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Ignore Bloggers at Your Peril
The Guardian Unlimited's Bobbie Johnson has a good story on the growing influence of blogs:Bloggers and internet pundits are exerting a "disproportionately large influence" on society, according to a report by a technology research company. Its study suggests that although "active" web users make up only a small proportion of Europe's online population, they are increasingly dominating public conversations and creating business trends.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 04/19
Self-Organizing Entrepreneurship
 David Crow blogs about recent entrepreneurial activities in Toronto's Web 2.0 / Tech space. David is a key force behind the popular BarCampToronto series that gives local entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their stuff to peers and potential investors. What's great about BarCampToronto is its organizational structure. A Wiki is the central hub around which event planning takes place. If you haven't clued in to Wikis yet this is a good opportunity to take a moment and find out how this relatively simple tool is changing the way information is managed.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 04/19
The Globe and Mail Embraces Online World
 Today at 2:00 PM the Globe and Mail is entering the brave new world of real-time, online question and answer forums. The Globe will host William Thorsell of the Royal Ontario Museum and Matthew Teitelbaum of the Art Gallery of Ontario. This is a great opportunity for the community to find out what our cultural leaders are planning for the future. We applaud Thorsell and Teitelbaum for embracing this new form of community outreach. The Globe too deserves credit for moving away from the controlled safety of the print world. One recommendation though - ease up a bit on the rules and regulations! Here they are:Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question/comment. Comments/questions may be edited for length or clarity. HTML is not allowed. We will not publish questions/comments that include personal attacks on participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions/comments that include vulgar language or libellous statements. Preference will be given to readers who submit questions/comments using their full name and home town, rather than a pseudonym. If you're in the print business, blogging and online interactive forums are disruptive technologies. What does that mean? Print is in a long but inevitably losing battle with the online world for the dissemination of information. They know it so the big newspapers are doing their best to assimilate new online technologies. Their internal corporate cultures though retain a print mentality, as their regulations seem to suggest. The online world can be rough and ready. On occasion sites will get hacked, people will get in flame wars, and decorum may get thrown aside. Still, people love it! And these kinds of activities are the exception (...read more...)
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 04/18
Invest in a Green Future
 John Doerr may be the venture investor who started the Internet rush when he put early round money into Netscape, Amazone, and Google. Bright guy - with good timing. Now Doerr is discovering the "green technology" sector. And he thinks it will be big. Kleiner Perkins is where Doerr does business. They've set aside a big part of their latest tech fund to focus it on the green sector. Read more in the Globe and Mail's tech section.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 04/17
Verizon Commits to Flash
 According to Forbes, Verizon Wireless is going to put Adobe's Flash Technology into its mobile phones. Adobe executives wouldn't spell out details of the pact, but said Verizon Wireless will be able to download ringtones and wallpapers powered by Flash software. Flash is already the de facto rich-media standard for desktop browsers. Verizon's plans to offer the technology to 50 million US cellphone users suggest it will soon be the rich-media standard for mobile browsing as well. Judging by the acceptance in Asia, the market will be a significant one.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 04/13
Guy Kawasaki Comes to Canada
 Given the quality of Canada's underfunded entrepreneurs, the inevitable has happened: a big US VC firm is moving north. Guy Kawasaki's Garage technology Ventures opened an office in Montreal yesterday. With $50 million in hand their plan is to make $100 Million available for investment by next year. "We're very excited about this new venture," said Bill Reichert, managing director of Garage Technology Ventures in Palo Alto. "This is the realization of a vision Tom and Louis brought to us several years ago. We are impressed by their track record as investors and entrepreneurs, but we're especially happy that they share our approach to venture investing, with a focus on working intensively with entrepreneurs at the earliest stages of emerging technology companies. With their location in the heart of one of the most vibrant technology hubs in Canada, they enable us to span the North American continent, while we will facilitate their access to the Silicon Valley hub for emerging technologies."
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 04/12
Mobile Social Networking
It had to happen. MySpace is going mobile. Find out more about how social networking services are coming to your mobile device.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 04/11
Future Making
For the Futurists in our audience - and every good VC probably is that - Alex Steffen riffs on "The Tech Bloom - Collaborative and Emergent Technologies. The big movers? Film and Video, Design and Prototyping, and Games.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 04/11
Getting US-Based VC Funding
The Ottawa Business Journal has a good story on one Ottawa company's search for venture capital south of the border.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 04/10
Nanotechnology and Health
 Ever since I read the science fiction best seller, "Ice Nine," I've been slightly skeptical about technologies that you can't see but can none-the-less have earth changing effects. The Washington Post has a story about the health impact of one nanotechnology based product, "Magic Nano." A t least 77 people reported severe respiratory problems over a one-week period at the end of March -- including six who were hospitalized with pulmonary edema, or fluid in the lungs -- after using a "Magic Nano" bathroom cleansing product, according to the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in Berlin. Nanotechnologies are hot in investment circles but regulatory oversight is required to ensure the safety of consumers. VC's with nanotechnology investments might well review their portfolio companies to ensure they comply with anticipated changes in reporting in the industry.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 04/07
The Future of Television
 I don't know about you but I have very little time left for television. Really, who needs it? WIth about five hundred RSS feeds I like to track and a constant stream of digital media available online, I don't have the patience to wait for TV. Plus, who really needs to see all those useless commercials? Come on. Net savvy consumers have a thousand better ways to make the buying choices they need to make. The Wharton School of Business newsletter has a powerful article on the trend away from television. "Prime Time No More: The Television Industry Struggles Against Distribution Upstarts." The article's premise? In ten years or so the habit of waiting around for a program at a certain time or place will be old news. So, what's going to happen to ABC, CBC, CTV, NBC, CNN, FOX, and PBS? These industries are in a pre-freefall with their existing business models and they know it. That's why they are looking at how the music industry handled the transition to digital - not very well. What does this mean for entrepreneurs and investors? Simple. The business model around distribution and advertising is changing. No one really knows how it will stabilize if it will. It seems constant change is part of the matrix. The first phase of convergence involved media businesses aggregating content. The next phase will put technologists in the role of producers and for investors the opportunities are limitless.
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 04/06
06 Rotman Business Plan Competition - Learnings
Story by: Holland Grant, MBA Candidate, 2006 Academic/Industry partnerships: there is so much value to be gained from these partnerships. The Venture Capitalists who took part in this event enjoyed the chance to impart their knowledge to students. Value was gained both by the students and the VCs as a result of the exercise. Investment Analysis is a perfected skill: Analysis is not an innate skill, rather its one that develops over time. In sitting with the VCs, what struck me is they kept referring to rules that they had acquired through their experience when analyzing the businesses. Practice allowed them all to become the seasoned investors that they are today. Listening to these VCs was one of the more influential moments of my academic life. Passion = Performance: Early on Chris and I had a conversation where we both admitted that we wished we could compete instead of organizing the competition. The ability to sit in first hand on the proceedings even if we could not participate is what drove us to give the event so much time. The Importance of Resource Planning: We threw so much at putting on a perfect event that we forgot on life after the event. As a result in the end, we probably short-changed our membership a bit since we had no other events in the pipeline for our members after the event. I would encourage the new executive of the NVG to have events planned for after the big event so that they can continue to offer value to their members. Markets = Success: this is something every entrepreneur should learn; without identifying markets in obvious need of a solution, it is often difficult to get investors to listen to your proposal. You need to present a compelling value proposition that meets a (...read more...)
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 04/05
06 Rotman Business Plan Competition - A Diary
 Story By: Holland Grant, MBA Candidate, 2006Thursday, 04/08/05 I am first offered the opportunity for Rotman’s New Ventures Group (NVG) to host the Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC). Before we even have an opportunity to get to planning, we face a challenge. Crystal Wong (NVG’s V.P. Communications) and I are both out of town for the entire summer and planning needs to begin immediately to lay down a good foundation. I make what will turn out to be perhaps the most pivotal decision when I ask Chris Potter (NVG’s V.P. Speakers) to be the point man for the project. Over the coming months he becomes the one indispensable member of the team. Monday 23/01/06 Today is the deadline for internal Rotman teams to submit entries to represent Rotman in the VCIC. The date was in hindsight not the best date, coinciding with recruiting season. The time crunch for students was so bad that we had to personally solicit qualified students to run. At the end, the choice of teams was left in the hands of 3 faculty members with research experience in the venture capital field. In the end, I don’t think I could have asked for a better team than the one selected. They brought technical, financial knowledge and plain talent to the table. Friday 10/2/06 We have a meeting with our corporate partners at McCarthy Tetrault to choose the presenting entrepreneurs, I had spent the whole previous day reading business plans and designing criteria for what made a good presenting company. Our meeting was productive, and after 2 hours of discussing businesses, we left the meeting thinking that we had found the ideal 2 businesses. We also secured commitments from the companies for their participation. Chris Potter and I walked away on a high note convinced that we (...read more...)
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 04/04
Pigs Fly - Oh, and You Can Boot Windows on a Mac
Here's how to do it...Contents 1 Introduction 2 Creating the XP installation CD 2.1 What You'll Need 2.2 Quick (Advanced) Instructions 2.3 Step-by-step Instructions 2.4 Creating the CD using mkisofs and a shell (OS X and *NIX) 2.5 Creating the CD for International (NON-US) version of XP 3 Partitioning the hard disk and Intalling OSX and XP 3.1 What You'll Need 3.2 Quick (Advanced) Instructions 3.3 Step-by-step instructions
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 04/03
iSummit Live Blog - Consumer Market Trends
 Moderator: Steve Billinger, Cookie Jar. Panelists: Brent Lowe-Bernie, comScore Media Metrix; Jeff Leiper, Yankee Group, Alan Sawyer, IBM; Charles Zamaria, Canadian Internet Project. Does the state have a place in the living rooms of the nation? What is the role of protected media monopolies in the convergence driven marketplace? Who is stepping up in the protected media environment? SB Television and radio are not going away. Convergence driven devices are just another channel. JL Are Canadians different? Convergence media allows people to get out of their social confines. In Japan, they are using that more effectively than in Canada. But, WE ARE NOT FAR BEHIND! CZ Television has been a big part of our cultural identity - we stand to lose our identity if we get overwhelmed by content from south of the border. BL-B We pay way too much for connectivity! Canadians have very little input over products developed in the US for this marketplace. SB Update Are there enough Canadians to matter? SB Are Canadians doing something different? SB There is an opportunity to provide content that matters to Canadians - curling is an example??? JL Question: Children are exploring markets that are international - the "Long Tail" is where the opportunities are!! [clapping] But the monolith [the traditional industry] is still there. CZ Can we start with 5 minute bloggisode that will expand to a one hour series? AS Update 2 Comment: I worked with McCluhan - and this idea of cultural identity is wrong - Canadian content is what Canadians do. We are international. [Applause] Games are important. 13 year old boys learn to use both hands. Who knew? [laughs] What are Canadians doing in this realm? SB Canada is one of the top countries in terms of game adoption and, interestingly, is evenly distributed between male (...read more...)
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Posted by R. Ouellette on 03/31
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Local News
The Ontario government is doing something truly unique and laudable says John Albright of JLA Ventures. Last week Ontario's Ministry of Research and Innovation announced a new $205-million fund to help stimulate the province's early-stage ventures.
According to a University of Laval Professor, Canada's Labour Sponsor Funds kill innovation rather than create it. Read the press release here. MediaScrape lands new venture round of $3.2 million. Chris Dingle has been appointed President and Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Dingle was the founding CTO of 24/7 Real Media which sold recently to WPP for $637 million. University Technologies International (UTI) - IGNITE - announces the closing of two first-round financings for two IGNITE companies, Profero Energy Inc. and Circle Cardiovascular Imaging Inc. Kleer Inc. based in California but with a plant in Ottawa landed a $28 million round for its wireless audio product development. The Ottawa Citizen ran this story a few days ago. We've been saying this for years now. When will the public sector make it easier for investment in the province's tech sector? Rick Nathan of the Canadian Venture Capital Association has an optimistic view of the current credit crunch. MSBi Capital announces the addition of two new partners François Gauvin and John Elton. Celtic House Venture Partners of K-W invested in Dublin-based RedMere last week. Rogers Media and CTVglobemedia Inc. announce that Rogers Broadcasting will acquire certain Canadian conventional and specialty television services from CTVglobemedia Inc.
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