By Francis Moran
Ottawa’s two start-up Scotts — I refer to their common first name, not their nationality, which would be spelled with just one ‘t’ — are in the middle of a six-city, two-country roadtrip to visit co-working spaces in each city and to spin the gospel according to Dex, the nifty CRM application now in beta from one Scott’s (Annan, that is) development company, Mercury Grove. The other Scott (Lake, that is) recently launched his own social media consulting firm and has been working on Dex with Annan.
The pair have been posting regular updates, including videos, at StartupOttawa. Besides catching Annan in the no-no act of texting while driving, the videos show co-working spaces in Ottawa, Montréal and Toronto, and report on the feedback Annan has been receiving for his new product. Next week should see reports from New York, Boston and Philadelphia.
Go down the road with these guys; it’s an interesting ride.
By Francis Moran
Why is a startup like murder? Well, according to two-time start-up veteran Shawn Griffin, it’s not because the long hours and uncertain outcome will kill you. Rather, as he told an assembly of alumni of OCRI‘s popular Entrepreneur’s Edge educational program last night, both murder and startups require the same three elements.
“Motive, opportunity and ability are essential for murder and also for a startup,” said Griffin, who delivered a two-fold return to investors when he sold his first company a mere five months after launching it but saw his second venture go down “in a very painful manner.”
The motive to start a new technology company must come from passion, he said, while the opportunity lies in identifying a real pain in the marketplace that the new company is going to solve.
As for ability, it “boils down to two things, people and money. The good news about today is that there’s a dearth of money but a wealth of good people.”
Griffin was speaking at the first-ever reunion for alumni of Entrepreneur’s Edge, a popular educational program that brings seasoned entrepreneurs and subject-matter experts in to deliver course material to participants. The next session of the program, now in its fourth year, runs from February 9 to 13.
