It’s been awhile since I blogged, due to an enormous time crunch in the last couple of months. But I attended the 25 edition of the Vancouver Angel Forum recently and thought it would be worthwhile for many startups in Western Canada, so I thought I’d whip together a quick post about it.

It was the first time for me and I have to say it was very impressive. This ‘forum’ is put on twice-a-year by Bob Chaworth-Musters, who has been doing this for a decade or more. A labour of love of sorts is my understanding of why this has continued to this day.

Part of the reason for its success and long history is that it is very well organized and attended. Even the venue is professionally staged, with auditorium seating at the SFU Harbour Centre, alongside an exhibit area that is continually busy with companies looking for angel money, and investors looking for good deal flow. Although I’m sure Bob has the stats, I’m sure many a startup has been angel funded from this event, and their are numerous successes to their credit.

33 companies presented, including ActiveConversion, while over 70 active investors attended presentations going on simultaneously in 2 meeting rooms. Along with all the networking in between sessions and in the networking/exhibit area, this made for a very busy day for everyone.

It seems to accomplish its objective. With this many investors, and an application process that screens out non-relevant deals, there seem to be alot of interest among the various parties. Service providers are not allowed, so distractions to both investors and entrepreneurs are avoided. Debriefs for the investors are right after the presentations, with an existing investor from the presenting company (if you have one that is), and a list is built with angels willing to take a further look.

I have heard that the investors are very qualified and deals are done quickly because there has been good success for both sides.

The next Vancouver Angel forum is in November 2009. If you’re looking for investment, or am an investor that wants a venue to invest with other investors who are professional and can add value, I highly recommend you check it out. The website is www.angelforum.org and you don’t have to be in B.C. to take part.
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I got an invitation to attend the launch of MTech in Alberta, put on by the IP lawyers at Miller Thomson, last Friday. When I hear the name M-Tech, it reminds me of the Identity Management company in Calgary, which was bought by Hitachi a couple of years ago for a large sum of money. I wonder if the MT trademark lawyers here know that?

In any case, the event was well done, due to their clever positioning. By getting Randy Thompson (Venture Alberta, Argon Venture Partners) as the keynote speaker to present on Raising Venture Capital, it attracted startups that MT wanted to present their services to.

There was also a panel discussion on The Future of Commercialization in Alberta, with Ken Cudmore (Technology Strategies Group), Paul Cataford (UTI), Greg Shannon (Miller Thomson partner) and Mark Kornak (angel investor), which attracted various investor groups, AVAC and government representatives. I’d say the Miller Thomson people can’t be faulted for their marketing savvy.

Of course, for providing a great lunch and the venue, MT got to their pitch for their MTech programme and IP protection practice, which besides being fair ball, was a good primer and certainly worth learning for any new (and existing startup).

It was good content, and far too much to get covered in a single post. I’ll try to summarize:

* MTech is an initiative to get qualified startups into a programme to get comprehensive legal advice, and in return build loyalty for helping the startup in its infancy
* MTech has various ‘kits’ for various legal needs, from initial IP strategy to human resources agreements
* The startup will hopefully ‘graduate’ some day by growing and be a regular client for MT, or be phased out if they don;t grow within a reasonable time
* IP strategy is exactly that; strategy, with a plan, timing, and end objective - it’s not just to ‘file’
* IP can be used strategically to ward off competitors at the ‘right’ time, rather than too early or too late.

Randy’s presentation on Money and Venture is likely a post in itself. Suffice to say, it would be familiar to startups that are, or in the process of raising money. Randy’s had some great lines such as:

* What is the (VC) flyover zone? - Alberta, Sask, Manitoba
* You want to be selling the equivalent of morphine to drug addicts that need a quick fix to get VC interest
* Do you want to be Rich or King? Both answers are right but they don’t go together!
* ‘The worst (VC) meetings are scheduled for an hour but are done in five minutes’ (true story).

The panel was interesting with some good question and answer regarding the Alberta government’s stance on technology investment, given the state of the energy business currently. Will they or will they not, take this opportunity to really diversify the Alberta economy?

Kudos to the MTech team for being so un-boring, and to launching what appears to be a startup-friendly legal programme.

Check it out by clicking here if you’re interested.

I attended the Canadian Financing Forum in Vancouver last week, to get a feel for the venture capital industry in Canada, and especially given the current environment. Although I had some pre-conceived notions of what might be going on, I wanted to see for myself and share my observations from their panels, to talking individually with a few.

First of all, the opinions vary. Some VCs are downright pessimistic, regardless of what side of the border they’re from. The ones that are fully invested moreso, because they have companies that they have to perform triage on, to preserve capital to keep the better ones going. VCs with new funds (or at least money to invest) had a different point of view, in that it would be a good time to invest, especially in good early stage ones, because in the two years to get them going, things will have gotten better by then.

In fact for some, investing now with a team that has ‘conviction’ and good business sense seemed to be a strategic advantage, as many feel that VCs have over invested previously, breeding too many competitors. The slowdown to them was seen as a barrier to entry, and a good thing for their investments and would-be investments.

Software as a service was very big on the information technology side. I got the impression that if it wasn’t SaaS, that they weren’t interested. And not because of the technology, but because one thing they all did agree on was that we were in a ‘zero cap-ex’ environment. Companies are not spending on capital expenditures, whether it be software or equipment. And they are not interested unless the item was related to sales or a direct savings that could be realized very quickly. Research and development for these companies is on life support, and marketing is being curtailed to only those items that produce sales (rather than branding).

Other areas that were a bright spot included investments in entertainment and in products that help displaced workers find jobs, or to kill time while off the job. As one VC commented, ‘its not that hard to see what happening, so just go meet those needs’. Easier said than done, but worth noting.

There was a small Calgary contingent there, as this seemed to be more of a B.C. conference. I made a point of attending their presentations, and must say that on a per capita (number of presenters) basis, the Calgary companies made better pitches (in my opinion). There were too many presentations from others that rely on data, specs, and other information that can’t possibly be absorbed in 15 minutes. CTI and their EIRs, and pitch coaches like Pat Lor are to be commended for drumming that into us tech heads here.

One last note, the U.S. based VCs seemed pre-occupied. My guess is they are saving their powder for U.S. investments, if they were investing at all. Not that surprising, given the retrenchment but anecdotal data in any case.

Heading into 2009, we can’t help but have our business (and personal) lives dominated by the noise from the recession. It’s no longer called an economic slowdown, and the question is not IF but for HOW LONG. As someone who has lived thru more than a few, this one is certainly different - and harder to predict an end to than others. For Calgary, some of the effects have not been felt - balance sheets have been hit for a shorter period, and everyone is still hoping that it will get better before any major change (layoffs) has to be taken. For the rest of Canada, most have been in recession since mid-2008, while for our U.S. neighbors, it’s been since Dec 2007.

This is good news in a sense, the further in we are, the sooner we will get out. However, it won’t seem like it as we’re going thru it. My intent for this post, is to offer up some ‘predictions’ for the Calgary non-oil and gas based industries to help weather and maybe even take advantage of the current situation - much like an investor might be right now or as the Chinese have a proverb for - OPPORTUNITY RIDES A DANGEROUS WAVE:

It’s not as bad as the media makes it sound
Just as the news did a poor job seeing it coming, they will do a poor job of telling you when it will start to get better. Reports of being like the great depression for example, are just headline grabbers. True the stock market hasn’t fallen this far since then, but until the unemployment rate hits 25% and thousands of banks fails, we’re nowhere close.

It’s localized by location, industry and by what you do
Being an auto worker in Ontario for GM, is not the same as a tech worker in Calgary for example. Sure, some tech workers may lose their jobs but for the most part, it will be a minor reduction - and those unaffected tech workers should keep their heads up and their wallets open to snag great deals.

Fear trumps greed
Most of the problems in the economy have to do with fear. It’s fear that caused the banks to curtail lending, it’s fear that caused the mass selloff in the stock market, and now it’s fear of losing a job that’s going to cause less consumer spending. Don’t let fear rule your life. Unless everyone around is getting let go, you’re probably ok - see the glass as half full rather than half empty - and you’ll see opportunities instead of despair.

All things in moderation
Just as I hope you weren’t on a spending spree before, don’t take my meaning as to go load up on things you don’t need or debt. Easy money and debt caused much of the current problems. But neither should you or your business freeze up either. As a good friend of mine said to me over a couple of recessions - ‘keep the money moving’ and we’ll all be ok.

And finally, neither the fittest nor the richest will thrive during this, it will be the most adaptable
This is borrowed from Sir Terrence Matthews. Whether it’s your job or your business. Being able to adapt and do different things, or do some things differently to protect yourself will likely the key in this economy. Doing the same wrong things well, or using your solid balance sheet for the same things that are not be returning ROI is not the answer to beating this.

So that’s it. It’s a little long but hopefully that makes up for a few posts that I missed while I was busy ‘adapting’.

My best wishes to you for a great 2009, and I hope you adapt and thrive in these ‘interesting’ times. You may end up in a better shape than you or your company started with.

I attended the recent Salesforce.com Users conference last week which is now aptly called Dreamforce. Aptly because the overwhelming theme this year, was the ‘Cloud’ and I suppose dreaming takes place in the clouds.

It’s a gathering that attracts almost 10,000 which is held in San Francisco. This is my second trip there, but the first as an attendee, and in particular for their Partner Summit. The perspective as an attendee is certainly a different one for me, running from one session to another, makes exhibiting actually seem like a breeze. At the end of the 2.5 days, I was pretty much Dreamed out.

But it was worthwhile to learn, observe and meet people. Salesforce.com marketers rank among some of the best in B2B marketing, and the best practices sessions were very good. These marketers know how to run campaigns, and measure everything. Email marketing is assumed, and marketing automation like ActiveConversion is quickly being adopted. Aggressive doesn’t even describe the kind of energy that the marketers here exude. You wouldn’t want to be marketing against these guys, unless you’re a Dreamforce attendee as well.

The observing had the most to do with the expo, where the exhibitors were showing off their wares. With over 220+ booths, and a packed schedule, it was more observing than listening, as aisle after aisle of Salesforce.com AppExhange partners hustled. AppExchange partners integrate their offering with Salesforce.com to produce marketing automation solutions, hosting, integrated email, data cleansing etc. You name it, and it was probably here. Award for the newest innovation at the expo from me goes to Zuora, which is a billing platform for Appexchange partners.

Force.com, which is their platform for creating applications in the cloud, was still a primary focus. I was at the introduction last year, but now I’ve seen and met people actually on it. It has traction, if for no other reason than Microsoft, IBM, Google or anyone else really has one for Cloud Computing. Microsoft has announced, but without a credible presence in SaaS, they will need to do some catching up.

There didn’t seem to be much Canadian representation at the expo, except for the CRMfusion guys from Toronto who do a great job of data cleansing with their product. I did meet a number of Canadians that were attendees. Ian Hayes of www.BreakevenSolutions.com was particularly noteworthy, as he runs a company that helps non-profits (exclusively) use Salesforce.com effectively. A great idea, and in a way, a great cause.

There were 3 keynote speeches, each taking 2 hours by Marc Benioff (Salesforce CEO), Michael Dell and Malcolm Gladwell (Tipping Point). And the ‘Global Gala’ featured the Foo Fighters for 2 hours of classic rock. I assume 2 hours, because I had to leave after an hour. Concerts where they pass out ear plugs scare me.

Like I mentioned, a lot to Dream in 2.5 days. But if you ever get the chance, it’s worth going.

I had the opportunity to go to the October 15, STIRR Canada Tech Mixer to hear Boris Wertz speak, and to have a few words with him. Boris is the current CEO at Nextopia (Edmonton), a part owner in TechVibes, runs an investment company (Vancouver) and is a former director at Abebooks (Victoria), which was sold to Amazon recently for a lot of dough.

I have to say, I was very impressed with his concise words of wisdom as to how to succeed as a tech startup in Western Canada. he delivered his advice without pretension, and like someone who didn’t make it because he ‘got lucky’. I was doubly impressed because I agreed so much with what he had to say in his talk and my short chat with him after. Here are some of the things I noted:

Have a deep, deep niche. The search engine business is broader and more lucrative, but attracts unwanted attention from large players. Although this is obvious, many entrepreneurs don’t remember this, or get enticed by the ‘larger market’ and lose focus.

Boris stated that the another success factor he looks for is the ability to focus on the really important things. Entrepreneurs face a myriad of things to do/research/decide and the ability to see thru the noise is an important trait.

Lastly, he mentioned Exit, even though Abebooks didn’t have a plan to be acquired by Amazon. He did say that he took 4 potential deals (twice from Amazon) over 8 years before their exit occurred. Perhaps the number of potential deals disrupted them enough that he thought better planning for an exit might have been a good idea

During question period, Boris relayed how there wasn’t enough talent or investment money in Western Canada, but that could be worked around by growing less aggressively and importing talent from outside W.C. From an investment perspective, he said he looked for good teams, with good ideas. However he added that companies with revenue and proven models needed to be in place as well.

I had a chance to speak with him afterwards, and found him to be realistic about tech cos in W.C. but with good and smart answers to working around shortcomings, and even to turn those ‘disadvantages’ into an advantage. With his energy and smarts, you’re sure to hear even more about him in the future, and W.C. is fortunate to have him!

STIRR is originally a Silicon Valley invention, where events are put on for ‘invite only’ guests to hear from and meet tech CEOs, funders, and founding team members. STIRR Canada is based in Calgary, due to the efforts of Patrick Lor, Sharon McIntyre, Claudia Moore and others to promote tech startups.

I haven’t blogged for a month, due to vacation and lack of time. We’re busier than ever over at ActiveConversion and FoundPages, and being short-handed has kept me from writing much.

However, I was reading Dharmesh Shah’s OnStartups blog, and he was blogging about his lunch with Seth Godin. He blogged about 8 startup insights, which included having a blog. I actually have two, so I thought I did pretty good in this regard.

In any case, his post was excellent (it usually is, but with his insights from Seth, it was particularly excellent), and it covered points that I agree with wholeheartly. And being that this blog is primarily about ventures, I thought I would share them, along with my comments:

1. Resist becoming “average”. To me, this also means not being a me-too product.

2. Communicate Directly With Your Customers. This sounds obvious, but when you’re busy hiring people, building product and raising money, it’s easily postponed to your detriment.

3. Let Your Users Talk To Each Other. Can’t say I’ve ever really done this well, but that doesn’t mean I don’t believe it. My dream is to have a Users Group conference some day.

4. Start a Freakin’ Blog. Besides communicating, it helps clear your mind.

5. Stories Spread, Not Facts. I’m good at this in person, but terrible with the written. Collateral and PR should be stories about amazing successes, rather than ‘we had a record quarter with xx sales’.

6. Beware The Need for Critical Mass. This one is something investors (and I) hear all the time. ‘When we get 100,000 users, we will be worth xx!’. Seth (and I) believe you need something that works and makes money from even 100 users. If you need 100,000+ users to make money, your business model is scary.

7. They Didn’t Call It the Industrial Gentle Change. I’ve not heard this one before, but I’ve practiced it. I believe you need a product that will change the way people will do things, with at least 10x savings/productivity, or you won’t get enough traction to continue.

8. You Have To Start. This sounds obvious but its not exactly what it says. Seth means you need to have the attitude to risk failing - repeatedly if necessary. In my world, this means failing fast, even within the same startup. You can learn from your mistakes and adjust. And if your actions are not mistakes, you’re just that much further ahead!

Anyway, read the unabridged version from Dharmesh. He’s the one who had lunch with Seth Godin!

p.s. And don’t make the mistake of saying some of this doesn’t apply to your startup - it does…

Our product, ActiveConversion, just got selected to demo at IMC Vancouver Sep 11-12, 2008. We’re only one of what looks to be 9 products so we’re pretty excited to have made the cut. Besides getting free publicity, it’s in front of a predominately search engine optimization and marketing crowd, that we’d like to show it to more. SEO and SEM agencies are very leading edge when it comes to online marketing, and their interest (and maybe endorsement), could help speed adoption. We know that ActiveConversion helps search marketers because thats how many of our customers use it.

Fact is, I think it works best with online marketing, because online marketing works the best (get it?). And especially with search marketing, because when someone is looking for your type of product (or service), lead generation becomes much better and faster. It also maximizes the value from email marketing so with these two marketing strategies becoming so commonplace, you can see how our customers think ActiveConversion only uses online marketing.

The Internet Marketing Conference in Vancouver is an outcome of the success of online marketing. Speakers from SAP, Google, Victoria’s Secret, Aeroplan and Yahoo will be helping the IMC organizers (Lennart Svanberg and Lars Johansson) present a two-day conference that will highlight the value of internet marketing, which also includes social media, behavioral targeting and multivariate testing.

It’s billed as being produced by experts, for experts and for all of you who’d like to become experts. It should be very educational. The last one in Vancouver was 2002, so like the Olympics, be sure to come out next month and not wait another 6 years for the next!

My company, ActiveConversion has again been nominated for the Deloitte Fast 50 Tech Company-to-Watch category. This category is for companies that are less than 5 years old, and that exhibit strong revenue growth over the period measured. As you can guess, Deloitte doesn’t risk their reputation without some due diligence, so back in May we were interviewed by the local office, and had to provide financial information.

This nomination is special to us because it measures real revenue versus a publication’s subjective ‘Best xxxxx Product’ award. Real revenue, besides being real dollars which you can take to the bank, is the purest form of proof for a company. Customers will only pay (and continue to pay in a monthly subscription model like ours), if there is real value delivered. They don’t care who you are, how smart you are, or how connected you are - they pay only if you deliver something that makes their business and their lives better and easier, and is a good value.

By the way, in case you don’t what ActiveConversion does, let me give you a quick overview:

ActiveConversion is the technology leader in total marketing measurement (TMM) and demand generation for SMBs. We help companies manage marketing ROI on multiple marketing campaigns and know which leads are sales-ready. Our product automates lead nurturing, scoring and demand generation so that you can do more marketing with fewer resources.

In other words, our product will generate leads and nurture them automatically. Ready ones go the sales team, and less qualified ones will stay in the funnel for ripening until they are ready. It also measure your campaigns so that you know which ones have the best ROI. It is low cost and very easy to use, so we’ve had great success getting it adopted.

The next version is being tested as we speak. If you’re interested in saving marketing costs, and getting more sales, go to the website and request a demo!

I’ve been busier than usual lately, and not on vacation as you might have thought. Things have started to take-off with ActiveConversion, and I’ve been handling some things like interviews, reviews, financing, hiring and other things that come along with getting some traction.

One of the good/bad things about being in a high-tech startup, is that the days (and nights) go by fast. Generally it’s good, especially when it revolves around customers, because I much prefer that to sitting around wondering why we don’t have customers. It’s bad in that, strategic thinking gets stalled, and when you’re the chief, it means nobody else is really doing it and that can be really bad in the longer term.

In fact, without strategic thinking, it’s rather difficult to get to the ‘good busy’ time. I have found with startups (not just mine), that a lot of time can be spent spinning your wheels. Running real fast and not getting anywhere. I suppose it has to do with ALL the variables that go into making a product, finding a market, and penetrating that market. A lot of things don’t go to plan and it reminds me of an old acronym called SNAFU - Situation Normal, All F***ed Up. Most startups have this at one time or another, and its how they adapt, that separates the winners from the un-winners in my opinion.

Having said that, I’ve recently been asked to sit on a board to help nominate companies for celebrate tech startup successes in Calgary. I can’t say who, because none of this has been announced as of yet, but it’s part of the reason for my headline. I’m thrilled and humbled, because the companies that will be honored are world-class successes. This is a first as far as I know, and it adds to momentum that Calgary and Alberta has been building in the tech industry lately. There will more on this in the fall.