepted into the Hot DesQ program over its first two rounds. He is currently working out of the Fishburners coworking space in Brisbane. We also talk to Paul Martyn, the Deputy Director-General of Strategy and Innovation with the Queensland Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation. He talks about wha

Montreal is home to one of Canada's largest and most dynamic startup ecosystems, and in just a few years, Isaac Souweine has gone from being a newcomer to the city (and to Canada) to being at the centre of the startup community as EIR with Real Ventures. We talk to Isaac about how he came to Montreal, how he initially got plugged into the ecosystem, working in Montreal without being fluent in French, and working with Real Ventures to help build the Montreal ecosystem, including his work as the general manager of Real's FounderFuel accelerator. Links: Real Ventures FounderFuel Isaac Souweine on LinkedIn Isaac Souweine on Twitter (@sonofsarah) Ottawa cut from short list for 'supercluster' funding The IT Factor: What Ottawa must do to brand itself as a true national tech hub

Velocity is one of Canada's most successful university-based startup incubators and an integral part of the Waterloo startup ecosystem. Its success helped the Ontario government see university incubators and accelerators in a whole new way, leading to the creation of a multimillion-dollar program across the province to fund "campus-linked accelerators." It had an unlikely beginning 10 years ago. On this week's show, Sean Van Koughnett talks about how the idea for Velocity came about, how it found supporters and avoided resistance while launching on a shoestring budget and how he sees student entrepreneurship in the broader context of student experience and student success -- an area he now oversees as Dean of Students and Associate VP at McMaster University. Links: Sean Van Koughnett on LinkedIn Sean Van Koughnett on Twitter Velocity (University of Waterloo) The Forge (McMaster University) Campus Linked Accelerator Program "Several proposals with Saskatchewan ties included on Ottawa 'supercluste

Since 2014, Australia has received a detailed, annual profile of its startup ecosystem thanks to Startup Muster. And the startup community has been eager to participate, with thousands of responses last year from founders, potential founders and startup supporters. This week, Startup Muster cofounder and CEO Monica Wulff talks about what motivated her to create the survey, how Google became an early supporter, her annual roadtrips across the country to build interest and awareness, the rigorous validation process the responses go through and some of the most interesting results from last year's report. Monica also talks about the Sydney Startup Hub—an impressive 11-storey, 180,000 square-foot facility for startups, accelerators and incubators opening in the heart of the city. Links: Startup Muster Startup Muster 2016 Report [PDF] Startup Muster on Twitter (@startupmuster) Startup Muster on Facebook Monica Wulff on LinkedIn Monica Wulff on Twitter (@monwulff) Sydney Startup Hub

One of the challenges facing startup support organizations of all kinds is how do we know that we're doing a good job? Which programs are most effective? Which initiatives are worth continuing and which need to be changed or dropped? Even if we feel confident in our own activities, how would we convince someone else (including funders)? Jesse Rodgers, CEO of Volta Labs in Halifax, has written a lot about startup ecosystem metrics and has years of experience in dealing with these critical issues—both in his current role and in his previous roles running Creative Destruction Lab (Toronto) and Velocity (Waterloo). We talk to Jesse about the complex topic of metrics in startup ecosystems. You can also listen to Jessie's first appearance on the show here: Ep 01: Halifax Startup Ecosystem with Jesse Rodgers of Volta Labs Links: Jesse Rodgers's blog: whoyoucallingajesse Jesse Rodgers on LinkedIn Jesse Rodgers on Twitter (@jrodgers) Volta Labs Volta Labs on Twitter (@voltaeffect) "Why superclusters may

Ottawa has been one of Canada's largest tech centres for decades and has the highest concentration of tech talent in the country. It hasn't always been a smooth ride—the city was riding high on the telecom boom of the late 1990s and took a big hit when the glory days came to an end, but it evolved and rebuilt and now has an impressive collection of startups and young companies, led by Shopify—now valued at over $10 billion after its IPO in 2015. Ian Graham has been part of Ottawa's tech community for many years and has spent the last decade helping startups as the founder and president of TheCodeFactory, a hybrid coworking space and incubator—a pioneer in that space when it opened downtown nearly 10 years ago. TheCodeFactory is particularly experienced in working with startups looking to bootstrap their business and finance their operations through revenue. He talks about how the startup ecosystem has grown over the least 10 years and where he'd like to see it go from here. Press play to listen or subscribe

Vancouver is one of Canada's biggest tech hubs and Launch Academy has played a key role in the startup ecosystem over the last five years, providing incubation services and training to over 100 startups a year—and hosting events for the community at its 12,000 square-foot space in the Gastown area of the city. This week, we talk to general manager Hussein Hallak about the programs at Launch Academy and their big vision for Vancouver's startup community—already ranked #1 in the country by Startup Genome and ready to grow even further. Press play to listen or subscribe with your favourite podcast app. Links: Launch Academy Launch Academy on Twitter (@Launch_Academy) Launch Academy on Facebook (LaunchAcademyIgnited) Hussein Hallak Hussein Hallak on LinkedIn Hussein Hallak on Twitter (@HHUnleashed) Hussein Hallak on Facebook (HHUnleashed) Take a 3D Virtual Tour of Western Canada's Leading Tech Startup Hub VC & PE Canadian Market Overview // H1 2017 BDC Fiscal 2017 Annual Report Houston Te

Mike Colwell has been mentoring startup founders for over a decade in his role with Square One DSM in Des Moines, Iowa. He's also on the board of directors of two accelerators focused on sectors where the region is building on established strengths: one for startups in the insurance sector and the other focused on agritech. On this week's show, Mike talks about how the accelerators were created and structured, how they're funded, how they operate, lessons learned from an earlier unsuccessful incubator, and the growth of the Des Moines startup ecosystem. Press play to listen or subscribe with your favourite podcast app. Links: Greater Des Moines Partnership Square One DSM Global Insurance Accelerator Iowa AgriTech Accelerator Plains Angels Mike Colwell on LinkedIn Square One DSM on Twitter (@SquareOneDSM) Square One DSM on Facebook Square One DSM Startup Stories – Lil Sidekick PitchBook: VC investment in US agtech keeps growing [datagraphic] Ambience Data wins N100 2017

It's Canada's smallest province, but that hasn't stopped Prince Edward Island from launching several initiatives to support startups. One of the newest is Startup Zone, an incubator in downtown Charlottetown, which launched last year. It's already worked with over 30 startups and has started to see companies graduating and moving out and into larger spaces. Doug Keefe became the interim CEO of Startup Zone in April and on this week's show he talks about how Startup Zone started, building a startup community in Charlottetown, the challenge of finding tech talent, a new $4 million fund launching in the province, and some early success stories for the incubator. Press play to listen or subscribe with your favourite podcast app. Links: Startup Zone Startup Zone Pitch Competition Startup Zone on Twitter (@StartupZonePEI) Startup Zone on Facebook Doug Keefe on LinkedIn Doug Keefe on Twitter (@dougkeefe)

It wasn't that long ago that you couldn't run a hackathon in Saskatoon without raising eyebrows about what you were planning to hack into. Now a startup community is emerging in the city and the province has provided $250,000 to the first tech incubator in Saskatchewan—Co.Labs—which will officially launch in September. We talk to Jordan Dutchak, the executive director, who has spent more than two years helping to make Co.Labs a reality. He talks about how Co.Labs came about, how it's structured, what they've learned from other incubators in Canada, the ROI that government funders expect to see, and the operating model they're using: how startups are brought on board and the processes for remaining in—or being asked to leave—the incubator. Jordan also describes how—even after years of preparation—there were still a lot of surprises waiting once they brought the first startups on board for a beta run this summer. Press play to listen or subscribe with your favourite podcast app. Links: Co.Labs Co.Labs o

No guest this week, so a roundup of recent news and updates from startup ecosystems. [1:50] It's deadline week for applications to Canada's Innovation Superclusters program. $950 million up for grabs. [2:50] The new Grand Innovations hub in Cambridge is coming along and looking at a January opening. [3:56] Volta Labs is tripling its space in downtown Halifax. [4:30] New research reports from the Impact Centre. The latest one looks at whether VC-backed Canadian startups have experienced marketing talent and how they compare to U.S. unicorns. [8:34] Funding for Edmonton organizations under the Alberta Entrepreneurship Incubator Program. [9:15] Why are we still using the Osterwalder-Pigneur business model canvas? It's not startup friendly and there are better alternatives [11:41] Provincial funding for Co.Labs incubator in Saskatoon. [12:51] A look at the Saskatchewan Commercial Innovation Incentive (SCII). [13:54] WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT BEING ACQUIRED? Why do so many Canadian columnists treat a startup be

Edmonton's startup community has come a long way in just a few years, and Startup Edmonton recently celebrated its fifth anniversary as a startup hub in the city's downtown. We talk to CEO Tiffany Linke-Boyko about the evolution of Startup Edmonton, starting as a grassroots initiative with two founders in 2009, to its place today as a core piece of the city's economic development strategies. It was a big week for Edmonton, as the city—and the rest of Canada—cheered the creation of a new research centre from Google/Alphabet-owned artificial intelligence company DeepMind. The University of Alberta in Edmonton has been a world leader in artificial intelligence and, with the new office, it's hoped that more AI talent will come to Edmonton and stay there. Links: Startup Edmonton Startup Edmonton on Twitter (@StartupEdmonton) Tiffany Linke-Boyko on Twitter (@TiffanyKLB) Tiffany Linke-Boyko on LinkedIn DeepMind expands to Canada with new research office in Edmonton, Alberta Paula Simons: 'Global head-s

Northumberland County—east of Toronto in Southern Ontario—isn't a place where you'd expect to find a $100,000 startup competition that attracts some of the top new tech companies in the province. It's a largely rural area with no university campus and its largest population centre has fewer than 20,000 residents. But the N100 competition is now in its fifth year and Northumberland is also introducing an angel coinvestment fund and the Town of Cobourg is converting one of its unused buildings into a new innovation centre, Venture 13. We talk to John Hayden of the Northumberland CFDC, who manages the N100 competition and other enterprise programs. Press play to listen or subscribe with your favourite podcast app. Links: Northumberland CFDC N100 N100 on Twitter (@N100startups) Northumberland CFDC on Twitter (@NrthmbrlndCFDC) "Big plans for Venture 13 in Cobourg" (Northumberland Today)

Arctic Business Incubator isn't an exaggeration—they're incubating new technology businesses at the Arctic Circle in Sweden, and have been for the last 12 years. It's affiliated with the Luleå University of Technology and runs accelerator and incubator programs in four locations, with startups covering a broad range of sectors from gaming to space to cleantech and many more. We talk to managing director Jens Lundström on this week's podcast. And I take a look at a new report out of British Columbia that that makes the case for why B.C. will be Canada's "global digital technology supercluster." There's no denying that Vancouver is a digital tech hotbed ... as is Toronto-Waterloo, Montreal, Ottawa (or is that Montreal-Ottawa?). How many digital tech superclusters should Canada have? Press play to listen or subscribe with your favourite podcast app. Links: Arctic Business Incubator Arctic Business Incubator on Twitter (@ArcticIncubator) Jens Lundström on Twitter (@jlundstrom) This is Kiruna: How to Mo

It's not the biggest country, but New Zealand has developed thriving startup ecosystems while facing heightened versions of many of the same challenges we see in Canada, including a small domestic market, and an underdeveloped venture capital sector. Creative HQ in Wellington is one of the leading lights of the New Zealand startup ecosystem, and we talk to CEO Stefan Korn about what's working well and what gaps still need to be addressed. I take a look at two different reports on venture capital activity in Canada over the first quarter of 2017. You'd hardly know that they're even talking about the same period: one says it was a great three months, the other says the year got off to a slow start. And I have an update on the NACO report on angel investing in Canada that we discussed in episode 6. Press play to listen or subscribe with your favourite podcast app. Links: Creative HQ Creative HQ on Twitter (@CreativeHQ) Lightning Lab Lightning Lab on Twitter (@LightningLab) New Zealand Startup Ecosys

For over four years, Mike Kirkup was the director of Velocity—the startup incubator at the University of Waterloo. It's been a huge addition to the Waterloo startup community since opening in 2008. He stepped down just over a year ago to become CTO at Encircle—a Velocity graduate—and on this week's show looks back at lessons learned from Velocity's growth (and how a huge space for Velocity Garage quickly became too small). I also take a quick look at some new data on Canada's venture capital industry from a BDC report released last week, and catch up on the Canadian government's Innovation Superclusters Initiative (ISI) after attending a information session. Only five superclusters are going to be selected and the front runners seem pretty clear. Is there even any point for anyone else to apply? Press play to listen or subscribe with your favourite podcast app. Links: Velocity Velocity on Twitter (@UWVelocity) Mike Kirkup on Twitter (@mikekirkup) Encircle Velocity Fund Finals (Livestream archive)