It’s not easy to sell into an industry being disrupted
Looking to sell into an industry that’s currently undergoing disruption? At first glance, it sounds like a great idea. After all, companies getting disrupted are experiencing some very real challenges and pain points; they need to adapt quickly and could be looking for that silver bullet to save them. During my time at AbeBooks, I […]
The best way to approach investors: four tips
When you’re on the hunt for funding, it’s natural that you want to get things moving as quickly as possible. However, identifying and approaching the right investor should be a measured process. Blasting the same quick email to a dozen investors will never work in your favor. The average investor receives hundreds of pitches each […]
Introducing Version One’s new analyst: Angela Tran Kingyens
With approximately a dozen Seed and Series A investments, it has been a busy year since the initial launch of Version One Ventures. That means it’s time to get some help and I’m excited to announce the hiring of Version One’s first analyst, Angela Tran Kingyens. Angela will be joining the team as of September […]
Bicycles, gears, and the future of education
At the recent GROW Conference, I caught up Aidan Nulman of Fleetbit. We were talking about one of Version One’s portfolio companies…Talentbuddy. If you’re not familiar with Talentbuddy, it’s a platform where programmers can post and solve programming challenges, covering all different areas and difficulty levels. It’s exercise for a programmer’s brain. During our discussion, Aidan reminded […]
Something special is happening in the Toronto-Waterloo area
It has not been a great couple of weeks for the Toronto-Waterloo area as BlackBerry, the big anchor tech company of that region, is struggling with its turn-around and just put itself up for sale. But where a giant tech company struggles, one of the most exciting startup ecosystem in North-America has emerged over the […]