From Entrepreneur to Titan: Can Canadian Entrepreneurs Grow Tech Start-ups Into Multinationals?
by DAVID MACDONALD, CEO, Softchoice and ITAC Chair
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| David MacDonald, Courtesy Softchoice |
The Canadian economy is stronger when it displays an entrepreneurial spirit. Proven examples regularly grace Canadian business pages, from Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis’ phenomenal success with Research In Motion, to Eugene Melnyck’s Biovail, and our own example, Softchoice, which was founded by David Holgate and Jone Panavas in 1989.
But I am deeply concerned about the strength and diversity of the Canadian entrepreneurial talent pool. Other countries, with larger populations naturally produce more entrepreneurs as well as other varieties of highly skilled knowledge workers so essential for the formation of a sound economy. The challenge for Canada is to build a stronger spirit of entrepreneurship and to competitively differentiate our approach to enterprise building from that of our global competitors.
Entrepreneurship is more than simply a job. It encompasses a passion and a drive to create a lasting company that reflects its values, serves its clients, and does both well for years to come. Success doesn’t happen overnight. Although recognized for their strength, versatility and innovation now, the examples I gave above were all founded decades ago. The “next generation” of tech titan is not yet obvious.
Canada can build a stronger entrepreneurial culture. Those of us who see this as fundamental to our leadership in the 21st century must stand up and ensure that we are fostering our own successes by investing in local skills and capital pools and supporting appropriate education in Canada. This is as much about deepening our bench strength with respect to the numbers of IT and engineering professionals in our midst as it is attracting the individuals with the skills and leadership required to take a promising startup to a $1 billion and beyond. Successful companies, and individuals, need to broaden the pool of money and talent. In failing to foster growth at home, we invariably limit our ability to compete in the future.
The ITAC community is enriched by a strong cadre of entrepreneurs. They range from those working on their first start-ups to serial entrepreneurs. We are pleased to include many of their views in this issue of ITAC Online. Their participation in our membership validates our view that it is through activism and perseverance that we foster the long term success of Canadian ventures. Strong entrepreneurial and executive talent is absolutely essential for the viability of Canadian knowledge-based companies and for our overall competitiveness as a knowledge producing country.
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Member Profile: Wayne Karpoff, YottaYotta, Cheating on the Speed of Light
by JASON GROSSE
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What does YottaYotta do?
Essentially we’ve built a box — the way we generally describe it is a box
being used for some combination of three functions in three bins. First,
within a data centre it provides online virtualization of back end storage
resources. The second bin is really about cheating on the speed of light.
You take a cluster of boxes in one data centre and you put a network between
them and you connect it to another cluster of YottaYotta boxes in another
site some distance away … and we create a single disk image … so we can take
applications that normally run within a data centre and make then run in
multiple data centres, spread across geography as if they are still in one
room. The third thing we do is combine that with the concept of business
continuity, and that’s protecting data centres from New Orleans style
disasters or 9/11 or Montreal Ice Storms. And not just protecting the data
but also protecting the operations.
Do you think there are any particular
challenges getting tech start-ups launched versus other more traditional
start-ups?
Canada is a funny place. If you look at the basic metrics coming out of our
universities … they are competitive with any University around the world in
terms of centres of excellence and the expertise of graduates they are
creating. Clearly the people we educate are of similar caliber and that’s
validated by how aggressively they’re recruited to places like Silicon
Valley. Yet we seem to have this really downward view of ourselves in the
perspective of being technology adopters. We’re more likely to buy something
that comes out of a tiny little company in Silicon Valley then we are from
our own backyard.
What about financing
issues for tech companies?
Canadian financers are more conservative. There’s a lack of tech investment
here in Canada compared to other major centres in the U.S. Banks are just
learning how to deal with technology companies as opposed to more brick and
mortar operations. Being an entrepreneur has its challenges in Canada, it’s
harder to get customers that are local (and) it’s harder to get experienced
people. The flipside of it is we have an underutilized university pool with
really bright people.
What’s happening
in Alberta? How is the entrepreneurial climate?
Alberta is becoming a bit of a hotbed for technology and commercialization.
Alberta has some incredibly strong universities. Ten years ago (Alberta)
worked really hard to bolster university ICT research programs. Now we have
an environment where we’re all starting to work together — and that’s not
just the industry associations, but all three levels of government (and) the
universities. We’re starting to get more venture capital in Alberta, and
some of the promises made by the Government are becoming reality —
particularly in the last Provincial Budget.
What are your aspirations for YottaYotta?
YottaYotta right now is in a position where it’s a world leader, as
recognized by organizations like IDC as being a world leader in an area
where clearly there’s a requirement for (our product), and at a very large
scale. I think there’s huge potential for YottaYotta to be a competitor on
the world stage, and that’s what we would like to be.
Wayne Karpoff is the Vice President, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of YottaYotta
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Canadians Need Mentoring in Operating a Commercial Enterprise
by JEFFREY CRELINSTEN
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| Jeffrey Crelinsten |
The Impact Group, in collaboration with Doug Barber, co-founder and former CEO of Gennum Corporation and with support from ITAC, has been conducting interviews with CEOs of R&D-intensive firms for several years, trying to find out from successful, and not so successful, entrepreneurs, what it’s like to run a hi-tech company in Canada. In our most recent study, which is still underway, we’re talking to former CEOs and principal investors of firms that no longer exist, either because of business failure or M&A. ITAC and a number of federal government departments are helping to finance the study. Our goal is to tap the experience of entrepreneurs and investors who have either not been able to, or have not wanted to grow hi-tech companies to a large scale.
Based on 30 interviews to date, our preliminary findings suggest an entrepreneurship culture in Canada that is technically world-class but relatively inexperienced, even naïve, in running a commercial enterprise. The greatest challenges facing entrepreneurs and investors appear to be inexperience with enterprise and lack of mentorship, training and support on the business side of these ventures. This is not only true for CEOs, but also investors (less so angels than VCs) and even accountants, lawyers and other service providers. CEOs too often chase financing, often from investors with little operational experience, and neglect the basics of running an enterprise: listening to customers, building and motivating a diverse team, marketing and sales.
Our findings in previous studies and the current work led us to devote the 7th annual RE$EARCH MONEY conference to an in-depth exploration of Canada’s culture of entrepreneurship, and what we need to do in order to grow more firms to multinational status.
Jeffrey Crelinsten is President of The Impact Group, co-publisher of RE$EARCH MONEY, and President of Research Infosource Inc. He is on the Board of the Science and Technology Awareness Network (STAN) and a member of ITAC’s Talent Working Group.
Join us for the ITAC Research Money Conference "From Entrepreneur to Titan: Can Canadian entrepreneurs grow tech start-ups into domestic multinationals?" May 21 2008, Eaton Centre Marriott Toronto to register: http://www.researchmoney.com
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Building Canadian Entrepreneurial Capacity
by ADAM CHOWANIEC, Chairman of the Board, Tundra Semiconductor Corporation
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| Adam Chowaniec |
Canadian high-tech companies have two determining attributes: generally they have weaker or less experienced management teams than their competitors, and they are less well financed.
Experienced business talent is in short supply because we have a very small technology sector, and it is very difficult to recruit talent across the border.
On the financing side, better financed companies, whether venture capital-backed or publicly listed, are better acquirers. Our venture capital industry may provide weaker returns than that south of the border, but unless Canada invests in Canadian companies to the same extent that competitive jurisdictions invest in their companies, the returns on Canadian investments will not improve and the cycle will be unbroken. Once a Canadian public company is acquired it loses its Canadian exchange listing, further hurting the small and perhaps even sub-critical public financing market.
So what should we do? We need to change our views and our governments’ policies to recognize the competitive global environment in which we live. Two important misconceptions need to be addressed.
First the world is not a level playing field. Every country wants to maximize its future share of the knowledge-based economy. Incentives of all kinds abound globally. Access to markets is often done by preference. Second, we need to pick winners. Not in terms of individual companies, but in terms of sectors of the knowledge-based economy where we can invest strategically and win globally.
More specifically, link Canadian governments’ support of R&D with world-class business skills development that is targeted at the knowledge-based economy. Use Canadian government procurement to support the deployment of early-stage products. Canadian companies occasionally benefit from this kind of procurement from US agencies, but rarely from our own governments. Increase development support for companies. Often small incremental government investment can produce disproportionately large benefits. Increase Canadian venture capital to break the current cycle. Encourage investors and shareholders to take a longer term view of their investments in Canadian companies. Find creative ways to attract experienced business talent into the country.
In the knowledge-based economy, it is the ownership of knowledge, whether physical or in people’s heads, that is the ‘natural resource’ of that economy. We have to keep the companies we already have, some of which have taken 30 years to build. We have to accelerate their growth, and we have to create new enterprises with the objective of having them contribute to the Canadian economy for the long term.
Adam Chowaniec is founder and chair of Tundra Semiconductor Corp. He is a serial entrepreneur and investor in the Canadian tech sector. He chairs the Ontario Research and Innovation Council and is a board member and past chair of ITAC. This article is reprinted from the April 30 edition of Research Money.
IT Heroes Are
Everywhere
ITAC's call for nominations for our annual IT Heroes Award received a
gratifying response this year. Over 30 nominations were submitted
highlighting the achievements of individuals and organizations from British
Columbia to Atlantic Canada. This impressive field will be put before our
distinguished panel of judges - Carol Stephenson, Dean of the Ivey School of
Business and former ITAC Chair, Adam Chowaniec, Chairman of Tundra
Semiconductor Corporation and also a former ITAC Chair, Christian Couturier,
Director General NRC-IT and Dan McLean, Director IT World Canada. The
winners will be recognized at our annual Chairs' dinner taking place on June
26 in Toronto.
ITAC Re-establishes Environmental Affairs
Forum: We’re Looking For Participants
Recently, ITAC decided to revive its Environmental Affairs Forum which was
originally established to work on ICT recycling / waste-reduction issues.
The forum will work to identify and discuss ICT issues in relation to the
environment and ideally develop best-practices and responses to them.
Initially, involvement would include helping to set the agenda. For more
information contact: Bill Munson, Vice-President, (905) 602-8345 x223 or
bmunson@itac.ca
Exploring the Consumerization of Microelectronics: Plant Tours: A Conference Extra
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| ITAC members are introduced to the "burning-in" stage of semiconductor testing at IBM's Bromont Plant. Tours of fabrication plants operated by IBM and Dalsa were a featured part of the 2nd Annual ITAC GSA Conference April 29 and 30. |
Nearly 80 executives from the North American microelectronics industry converged on Bromont, Quebec on April 29 and 30 for the second annual GSA-ITAC conference. "The Consumerization of Microelectronics" explored the growing importance of the consumer marketplace for microelectronics designers and manufacturers. The program featured provocative speakers such as Paul Kempf from Research in Motion, Wilson Kwan of AMD and David Kirk of Invidia. The conference also featured tours of the Bromont area fabs operated by IBM and Dalsa. Conference proceedings can be found at: http://www.itac.ca/index.php/event_gsa_details
Nominations for ITAC Volunteer of the Year Award – Call for Entries
ITAC is a community of companies and business people and, like any
community, it depends on the contributions and leadership of its members to
grow and achieve its objectives. We celebrate this fact at our annual
Chairs' Dinner (this year taking place June 26 in Toronto.) To further
underscore the importance of the contributions ITAC volunteers make, we
present annually the "ITAC Volunteer of the Year Award." This award will be
made to one individual whose contributions have significantly advanced the
progress of ITAC's work over the past 12 months.
The process of identifying this person is simple. We are calling for nominations from the whole membership community. If you have encountered a volunteer whose commitment and energy has helped us achieve a key objective, either through work on an ITAC committee or in some other capacity, simply identify that person to us with a brief explanation of why you think that person's contribution is exemplary and what results he or she achieved. Please do not nominate members of ITAC's Board of Directors. A small committee of the Board will review the nominees and make a selection. The presentation will take place at the Chairs' Dinner. Please make your nominations in confidence. (We will not publish a list of nominees or nominators.) Send them to Donna White, at dwhite@itac.ca no later than June 7, 2007.
Call for Expressions of Interest for Board of Directors for ITAC's CHITTA
Division
The Chitta Board determines the strategic directions and priorities for the
CHITTA division of ITAC and provides guidance to staff on matters of
interest to the membership and the health information technology industry as
a whole. To be eligible to sit as a CHITTA Director your company must be a
member of ITAC and active in the Canadian healthcare marketplace, and your
nominee would typically be the person most responsible for said healthcare
activities. For additional details, please go to:
http://www.itac.ca/MediaCentre/ITACOnline/08MarchCHITTA.pdf
The Seventh Annual Research Money Conference
May 21, 2008, Eaton Centre Marriott, Toronto, ON
From Entrepreneur to Titan: Can Canadian Entrepreneurs Grow
Technology Start-ups into Domestic Multinationals?
Does Canada have what it takes to grow domestic multinationals in
knowledge-based industry sectors such as ICT, biotech and cleantech? What is
the nature of Canada’s entrepreneurial culture? Are Canadian entrepreneurs
able or willing to grow multinational firms? Does Canada have the executive
talent to run tech multinationals from a Canadian base? Is such behaviour
encouraged and recognized positively in Canada? Do we train our young people
for these kinds of entrepreneurial and executive roles? Leading tech
entrepreneurs and executives in Canada and the U.S. share their own
experiences and perceptions on Canada’s entrepreneurial culture, and explore
ways to improve Canada’s performance in knowledge-based commerce.
For more information, visit:
http://www.researchmoneyinc.com/conferences/200805/
ITAC Public Sector Business Committee
May 20, 2008
The Public Sector Business Committee consists of senior corporate business
leaders from ITAC's membership whose companies focus on sales to government.
The committee meets six to eight times a year to monitor, assess and advise
on procurement policies and practices. Government officials are regular
participants of the meetings and are given time to report at each meeting on
progress made on IT procurement initiatives. For more information on this
committee, contact: Linda Oliver, Vice-President, loliver@itac.ca or (613)
238-4822 x 222
Ontario e-Health Architecture Blueprint Roundtable
May 22, 2008
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is moving forward with an e-Health
strategy that will assist in supporting patients and providers in the
management of chronic health disease, most specifically diabetes. As part of
this strategy, the Ministry has developed an e-Health Architecture and
Blueprint which has been designed to assist business managers and
application developers in the planning, design and implementation of
provincial e-Health solutions. The session will introduce participants to
Ontario’s draft e-Health architecture blueprint and provide an opportunity
for open discussion on the different components comprising the architecture.
For more information contact: Micheline Levesque, Manager, Programs and
Events, ITAC - Tel: (613) 238-4822 x 245 or mlevesque@itac.ca.
ITAC Cyber Security Forum
June 10, 2008
ITAC's Cyber Security Forum is an industry-government policy roundtable that
meets quarterly to discuss issues such as cyber crime, cryptography policy,
critical infrastructure protection, national security, network security, spyware, phishing, and other topics. For more information, contact: Bill
Munson, Vice-President, (905) 602-8345 x223 or bmunson@itac.ca
ITAC IT Golf Tournament
June 12, 2008, The Club at Bond Head
Mark your calendars now ... and help us celebrate our 15th Annual ITAC "IT
Challenge" Golf Tournament, Luncheon and Awards. On June 12th, 2008
(Morning) , ITAC will host its 15th Annual "IT Challenge" Golf Tournament,
Luncheon and Awards at the prestigious The Club at Bond Head - one of
Canada’s most talked about golf courses. After 15 years, the ITAC “IT
Challenge” Golf Tournament is still one of the best in our industry. For
more information, visit: http://www.itac.ca/Events/golf/index.html or
contact: Micheline Levesque, Manager, Programs and Events, (613) 238-4822
ext. 245, E-mail: mlevesque@itac.ca.
ITAC Community:
Have Your Say in the Review of Export Development Canada
In the coming months, stakeholders will have an opportunity to participate
in a review of Export Development Canada (EDC), Canada’s export credit
agency. EDC’s mandate is to support and develop, directly or indirectly,
Canada’s export trade and Canadian capacity to engage in that trade and to
respond to international business opportunities. The Export Development Act
requires that the Minister of International Trade undertake a review of EDC
every 10 years in order to provide advice and recommendations to the
government and to Parliament on how EDC can best assist Canadian exporters
and investors in international commerce. For more information on how to
participate in the review, go to: http://www.edcreview2008.ca
WiMAX – Canada Sets its Sights
May 22 2008, 8:00AM – 6:00PM, Renaissance Toronto Airport Hotel & Conference
Centre, Toronto, ON
A variety of Canadian companies have been playing a leading role in the
development and deployment of WiMAX technology for several years. They
continue to form partnerships to provide end-to-end solutions to
governments, private corporations, municipalities and consumers in Canada
and around the world. This conference will explore the issues surrounding
the seemingly ubiquitous high-speed wireless broadband — namely, is this the
year it hits its stride in Canada? Service providers, technology developers,
industry analysts and government officials will tackle the answer to that
question at “WiMAX – Canada Sets its Sights.” Online registration and
program information is available at:
http://www.cwta.ca/CWTASite/english/conference/WiMAX.html.
Shenzhen-Canada BPO/ITO Business Breakfast Seminar
May 27, 2008, 8:15 AM – 9:50 AM
Le Meridien King Edward Hotel, 37 King Street East, Toronto
At the seminar, business process outsourcing (BPO) and information
technology outsourcing in Shenzhen, China’s high-tech, manufacturing,
service, and port city will be discussed. The event is free for all
participants. For more details, click on the following link:
http://www.ccbc.com/upload/wysiwyg/20080507221239.pdf
Mississauga Technology Awards
June 16, 2008, Mississauga, ON
Mississauga's business community will gather for one of the most significant
and historic moments in our history. The first-ever Mississauga Technology
Awards will be held at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga. The event will
be a celebration of technology in our city, and feature a keynote address by
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. For more information, visit:
http://www.mississaugatechnologyawards.com/.
The 2008 National Standards System (NSS) Conference
June 2 - 4, 2008, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
The 2008 NSS Conference, Strategies for an Evolving World, will examine the
role for standardization in an ever-changing environment, and explore the
impact that new and modern dynamics are having on the way people live, do
business and govern. Join government decision makers, industry leaders,
academic experts and consumer representatives for a series of
thought-provoking workshops and discussions that explore: Privacy in a
Broadband Era, Emergencies and Anticipating the Unknown, Designing a
Sustainable Future, Emerging Markets in a Global Economy, Social
Responsibility: Good Business for All, North American Trade Partnerships,
Beyond Counterfeits: Rebuilding Market Confidence in, Consumer Products, The
Economic Value of Standardization. For more information visit:
http://www.scc.ca.
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