Earlier this week, the Liberal party won a decisive majority in the federal election of 2015.  With nearly 17 million voters, Election 2015 saw the highest voter turnout in more than 20 years.  While historic in many respects, the results signalled a shift in economic policy that would see increased spending on infrastructure, jobs and training, the environment and clean energy in the next few years. 

Among the most significant aspects of the Liberal platform was the plan to invest in the economy by operating deficits of $10 billion for the next two years, regaining a balanced budget in 2019. 

Thematically, we believe the planned investments are indicative of a move towards more direct (versus indirect) measures in strategic areas of the economy.  We are encouraged to see that the platform outlines a series of spending measures directed at supporting the growth of the technology and innovation sector and includes:

Additional Investment in Ecosystems and Clusters.  The plan calls for an investment of $200 million each year towards the expansion of incubators and accelerators, business innovation networks and cluster support.

Increased Funding for NRC-IRAP.  The plan calls for an additional $100 million per year in funding in the Industrial Research Assistance Program to offer further support for startups and SMEs in the innovation sector.

Investments in Cleantech.  The government plans to invest $100 million per year in support of clean technology producers and $200 million more each year to support innovation and the use of clean technologies in the natural resource sectors, including the forestry, fisheries, mining, energy, and agricultural sectors.

Restored Support for Labour Sponsored Funds.  The government plans to reinstate the tax credit for contributions made to labour-sponsored funds which were set to be phased out by 2017 under the previous Conservative government.

Investments in the Creative Sector.  The plan calls for increased funding for Telefilm and the National Film Board of $25MM per year.

Tax Measures

To fund these programs (and others), the platform calls for tax measures to partially offset the increases in spending over the next several years.  The tax revenue plan calls for the replacement of the Universal Child Care Benefit, the cancellation of family income splitting, the cancellation of the increase of TFSA limits from $5500 to $10,000 and the introduction of a new tax bracket of 33 per cent for individual incomes in excess of $200,000 per year.   

There is one tax measure in particular that is of concern to the tech industry in BC – the proposed cap on stock option deductions. 

As outlined in the BCTIA’s 4-Point Plan, Attracting Talent remains one of the key elements in accelerating the growth of the tech industry in British Columbia and in Canada.  The platform proposes to set a $100,000 cap on the amount that can be claimed through the stock option deduction.  While larger companies and in particular public companies, have moved to Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) and other forms of compensation, stock options remain an essential component in the compensation structure for early stage tech companies in attracting talent. 

We believe the proposed annual cap of $100,000 will be problematic and should be revisited for several reasons.

1. Stock option gains for early stage companies are one-time events.  Unlike the case of large public companies where stock option gains may be realized over many years, employees of early stage companies typically realize their stock option gains as a result of a one-time event – an IPO or an acquisition of the company.  In such instances, it may take many years to realize this outcome, meaning that setting an annual cap is incongruous with the nature of how stock option gains are actually realized for startups and early stage companies.
2. Diminishing Canadian competitiveness.  Canadian startup and early stage tech companies compete vigorously with their US counterparts for talent – and the compensation formula is an essential part of the competitive matrix.  With comparatively lower salary compensation levels in Canada, stock options have been an essential tool in bridging the difference with US companies.  As there is no cap on stock option deduction eligibility in the US, any plans to enact a cap on the stock option deduction will undoubtedly exacerbate the compensation challenge for Canadian companies in their quest to attract talent. 

The next few years holds significant promise for the tech sector in BC and across Canada.  We are encouraged to see the broad direction signalled in the policy platform in support of the knowledge economy to capitalize on this opportunity.  Over the next few months, we will begin to work actively with the new federal government to shape the policies that will support the continued growth of the tech industry to realize its full potential. 

A full copy of the new Liberal government’s platform can be found here. 

Bringing MNEs & BC Technology Companies Together

At the BCTIA, we offer such a wide range of servicesto our member companies that it can be difficult at times to remember it all, and it makes it hard to answer the question, "what do you do?"

For me, there is one program that comes to mind immediately, and that's our Connection Day program. The purpose of a Connection Day is to facilitate an introductory meeting between a large multinational enterprise and a group of our local, member tech companies. With joint ventures and acquisitions as an end result of previous Connections Days, these events have the potential to be of extremely high value to all BCTIA members.

Luckily for us, Pangaea Ventures brought a group of notable companies to Vancouver for their Advanced Materials Commercialization Summit on October 21st. Through collaboration with the always helpful Javed Haque and Nina Cagic at the Ministry of International Trade, we were able to organize meetings between our member companies and Nitto Denko, Samsung SDI, JSR Corporation, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, Evonik Industries and Solvay S.A.

With 19 member companies attending approximately 28 meetings throughout the course of a single day, this was the largest Connection Day in BCTIA history. “BCTIA does a great job in making these connections with the market and it is truly appreciated!” said Jonathan Rhone, President & CEO of Axine Water Technologies, of his Connection Day experience.

Only time will tell how successful this Connection Day was for our member companies, but we know that as long as we continue to bring multinationals to Vancouver to meet our members, big things will happen.

To ensure that your company is considered for future Connection Days, email me at dfreeze@bctia.org to learn more about the program and to become a BCTIA member.

We strongly believe that collaboration is the only way to get anything done, and here at the BCTIA, collaboration is what we do best.

Dylan Freeze
Senior Analyst, Cleantech and Life Sciences
Centre4Growth, BCTIA
dfreeze@bctia.org | 604.691.2279

On October 22nd, the BCTIA hosted a special Unplugged event to showcase the emerging FinTech cluster in Vancouver, and to celebrate the announcement of an ongoing partnership between BCTIA and PayPal Canada. This sold out event featured four 30-minute speed panels exploring the ways in which Fintech companies are reshaping the traditional financial services industry. The panels covered a variety of topics related to FinTech, including investments, wealth management, crypto-currencies, alternative lending, and emerging payments.

Moderating the panels were Lauren Robinson, Global Operations Director at HIGHLINE, Gary Boddington, Executive-in-Residence with the BCTIA Centre4Growth Program, Joshua Bixby, General Partner at Stanley Park Ventures, and Alexander Peh, Head of Market Development and Mobile at PayPal Canada.

To see photos from the event, visit our Flickr album, or check out the photos below.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Unplugged, and if you missed out, don't worry -- there will be more happening in the coming months! We'd also like to extend a special 'thank you' to all of our moderators and panelists, PayPal Canada for their partnership and support, and to Red Truck Beer for the delicious beverages!

For more information about our upcoming events, and to find out what's happening at The Hub, be sure to check out our Events Calendar.

About Unplugged:
Unplugged is an intimate and interactive event designed to bring thought leaders together with the tech community and encourage the asking of questions, sharing of ideas and building of networks. Offered several times per year, Unplugged is an informal opportunity to meet leaders in the tech industry and find inspiration in their stories.

Friday, October 23rd saw members of the tech community attend another highly informative Grub in the Hub. Roger Kuypers, Partner in the Technology and Intellectual Property Practice Group at Fasken Martineau, led the session on licensing with a focus on how it applies to the biotech sector.

Although the discussion centered on licensing biotechnology, Roger began by discussing some of the general tenets of licensing such as scope of use, term of license, exclusivity, and granting provisions. Roger also stressed the importance of a well-written license agreement, citing the case of a company inserting one small clause into its license agreement that essentially allowed the licensee unlimited rights to the licensor’s intellectual property, with disastrous results.

The presentation was not all scary however, as attendees walked away with valuable information on licensing and a better understanding of pitfalls to avoid.

We have several more incredible sessions scheduled between now and the end of 2015, and we look forward to welcoming new and familiar faces at all of them.

To see what Grub in The Hubs are coming up, check out our Events Calendar.

The 2014-2015 year was a big one for the BC Technology Industry Association.

Not only did this past year bring the opening of the BCTIA Innovation Hub, it also saw the launch of both the HyperGrowth and TechTalentBC programs, as well as the continued success of Centre4Growth and signature events such as TechBrew and the Technology Impact Awards. 

The BC tech industry as a whole also continued to grow at an incredible rate, solidifying its place as the 3rd largest industry in the province -- contributing nearly 8% of provincial GDP. Tech continues to grow at 2x the rate of the province overall, and as an industry, tech employs more people than the forestry and mining, oil & gas sectors combined.

As the BCTIA prepared to host its 22nd Annual General Meeting, we decided to take stock of our incredible year and create a snapshot of these achievements and more in the form of a Year in Review infographic.

Click the image to view larger.
To download a pdf copy of the 2014-2015 Year in Review, click here.

BCTIA and VANTEC have partnered to host an invitation-only angel investor social on November 24th, 2015. More than 30 of the most active local investors will gather to pool growth capital for rapidly expanding companies. No start-ups or tire kickers; only investors with a portfolio and substantial capital at work. Presenting companies must be investor-backed, recommended, and have significant revenue.

There will be a complimentary wine/beer tasting and appetizers followed by presentations from three angel-backed growth companies. An angel backer will introduce each company, followed by the CEO’s update & Q&A.

The event is intended to introduce investors to each other so that they may work together to support rapidly growing and mid-sized companies by filling the perceived “Series A” gap for local companies.

*****

For more information, contact Ana Fong-Marquez, Program Coordinator, at afong-marquez@bctia.org. 

On November 2nd, the BCTIA played host to Microsoft Ventures for both a Lunch n’ Learn and a Connection Day at The Hub. Tim Enger, Business Manager at Microsoft Ventures, visited The Hub to discuss the many things that Microsoft is doing to help support startups around the world.

The Lunch n’ Learn presentation focused on Microsoft Ventures’ Accelerator Programs – programs designed to provide access to mentors, experts, and other resources needed to help tech companies scale. There are currently seven such programs operating in cities across the globe, including Beijing, Berlin, London, Paris, Seattle, Bangalore, and Tel Aviv. At this session, Tim paid particular focus to Microsoft’s upcoming Seattle accelerator cohort, focused on machine learning.

Each of the cohort companies will receive access to several key benefits, including:

And Microsoft will not be taking an equity stake in the participating companies.

In order to be considered for the cohort, companies must complete an online application. Applications are now open, and will close November 20th, to be followed by a round of judging on December 15th. The selected companies will start the program on February 2nd.

We would like to sincerely thank Tim Enger and Microsoft Ventures for visiting The Hub and hosting this highly informative event.

To learn more about the Microsoft Ventures Seattle Accelerator Program, click here.

To learn more about upcoming events at The Hub, check out our Events Calendar.

On October 7th, BCTIA Centre4Growth company Daily Delivery, made a special appearance on the season 10 premiere of Dragon's Den Canada! Daily Delivery is a local company that makes it simple for businesses get their own online ordering platform, connect with local delivery specialists, and start offering on-demand deliveries to their customers.

Dragon's Den visits cities from coast to coast in a quest to find Canada's next great batch of entrepreneurs, and conducts auditions to select about four hundred teams to pitch to the Dragons.

We sat down with Daily Delivery to ask them about their experience "in the den."

Tell us about a little bit about the experience overall – what was the process like? How long did it take?

One day we got a call from a friend saying that there was a Dragon's Den audition going on, so we thought it’d be fun to go check it out and figure how we could prepare for the next year. There was a panel of 3 individuals, one individual from the production team, assessing how “T.V friendly” the presentation is, and two other individuals assessing other business related metrics, i.e margins, traction, revenue, and team structure. The Q&A took about 20 minutes.

A few weeks later we got an email congratulating us on being chosen to pitch to the Dragons! Our actual pitch was scheduled for May 7th and that Q&A took about 50 minutes.

What was the most challenging part of this experience?

It was challenging to be aware that we had no control whatsoever over what would be aired. We had about an hour of Q&A, but we knew that the producers would trim it down to 5-7 minutes. It was also challenging to put a price tag on Daily Delivery, but it was necessary given that the opening is scripted and we had to follow the format; "We are looking for $X , in exchange for X% equity in our company Name". We asked the producers if we could pitch in convertible equity notes, so we could defer setting a valuation to a later stage, but they said that this wouldn't be "T.V friendly", as the average audience would get confused by discount rates and cap structure.

What was your favourite moment of this experience?

When we had Michele Romanow defending our business model. She is the most tech savvy Dragon on the show, and the fact that we got a pat on the back from her was all that we could have hoped for.

What do you think made you stand out from the other companies that competed in Dragon’s Den?

The mustache and the bowties! Honestly, I don't think there was a single factor that made us stand out among others, rather it was a combination of story, numbers, timing, and the stage of the business. Perhaps, if we had not yet launched the business and we were at our early stages of concept validation, we would not have even gotten through the auditions.

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to get on Dragon’s Den?

What are the next steps for Daily Delivery? Where are you heading?

From an operational standpoint, we are preparing to launch our next two Canadian markets, Toronto being the first. Gladly, ever since our Dragon’s Den episode got aired, we have been getting partnership requests from all across Canada, which enables us to leverage their delivery volume when we launch in their cities.

What's the best piece of advice you have received to date?

If you don’t like something change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.

*****

To watch Daily Delivery on Dragon's Den, click here.
To learn more about BCTIA Centre4Growth initiatives, click here.

Would you like a partner with nearly $40 Billion in sales to distribute your product for you? 

Last week over 30 BC based technology companies had the opportunity to meet Kim Gasson, the CTO of British Telecom’s FieldForce services group and Jan O’Hara from Talecom who is one of their main systems integrator partners. Working with customers like Pepsi and Royal Mail globally, their customer base is amazing and their reach extends across almost every continent, including hundreds of staff in Latin America.

In partnership with BC Ministry of International Trade and our friends over at Wavefront, we hosted the BT delegation at The Hub for three days. They were absolutely amazed with the quality of the young enterprise technology companies we are growing here in BC. They identified over a dozen solutions they would like to follow-up with in more detail or pass along to other more appropriate teams within British Telecom. We expect a handful of commercial partnerships will be consummated in the coming months and think that they enjoyed their visit sufficiently and will return sooner rather than later.

For those who missed out, Centre4Growth clients regularly receive access to opportunities to meet Multinational Investors, Partners and Customers through our Connection Day program, including several in the planning stages surrounding the BC Tech Summit and Globe 2016, as well as Angel Investors Uni-Innovation later this month.

If you are interested in being involved, please email Dylan Freeze at dfreeze@bctia.org.

For the next chapter of the Centre4Growth's exciting Connection Day program, the BCTIA is working with Uni-Innovation on a Connection day in late November to introduce 6-10 high potential technology companies to their investors. Uni-Innovation got their start in Vancouver in 2013, and they make seed investments in local start-ups that range anywhere from $100,000-$2,000,000. In addition to the financial opportunities they provide, the investors at Uni-Innovation also have strong international connections; they have a considerable network of contacts of China in particular, and therefore are a great resource for companies wanting to scale there.

Eight-time Webby award-winning Freelancer.com is the world’s largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace by total number of users and projects posted. More than 17 million registered users have posted nearly 9 million projects and contests to date in over 850 areas as diverse as website development, logo design, marketing, copywriting, astrophysics, aerospace engineering and manufacturing. Freelancer owns Escrow.com, the leading provider of secure online payments and online transaction management for consumers and businesses on the Internet. Freelancer Limited is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker ASX:FLN, with offices in Sydney, London, Manila, Buenos Aires, Jakarta, and Vancouver.

1. Describe your company and your primary product(s) and/or service(s).

Freelancer.com is the world's largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace by the total number of users and projects posted. We connect over 17 million employers and freelancers globally from over 247 countries, regions and territories.

Through our marketplace, employers hire freelancers to work in areas such as software development, writing, data entry and design right through to engineering, the sciences, sales and marketing, accounting and legal services.

2. How many employees currently work at your company?

We employ 430 people globally, the vast majority of these are Software Engineers and Data Scientists, or hybrids of both.

3. Where are you located?

Our Vancouver office is Downtown at 650 West Georgia Street; however, we also have offices in Sydney, London, Manila, Buenos Aires, and Jakarta, and encourage staff to work abroad should they wish.

4. Describe the culture at your company.

At our heart, we are a product-focused and data-driven engineering company and we work within a meritocracy where initiative, innovation and, most importantly, execution are highly respected. We run the platform using smart algorithms and machine learning to make the product itself part of our overall process of continual improvement. Our dashboard of over 6000 graphs is fully open to all employees which is important as we decentralise the command and control of the company by organising ourselves into highly effective product teams. Together these teams ship code over twenty times a day.

We also provide a nice environment to work in, with all the usual tech company perks and more; however, we will not prioritise these perks first. Our culture is defined by the above reasons, which resonates much more than 'hey, here’s free beer' (which of course we also have).

5. What does your leadership team (and company as a whole) do to support/grow that culture?

From top-down to bottom-up we are software engineers - our CEO works alongside our Interns pushing code and building our products. Our leaders ensure zero bureaucracy and no roadblocks, everyone is pushing code and making decisions.

6. When your employees talk about your company, what do they brag about?

We brag about our products, they genuinely change lives. We allow businesses of all levels to thrive and we provide opportunity and income to people all over the planet. We have over 2 million Facebook fans and they comment regularly about how we have saved their businesses or how they have housed their families because of what we do. It is so rewarding.

7. Describe your most recent achievement, milestone, reason for bragging rights.

This summer we partnered with NASA. They have used our products to crowdsource designs for new tools to be used on the International Space Station, a smartwatch app designed to be used by their astronauts and other creative solutions to build enhanced communication tools from the ground to the ISS.

This has also allowed members of the public (users of our site) to brag about how they have built products now being used by NASA in space. It is so exciting for everyone.

8. What kinds of roles are you hiring for?

We are looking for the world’s best polyglot Software Engineers, Data Scientists, Product Managers, DevOps Engineers, Mathematicians, Physicists and Rocket Scientists. Please visit www.freelancer.com/careers for any global opportunities.

9. What kinds of people are you looking for?

40% of our team are PhD's, 30% are university medalists - we employ the brightest people on the planet. We also have one of the world’s most successful cash game poker players. Anyone with fierce intelligence and ability will be welcome. Surrounding yourself with brilliant people every day is truly enjoyable.

10. What is your company goal for the coming year?

Become the next great tech unicorn. Look at our market cap, we are so close!

***

To learn more about Freelancer, visit them online at www.freelancer.ca

If you'd like us to shine the spotlight on your company, email communications@bctia.org today!

The #BCTECH Summit 2016 is a two-day event showcasing the vibrant technology industry in British Columbia. On January 18 & 19, 2016 at the Vancouver Convention Centre, the #BCTECH Summit will explore how technology is transforming our economy - and our lives.

Don’t miss this unique technology business event.

There are several ways you can take part:

Get Super Early Bird pricing on tickets until November 16th. Register today!

On Friday October 30, the BCTIA was given the privilege of hosting two very important guests for another highly informative Grub in The Hub. The Honourable Amrik Virk, Minister of Technology, Innovation & Citizens’ Services, and Sanjay Behal, Senior Recruitment Consultant at Keystep gave two successive presentations to the tech community.

Minister Virk’s presentation emphasized the importance of the technology sector to the BC economy. He also was keen to discuss how incubators and accelerators, such as The Hub, provide a pillar of support to emerging companies that generate many jobs in the province. Minister Virk provided assurance to companies that the government is constantly working with the technology sector to address their concerns and put BC tech on the map.

Following Minister Virk, Sanjay Behal delivered his presentation on building and incentivizing successful teams. In his words, the key questions to ask yourself when hiring is why, when, how, and who. It is critical to be able to answer these questions properly as hiring the right person yields the single greatest ROI for a company. He also discussed the need for potential new hires to fit with the company culture and possess the necessary skill set for immediate need. Sanjay stressed the importance of motivation and gave examples of common employee motivators:

The BCTIA sincerely appreciates our presenters for coming in and sharing their wealth of knowledge to the technology community. We also would like to thank all of our attendees for being engaged and contributing their ideas to the discussion.

If you enjoyed this Grub in The Hub, register for upcoming sessions:

Nov. 20th: Grub in The Hub: Licensing Your IP - Strategy & Best Practices
Nov. 27th: Grub in The Hub: Maximizing Community Impact
Dec. 4th: Grub in The Hub: Trade Secrets for Software IP Protection ft. Fasken Martineau
Dec. 11th: Grub in The Hub: How to Conquer Growth Challenges

For as long as I can remember, the arrival of fall has always represented a new beginning.  Maybe it’s the nostalgia of the start of a new school year, but there’s something about crisp autumn air that makes me think of starting fresh.

And with that in mind, it seemed fitting to me that this year we would celebrate Startup Week throughout Vancouver in the month of September. From September 21^st to 26^th, the tireless volunteers of Vancouver Startup Week hosted a cacophony of events, talks, awards and conferences designed to spotlight and celebrate the startup culture that is evident throughout Vancouver and British Columbia.  Starting with the highly anticipated 2015 New Ventures BC awards and followed up by Startup open houses, The Canadian Tech Showcase, the 0 to 100 talks and the Closing Party at the Permanent, Startup Week brought together thousands of people from across BC, Canada, and even our neighbours south of the border.

If ever anyone doubted there was a vibrant startup scene in Vancouver, all that was laid to rest at the conclusion of Startup Week. The momentum didn’t stop there either; the following week, PlentyOfFish and RBC hosted “Level Up”, a panel and networking event looking at Vancouver as an emerging tech hub, and October welcomed more great events including STEM Talks to celebrate Ada Lovelace Day, and the BCTIA’s own TechBrew, showcasing 2015 Technology Impact Award Winners and Finalists. The desire to bring the ecosystem together is incredibly strong in Vancouver, as evidenced by a calendar that is never lacking in things to do.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen more startups formed in Vancouver and BC than in any other period in history.  Startups can now be built for thousands of dollars rather than millions.  The cost of computing power, programming tools, and product development have dropped by at least an order of magnitude in the past five years.  The Economist refers to the explosive growth of startups as “A Cambrian Moment,” likening it to the rapid expansion and multiplication of life forms about 540 million years ago on Earth. 

Startups have emerged in virtually every sector of the economy, challenging traditional business models and exploiting inefficiencies that have bolstered the competitiveness of firms who embrace new technology while simultaneously contributing to the decline of companies who fail to innovate. 

Vancouver and BC is replete with startups and entrepreneurs who see the opportunity to capitalize on this next economic wave. The numbers are there – and they’re rising. 

But breeding more startups and having a successful startup ecosystem are not the same things. 

Earlier this year, Compass.co (formerly Startup Genome), published The Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking 2015, a highly anticipated update to their original report in 2012.  Vancouver dropped a precipitous 9 places from #9 to #18.  As Alex suggests in his TechCrunch post, “Vancouver simply didn’t grow fast enough”. 

Growth is possibly the single most important measure of success for any startup ecosystem.  Without it, why bother?

In the 2015 Compass study, virtually all Canadian cities exhibited stagnant growth versus the rest of the world.  Exit values did not grow at all in Canada, whereas US cities saw an average growth rate of 46%.  Equally troubling was the fact that the essential fuel for driving growth (Venture Capital) increased by only 5% in 2013-2014 compared to a 98% increase in the other top 20 startup ecosystems. 

For over twenty years, the BCTIA has had the privilege of serving as an ecosystem enabler, advocating for policies the support the growth of tech companies and working directly with companies to connect opportunities and provide expertise that accelerate their market opportunities. 

The reality, however, is that the conditions necessary for a thriving startup ecosystem in Vancouver and in BC are still a work in progress.

The Compass report highlights several important factors when examining the potential of startup ecosystems. 

A Full Spectrum of Investment.  Successful ecosystems have access to sophisticated (and graduated levels) of financing that are attuned to stage.  Successful early stage investors and angels invest in people, not just ideas and technology – therefore proximity and human connections matter.  Investments at the earliest stages are founded on a network of trust and depend on catalysts like tech organizations, accelerators and community partners to curate platforms and gathering spaces to facilitate connections and investments. 

Ready Access to Potential Customers.  Successful ecosystems have a ready base of early customers, ready to help startups to prove out concepts, refine product designs and serve as references for broader market adoption.

Strong Base of Talent.  Successful ecosystems have not only strong pools of technical talent, but also enough unique individuals who possess the rare quality to intuitively design a new process or product with truly broad appeal. 

Ready Access to Mentors.  Successful ecosystems have cultivated pools of talented mentors with strong startup experience. The 2012 Startup Genome Report found that entrepreneurs with mentors had three and a half times more growth and raised seven times more money than those without.  In our most recent study of BCTIA Centre4Growth companies, we saw a median annual growth rate of 63%; almost four times the growth rate of most early stage tech companies. 

The Compass report highlights many of the areas that Vancouver needs to work on to improve its standing as a top startup ecosystem.  We’ve often remarked that ecosystem building is a team sport and we’re fortunate to have many of the players needed to succeed. 

We took additional steps in the right direction this past month, broadening our ‘team’ by announcing that the BCTIA was partnering with PayPal Canada to launch a formalized FinTech cluster in Vancouver. We are now in the process of working with current FinTech leaders who haved raised their hands to collaborate with us in building the programming that will truly help them move the needle. From mentors, to access to customers, to investment, we recognize the work these companies have been doing, mostly under the radar, and we want to shine a spotlight on it by supporting them with the right resources.

The BCTIA also opened its Innovation Hub to welcome Pangaea Ventures and host meetings between our member companies and multi-nationals like Nitto Denko, Samsung SDI, JSR Corporation, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, Evonik Industries and Solvay S.A. We also welcomed British Telecom for several days of meetings with our members, but we know this is just the beginning.

In the end, it’s about building a better farm team system – one that can catalyze our innate startup ethos into a successful startup ecosystem. We are on our way, and welcome to hearing your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions to help us move forward in this goal.

Bill Tam
President & CEO
BCTIA
______________

In the News:

Pangaea Connection Day: http://www.bctia.org/Blog/2015/10/22/Pangaea-Connection-Day

British Invasion: BT Tech Scouting Delegation Meets 30 High Potential BC Startups: http://www.bctia.org/Blog/2015/11/4/British-Telecom-Recap

The Voice: Election 2015 – Tallying the Results: http://www.bctia.org/Blog/2015/10/22/The-Voice

BCTIA Collaborates with PayPal Canada to Launch Vancouver FinTech Cluster: http://www.bctia.org/Resources/News/BCTIA-News/2015/10/23/BCTIA-PayPal-Canada

BCTIA Members Elect Board of Directors for 2015-2016: http://www.bctia.org/Resources/News/BCTIA-News/2015/10/28/BCTIA-Members-Elect-Board-of-Directors

TechPong Tournament of Startups Raises $72,000 for Refugee Crisis (via Techvibes): http://www.techvibes.com/blog/techpong-charity-2015-11-04

***

Interested in sharing content with us? November's theme is Entrepreneurs. If you have a blog post, video, news article, or unique story that you would like to see included, please email communications@bctia.org.

Another month has flown by, and it's time for us to introduce our newest batch of member companies! From engineering design, to financial services, to online game development, these members can do it all!

Read on to learn more!

	Accel-Rx supports and invests in health sciences start-ups to maximize their potential and enable them to stay and grow in Canada and become the next generation of innovative health sciences anchor companies.
	Amazon strives to be Earth's most customer-centric company where people can find and discover virtually anything they want to buy online. By giving customers more of what they want - low prices, vast selection, and convenience - Amazon continues to grow and evolve as a world-class e-commerce platform.
	The BC Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency reporting to the Legislature through the minister responsible for the administration of the Securities Act. Being a crown corporation gives us the independence and flexibility we need to regulate a dynamic market. We are self-funded, which means that the cost of securities regulation is borne by market participants, not taxpayers.
	FrontFundr is a registered financial services firm that combines advanced compliance technology and digital media, under existing investment legislation, to give both new and seasoned investors ready access to stringently screened, market ready businesses—prepared and guided from business pitch to deal completion.
	Igloo Innovations is a full-service engineering design firm with demonstrated success in helping customers solve problems in all stages of the product development cycle. We help our clients get from art to part, from concept to commercialization and most importantly from problem to solution.
	INFOX provides full cycle recruitment service to our clients. We add value to our clients by attracting industry leading talent to their organizations, and enhance candidates career lives by matching their passions with career opportunities.
	Mindwell Canada creates online mindfulness training programs for the workplace. The company’s core product launching in January 2016 is the 30 Day Mindfulness Challenge which is an innovative, online training program rooted in neuroscience that will improve health and well-being of employees, teamwork and conflict resolution, leadership skills, and more!
	Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP is a leading business law firm practicing nationally and internationally from its offices across Canada and in New York. Our clients include industry and business leaders in all segments of the market and at various stages in the growth of their businesses.
	Progressa was created to put borrowers’ financial stability first, and to provide a reliable and accessible alternative lending solution for all Canadians. We offer installment loans for debt consolidation that can help turn your finances around, even in the event of an unexpected setback or existing past due bills.
	Pronexia is built on a strong entrepreneurial drive and a clearly defined methodology. Our raison d'être is to refute old school recruitment practices. Pronexia's team members believe in true consultancy, transparency and an on-going dialogue. We live and breathe social media - blogging, tweeting and constant networking is at the core of everything we do.
	SMITHS IP is a boutique intellectual property firm with an excellent track record in litigation, IP strategy development and implementation and prosecution of patent and trademark applications. Our client base includes medium to large businesses, including some of the best known companies in North America.
	Techvibes is Canada's technology news site, events calendar, and job board.
	Wappworks Studio Inc. specializes in the design and development of online mobile games for clients. Our team of motivated and highly skilled designers, artists and developer/programmers have considerable experience with Unity3D and app/game server solutions for both Android and iOS platforms.

Want to meet more companies from the BCTIA Network? Find out all about our new members from October, and learn about the hundreds of other companies in our Member Network Directory! Don't forget to check out our Industry News Feed and Events Calendar to keep up to date with everything that's going on the tech community.

If you're interested in learning more about the BCTIA Network or have questions about membership, contact Hana Doubrava at hdoubrava@bctia.org.

This week's Spotlight on Tech is focused on Voleo, a Vancouver-based mobile application company that is evolving the concept of traditional investment clubs into a fun, social, and accessible experience for today’s investor. Read on to learn more about them!

Describe your company and your primary product.  

Available on iOS, Android and BlackBerry, Voleo’s proprietary social investment network technology will give users the opportunity to tap into the shared intelligence of their network to discuss and vote on trades, create and manage group portfolios, and follow the moves of top tier investors, all on one user-friendly app.

As Voleo transforms investment from a confusing and frustrating chore to an accessible and enjoyable social experience, we are driven by the realization that we are breaking down barriers to investment and creating a new generation of connected financiers who feel informed, empowered, and confident in their strategic financial decisions.

How many employees currently work at your company and where are you located?

Voleo currently has 12 employees, one of whom is located in Toronto while the rest of the team works in our Head Quarters in Vancouver situated on the cusp of beautiful Coal Harbour at 1140 West Pender.

Describe the culture at your company.

The Voleo work environment is fun yet focused, with collaboration and teamwork infused into all that we do. We’re a tight-knit team who works hard towards our common goal, and enjoys each other’s company to boot.

As a group, we bring together all different types of professional backgrounds, blending our experiences and expertise to do something great. CEO Thomas Beattie is at the helm, leading by example as he spearheads our highly anticipated launch while remaining involved with organizations like Junior Achievement to promote financial literacy to seventh and eighth graders.

When your employees talk about your company, what do they brag about?

Voleo employees brag about how awesome the Voleo application really is, and the tangible change they are making by introducing a whole new generation to investing better, together. It’s inspiring to be a part of a company that is so passionate about tackling real problems through innovative technology, turning something traditional directly on it’s head, and seeing the benefits of saying “They all see it one way, let’s do it another way".

Describe your most recent achievement or milestone.

Our biggest milestone yet is the recent launch of our national competition in a unique collaboration with the TSX. The Voleo TSX Equity Trading Competition is intended to encourage strategic financial investment and deeper market understanding amongst Canadian Millennials. We are inviting graduate and undergraduate students nation-wide to join forces with their classmates and create tactical investment groups in which they will develop and manage a simulated equity portfolio via the Voleo application. At the end of six months, the top performing group will be awarded the grand prize and national bragging rights.

What kinds of roles are you hiring for?

Voleo is currently looking to hire an experienced Sr iOS Developer to join our talented team of experts. 

What is your company goal for the coming year?

We are excited to bring Voleo to the public with our launch next year in both Canada and the States!

***

To learn more about Voleo, visit them online at www.myvoleo.com

If you'd like us to shine the spotlight on your company, email communications@bctia.org today!

On Friday, November 6^th, the BCTIA hosted the largest Grub in The Hub lunch n’ learn to date! Over 65 people came to the BCTIA Innovation Hub to listen to Dan Steinman, Chief Customer Officer at Gainsight, speak about Customer Success and its importance to companies.

Many technology firms have begun selling their new and existing products under the SaaS licensing and delivery model. Selling using a SaaS model means the vendor has to continually provide value to their customers in order to prevent churn. This change in strategy has created the need for companies to employ “Customer Success” models and develop entire departments dedicated to the philosophy and discipline of putting customers and their needs first.

Dan presented “The Ten Laws of Customer Success” to the attendees, his tried and true rules to live by if you want to ensure that your company achieves a high rate of Customer Success.

Dan also provided the audience with an important insight that we’re calling a “bonus rule” – it’s something you should certainly keep in mind when building and implementing a Customer Success model:

The eighth annual Global Entrepreneurship Week is running from November 16^th to November 22^nd, engaging over 10 million people worldwide with more than 300,000 events happening across 160 countries. Want to join in on the celebration of entrepreneurship and global innovation? Attend Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (WED) in Vancouver on November 19th, presented by the BCTIA in partnership with SAP Canada, Futurpreneur, the Society for Canadian Women in Science & Technology (SCWIST), Women in Communications & Technology (WCT), the Minerva Foundation, and the WEB Alliance.

As part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, WED Vancouver is a day to celebrate the significant contributions that women make to drive Canada’s economy, as well as provide an opportunity to make new connections, share experiences, and be inspired.

Don't miss WED Vancouver on Thursday! Click here to purchase tickets! 
Tickets are $30 and include appetizers and 1 drink ticket.

WED 2015 Guest Speakers:

Catherine Ducharme, Co-Founder Outsidein Communications with strong Senior Management experience and the current President of International Association of Business Communicators (BC Chapter) member association.

Nat Cartwright, Co-Founder of fintech startup Payso. She has a background in international development and she managed a portfolio of HIV, TB and malaria grants for The Global Fund while based in Geneva. She has her MBA from IE Business School.

To check out photos from last year's sold out event, visit our Flickr page or click through the slideshow below.

For more information about our upcoming events, and to find out what's happening at The Hub, be sure to check out our Events Calendar.

Lotz & Company is a Vancouver-based business law firm representing local, national and international clients. Their practice areas include corporate & commercial, corporate finance & securities, mergers & acquisitions, natural resources & energy, real estate and technology law.

Through their LOTZ ACCELERATE program, startups receive a suite of legal service packages at preferential rates and billing options to help startups get established and navigate the complexities of legal regulations and structures.

The goal of the LOTZ ACCELERATE program is to help startups put the legal structures in place necessary to avoid costly missteps, while avoiding significant outlays of time and money.

Packages include: launching and incorporation, share table structures, financing, capital and corporate reorganizations, crowdfunding, and even cross-border incorporation and advice on doing business in the US.

To learn more about LOTZ ACCELERATE, please visit www.lotzandco.com/lotz-accelerate/ or click on the image below to download a pdf. 

To learn more about Lotz & Company, visit their website at www.lotzandco.com

For more great member offers, please visit our Member Marketplace.

On November 17th the BCTIA, in partnership with BC Tech Jobs, hosted a group of technology professionals at the Innovation Hub to listen to insights from a guest panel on "Life of a Startup Developer". The panelists - Rollie Ma from Beanworks, Vlad Karukes from EDP Software, Martin Popielarz from MyBestHelper, and Matt Smith and Ben Schock from Thinkific - shared their experiences working for a startup and had a very engaging conversation about the benefits and challenges of a startup environment. All attendees then had a chance to network and continue the conversation with the panel speakers over pizza and beverages to learn more about their experiences and their startups – who, by the way, are all hiring.

If you missed it, here are some of the valuable insights panelists shared:

Why work for a startup?

Ability to contribute on a bigger scale, make decisions and make the biggest impact. Opportunity to be different, to be more than another small fish in a big pond, to make something that's cool and you are proud of. Chance to take full control of what you do, avoid bureaucracy, touch different areas of the business, and learn new things. Innovation, transparency, and adoption of new technologies.

What does it take to be successful in a startup environment?

Being dependable, owning projects and taking initiative. Having a great team and feeling like an integral part of the success of the startup itself. Being direct and acting fast. Having the flexibility to cover for other team members when needed, dealing well with ambiguity, and being able to make trade offs. Not being afraid to make mistakes or taking scary leaps of faith, and never stop learning. Showing dedication, versatility, and, most importantly, caring!

Comp Sci, coding camps, self learning... What's the best way to go?

There's a difference between coding and software architecture; start with coding but dive deeper, as it's hard to make decisions if you don't have the right knowledge. Coding camps are great to hit the ground running on coding, whereas Comp Sci is important to solve complex problems. However, what really matters is how much you want to learn and how much effort you're willing to put in. It's important to know foundations and basics, but even with formal education there is still a lot you need to do to become successful, so keep learning and keep moving, and never get stuck in technology. At the end of the day, many companies hire based on experience, not type of education.

What is the difference between a good developer and a great developer?

Caring. Having experience, as it builds skills and knowledge, and some things are only learned over time. Having a variety of skill sets. Being a team player and reliable, talking to others about your work and challenges. Controlling technical depth in a very organized way. Being dependable, taking initiative, and constantly putting himself/herself in other people's shoes - why do we need to get this done? Thinking beyond development and always delivering a little bit extra.

Good developers solve problems on time so business decisions are satisfied; great developers are also part of defining the problem. It’s important to understand how solutions interact with all other pieces of the puzzle, remain stable, come together as a whole product, impact the future, and continue to move forward when you're no longer there.

What is the biggest challenge your startup currently faces?

Finding great developers. Doing something different from competitors to revolutionize the market. Finding the capacity to try new things. Going through the process of trying, testing, and making a decision on moving forward or not without frustrating the team, which requires seeing the bigger goal and understanding that we are building intellectual property, not product. Managing expectations of too many people wanting too many things. Thinking collectively and defining who is best suited to build what within the team. Managing time and prioritizing what needs to be done in the midst of so many demands and new features to be implemented, and dropping what’s not important. Not using shortcuts when time to deliver is limited, but rather building a solid and scalable product.

How do you deal with the instability of startups?

While startups are not as stable as bigger companies, startup developers are so diverse in skills that they will not have a problem finding a job elsewhere if need be, so why not take a leap of faith?

Join our Talent Meetup as a guest or speaker to connect with other technology professionals, promote your brand, share your expertise, and potentially find great candidates!