Last Chance Founders and Funders Dec 3

You’re in luck since there are still some tickets available for the Founders and Funders dinner Thursday, Dec 3 at 6pm. There’s always a run on the tickets at the last minute and they sell out so don’t get left out. Nothing like hearing how great the event was the next day and having regrets.

Why Attend?:

• New Blood: some of the top start-ups and investors will be there including people from out of town
• Variety: investors of every sort .. from government, to working capital, SRED, angels, VCs …
• Leads: every event has lead to valuable follow up meetings for attendees … from start-up founders getting together to investor pitches
• Learn: some founders totally changed their direction after what they learned at the event

How do I get involved?

The event is “by invitation only’ and is limited in terms of availability. If you would like to attend, please send Allan Isfan allan.isfan@favequest.com or Rick O’Connor rickoco@theottawanetwork.com a note and let them know who you are and why you should participate.

What is Founders & Funders?

Founders & Funders is a social event aimed at bringing together the people that start the next big successful company with the people that fund these companies in their earliest stages. The event is social. It is not a pitch fest. It is not a DemoCamp. It is an opportunity to meet other entrepreneurs and funders in your local community. The goal is to help facilitate opportunities for people to meet, share and build relationships that will grow into the NEXT BIG THING.

Founders and Funders is dedicated:

• to helping Canadian entrepreneurs to meet each other;
• meet potential funders: angel, VC or other money sources;
• to have fun;
• and see how we can help each other create the NEXT BIG successful company.

Founders and Funders: Dec 3

With so many amazing events going on in Ottawa, it has been tricky to slide in Founders & Funders. Since so many people have been asking about it, we’ve decided to pull he trigger and make it happen in record time. Here is the information (scooped from The Ottawa Network site)

What is Founders & Funders?

Founders & Funders is a social event aimed at bringing together the people that start the next big successful company with the people that fund these companies in their earliest stages. The event is social. It is not a pitch fest. It is not a DemoCamp. It is an opportunity to meet other entrepreneurs and funders in your local community. The goal is to help facilitate opportunities for people to meet, share and build relationships that will grow into the NEXT BIG THING.

Founders and Funders is dedicated:

• to helping Canadian entrepreneurs to meet each other;
• meet potential funders: angel, VC or other money sources;
• to have fun;
• and see how we can help each other create the NEXT BIG successful company.

How do I get involved?

The event is “by invitation only’ and is limited in terms of availability. If you would like to attend, please send Allan Isfan allan.isfan@favequest.com or Rick O’Connor rickoco@theottawanetwork.com a note and let them know who you are and why you should participate.

Don’t Miss This Next Week

Hey Everyone,

As you may know, the annual Ottawa Venture and Technology Summit (OVTS) is on next week at the Chateau Laurier (Sept 30 & Oct 1). This year is going to be a bit different for two reasons.

First, there is much more focus on strategic investors with attendance by people from Microsoft, Samsung Ventures, Comcast Interactive Capital, Cisco, Google and many more as well as many investors from out of town.

Second, the organizers have opened up a few individual events you can attend without registering for the entire conference. In short, you can schmooze for much less.

The events are:

-CEO reception September 30th at 5:30. This reception is a great opportunity to network with other CEOs and investors you may rarely get to chat with.

https://nt4.magma.ca/ocri/vcfair2009/ceoregistration.asp

-OVTS wrap up lunch Oct 1 with keynote presentation by Peter C. Hall, VP and Chief Economist at EDC.

https://nt4.magma.ca/ocri/vcfair2009

On a slightly different note, we are starting to plan for the next Founders and Funders dinner. The event will likely take place towards the end of November. Shoot me an email at allan.isfan [at] favequest.com if you would like to be considered for this exclusive event.

Early bird tix for Founders and Funders Nearly Gone

Hello Everyone,

The early bird tickets for the May 20 Founders and Funders dinner are nearly sold out. The attendees so far are of extremely high quality, including investors from Toronto, Waterloo, Ottawa and Montreal that actually invest! I’m not kidding.

Even if you’re not looking for investment at this moment, I urge to get to know the investment community … you never know when things change and building relationships takes a long time.

This event is by invitation only. Please contact me for details (let me know who you are and why you want to attend). The only reason for this is to ensure we have spots for investors and entrepreneurs.

Cheers,

Allan Isfan

allan.isfan [at] favequest [dot] com

Announcing Founders and Funders: part deux

After a very successful inaugural Founders and Funders Ottawa event last fall, The Ottawa Network has decided to organize a similar event again this spring. The event is set for May 20th at 6pm.

Founders and Funders is a unique networking event geared specifically for investors of all types (VC, angel, working capital, government) and start-up execs that may at some point try to raise money. The evening includes cocktails and dinner, with plenty of time for networking. There are no demos and no presentations … just tons of elevator pitches from investors trying to convince entrepreneurs to take their money.

The event is restricted to investors and those who want to take their money and multiply it (start-up entrepreneurs).  If you fit the bill, please contact Allan Isfan at allan.isfan [at] favequest [dot] com , and briefly let him know who you are and why you are interested in the event.

Finally note that the event sells out very quickly. We were able to lower the price and there are early bird tickets so don’t delay.

Feel free to tweet about it with hashtags #ton #foundersandfunders or blog about it. You can include my email allan.isfan [at] favequest [dot] com (I don’t feel like getting emails from bots .

Cheers,

Allan Isfan on behalf of The Ottawa Network

FaveQuest launches Bluesfest ViewTube

Hey Everyone,

I know this is a bit self-serving but hey …. what the heck, I’m too excited to beat around the bush.

Today (April 22 to be exact), FaveQuest is launching the Bluesfest ViewTube in partnership with the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest. We have been working with the awesome Bluesfest staff to put together something for the fans that I hope you will love. If you do love it, tell your friends. If you don’t tell me. Deal?

Check the home page, news and blog post on www.favequest.com for details .

Cheers,

Allan Isfan

allan.isfan at favequest dot com

interesting silicon valley investment boot camp

I just received some interesting info regrading an event many of you may want to take part in. I’ve reproduced some of the info from the main site (www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca/eng/document.jsp) below. I’m personally going to be out of town but I would certainly participate in this if I was here.

Canadian Regional Boot Camp for Technology Start-Ups featuring Silicon Valley experts and investors

March 16-20, 2009

Is your start-up looking to have enhanced access to Silicon Valley and US  venture capital, angel networks and Fortune 500 ICT companies? If the answer is yes, we want to hear from you!

The first round of Canadian Regional Boot Camps will include stops in the following ICT cluster regions:

Monday, March 16, World Trade & Convention Centre, Halifax
Tuesday, March 17, CEIM, Montréal
Wednesday, March 18, OCRI, Ottawa
Thursday, March 19, MaRS, Toronto
Friday, March 20, University of Waterloo Accelerator Centre, Waterloo

This one-day boot camp will feature Silicon Valley and other US investors and is specifically designed to facilitate your market access to the US and Silicon Valley venture capital, angel networks and Fortune 500 ICT companies.

Program at a Glance:

Facilitated by Mr. Chris Gill, President of Silicon Valley Association of Start-up Entrepreneurs

• Funding Pitch Preparation. Topics will include:
• • What are US investors looking for?
  • Is your business fundable?
  • How to effectively present the problem, the opportunity and the solution.
  • Presenting your go to market strategy and your business model.
  • Presenting who’s on your team, establishing credibility etc.
  • How to present your evaluation of the competition.
  • How to present your financial projections.

• Pitching Session to a Review Board
• • 10-minute company pitch to local, US and Silicon Valley VC investors
  • Instant pitch feedback by the Board

• Networking Event

What’s next for my company?

Following the Regional Boot Camp, the Board will identify the companies/ start-ups with the best chances for success in the US and in the Silicon Valley for the next phase of the program, which is scheduled to take place later in May 2009, in California .

Next phase will enable selected start-ups and SMEs to get maximum exposure to VCs, Angels and strategic partners in order to secure the financing and the commercial alliances they need to accelerate their growth.

Three programs would be made available:

• In the upcoming spring, start-ups would participate in the first Canada Investor day at the Plug and Play Tech Center;
• In the upcoming spring, more established companies would participate in “Launch Silicon Valley”, a key global product launch platform for SMEs.
• Subsidized access for three months to the Canadian Incubator in the Silicon Valley (at Plug and Play Tech Center), with full access to Plug and Play’s services (meeting rooms, coaching, seed financing, financing search, talent acquisition, etc.) as well as the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service specialized support.

Canadian incubator in the Silicon Valley and overview:

The Canadian Incubator will be located at Plug and Play, a successful high-tech incubator in the heart of Silicon Valley where over 150 technology start-ups from over 20 countries work closely together to build innovative companies. The Canadian Incubator’s purpose is to accelerate the success of start-ups by leveraging a strong network of mentors and advisors. Companies in the incubator, in collaboration with Plug and Play Tech Center, will have access to:

• Seed funding from top tier Venture Capitalist firms
• Corporate partnerships with Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, Lenovo, Orrick
• Experienced mentors and advisors to sit on company boards
• Dedicated recruitment team to help start-ups source for talent
• Full service and flexible office facilities in three campuses located in the San Francisco Bay area
• Event and conference facilities
• Full data-center facilities with on-site IT services
• The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service suite of specialized services

There is such a thing as a free lunch

If you want a free lunch (yes, there is a such a thing), listen up.

The second session of the startup club is happening this Thursday,Feb 26 at lunch. The session is broken into three parts:

1) you get to ask for help from fellow startup peeps

-simple as it sounds. if you need assistance with something, simply ask

2) how to get powerful advisors

-those who have managed to get advisors that help their business will share their experience and perspective including details (how many shares etc)

-if you’ve been wondering about getting advisors, come with your questions

3) gov’t programs

-people at the inaugural session have had lots of experience on this topic and there has been a good discussion about this in the LinkedIn startup club group

Remember, this event is limited to 15 people.  You must belong to the Startup Club to attend (request in invitation on LinkedIn + need to buy some hours at the codefactory) and need to register to the event so we know exactly how many people are attending in order to bring in your free lunch.

Cheers,

Allan Isfan

Welcome to Virtual EyeSee

Ok …. so you already knew this … I love startups! I love to see people take chances, shoot for the top and do something they are truly passionate about. I especially appreciate people that help others learn about new technologies and ways of doing things to improve their lives or their business.

I’m therefore very excited to see Natasha D’Souza launch Virtual EyeSee. I know this has been in the works for a while and I am happy to report her company is now open for business. Virtual EyeSee specializes in social media strategy and education. From my perspective education is really the key differentiator. Virtual EyeSee will bring you up to speed on all areas of social media like blogs, social networks and video but just as importantly will help you understand anduse the tools you will require to listen to what your customers are saying about you. This is done using a hands on approach so you can truly "get" social media before working with Virutal EyeSee on your overall strategy. Quite frankly, I can’t quite think of anyone else in Ottawa taking this great approach.

Please join me in welcoming Natasha D’Souza and Virtual EyeSee to the Ottawa business community!

Check out http://www.virtualeyesee.com/ and be sure to leave some comments on the blog.

Room with view

Last time I was at Codefactory, Ian mentioned that one of the 4th floor offices at the Codefactory was opening up in February. Unfortunately, I’m not yet in a position to rent out the space (which really bugs me) so I might as well share it with you.

The Codefactory is very centrally located (on Queen st) and has an awesome start-up feel to it (by design I’m guessing).

Check out the link below for more info. http://www.thecodefactory.ca/blog/2009/02/02/room-with-a-view-suite-402-available/

Also, don’t forget to join the Startup Club. We’re holding our first workshop at the Codefactory this week with a focus on creating effective presentations. Future topics will include: creating a board of advisors, government programs you may not know about & the role of goverment wrt startups, biz plans, investor round table (with investors that actually invest) and more.

Contact me directly for more.

Allan Isfan FaveQuest allan.isfan [at] gmail.com