Editor’s note: This is the first of what we hope will be many contributions from Jesse Rodgers. I first met Jesse via Twitter, and then in person when he became director of Velocity, the student dormcubator at the University of Waterloo. I seem to run into him every time I go to the Waterloo region and he’s always in the middle of conversations with interesting people. I asked him if he’d consider contributing to our blog because I liked the stuff he was writing on his own space and on StartUpNorth. I was delighted when he said yes.
Welcome aboard, Jesse. I’m sure I’m with our readers when I say we’re looking forward to your insights on how to bring technology to market.
-Francis Moran
By Jesse Rodgers
I am excited to write my first post for Francis Moran and Associates. Francis is someone that I have crossed paths with many times over the years and having him ask me to start writing for this blog was a nice surprise. I have always learned a lot from our interactions and I hope I can contribute to the great stuff found on this blog.
I am often called the ‘startup person’ but I have spent the last 10 years working in higher education working on web-based technology. Only in the last seven years have I been focused on building connections between the University of Waterloo and the startup community. I was lucky enough to help shape one of Canada’s best incubator/accelerator programs (that is extra-curricular, like a varsity startup team) for student entrepreneurs for the last three years.
I only found the courage to do my own startup a little more than three years ago. I co-founded TribeHR, which has gone from a whiteboard idea to a funded startup with offices in Waterloo and Boston. It has been an exciting ride but when I look at what I knew just 15 months ago and what I know now, I don’t really understand how 15-month-ago me could make decisions.
What happened in the last 15 months that changed me?
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By Alexandra Reid
As a regular weekly feature, we provide our readers with a roundup of some of the best articles we have read in the past week. On the podium this week are the Guardian, Information Age, MarketingSherpa, Social Media Examiner and Fast Company.
UK’s technology, design and startup blogs ranked by influence
Eloqua has published its latest U.K. edition of Blog Tree, designed by the specialists at JESS3, where blogs covering topics including technology, design and startups are ranked according to their influence.
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By Alexandra Reid
As co-founder of Startup Canada, the country’s first-ever entrepreneur-led national movement celebrating Canadian entrepreneurship, Victoria Lennox is a bona fide startup champion.
At her core, Victoria is a social entrepreneur, and you could say her relationship with the startup ecosystem approaches the romantic. She is excited about the opportunities that come from starting new businesses, not only from an economic standpoint, but for their potential to empower individuals with the motivation to think bigger, rediscover their dreams and be creative.
“Entrepreneurship is a mindset, a lifestyle, a way of thinking. That’s why I’m part of this movement in Canada,” said Victoria. “It isn’t just about creating entrepreneurs, but inspiring Canadians to think in entrepreneurial ways. I’ve seen entrepreneurship transform people. It’s about a personal experience, and if that leads to healthier communities, that’s a great byproduct.”
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By Francis Moran
I have shamelessly adapted the headline of this post from a Wall Street Journal article I read on the weekend that reviewed two excellent books tracking the ascendancy of Africa over the past decade and predicting that the continent’s rise as an economic force to be reckoned with would continue in similar fashion for the next decade. Acknowledging the structural problems many African countries face on the political front, one of the reviewed authors was quoted as writing, “there is no magic recipe for turning countries around, only good cooks.”
The sharp application of the sentiment to the founding of companies was immediately and forcefully impressed upon me. There is no magic recipe for a successful company. There are only good cooks.
When I founded inmedia Public Relations at the height of the telecom boom in late 1998, I used to say our template client was “three engineers, a brilliant idea and $10 to $15-million in U.S. venture capital.” We were seeing these companies form at the rate of several a month, and I thought they were all going to succeed.
Boy, was I wrong.
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Introducing Jeff Campbell
Jeff just can’t seem to get enough of us. He’s twice been a client. He’s long been one of our go-to guys whenever we needed a solid reference. And now, he likes our company so much he’s decided to join as an associate. And we’re delighted to have him.
Jeff is a serial CEO and entrepreneur with a lengthy record of achievement in securing investment, building international sales and business-development channels, and accelerating the commercialization of new technology. With more than 30 years spent in companies both large and small – from the Microsofts and EDS Systemhouses of the world to fast-growth startups like AssetMetrix and PerspecSys – Jeff has a thoroughly rounded perspective on exactly what it takes to bring technology to market.
Jeff will be making regular contributions to our blog, starting with today’s post, below. He will be writing about how to build effective sales and business-development capacity to drive revenue, as well as how to position for investment, strategic partnerships and acquisition. And he represents us in the Waterloo region that he calls home and is a valued team member addressing the sales and channel-development requirements of our strategy clients.
By Jeff Campbell
It is at once intimidating and encouraging to be invited to blog with Francis Moran and Associates. Intimidating because I hold Francis and the folks who work with him in such high esteem, particularly as writers, editors and communicators. Me? I write like I talk. That means a blatant disregard for grammar, structure and spellin’, and a propensity to over use superlative adjectives and adverbs. It is encouraging for this reason (high-quality editing) and because of the collaboration that will ensue. Francis and the band of associates are a team of accomplished individuals with whom I very much look forward to sharing ideas, experiences and learnings in the coming months.Why am I blogging here? What interesting things can I share? Well, with more than 30 years of experience, I have a lot of stories. There are stories just screaming to get told, stories that result from selling a company to Microsoft, stories about commercializing innovative products, stories about building a business with a business model very few people understood at the time, stories about fundraising and stories about building channels and the relationships that make them effective.
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I am excited to write my first post for Francis Moran and Associates. Francis is someone that I have crossed paths with many times over the years and having him ask me to start writing for this blog was a nice surprise. I have always learned a lot from our interactions and I hope I can contribute to the great stuff found on this blog.
