I’m a big believer in the power of developing, cultivating and promoting your personal brand. You should be too. I’ve seen the importance of personal branding firsthand through my own efforts. Some people consider the catchphrase “personal brand” cheesy. Others believe it’s overly self-centered. And I’ll admit that I’ve found it a touch embarrassing every […]
April Tech Entrepreneur Breakfast Sponsored by Nestor System
April’s Montreal Tech Entrepreneur Breakfast is fast approaching, and I’m pleased to say that we’ve got a sponsor — Nestor System. Nestor is a local Montreal software company. Here’s the scoop: Nestor System is a leading Cross-Cultural Communications & Technologies company. Nestor System is specializing in localization of software, video games and websites in more […]
New Competitors Help Validate Your Market
Competition can be scary. There’s no doubt about it. Many of us have probably had a holy crap moment upon discovering new competition. And just imagine if that competition is a behemoth … like Google. James Siminoff isn’t worried about Google entering into his competitive landscape. In fact, he’s openly thanking Google for doing so. […]
Speaking at YES Entrepreneurship Conference
On Saturday, April 18th I’ll be speaking at the YES Montreal Entrepreneurship Conference, doing a couple of roundtable discussions on pitching and presenting your business. The conference is being held for the day at the SAT, which is a great, easygoing location. The conference is $50 to attend, and I’d recommend it for anyone thinking […]
The Art and Science of the Small Exit
Is the “era of the small exit” upon us? I haven’t looked at any data to determine if smaller exits are becoming more common – I would venture to guess that they’re becoming more public by virtue of the publicity surrounding Web-based startups. But regardless of the past, opportunities are growing for smaller exits, and […]
Next Montreal Tech Breakfast on February 10th Sponsored by BDO Dunwoody
For the first Montreal Tech Entrepreneur Breakfast of 2009 I’m pleased to announce that we’ve landed a sponsor: BDO Dunwoody. BDO has been very active in the local startup community, participating at (and sponsoring) numerous events. They work closely with Montreal Startup helping recently with a couple of MSU events. The details of the sponsorship […]
Congratulations to Defensio on Acquisition by Websense
Defensio, which provides an excellent anti-spam plugin, was acquired by Websense, Inc (publicly traded on NASDAQ). The news is all over the Web, including the Defensio blog. Why is this important? For starters, I was Defensio’s first big user. Carl Mercier (founder of Defensio) asked me to help him early on with beta testing of […]
Is the Venture Capital Model Broken?
Lots of people are asking this question: Is the VC model broken? It’s an important question, regardless of what you believe, because it creates debate and change. Few things ever stay the same, and the VC model is no different. And without a doubt, I believe the VC model and startup investment in general will […]
You Can’t Build Authority and Thought Leadership via Twitter
I’m a big fan of Twitter. It’s clearly gone mainstream in a number of ways and brings significant value for maintaining relationships, finding new ones, etc. But you can’t build authority and thought leadership through Twitter or other microblogging services (or aggregator-type services) like FriendFeed. Not unless you previously had some authority and reputation through […]
Instigator Clothing for the Holidays!
Just in time for the holidays, Instigator Blog has it’s very own line of clothes! OK, that’s not entirely true…but check out these Instigator Pants a friend of mine, Alistair Croll, found at a store recently. He thought of me, snapped a picture and sent it along: No surprise, these are top of the line […]
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