When Kate MacGregor told me about her vision for the #OpenConcept series, I was inspired. Sharp as broken glass, Kate is a do-er who’s using her time, resources and influence to catalyze enriching cultural conversations in our city by serving as curator of some of the best #design thinkers on the planet. On April 30, Open Concepts returns with guest William O’Brien Jr., principal of Cambridge, Massachusetts firm WOJR, founding member and collaborator in Collective LOK, and Associate Professor and M.Arch Program Director at MIT. William comes to #architecture from a background in #sculpture and #music. It’s no surprise, then, that his firm’s designs are masterful works of order and expression - simultaneously intimate and expansive, they balance the familiar with the transcendental. I find William’s background fascinating, and I couldn’t be more excited to hear him speak in #Calgary very soon. I hope I’ll see you there. Details at the link below 👇 https://lnkd.in/gq-v79Ec P.S. special thanks to Kayla Browne of BOLD Workshop Architecture for always connecting me with incredible design minds like Kate and doing her part to make Calgary one of the greatest places in the world to live, work and play!
George Damian, CFA’s Post
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Ever since I interviewed Pablo Sobron for a spot in the CDL-Rockies #Energy stream in 2019, I knew he had something truly novel that could be applied across several use cases in the oil & gas sector. Fast forward to today and the company he confounded with Ariel Torre, Impossible Sensing Energy Inc., is garnering strong customer interest for its innovative solutions to some of the industry’s most persistent challenges. It’s truly been an honour to work with such incredibly talented founders and witness not only how far they’ve come, but the bright future they have ahead of them. If you’re interested in learning more about how the company’s deep tech solutions can be applied to help your company measure production in real time, reach out to Ariel to find out more!
Getting the right people in one room to take an innovative technology and turn it into a viable solution for industries' challenges is rare, but it's what happened to with #CDLAlumni Impossible Sensing Energy Inc.'s co-founders Ariel Torre and Pablo Sobron when they participated in CDL-Rockies. IS Energy uses advanced technology to develop measurement solutions for oil and gas producers. For the co-founders, CDL has been an invaluable contributor to their success, and a program they'd encourage other founders to join. “It's a no-brainer,” Sobron says. “You're going to be in a room full of mentors who are ready to support you through your challenges. And this room will give you more help than you could ever hire.” Read more:
From Mars to Earth’s oil wells: How CDL-Rockies supported IS Energy’s mission to bring solutions from space into our atmosphere
CDL-Rockies on LinkedIn
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Calling all #Founders: Venture Capital Association of Alberta (VCAA)’s Deal Flow Calls represent a great opportunity for #PreSeed to #SeriesA companies to gain exposure to some of the countries most active Venture Capital #investors. If your company is raising equity capital, I strongly encourage you to check out the link below!
🌟Attention Founders🌟 Our next VCAA Deal Flow Call is scheduled for Thursday, July 4th, 2024. This is an opportunity for a group of investors and ecosystem supporters to come together and exchange VC investment opportunities, ranging from pre-seed to Series A, across Canada. If you’re ready to showcase your company to potential investors, now’s the time to submit your information. Please fill out the form at the link below: https://lnkd.in/g8sCAG5R Wondering who our members are and what their investment thesis is? Find out here: https://lnkd.in/gy-EkHUf Please note that the VCAA Deal Flow Calls are a private space for VCAA members only. If you know a founder who would benefit from this, please share this post. Alberta Enterprise Corporation (AEC), BDC, Verdex Capital, Accelerate Fund, McRock Capital, Graphite Ventures, EnerTech Capital, InterGen, Weave VC, Panache Ventures, Yaletown Partners, The51, Evok Innovations, ScaleGood Fund LP, Innovate Calgary, Avatar Innovations Inc., IA Capital Group, Alpaca VC, Intrinsic Venture Capital, Tall Grass Ventures, Flying Fish Partners, Relay Ventures, Thin Air Labs, Azure Capital Partners, Builders VC, Koan Capital Corp., WATCT, Sprout Fund, Amplitude Ventures, Inovia Capital, AltaML, Sustainable Development Technology Canada - Technologies du Développement Durable Canada, Startup TNT, Plug and Play Canada, 500 Global, Pender Ventures, Valhalla Private Capital, General Bank of Canada, Band Venture Partners, Bennett Jones
Pre-seed to Series A Founders Intake
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“She’s got #GUTS” It was the best descriptor I could come up with when thinking of a tremendously skilled founder in my orbit, and yet, I was aware that this simple phrase can sometimes carry unwelcome connotations. The types that can be weaponized against otherwise clever, hardworking, and bold individuals who should be heralded for their ambition, rather than penalized for it. When I think of someone who’s got “guts”, it goes beyond courage and tenacity to include the boldness to stare down the naysayers (even your own self-doubt), in service of a higher goal, even if you don’t ultimately achieve it. Having guts becomes an invaluable practice. Here are just a few examples of the incredible founders, leaders and badasses I know who demonstrate what it means to have guts: Alison: She’s the real deal, and despite her considerable success, she still has a fire inside her that compels her to take on big challenges in the name of building the world she wants to see. Plus she’s never afraid to roll up her sleeves and do the hard work herself if need be; an incredible trait to find in a leader. Amy: A modern-day oracle whose insights into the future help shape emerging trends as they become reality, Amy is a wise leader who doesn’t take the responsibilities she’s earned lightly. Her work at Future Today Institute continues to inspire legions to think more critically about our collective role in shaping what’s to come. April: Underestimate her at your peril, because some have done it before, and they have come to regret it. But before you think she’s just kicking ass and taking names (which she most definitely is), recognize that she’s a generous connector dedicated to opening doors for those coming behind her. Colleen: Sometimes it’s unclear if Colleen has Guts or if Guts has Colleen - that’s how much she embodies this trait. As she embarks on her latest disruptive journey with Proxure, one thing’s certain: it won’t be her last. Danielle: She leaps. Even when she isn’t sure where she’ll end up, she trusts herself to stick the landing, recognizing how many times she’s done it before. And she does. Every time. Geri: Though I’ve only met her once (when we spoke on a Tech Thursday Panel together) I could tell immediately that Geri’s a skilled and capable operator who knows what it means to act with conviction. Janet: Before I met her at this year’s Banff Venture Forum, someone described Janet as bigger than Taylor Swift, to which I responded: then consider me a #Swiftie! As a solo GP launching her own venture capital fund in a male-dominated field, some might have thought she’d bitten off more than she could chew, and yet they would have been woefully ignorant. She’s crushing it, and the founders she champions (like the indomitable Alice) are thriving. This list is by no means exhaustive, rather, it’s meant to spur a conversation and showcase some incredible people. Who else would you add to this list? Let’s highlight some rockstars!
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Scott Galloway’s “No Mercy / No Malice” is one of the few newsletters I read right when it arrives in my inbox. His latest edition on the topic of #Agency offers a thoughtful perspective on the opportunity each of us possesses to make an impact in the areas we care about while still being mindful of the fact that a lot of factors remain out of our control. The notion of agency is particularly important to the people I work with through my strategy and design consultancy press PLAY: #Entrepreneurs, #Leaders and #Students; all of whom are seeking to make positive change while dealing with the inevitable obstacles that emerge when challenging the status quo. Reflecting on my frequent counsel to those groups, the following section of #ProfG’s newsletter resonated with me: “You are not your cohort. You are not sentenced to be the average of your peers, the median of your race, or the mean of your gender. Agency begins with this insight. Within the mass of humans lumped together by statisticians, on several dimensions, you are an outlier. Your range of possible outcomes is invisible to the statistician’s eye. Statistics are observations, not conclusions.”
Advice to grads & young people: You are not your cohort. You are not sentenced to be the average of your peers, the median of your race, or the mean of your gender. Agency begins with this insight. #nomercynomalice https://lnkd.in/ewxhmyds
Agency | No Mercy / No Malice
https://www.profgalloway.com
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Once again Allen Lau of Two Small Fish Ventures offers a deeply thoughtful perspective on recent trends we’re observing in the #VentureCapital space, and how they don’t tell the full story. To borrow some wisdom from the great Warren Buffett: “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked”, and the platform shift catalyzed by #AI promises to reveal who’s actually harnessed the potential of this game-changing #technology vs those that have been selling a dream. Check out Allen’s Op-Ed at the link below for more info!
Recovering CEO, 3x Entrepreneur, 2x exits (last one at US$660M), Venture Capitalist by Profession, Electrical Engineer by Training, Rocket Scientist at Heart
My second op-ed for The Globe and Mail in as many weeks: The depressing numbers of the venture-capital slump don’t tell the full story. Here is the summary: “Bright spots in the current venture-capital landscape exist. You just need to know where to look. The AI platform shift makes it harder for simplistic, shallow-tech startups to succeed. Gone are the days of building a minimally viable product, accumulating vast data and then establishing a defensible market position. We’re entering the golden age of deep-tech innovation, and in order to be successful, startups have to embrace the latest platform shift – AI. And this doesn’t happen by tacking on “AI” to a startup’s name the way many companies did with the “mobile-first” rebrand of the 2010s. In this new era, technological depth is not just a competitive advantage, but also a fundamental pillar for building successful companies that have the potential to redefine our world.” Happy reading!
Opinion: The depressing numbers of the venture-capital slump don’t tell the full story
theglobeandmail.com
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I have always felt there’s a strong connection between the #Alberta and #Texas tech ecosystems, so it was a pleasure to join 50 Alberta companies at #SXSW2024. As the article below highlights: “There are notable parallels between Alberta and SXSW’s host state, Texas. Both regions initially thrived on natural resource economies but are now pivoting towards innovation and technology sectors. Austin, in particular, is rapidly becoming a major global tech hub, a shift being mirrored in cities like Edmonton and Calgary.” Thank you to Laura Kilcrease, Douglas Holt, Lyndsey Vandament, Lan (Scaleup) Tan and the rest of the incredible team at Alberta Innovates for providing this important platform for our companies to engage with prospective customers, partners and investors. Looking forward to next year’s delegation!
Alberta Innovates brought 50 companies from Alberta to SXSW, not just to find funding but also customers! “As one of the world’s largest tech conferences, SXSW offers a key opportunity for startups, investors, and tech enthusiasts from all over the world to connect, learn, and close deals over eight days of tech-focused programming in Austin, Texas.” https://lnkd.in/gZssyNpj Tim Murphy HazTrack Inc. Earthware Road Aider Symend MedEssist | Transforming Pharmacy with Technology and AI 🏥 Goodlawyer NanoTess Tony Williams Laura Kilcrease Megan Leslie PEERX.AI Platform Calgary Edmonton Unlimited Terry Rock Launa Aspeslet Tom Viinikka Calgary.tech
What Alberta Innovates learned from sending 50 local startups to SXSW
https://betakit.com
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It's hard to believe that SXSW 2024 was over a month ago, because the experience of sharing this workshop with nearly 400 participants over two days was so rewarding that it still hasn't fully sunk in. To those who supported our #SXSW2024 proposal, I'm grateful to be able to share this recording of our presentation. I hope you'll check it out, share it with someone who can benefit from our insights, and ultimately provide me with your thoughts and feedback, as I'm always keen to learn and refine my approach to the invaluable skill that is the Art & Science of #Pitch. And if you're looking to refine your own pitch, wether as a #startup seeking #funding, a corporation looking to build its #innovation infrastructure, or anything in between, feel free to Direct Message me or drop me an email at george@pressplaystudio.ca to see how the team at press PLAY can help you better connect with your audience.
As author Daniel Pink says: "We are ALL in #Sales now", meaning the ability to calibrate and land your pitch has never been more important. That's why we are so pleased to present the recording of last month's featured presentation at SXSW 2024 titled: "How to Pitch Right the First Time and EVERY Time". In this summary version of their workshop, press PLAY Founder George Damian, CFA is joined by Panache Ventures Managing Director Patrick Lor to share the Art & Science of #Pitch. As is frequently the case, a room full of strangers went from skeptics to champions as they shared their personal pitches and discovered how to connect with purpose. At the heart of the approach is an acknowledgment that the goal of any pitch is to establish a meaningful connection with your audience, which ultimately rests on your ability to establish #trust as quickly and effectively as possible. To understand precisely how to do this, George breaks down the anatomy of trust as having three core components: 1. AUTHENTICITY: I experience the real you. 2. LOGIC: I know you can do it; your reasoning and judgment are sound. 3. EMPATHY: I believe you care about the success of relevant stakeholders. As audience members quickly learn, everyone has a "Trust Wobble": one of the three components which isn't as solid as the others, and can therefore lead to distrust with your audience. George goes on to describe how they can identify and address their wobble to better connect with their intended audience. Next, Patrick described a simple framework that bucks the common approach seen on Shark Tank in favour of something far more likely to get you a second meeting: "Hearts > Minds > Wallets". In a nutshell: by seeking first to establish your "WHY" (the Heart of your pitch) you enrol your audience to your cause, providing an opening to explain why it makes sense (appealing to their Minds), before ending with a clear, justified ask (targeting the proverbial Wallet). Finally, we put it all into practice, by having participants engage share their personal pitches with one another before inviting the bravest among them to share present live in front of the audience before engaging in real-time coaching with our facilitators. We hope you will check out the video to see some incredible transformations! Special thank you to the #SXSW2024 Programming Team, including Annie Powers and Michele LoDuca, whose tireless efforts made this presentation possible, as well as courageous participants such as Jonathan Melgaard for their willingness to put themselves out there in the spirit of curiosity and learning. If you're looking to better calibrate your pitch, reach out to us directly at: george@pressplaystudio.ca https://lnkd.in/dq8j2SEb
SXSW 2024 - How To Pitch Right the First Time and EVERY Time
https://www.youtube.com/
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#Agriculture ranks among the greatest areas of economic opportunity for #Canada, yet we’re punching far below our weight. Join Kevin Taylor of SVX to learn more about Canada’s #food #future and how #investors can catalyze scalable growth across this incredibly dynamic sector.
Food sovereignty in Canada has been on the decline for the last 20 years, underscoring the critical need to reshore our food systems. Addressing this, SVX and the Small Scale Food Processor Association (SSFPA) are collaborating on a webinar to discuss exactly that: the current state of Canada's food sovereignty, what that means, and the barriers holding back Canadian food businesses from scaling more efficiently. By helping investors understand where food comes from, the hope is to see more capital moving into this incredibly important sector and change the landscape of Canada's food systems. 🗓️ Date: Monday, April 29 🕑 Time: 12 PM MT / 2 PM ET 💻 Registration: https://hubs.li/Q02tJ8b50 #foodsovereignty #canadianfood #investinfood #sustainableagriculture #foodecosystem
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Investing in Canada's Food Future. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.
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