Smart Risks & Startups Archive

  •    Thanks to The Mayor for supporting the Made in Vancouver initiative.  Ayoudo is working with the city and others to make this happen.  Here’s part of the release from...

    Startup City Mayor

       Thanks to The Mayor for supporting the Made in Vancouver initiative.  Ayoudo is working with the city and others to make this happen.  Here’s part of the release from…

  •   The Province wrote about Ayoudo and our support for Made in Vancouver: If Internet startup companies are the new band, and entrepreneurs the new rock stars — as Vancouver...

    Ayoudo Team in The Province Today

      The Province wrote about Ayoudo and our support for Made in Vancouver: If Internet startup companies are the new band, and entrepreneurs the new rock stars — as Vancouver…

  •  Today in Vancouver we’re launching Ayoudo. It’s a project I’ve been working on with a great team for the last 6 months. Check it out and let me know what...

    Ayoudo : the Evolution of Social Media

     Today in Vancouver we’re launching Ayoudo. It’s a project I’ve been working on with a great team for the last 6 months. Check it out and let me know what…

  •   Great to see another Canadian accelerator get some cash: Not to be outdone by its southern neighbor, Canada has been hard at work on its own fleet of tech...

    Extreme Startups Launches Accelerator With $7 Million In Funding From Top Canadian VCs

      Great to see another Canadian accelerator get some cash: Not to be outdone by its southern neighbor, Canada has been hard at work on its own fleet of tech…

  •   It was nearly a decade ago that I started thinking about how camera phones and blogs were going to change the news business.  Those thoughts eventually turned into NowPublic and...

    Is Vancouver Becoming a Social News Hub?

      It was nearly a decade ago that I started thinking about how camera phones and blogs were going to change the news business.  Those thoughts eventually turned into NowPublic and…

  •    Image(810) | Flickr – Photo Sharing!.

    This Poodle is Defending Your Internet Freedom

       Image(810) | Flickr – Photo Sharing!.

  •   Nice to see Greenpeace defending the information environment too.  Props. In the history book of bad ideas, the concept of giving corporations the right to censor the Internet has...

    Greenpeace joins Wikipedia in Internet Blackout

      Nice to see Greenpeace defending the information environment too.  Props. In the history book of bad ideas, the concept of giving corporations the right to censor the Internet has…

  •   From today’s TechCrunch: The ingredients for a successful startup and a successful city are remarkably similar. You need to build stuff that people want. You need to attract quality...

    A City Is A Startup: The Rise Of The Mayor-Entrepreneur | TechCrunch

      From today’s TechCrunch: The ingredients for a successful startup and a successful city are remarkably similar. You need to build stuff that people want. You need to attract quality…

  •   You know how there are those people in the world who think that we should shut down all the classes in school that aren’t math and engineering because those...

    FORGET STOCKS AND BONDS: Art Has Been Crushing Equities Over The Last Decade

      You know how there are those people in the world who think that we should shut down all the classes in school that aren’t math and engineering because those…

  •      I’ve got into many arguments with people over the years about the viability of hyperlocal citizen media.  My view is that the numbers just don’t make sense if...

    AOL Media Business Nearly Worthless Despite Spending 2 Billion on Acquisitions

         I’ve got into many arguments with people over the years about the viability of hyperlocal citizen media.  My view is that the numbers just don’t make sense if…

  •      Scott Simpson came down to Silicon Valley with the GrowLab Team and lived to tell about it.  His 6-part series in The Vancouver Sun begins like this: SILICON...

    6 Part Series in Vancouver Sun about GrowLab

         Scott Simpson came down to Silicon Valley with the GrowLab Team and lived to tell about it.  His 6-part series in The Vancouver Sun begins like this: SILICON…

  •      Richard Branson on management: I devote most of my time to activities like The Elders [A South-African NGO], but I make it a point to take care of...

    Richard Branson Explains Why He Is The Opposite Of Steve Jobs

         Richard Branson on management: I devote most of my time to activities like The Elders [A South-African NGO], but I make it a point to take care of…

  •      Has email become a drag on productivity? The CEO of a large European-based tech firm hates email and wants his 74,000 employees in 42 countries to stop using...

    European CEO calls for ban on email

         Has email become a drag on productivity? The CEO of a large European-based tech firm hates email and wants his 74,000 employees in 42 countries to stop using…

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    Where do entrepreneurs get their money?

     

  •   Vancouver Startup Weekend: The Movie.

    Vancouver Startup Weekend: The Movie

      Vancouver Startup Weekend: The Movie.

  •  Hope to see ya’ll real soon. .

    54 hours until Vancouver Startup Weekend

     Hope to see ya’ll real soon. .

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    What do we really know about Gregor Robertson?

     

  •   CRAMER: Groupons An “Engineered” IPO — Buy It On The Deal And Then Flip It Instantly.

    CRAMER: Groupons An “Engineered” IPO

      CRAMER: Groupons An “Engineered” IPO — Buy It On The Deal And Then Flip It Instantly.

  •      Why do people think it’s odd that Steve Jobs was a hippie, did LSD and listened to Dylan – and yet was successful?  It’s funny that people think...

    The Steve Jobs Mantra : Passion Before Profits

         Why do people think it’s odd that Steve Jobs was a hippie, did LSD and listened to Dylan – and yet was successful?  It’s funny that people think…

  •   WATCH: Steve Jobs’s Biographer on “60 Minutes” [VIDEO].

    Steve Jobs’s Biographer on “60 Minutes” [VIDEO]

      WATCH: Steve Jobs’s Biographer on “60 Minutes” [VIDEO].

  •      In a conversation with Barack Obama, Steve Jobs reportedly gave the following advice: Jobs also said teachers’ unions “crippled” the education system in the United States. Among his...

    Steve Jobs on Education

         In a conversation with Barack Obama, Steve Jobs reportedly gave the following advice: Jobs also said teachers’ unions “crippled” the education system in the United States. Among his…

  •  Good coders are more like artists than scientists. Check out this piece from Fast Company.

    Computer Talent : More Artist and Scientist

     Good coders are more like artists than scientists. Check out this piece from Fast Company.

  •   The relationship that the startup world has to corporations, unions and the Occupy Wall Street crowd is complex.  As corporate revolutionaries, entrepreneurs share a desire to change the world...

    What Occupy Wall Street Means to the Smartest Money in Startups

      The relationship that the startup world has to corporations, unions and the Occupy Wall Street crowd is complex.  As corporate revolutionaries, entrepreneurs share a desire to change the world…

  •  As we’ve seen at GrowLab, smart investment in the startup ecology can work. A story in The Globe today features one of our companies and talks about how they moved...

    So cool. GrowLab company Ecquire featured on front page of Report on Business

     As we’ve seen at GrowLab, smart investment in the startup ecology can work. A story in The Globe today features one of our companies and talks about how they moved…

  •  This is awesome! Check out the news at Startup Weekend!.

    Attention Emily Carr Design Students. You Could Win an iPad

     This is awesome! Check out the news at Startup Weekend!.

  •   Twitter / @invoker: Major @hootsuite acquisiti ….

    Hootsuite Acquisition Rumours Abound

      Twitter / @invoker: Major @hootsuite acquisiti ….

  •  It’s always mildly embarrassing how excited people get when someone significant comes to Vancouver (New York never gives a shit) but I’m curious too. Hat Tip: Techvibes.

    Mark Zuckerberg is in Vancouver. But why? – Techvibes.com

     It’s always mildly embarrassing how excited people get when someone significant comes to Vancouver (New York never gives a shit) but I’m curious too. Hat Tip: Techvibes.

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    Steve Jobs was a Hippie. That’s Important to Remember

     

  •      In an time when cuts to the arts are being justified in the name of ‘fiscal responsibility’ it is important to remember the words of Steve Jobs. “Part...

    Artists, Poets, Historians made Apple Great : Steve Jobs

         In an time when cuts to the arts are being justified in the name of ‘fiscal responsibility’ it is important to remember the words of Steve Jobs. “Part…

  •            Instagram.

    Memorial for Steve Jobs outside Apple Store

               Instagram.