Thoughts from the road: building startups and collective ambition outside Silicon Valley
Just a few years ago, if you wanted to do something big, you needed to go to Silicon Valley. It meant frequent flights or moving your company to San Francisco to raise money from Bay Area VCs. Times are changing, and these geographical barriers are beginning to break down. Waterloo has another unicorn with Kik. […]
Can you build “Silicon Valley” companies outside of the Valley?
The big debate among tech circles has always been if it’s possible to build a “Silicon Valley” company outside of the Valley. Is Silicon Valley a physical place or a state of mind? Can upstart ecosystems in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, or Seattle churn out tomorrow’s billion dollar tech companies? Considering a large proportion of Version […]
Why Venture Capital is the Perfect Fit for Me
If you told me a few months ago that the next chapter in my career would be in venture, I may not have believed you. But now, it makes perfect sense. Working on my PhD was often a lonely activity. I found myself seeking human interaction by leading every committee, captaining every team, and teaching […]
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 […]
Breaking into the Valley? Use the “Canadian mafia”
There is a PayPal mafia, a Facebook mafia and a Twitter mafia, all powerful networks of entrepreneurs and investors based in the Valley. And now there is a really strong “Canadian mafia” emerging. It started to formalize with the launch of the C100 a few years ago. The organization is comprised of a select group of mostly Silicon Valley-based Canadian […]