Calling all Canadian Connectors

Tech Capital Partners' Jacqui Murphy is weighing in on the growing discussion on entrepreneurs and innovation in Canada over on their blog and I like what she has to say.

Looking at the funding process today, entrepreneurs pitch their companies to VCs who pitch to LPs. Wouldn’t it be great if entrepreneurs never had to pitch VCs? What if we turned the process on its head and built such great companies that entrepreneurs could choose whether or not to fund their companies with venture capital? And what if VCs had to demonstrate value beyond money for entrepreneurs to want them to invest in their companies…? And wouldn’t it be great if VCs never had to pitch LPs to raise new funds because of off the chart returns?

Murphy's entire blog post is worth a read. In short, she proposes that entrepreneurs need to map out their industry ecosystem and connect with potential customers and partners rather than wasting their energy pitching to VCs.

But how do you connect with these potential customers and partners? Murphy suggests:

1. I’ve been told that there are about 300,000 expat Canadians living in Silicon Valley (yes, 300,000). Have you reached out to a Canadian expat today?
2. There’s a small but mighty group called Canada Connects on LinkedIn. Same objective as this post. Please join to help get our Canadian entrepreneurs on steroids.

The Canada Connects Group on LinkedIn is a great start - join it today.