An evening with the Ballet Masters of Mad Hot Ballet

“Art gives you a chance to live in the life of another,”   said Lindsay Fischer, National Ballet Master and Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Canada. Lindsey told me during the Mad Hot Ballet evening, June 2016, how art has the power to take you to another world, another life. He spoke about how private lives can be shared through dance and  by using different senses, we can gain better understanding and can feel the emotions of others.

Mad Hot Ballet 2016

My mind was still back in my world of banking and ballet was far away from my thoughts, even though I loved dancing well into my teens.  Lindsey's words did get my attention and remind me that enjoying art is such a good human experience. The Mad Hot Ballet Fund Raiser had taken a drab hall and transformed it into a party place with views of Lake Ontario. If you look at the photos from the evening, yes, there were the big fashions but most of us were in business dress - plain black suit for me - so don't let that keep you away next year. 

I was fortunate enough to sit next to the two dance instructors who had organized the evening performances. Their story was remarkable. It began the the Royal Ballet School in London, England and one of the main ballerinas, Mandy-Jane Richardson, was too tall for the other male dancers. The company imported a suitable dancer from Amsterdam, an American called Lindsay Fischer .

It was love at first sight.

I asked them about the passion they must have felt during their performances as a  duet couple over the following year. My comment got peals of laughter and nods from Mandy-Jane, and a quiet, meaningful look from Lindsay. They are now married with children and obviously enjoying each other.

One of the performances that evening was to Bolero and what an incredible visual performance that stirred the senses. My two companions at the table were responsible for this piece and I could not help feel they had shared such a deeply private part of their obviously mutual respectful and loving relationship with all of us. 

I felt very lucky and, yes, art does give us the chance to feel parts of the lives of others. 

35 ReasonsToronto Tech is Booming

 Invitation to UBS Bank (Canada), Wealth Management, Technology Invitation

WHY 35 REASONS?

In a stunning year for Canadians in the technology industry, 2015 brought many success stories.  

We thought we would add more spark to the tech industry this year by bringing together a room of 35 like-minded tech entrepreneurs and investors as guests of UBS Bank (Canada). 

Sure enough, the energy flowed.

OUR PARTNERS: 

We were delighted to partner on the Technology Networking Evening withPwC Technology and The Entrepreneurship Society, as well as Blake, Cassels and Graydon.

OUR GUEST SPEAKER:

A special thank you to Randall Howard, Verdexus portfolio investments, who stepped in as guest speaker when Drew Green, Indochino, was unable to attend. Randall  is a senior serial technology executive committed to building the leading technology firms in Canada. Randall shared several critical take-way point for the evening:

1. Focus: When Randall and the founding group of his succesful tech buddies donated a large sum of cash to get Communitech off the ground, they did not have any idea how big it would get. Randall said, "It took a group of committed individuals to make the technology industry thrive in Canada." 
2. Important Partners on the Journey: By coincidence, in the room was the investment banker who figured out a new financial structure to raise the capital for Randall's first tech company. The banker was a Waterloo engineering graduate too. There were many Waterloo graduates in the room. They certainly have figured out the secret sauce for producing winners. Randall emphasized how the profesionalism of the banker made the big difference in his career.
3. Giving back: Having reached the heights of success in his business life, Randall is now focussed on giving. He has won Angel Investor of the Year which really underlines how seriousy he takes helping the emerging Canadian entrepreneurs. Randall is particularly interested in social impact investing and along with his corporate and university board responsiblities, he sits on boards of arts and drama groups too. 

The Fourth Revolution: The theme of the evening was the next stage of techology. Julien Favre, UBS, shared with our guests the white paper on the theme of this year's World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on January 20-23. The white paper is entitled Extreme automation and connectivity: The global, regional, and investment implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It outlines:

• A brief history of the four industrial revolutions that have taken place since the late 18th century.
• It also explores the potential economic and investment consequences and likely regional winners and losers.
• If you also want to read the white paper - You can read the UBS White Paper HERE...

A special thank you to Sean Stanleigh, Julien Favre, Phaby Utomo, Matthias Kluser, Stephanie Baldouf, Quinn Lawson, Bill Hennessy, Ted Graham, Burzin Contractor and Andre Perey.

Can you afford to sell your business?

7 Question Series: insights into investors and how they judge who gets their capital

“Knowledge is Power,” said Sir Francis Bacon, the scientist, writer, statesman. His observation rings true. Flakey App companies get millions of dollars of investment capital effortlessly, or so it seems. In comparison, meaningful companies with far greater value to add to the world – IT, health care, time-saving products, manufacturers -  get left cash-starved.  

Why do some businesses get equity investors of the top calibre while other equally worthy companies starve from lack of investment capital? And how can an entrepreneur improve their odds of being chosen as a compelling investment by a high calibre investor? In this interview series you’ll get some of these answers! Venture capitalists from the United States, Canada and Britain reveal the body of ideas and questions required to be addressed by the entrepreneur before seeking out an investor, such as how to leverage data to know what is happening in their business, how to scale up the operations by having dash boards to manage incoming data, what needs to be built in place early in the foundation-building timing of the business life cycle.

In this invaluable 7 Question Series, business leaders will get insights into understanding investors and how they judge entrepreneurs worthy of receiving their precious capital, entrepreneurs will discover that attracting investors is an achievable goal. Investors are also sifting through haystacks to find the needle. Entrepreneurs need to ensure that the investor’s metal detector rings loudly.

With the interviews in The 7 Questions Interview Series: Data and Venture Capital, entrepreneurs will gain invaluable knowledge rapidly. It will transform their ability to connect with investors and demonstrate their readiness to have capital partners. It is a jam-packed tour through the leading venture capitalist brains and how they make their decision to select one company, but discard another similar business. Some of the points seem over the top, such as why you need data to know your whole industry and to predict where to grow the business. 

Why would that be important? 

Entrepreneurs will learn that raising capital for their business is about the right mathematical fit, knowing the right fit of people to help you, and having the best questions to ask that will signal instant rapport with the best investors. So enjoy the journey!

Here is the link: 

The need for Canadians to have a globally diversified portfolio is increasing

Jacoline Loewen and team Ottawa

The economy has been choppy, to say the least, and we asked our portfolio strategist to share the economic forecast for Canadian investors concerned about their portfolios.
Our Economics Forecast Luncheon in Ottawa had healthy debate and discussion.
My biggest take-away is that Europe has room for growth as they have had austerity and the governents are investing into their country infrastructure again.
Also, America is a resilient economy. Their job growth is strong, although service jobs do not have the same wage potential.
Thank you to Stephen Beckta, Beckta Restaurant, who hosted our private event.

If you would like to receive more inforation, please contact Jacoline Loewen - contact information on the side bar.