Re-visiting the VC Strategy
2 August 2012

I write not because I know, but because I want to learn. I’m also a firm believer that it is always better to take one step than no step - the mind of an Engineer. Thus as my thoughts translate into Opinials, I am always thrilled to receive feedback. It gives me new perspective and maybe it changes my stance; maybe not. It still helps me grow and I thank you in advance.

A fellow reader brought to my attention a Canadian VC firm that has acted in contradiction to my strategy, and is one of a select few that is on track to experience positive returns. (How many are there? I would really like to know.) And a handsome return at that! I was fortunate enough to get in touch with the Partners at this firm to discuss their investment strategy.

I learned that although said to focus on seed investments as well, the firm has been predominantly occupied with early-stage series A investments. With less than two dozen investments by the fund (now closed, and with 4 years to maturity), the firm is en route to make a sizable return. So what did they do right?

Read More

Me and My $100M Fund
10 July 2012

In my earlier post, I mentioned how early-stage VC firms play a critical role in reviving the Technology industry in Canada. The status quo investment style has reaped negative returns on the average and new funds must adopt the “large volume, small investments” strategy flourishing in the South. In the venture world, no love lost, no love found!

Canadian firms should also remain mindful that dozens of firms in the US, all acting under this same strategy, have found themselves separated into tiers. The tiers have naturally become more concentrated and distinct with the passage of time, but what gave birth to the tiers? How can firms in Canada - where status divisions are less prominent - act to identify themselves as a future top-tier firm?

So I just raised a $100M Fund (let’s say).

Read More

Canada: Technology State of Mind
3 July 2012


The Mayor of Waterloo recently called all Canadians out, asking for our loyalty to RIM - asking us to recommit to a company which once proudly stood as a beacon of Canadian ingenuity. I’m sorry Ms Mayor. If you happen to throw a RIM parade or other extravaganza, ask for my presence as a request of my loyalty. I will abide. But asking me to commit to a company that hinders my creativity and sends me two steps back from the innovation frontier, well that’s just obscene.

So yes, I’m going to go ahead and stamp Blackberry out of the mobile race. Thankfully, the world is larger than just North America and thus filled with plenty of races. RIM will just face a diminishing presence here at home. And Ms Mayor, please don’t shrug my attitude as a disloyal one; I would be simply mad to wait yet another year for an illusive phone when so many will tickle my fancy by year’s end. My loyalty lies instead in the fact that if at the end I’m proven wrong, I will be glad for it. That, Ms Mayor, is all I can offer.

Read More

Molded by Expectations
2 January 2012

Recently, in fact just two weeks past, I migrated back to Canada after a two year hiatus. I was residing in the San Francisco region of California, in the U S of A. As Canadians, we have our perception of the typical American to be rude, ignorant, and unjustly patriotic. I didn’t find those Americans in the Bay Area. They were rather helpful and open-minded; and perhaps the liberal attitude of that specific region is counter-American. Regardless, just continuing with my day to day activities here in the nation’s capital, I have already noticed a grave difference between our fellow Canadians and most Americans down South.

Read More