Development assistance to Canada

Just cross-posting a link from the C100 blog where I provide a quick summary of our “48Hrs in the Valley” event.

The event brought 20 promising start-ups from Canada down to Silicon Valley and gave them a chance to network and soak up the Valley culture.

More importantly, it gave the start-ups face-time with VCs and tech executives in order to share ideas, problems and solutions.

I view this mentoring as more than just networking, it is actually development. In terms of VC and start-ups, Canada resembles in some instances a developed country, but it also some characteristics of an emerging market.

Bluntly put, the innovation ecosystem is not well developed in Canada.

There are a host of government initiaitives to build up this ecosystem but while they may be politically expedient, it is unlikely these intiaitives will succeed in a sustain manner. (Ironically, I would characterize a parade of government “innovation” initiatives as being characteristic of an emerging market.)

What will provide sustained ecosystem growth is if participants in Canada learn best practices from the most successful start-up environment on Earth, Silicon Valley. I like to think the efforts of C100 is a small step towards that goal.