Pondering Angels and Demons: Tech Investors Gather, Contemplating Solutions to Revive Canada's Stagnant Entrepreneurial Atmosphere
Article:
Meet Neil Seeman, the shaker of Canada's entrepreneurial scene. He's a prolific publisher, a university professor, and the mastermind behind RIWI Corp. But body language and buzzwords took a back seat at the recent National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) summit, where Seeman joined 500 tech titans and seed-stage investors.
Just a stone's throw from post-election euphoria on Parliament Hill, these visionaries were huddled together, strategizing ways to propel Canada towards unprecedented prosperity. The talk of nation-building funds or reciprocal tariffs was out of the question.
Instead, the focus was squarely on Canada's anemic culture of entrepreneurship, and how to jolt it into action.
I barely heard the name Donald Trump uttered in the two days I spent rubbing elbows with tech and AI leaders. Why? Because, as Peter Drucker famously said, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." It's the unspoken factor that can make or break a company, and governments are no exception.
Entrepreneurs, in their limitless optimism, always perceive opportunities that elude politicians.
Daniel Wigdor, a visionary U of T computer science professor, shared his aspiration for Canada to capitalize on our "deep expertise in applied computing, building the AI apps that others are spending billions to develop." Wigdor suggested letting the Americans focus on foundational models, while we innovate atop those and reap the real value.
I heard the tales of the so-called "PayPal Mafia," who, after the company's sale to eBay, went on to become tech titans and venture capitalists. They serve as inspiration for Canadian entrepreneurs, who are being urged to "pay it forward."
Ray Sharma, founder of global app developer Xtreme Labs, expresses admiration for Sir Terry Matthews, the founder of Newbridge Networks, who sold his firm for over $7 billion and went on to launch more than a hundred companies. Sharma believes we need a new generation of startup mafias to keep the entrepreneurial momentum going.
"Until we have founders who exit, reinvest, and mentor, we'll keep losing momentum," said Dan Burgar, co-founder of the Frontier Collective, dedicated to promoting British Columbia's tech sector.
We don't need more government handouts
So, how do we get to the stage of paying it forward? How do we scale a new culture of risk-taking?
Jeff Brunet, managing partner of GreenSky Ventures and a five-time company-builder who has sold his firms to major players like Google, Apple, and HP, believes we've got enough government support already. What Canada needs is a culture shift.
At NACO, I discovered the elephant in today's startup ecosystem: AI. Artificial intelligence is redefining the way we think about value creation, Brunet explained.
"Founders can now test for product-market fit with minimal capital, compressing the early-stage life cycle," Brunet said.
Sharma, who also founded Extreme Venture Partners, Canada's leading seed-stage venture capital company, wants corporate Canada to venture out of its comfort zone and embrace risk for the potential rewards.
The under-tapped potential of women in entrepreneurship
"Corporate venture capital is the great untapped opportunity," Sharma said. "Some like Shopify have courageously participated and funded amazing companies. Others like banks or telcos in Canada flirt with the idea but often fail to follow through."
Sharma feels Canadian corporate venture capital should significantly boost investment in startups to alleviate the glaring disparity in funding for female-led firms.
Serial entrepreneur Shelley Kuipers, co-founder and co-CEO of The51, a venture fund dedicated to democratizing access to capital for women, argues that addressing the cultural problem begins with leveraging the remarkable abilities of female entrepreneurs.
Only 2% of all venture funding goes to female-led founders.
"Women are a high-performing asset class," Kuipers said, "but consistently under-invested."
Mark Miller, COO of Constellation Software, suggested that the messaging for young people should shift from worshipping the big exit to honoring the beloved German concept of the "Mittelstand" – a respect for small to mid-sized businesses dedicated to tackling pressing problems.
A sense of urgency for cultural transformation
What united every visionary at NACO was a sense of urgency for cultural change.
Allen Lau is the co-founder of Wattpad and Two Small Fish Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm.
"Canada has a rare opportunity to seize the moment," Lau said, "by lowering the barriers for Canadian capital to own our most innovative companies and helping them scale globally. Prosperity and jobs will follow."
Our biggest innovation hurdle is cultural.
We often think that America should dictate how Canadians view a career in entrepreneurship.
Yet Canada can be a nimbler Silicon Valley nation that thinks more wisely in the age of AI.
We can take on tens of thousands of pressing problems, big and small, that require new solutions.
So, buck up, Canada's greatest innovators are urging us.
But before you do that, hit the ice.
Neil Seeman is a trailblazer who's shaping Canada's entrepreneurial destiny. He's the publisher at Sutherland House Experts, a professor and senior fellow at the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, and the founder of RIWI Corp.
Opinion articles are based on the author's interpretations and judgments of facts, data, and events.
Insights:
- The Canadian tech industry is focusing on addressing its stale culture of entrepreneurship and finding ways to scale a new culture of risk-taking.
- AI is playing a crucial role in reshaping the way value is created, enabling founders to test for product-market fit with minimal capital and compressing the early-stage life cycle.
- Corporate venture capital is an under-tapped opportunity in Canada, with the potential to boost investment in startups significantly, particularly those led by women.
- The "PayPal Mafia" and Sir Terry Matthews serve as examples of successful entrepreneurs who exited, reinvested, and mentored, inspiring current Canadian entrepreneurs to do the same.
- The cultural reverence for small to mid-sized businesses focused on solving pressing problems, known as the "Mittelstand," can serve as a guiding ethos for entrepreneurs in Canada.
- The under-investment in female-led startups has been identified as a critical barrier, with women being labeled a high-performing but under-invested asset class.
- The messaging for young people should shift from focusing on the big exit to valuing the "Mittelstand."
- There is a need for a sense of urgency for cultural transformation within the Canadian entrepreneurial ecosystem, with opinions that Canada can become a nimbler Silicon Valley nation that thinks more intelligently in the age of AI.
- Neil Seeman, a notable figure in Canada, is currently shaping the country's entrepreneurial scene as a publisher, university professor, and the founder of RIWI Corp.
- Seeman recently joined other tech titans and seed-stage investors at the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) summit to strategize ways for Canada to achieve unprecedented prosperity.
- The talk of nation-building funds and reciprocal tariffs was absent, and instead, the focus was on revitalizing Canada's anemic culture of entrepreneurship.
- Governments, just like companies, are influenced by unspoken factors that can make or break them, emphasizing the importance of a proactive cultural shift.
- Entrepreneurs recognize opportunities that often elude politicians, making them vital players in fostering a competitive and innovative economy.
- Daniel Wigdor, a U of T computer science professor, advocates for Canada to capitalize on its "deep expertise in applied computing," focusing on developing AI apps that others are spending billions to develop.
- The under-tapped potential of women in entrepreneurship was a key topic, with a call for corporate Canada to significantly boost investment in startups led by women to alleviate the funding disparity.
- Corporate venture capital remains an undervalued opportunity in Canada, as only a few companies like Shopify have actively invested and funded startups.
- The national economy could benefit significantly from the insights and expertise of successful entrepreneurs who exit, reinvest, and mentor, such as the PayPal Mafia and Sir Terry Matthews.
- The aging culture of entrepreneurship must be replaced with a vibrant new culture of risk-taking, as highlighted by Jeff Brunet, managing partner of GreenSky Ventures.
- AI is revolutionizing the way value is created, enabling founders to test for product-market fit with minimal capital and compressing the early-stage life cycle, making Canada an exciting place for entrepreneurs and investors.
