Don’t listen to most of the advice you are getting
Getting good advice is critical for any entrepreneur and fortunately there’s plenty of advice to go around. Unfortunately, not all advice is worth listening to. Angel investor Allen Morgan (@allenmorgan) summed it up in a recent Tweet: “It’s a power law relationship: for entrepreneurs, >90% of the advice worth heeding comes from <10% of the […]
If you need to pivot, pivot hard
For many startups, there comes a time when it becomes clear that things are not going exactly as you planned. You can read the writing on the wall that you haven’t found a product-market fit, and you’ve run out of ideas on how to get there. Typically, if you don’t see signs of traction after […]
Lessons from a founder: how to deal with rejection
Guest post by Mischa Steiner-Jovic, founder and CEO of Awesense Wireless. You can follow him on Twitter. My skin thickens every time I hear a VC say “You’re building what? Why? You’re selling to whom?” or just a flat-out “that’s not a good idea.” Stepping outside the norm often elicits strong reactions and disbelief. Of course, […]
Mission accomplished: Startup Visa Canada is here
Two years ago, Danny Robinson, Maura Rodgers and myself started to lobby for a Startup Visa Canada that would make it easier for foreign (tech) entrepreneurs to start their company in Canada. The initiative was inspired by the immigration struggles of the talented Summify team. In 2010, Cristian and Mircea arrived in Vancouver from Romania to start a […]
5 traits of the most successful entrepreneurs
Over the course of my career, I have met, worked with, and/or invested in hundreds of entrepreneurs. During this time, I’ve seen some rise to the top, while others never quite made it past the starting line. While there may not be a sure-fire recipe to guarantee success as an entrepreneur, a clear profile of […]