Are you an aspiring entrepreneur looking for community support and industry insights? In the world of the entrepreneur, collaboration is key and keeping up to speed on the most relevant vehicles to further propel your venture are of the utmost importance. Microsoft Canada is launching a series of webcasts tailored towards helping start-ups & small businesses succeed. Jointly hosted by venture capitalists Intrepid Equity, topics will range from, finding the right funding with VCs, getting the right team, increasing profits & business lead generation and more.
Here’s what the event organizers have to say:
Reserve your spot in the live webcast series Ignite Your Venture in April. We will chat with industry experts about bringing ideas to life with a VC, finding the right people for the right team, helping increase profits, accelerate sales & business lead generation. Industry experts include New York Times best seller author, Randy Street & one of Canada's venture capitalist firms, Intrepid Equity. Whether you are a new start up, established business or a business simply looking at new areas of opportunity - we will be chatting about what it means to become successful from start to end.
Register here and find out more: www.microsoft.ca/igniteyourventure
At Microsoft, we're motivated and inspired every day by how our customers use our software to find creative solutions to business problems, develop... [more]
This blog post is part of a series about Coworking around North America & is sponsored by The Network Hub. To learn more about The Network Hub, visit www.thenetworkhub.ca.
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The future of work is evolving. The recent economic downturn has enouraged the growth of independent knowledge workers and entrepreneurs willing to strike it out on their own. This group of workers, armed with their laptops, smart phones, and web apps, can work from their homes or coffee shops. However, an alternative option has been gaining popularity amongst this group over the past few years. Referred to as ‘Coworking’, it’s a movement to create a community of cafe-like collaboration spaces for developers, writers and independents. Pioneered in San Francisco by the Hat Factory and Citizen Space, these places provide a space for web workers, consultants, freelancers and entrepreneurs to work independently, together. In the coming weeks, we will be highlighting a few spaces that have embraced this philosophy and its new breed of workers.
A perfect example would be Rachel Young and Wayne Lee. Seven years ago they were freelancing out of cafes with friends and local writers for, what they called, ‘creative’ sessions hoping to get out of the isolation and rid the distractions of working from home. Realizing that they were building the same foundations for a business, they recently launched Camaraderie, a coworking facility located in Toronto.
"Wayne knew firsthand the value of co-working, so we decided to open a space we could both work from and open it up to the community,” Rachel says, “because cafes have their own set of issues. "There's the expectation to purchase something every hour so it's not considered loitering, the noise of the coffee grinder whirling mixed in with the music in the background, and to face the dilemma of what to do with your laptop when nature calls.” And when you're working from home, "sometimes the video games call too strongly or the bed is too comfortable, says Wayne, "regardless, isolation is still an issue any freelancer has to deal with. While it can be great to focus, we are still human and still need some sort of social interaction to maintain balance.”
Based on years of facing these challenges, the two made sure their space provided a perfect harmony of seclusion to find focus and communication for networking. At coworking spaces, you can expect to meet a diverse community of outgoing entrepreneurs and freelancers with many opportunities to participate in open source projects. “It's a productive work environment where one could hold client meetings, leave their laptop when they run out for lunch, and drink unlimited coffee or tea. Most things that an entrepreneur or freelancer would need is already here, plus more. All they need to do is walk in with their work implements, take a seat, and get going.”
Camaraderie’s large workspace includes two meeting rooms and a communal kitchen surrounded by white walls and dark floors. Adding to that, tenants are welcomed to a stunning view of a beautiful park right by the building. Transportation is also made easy as the nearest subway station is in walking distance. Rachel and Wayne plan to get a transit pass discount program for their tenants and even want to work on healthcare coverage for their full time members!
Camaraderie truly presents a great relaxed, organized, idea-driven, resource-sharing workspace by integrating the basics of a cafe in a functional environment so lonesome entrepreneurs and freelancers are able to mix and share ideas to progress and gain… camaraderie.
The Network Hub provides various options to meet different working styles, from private offices, coworking, shared work space, meeting rooms, as... [more]
Imagine a shared office space with the best elements of café culture and a productive, functional work environment that is affordable for... [more]
Citizen journalist and CNN's iReporter Chris Morrow travels the world, camera in hand, documenting stories for the international news network.
During her 17 days covering the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver last month, Morrow relied heavily on a smart phone while producing more than 30 iReports for the network with the majority aired on CNN and HLN.
Vancouver's Wavefront was kind enough to lend Morrow a smart phone during her time in Vancouver but more importantly they introduced her to one of its mobile community members - Kelowna-based VeriCorder Technology.
Vericoder developings a new breed of mobile journalism applications and Morrow used VeriCorder's ShowCase software for the iPhone while reporting in Vancouver. With ShowCase Morrow was able to record, edit and file multimedia stories directly from her iPhone to the web.
Morrow plans to continue using and evaluating the Vericoder's mobile journalism app now that she has returned to her home base in San Diego.
Wavefront is the commercialization centre supporting the growth of British Columbia’s more than 1,000 wireless and new media developer companies.... [more]
VeriCorder Technology was founded by Gary Symons,a journalist with more than 20 years of experience as a field journalist working in newspapers,... [more]
Are you a first time CEO or founder worried about how to take your new technology to market? On behalf of the Discovery Foundation Education Program, ACETECH is delivering a Market Entry Program for very early stage technology companies.
Taught by Ralph Turfus, the program provides a structured process and one-on-one mentoring from an experienced technology CEO to help you get to market faster with less risk. The program includes:
You leave with:
The program leader, Ralph Turfus, is the founder and past CEO of Class Software, a company he grew to 130 employees over 28 years and sold in 2004 as sole shareholder. Ralph has invested in more than 60 tech companies and he's seen patterns emerge between those who succeed and those who fail. He is a recognized leader in the BC technology industry as a member of the Premiers Technology Council and the leader of the ACETECH Growth Strategy Program.
The Market Entry Program is valued at $1,795 however the cost to participate is only $295 as $1,500 is subsidized by the Discovery Foundation Education Program.
If you're interested, the application deadline is April 2nd but apply online now as there are only 20 spots available.
ACETECH delivers what is for many, a profound experience. Dedicated exclusively to CEOs in technology and life sciences companies, everything... [more]
Whether Canada owned the podium or not, one thing is clear: The Olympic Consortium, headed up by CTV, owned the Olympics. Over the course of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, over 28 million videos were viewed and more than 215 million pages were viewed on CTVOlympics.ca and RDSolympiques.ca.
According to their press release, the 28 million+ videos totaled more than 7 million hours of video consumption. Furthermore, more than 12 million unique visitors viewed the more than 215 million pages.
Want some more stats? Check these out:
Alan Marcovici is the Vice President of Digital Media and Research for the Consortium:
These are staggering numbers. As proven by the average length of online viewers, the Consortium set a benchmark for what can be achieved through a quality video experience online. Canadians were given choice as to how, when and where they wanted to experience the Games, and we’re ecstatic they responded with such enthusiasm.
What are your thoughts on these Olympic games? How did you consume them? Are you also watching the Paralympics?
With all the talk of Canadian brain drain to the United States and the lack of a strong tech startup ecosystem in Canada, it's great to hear about companies like San Francisco-born A Thinking Ape moving the opposite way.
Founded by three twenty-something Canadians who met in the Bay Area, A Thinking Ape relocated to Vancouver in January with the blessing of their three Silicon Valley Angels. A Thinking Ape is "creating the future of social gaming experiences online" and their first title is the popular Kingdoms at War massively multiplayer online game.
Co-founders Kenshi Arasaki, Wilkins Chung, and Eric Diep are excellent examples of what happens when you don't make it easy for talented entrepreneurs to move to a country, start new businesses, and ultimately create jobs.
Arasaki and Chung originally arrived in the Bay Area to work together on Y Combinator-funded Chatterous and met Diep along the way - it's amazing how Canadians always seem to find their fellow countrymen when working abroad.
While Diep's claim to fame is creating the first Facebook App (Quizzes), his recent hassles in trying to remain in the United States are well documented. He was profiled in a video called GeeksOnaPlane: A Tale of Two Erics along with Eric Ries talking about the Startup Founders' Movement.
So what's next for Vancouver's newest social gaming company?
A Thinking Ape is working with Mochi Media and their new social gaming platform that will allow them to build social features into Kingdoms at War and future gaming properties.
Arasaki sees Vancouver as the ideal place to start-up in the social gaming space. He believes that while Vancouver is deep in engineering and programming talent, the convergence of games and social platforms has yet to heat up competition locally for that talent.
And, of course, they're very eager to take advantage of all the government programs that Canada has to offer.
If you're passionate about creating amazing software and working on a team of like-minded visionaries at an early stage startup, A Thinking Ape is currently hiring Engineers.
A Thinking Ape, creators of the popular Kingdoms at War massively multiplayer online game, is a company of young technology entrepreneurs based in... [more]
It's trivia - with a twist. This Calgary Twestival, come test your trivia knowledge in competition with your local tweeps for prizes - or just come and cheer them on. Some of these trivia contest questions will be general knowledge, some will be about Calgary social media and Calgary social media users.
Calgary Twestival is on Thursday, March 25th at 6:00pm at the Firewater Grill - 222 7th Street SW.
Get your tickets for $14.00, two for $28.00. Why $28.00? $28.00 is what it would cost to supply a child with what they need for one year's education in a country where Concern Worldwide operates. Concern Worldwide is the charity chosen by Twestival (Int'l) for this year's event.
Everyone who purchases their ticket online will be eligible for a draw prize that involves a limo to and from the event, and dinner for two at the Firewater Grill.
As a professional in the technology or social media space, chances are that you are an independent contractor or are considered a small business owner.
A new online business solution is now available to those of you whose most dreaded job is accounting and bookkeeping: Wave Accounting.
Kirk Simpson is the President and Co-Founder of Wave Accounting:
There are 1.8 million small business owners in Canada with less than five employees. We’ve designed an accounting tool that will help them understand and take control of their financial management in an easy and straightforward way. Wave Accounting is specifically designed for the business owner and not for an accountant or bookkeeper. We want to encourage business owners to give up their spreadsheets and really take charge of their business.
Unlike many desktop applications, Wave Accounting is web-based. As a result, Wave Accounting offers the benefit of being able to enter data from anywhere and at any time from any computer. An added feature allows multiple users to collaborate on the same account, entering figures and conferring on reports.
For a free 30-day test drive of Wave Accounting please visit their site at www.waveaccounting.com.
Wave Accounting is aimed at small business owners who hate doing accounting. It’s been designed to be easy and to give business owners a view of... [more]
Dylan Brown, the creative director of Pixar Canada, will make a special appearance at Emily Carr University on March 18th at 11:30 a.m. to present a session called "Pixar's Film Making Process". The lecture will emphasize the importance of applying traditional fine art skills to digital work.
Brown has worked on Toy Story 2, Ratatouile, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc and The Incredibles, and took on his new role as Creative Director for Pixar Canada in August 2009.
Now for the great news...it's free! Check out all the details and make sure to attend this sure to be interesting lecture tomorrow.
