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: