As part of our ongoing series examining the ecosystem necessary to bring technology to market, we asked serial entrepreneur Jason Flick to share some of his insights. This is his next commentary and we welcome your feedback
By Jason Flick
According to Statistics Canada, expenditures by Canadian universities on research and development totaled $11 billion in 2009-2010, up about 0.8 percent from the year before. Spending by Canada’s top 100 R&D companies, meanwhile, fell 9.4 percent in 2010 to $9.4 billion. Compare that university R&D figure to total VC funding for Canadian companies in 2010, which was less than $1 billion.
If these numbers are a surprise to you then I hope I have your interest. What I will talk about here are the successful adventures I have had with my companies levering this vast pool of IP and perhaps suggest a way for you to see some alternate funding options for your venture.
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As part of our ongoing series examining the ecosystem necessary to bring technology to market, David French, a senior Canadian patent attorney with 35 years of experience, provides a further commentary on the importance to a company of protecting its intellectual property.
By David French
In previous posts, we have addressed procedural issues relating to patents. In this post, we wrestle with the fundamental premise: Is it worth what we’re spending in obtaining patents?
“How can we find out whether we’re getting value for all the money that we’re spending on patents within the company?” That was the question that had been posed in my conversation with the chief financial officer of a local business. And it is a question that I’ve heard before. It is a tough question to answer.
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By Francis Moran
One of my favourite personal-development aphorisms is the phrase, “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” On Wednesday, at an event organised by TEC Canada, a peer-to-peer mentoring program for business leaders of which I’ve been a member for more than five years, noted author and thinker Dr. Chris Luebkeman took it one step further.
“Change is constant. The future is fiction. Participation is what shapes our world,” he told 175 CEOs and other business people gathered for the event. “If you’re not participating in writing the story of tomorrow, you’re going to live in a story that someone else wrote.”
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This is the fourth article in a continuing series chronicling the growth path of CommentAir Technologies, a startup based in Ottawa, Canada. CommentAir is developing a wireless technology fans can use at sports venues to receive the same real-time commentary as fans watching from their televisions, a wireless technology that also creates a platform for targeted consumer interaction. We invite your feedback.
By Francis Moran and Leo Valiquette
In our last post, we spoke to Katie and Luke Hrycak, the sibling founders of CommentAir, about their challenges as technology entrepreneurs who do not have a background in technology. A process of self-education and aggressive networking to tap into the expertise of supportive advisors and mentors has been key.
The need to seek out external business and technical expertise of course extends to the team they must build to move CommentAir along. As a bootstrapped startup, they must not only find individuals who compliment their own strengths and weaknesses, but also share their passion and are willing to put in long hours without a regular pay cheque.
In this post, we take a closer look at what the siblings have learned about themselves, about building strong teams and how this must be applied to the business.
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This is the next commentary from guest blogger John Craig, a veteran of commercializing mobile technologies. We welcome your feedback.
By John Craig
Obtaining a lighthouse customer is a critical first step in starting a business. It establishes your credibility as a seller, and creates a repeatable case study that captures the needs of your target market. The follow-on step is differentiating your business relative to the competition. Having something that others cannot easily duplicate or manufacture is critical to establishing a secure beachhead in your chosen market.
Sales may now be the least of your concerns. What may now undo you is your own marketing prowess. Your reputation is now dependant on how you execute on your next contract, and there are a number of key factors that hopefully you have prepared for.
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By Jason Flick
