While in Toronto recently I took the opportunity to sit down with my StartupCamp Canada co-organziers and community instigators Rob Hyndman, David Crow and Stuart McDonald.  StartupCamp Canada is now a go.

We are still finalizing the date, but it will be in the last half of June in Toronto.  (The final date will be announced in the coming weeks). It will be a full day packed with some of the top Canadian entrepreneurs from all over the country and the world.  We are going to mix presenting content, doing small team coaching and providing lot’s of chances for interaction with entrepreneurs, VCs and technologists interested in the Canadian Startup scene.

Here is a quick video I shot while we were having breakfast yesterday in Toronto.

 

I was attenting the Canadian Venture Forum and frankly the entire situation was depressing.  Even some of the VCs on the nominating comittee for the conference were tellling me they couldn’t get companies without business models or revenues to be accepted and were tiring of the entire futile excercise of doing the conference.

Most of the serious venture investors I know didn’t bother to attend and if they did it wasn’t to look at companies to invest in, it was to say to hi to a few friends and they generally popped in for a few minutes and left the conference.

It was more like a meeting of aging Canadian bankers then anything I’ve come to know as a venture conference.  At every venture conference I go to, there is an engergy in the room, excitement everywhere and you can see deals being fought for in the hallways and companies leave the conference with term sheets. 

This conference was very indicative of many problems of our venture industry.   The program had some good speakers (David Lawee & his wife Lorna were great) and the Toronto Venture Group is working hard to promote Canada but I feel most of the good content was wasted on the audience and the quality of the presenting companies and venture investors to listen to them was dismal.

Instead of just complaining, we are hoping to build off the experience of Democamps, Barcamps and StartupCamp in the Valley to put together a conference based on sharing first hand experiences that helps entrepreneurs succeed.  

Some of the topics and sessions we are considering,

  • Private elevator pitch coaching with top entrepreneurs who have succeeded in raising large amounts of funds, and building great businesses.
  • Lot’s of panels with entrepreneurs sharing practical lessons on how they build their Canadian companies and the problems they faced.
  • A BoF session for early stage entrepreneurs discussing the challenges they are currently facing in building their companies.
  • What can the Canadian technology commuity, governments and entrepreneurs do to better support an early stage startup community.
  • Entrepreneurs guide to understanding early stage financing & company creation (Love money, angel money, IP rights, partnership & shareholder agreements, first VC round, strategic partners).

These will be multiple sessions and we are still working on the agenda, so if you have comments or things you’d like to see included please let us know.

Please head over the to wiki and sign up, and let any of the organizing group know if there are specific things you would like to see on the agenda.

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On Wed 7 Mar 2007.