Rob Darling

The top 100 🇨🇦 tech companies in 2021 via @briefedin 👇 1/6 @faire_wholesale @dapperlabs @trulioo @getclearco @hopper @ApplyBoard @venasolutions @Blockstream @tenstorrent @deepgenomics @AlayaCare @GaNSystems @GeneralFusion @ConexiomPowered @TopHat #startups #VentureCapital

@MikeMcDerment @fnthawar @garrytan @bram Definitely but it creates a pull.

@RobDarling_ @fnthawar @garrytan @bram Raising from US investors versus moving your HQ are different things.

YC companies in Canada by batch:

@MikeMcDerment @fnthawar @garrytan @bram When I’ve looked at these numbers in the past, specifically UW grads, the trend was not on the decline and the going advice is to still raise money from US investors before talking to Canadian investors. Maybe the last couple of months will have an impact on this?

@fnthawar @garrytan @bram I’m with this. Still work to do. Has the rate of leaving declined? Suspect it has. Has success in building and funding while staying in Canada risen? I suspect it has. This to me is a question of instrumentation and trend. More work to do, but we are getting there.

@garrytan @bram If you wanted to play in the NHL but there were limited Canadian options (7 teams), you would go to the USA where there were more options for success (25 teams), wouldn’t you? I cheer for Canadian founders no matter where the head office is. They are still on team Canada.

The Canadians stay in the USA and raise more money The ones that stay in SF after demo day become unicorns at 2.5X the rate I had a pod dinner tonight and our whole row of founders I sat in turned out to be Canadians who are all going to base their startups in SF after demo day

@andrewdsouza @harleyf The experience of being a B2C founder in Canada is very different from that of a B2B founder.

@harleyf You and Tobi have more of a stomach for that stuff than me and I admire it. I can only push one boulder up a hill at a time

In Canada, when you start something ambitious everyone ignores you until you’re successful, then everyone hates you. In SF, when you start something ambitious, everyone tells you why you’re wrong until you’re successful, then they say they saw it from the start. Start in Canada to build in obscurity, leave when they come with the pitchforks.

@wors @Runql @robdarling OK - now we have a twitter account. @runQL_HQ

@wors @Runql @robdarling Thanks @wors! runQL does not have a twitter account 😀🫢 we are at runql.com though!

Congratulations to @runQL @robdarling and the team for acceptance into the next Google accelerator cohort. 2 startups from Kitchener-Waterloo in next cohort of Google accelerator buff.ly/3XKv6P3

@jrodgers @ckneumann @classonde @BetaKit @twosmallfishvc @PanacheVC @ImpressionVC I’ll start by restating that there are multiple great 🇨🇦 VCs that are currently doing pre-seed rounds. How can founders find them? 1. Founder Networks 2. Look in the past via briefed.in/crunchbase & current seed announcements that also contain the pre-seed date and investors.

@ckneumann @RobDarling_ @classonde @BetaKit @twosmallfishvc @PanacheVC @ImpressionVC Early founders need to have some hope they can raise money in Canada… that data is hard to find for all the reasons you state but valuations don’t matter. They aren’t real. Investors that are in the trenches lifting up early founders do exist in Canada, founders don’t see them.

Come on, @BetaKit🤦‍♂️ You can do better than archaic, simply-not-true stereotypes. (I'm a huge fan of @twosmallfishvc -- congrats on the new fund 👋 -- but this is a BS statement.)

@ckneumann @jrodgers @classonde @BetaKit @twosmallfishvc @PanacheVC @ImpressionVC “Stay tuned for my future post on why there's no good Pre-Seed data (seriously 😉).” 💯 I know quite a few 🇨🇦pre-seed deals that have not been announced and are not listed on VC websites, CVCA reports, crunchbase, pitch book, or briefed.in.

Stay tuned for my future post on why there's no good Pre-Seed data (seriously 😉). How's this: let me list off the top of my head other Canadian funds that I know for a fact "invest in startups from the ground up without relying on a US lead": @PanacheVC, @ImpressionVC, @RHINO_VC, @active_impact, @PelorusVenture, @GoldenVentures, @ripple_ventures, @N49PVC, @GarageCapital, Staircase Ventures, @MapleVCFund, @inovia, @StandUpVentures, @Sandpiper_VC, @Northside__VC, @ConcreteVC,... (I'm sure there's plenty more)

@mattroberts @byosko You bought me lunch once…

@byosko Sorry, I meant you should pay for mine. Way more Marxian.

Just got accused of being a socialist... From a guy who gets 50% of his funding from businesses who get nothing in return...

@mattroberts thebeaverton.com/2023/09/countr…

@mattroberts Makes sense. Seems to me it would make a lot of sense in Canadian cities too.

I suspect this will start being announced everywhere. #Boston Mayor announces Residential Conversion Program for downtown real estate offices bostonplans.org/news-calendar/…

@jrodgers @mattroberts @markmacleod_ LOL

@mattroberts @markmacleod_ You haven’t been around children.

The problem with board observers is that they don’t just observe. Be careful about giving observer seats on your board

@mattroberts @classonde What’s an appropriate “small round” size for pre-seed and an appropriate “measurable milestone” to get to a seed priced round? Something like the following for B2B SaaS?: Pre-Seed Round: $1M USD? Measurable Milestone: 10 happy paying customers with x on the wait list?

Pre-seed rounds are bets. Don't let anyone bet so much on you they dominate your upside. Keep the Preseed SAFE Round small, focus on a milestone that will be measurable to get you a priced round. If you haven't built anything worth getting an external value after that small round, move on to your next thing. Companies that raise SAFE's on SAFE's have raised nothing but problems.

Hot take: SAFEs will become incredible unpopular as founders realize the circa 2021 SAFEs kill their companies.

@FounderEric Focus on customers, sales and product. If it is not related to one of those three then forget about it. When those three things are going well the rest will become clear.

Asking for a founder: does it make sense for founders to have their own personal brand site?

@josephfung @jrodgers @alexandernorman I would put most weight on #1.

@josephfung @jrodgers @alexandernorman I’m guessing 3 things: 1. Less activity at early stage as investors slowed down capital deployment (market conditions) 2. Companies not announcing early stage raises 3. Relationships (maybe they are not getting contacted as much as I was based on my relationships)

Is Briefed.in ok or is Waterloo broken?

We are proud to announce that our CEO @caitmacgregor, has been recognized by the Women World Awards with a 2022 @GlobeeAwards, Achievement in Innovation, Gold Globee Winner! Learn more: hubs.la/Q01ndMKF0 #goldglobeewinner #globeeawards #ceo #womenintech #innovation

Join me today at @ElevateTechCA at 2:20 pm! #womenintech #ElevateFest2022 #plum #talentacquisition #talentmanagement #futureofwork

@Startup_TNT @FounderEric The @Startup_TNT team is doing an amazing job! @AC_Waterloo just released ac:studio for early stage.

@FounderEric Thank you!! We will. 😁

Early-stage startup funding in Canada is an absolute joke.