ERRAIN
CHALLENGING T
munity — wa’s tech com issues facing Otta too wide for many some of the key is still pullout looks at a gender gap that 12-page TECHOPIA a visionary CEO to bridging ace from how to repl
G TECH IN
CONNECTIN
OTTAWA
IS IT FINA’SLLY OTTAWA TIME TO THE SHINE IN LD? APP WORpes
VOL. 1, ISSUE 2
31, 2015 MONDAY, AUGUST
CHALLENGING TERRAIN
12-page TECHOPIA pullout looks at some of the key issues facing Ottawa’s tech community — from how to replace a visionary CEO to bridging a gender gap that is still too wide for many
ho Startup has higwh social media for Bumpn, nestudents at app aimed PAGES 6-7
CONNECTING TECH IN OTTAWA
IS IT FINALLY OTTAWA’S TIME TO SHINE IN THE APP WORLD? Startup has high hopes for Bumpn, new social media app aimed at students PAGES 6-7
VOL. 1, ISSUE 2
MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015
“It’s not good enough to stand aside and say I’ve developed something. Ideas are 10 a penny. You have to convert it to a business. And you have to meet with clients.” — SIR TERENCE MATTHEWS, CANADIAN ENTREPRENEUR BLOG
INSIGHT SYSTEMS In-Touch Insight Systems: Patrick Leckey, Director Of Engineering, Jodie Hewson, Director Of Marketing, Cameron Watt, CEO MNP: Shawn Mincoff, Partner, Megan Jordan, Manager
Partners in Growth, Allies in Innovation As a cutting-edge business, you need growth strategies that are as innovative as you are. MNP has the expertise, knowledge and people to help you plan ahead while taking advantage of grants, tax credits and market know-how, right now. As the fastest-growing national accounting and business consulting firm in Canada, MNP has the same entrepreneurial spirit and mindset as you do. And when it comes to opportunities for technology, we help you create the future.
MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015
Contact Shawn Mincoff, CPA, CA, at 613.691.4266 or shawn.mincoff@mnp.ca
TECHOPIA.CA
02
SYSTEM UPDATE
Subscribe to TECHOPIA’s weekly e-mail newsletter at techopia.ca
OUT OF THE FOUNDER’S SHADOW What happens when a visionary leader moves on?
FORMER HALOGEN CEO PAUL LOUCKS STEPPED DOWN IN JULY AFTER 15 YEARS AT THE COMPANY’S HELM. FILE PHOTO had become a symbolic figure whose enlarged personality and public performances were a reflection of the company he built. He touched every functional area and left no doubt who was in charge. In contrast, Mr. Cook chose to remain privately personable yet publicly professional while deftly managing and changing the leadership of key functional areas. Sometimes he broadened roles and responsibilities, as he did with Jonathan Ive, now the company’s chief design officer. For Mr. Cook, Mr. Ive was simply the best leader for Apple’s hallmark functional area. Mr. Cook was no Mr. Jobs, nor did he want to be. He simply wanted to be the best at management. The lesson is equally apt for smaller, less iconic companies where it can be an open secret that sometimes (although not always) visionary founders aren’t necessarily the best managers. With the departure of a founder, the opportunity for change usually emerges for the better. And that change can lead to more proficient management structures. An enlightened board will ask its executive recruiting firm not to find another guru or imitation founder, but someone who can manage the talent already in place. Replace the founder, if you will, with the next strong building block in the management foundation. The old adage “everyone is replaceable” is true not because people like Steve Jobs aren’t one in a million – they are. Founders are
replaceable because the void they leave is often one of personality. Functional leaders are there for a reason: they possess the skills necessary to step up to increased management responsibility. Just as the founder needed to be hands-on in the early days, a sound management team needs to take the reins of functional responsibility in the days ahead. It’s not unusual for such a team to flourish once out of the founder’s shadow. Not to be forgotten was Apple’s first attempt at a replacement CEO. More than 30 years ago, John Sculley, the chief executive and marketing guru from Pepsi, was recruited as Mr. Jobs’s replacement. An “imitation founder,” Mr. Sculley tried to mimic his predecessor’s mastery of innovation. Yet he floundered and flopped with his pet product, the ‘Newton’ personal digital assistant. As a faux founder trying to brighten Apple’s future, Mr. Sculley cast one of the notable shadows on the company’s otherwise storied history.
MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015
EDITOR’S NOTE: In July, Halogen Software CEO Paul Loucks took many by surprise when he announced his resignation. “After meaningful reflection, I made the decision that I wanted to spend more time with my family and consider other interests over time,” the longtime chief executive said in a statement. Mr. Loucks became president and CEO of the software-asa-service company 15 years ago and orchestrated a major company pivot to HR software. He led the company to a $55-million IPO in 2013 and, later that year, was named CEO of the Year by Ottawa Business Journal and the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce. TECHOPIA asked local executive search expert E. A. Clarke, managing partner of the StoneWood Group, to comment on what it means when a founder leaves a company. Here is his edited response. The departure of a company’s founder/chief executive can cast a shadow from its shop floor all the way to the stock exchange trading floor. That’s often because the departing founder has a larger-than-life personality with the reputation of a guru and visionary. Invariably he or she knows the company, employees and managers better than anyone else. So amplified are their profiles, they have become the very embodiment of the firm. In the early days, many founders earn their management stripes the hard way, by trial and error and by leading “war rooms” with sheer determination during times of trouble. The loss of this, even later on, can cast a pall on a company that might not have remained in existence without such leadership. But there can be a touch of silver in the corporate lining as they depart. Once board members believe no one is irreplaceable, they’ll place the emphasis on “manager” as much as “visionary” in their search for a new senior executive. Recent history has shown the way. When Apple, the world’s largest company, needed a new chief executive, it looked no further than Tim Cook, its most competent senior manager. Steve Jobs, his predecessor,
EA CLARK
MANAGING PARTNER, STONEWOOD GROUP
03 TECHOPIA.CA
“Technology is a word that describes something that doesn’t work yet.” — DOUGLAS ADAMS, AUTHOR
GYMTRACK FOUNDERS PABLO SRUGO (LEFT) AND LEE SILVERSTONE SAY SILICON VALLEY ACCELERATOR 500 STARTUPS OPENED DOORS FOR THE NEW OTTAWA-BASED COMPANY THEY DIDN’T EVEN KNOW EXISTED. PHOTO BY MARK HOLLERON
MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015
SILICON VALLEY STARTUP ACCELERATOR DARED OTTAWA’S GYMTRACK TO DREAM BIG TECHOPIA.CA
04
BY JACOB SEREBRIN
Lee Silverstone was at the Montreal International Startup Festival last year when a chance meeting changed the trajectory of his business. Mr. Silverstone, the co-founder and co-CEO of Ottawa-based Gymtrack, says he was telling a stranger about his
business, which sells a system of sensors and software that automatically tracks users’ workouts at the gym. The man he was talking to “was swarmed with people, there were just people all around him pitching him ideas and I didn’t really understand why, we were just trying to talk,” Mr. Silverstone says.
The stranger gave Mr. Silverstone his card and asked to see his pitch deck. It was only after walking away that Mr. Silverstone looked at the card and realized whom he had been talking to: Dave McClure, the founding partner of 500 Startups, a well-known Silicon Valley startup accelerator and venture capital fund that invests in early-stage
companies. “We sent him our deck, met up with him for a drink later that evening and he was like, ‘Do you want to move to San Francisco and be in 500?’” Mr. Silverstone says. “It was Friday at this point and he’s like, ‘It starts on Monday.’” Mr. Silverstone says he didn’t even have a passport at the time. But the next Wednesday he was on a flight to San Francisco, where he would spend the next four months. “Every batch at 500 Startups, I think about 1,500 or 1,700 companies apply and they take 30. We didn’t even apply. It was the opportunity of a lifetime,” he says. For Gymtrack, the first Ottawa firm to be selected for the accelerator program, it would open doors that the company’s cofounders didn’t even know existed. “We had heard of venture capital but never thought it was a realistic option for us – it was always a pipe dream,” says Mr. Silverstone. In February 2015, three months after Gymtrack completed the program, the company closed a $2.5-million investment round. Mr. Silverstone and Pablo Srugo, the firm’s co-founder and co-CEO, say 500 Startups changed the way they thought about growing their business.
GET SOCIAL
Follow TECHOPIA on Twitter @techopiaOTT or like us at Facebook.com/techopiaOTT
Do something that people care about and do something that people buy or are going to buy. I oftentimes see people building stuff because they think it’s cool. But if the customers don’t care, then no one’s going to care … build something that’s going to be big.
“It was a frame-of-reference change for us,” says Mr. Silverstone. Mr. Srugo says that in Ottawa, “the message around (venture capital) is yeah, some people raise VC money and some people don’t and it’s a hard thing.” He says that attitude change started on day one. “You walk into 500 Startups and the first talk they have, the first thing I see, is this guy going up there being like, ‘Every single person here has a startup worth $6 million and every single person here is going to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next week,’” he says. It was a big switch. “A lot of times, unfortunately, we got very small-minded and closed-minded advice here in Ottawa,” Mr. Silverstone says. “When we got to the Bay Area, we saw it was all wrong.” The 500 Startups accelerator program is described as a “buffet,” offering talks by industry experts every day and frequent visits by venture capitalists. Every startup is also paired with a partner at the company who acts as a sort of mentor. At the same time, “you’re still running your business,” says Mr. Silverstone. The program also comes with some cash – 500 Startups invests $100,000 in every company it accepts. For Mr. Silverstone and Mr. Srugo, the experience gave their business more credibility, landing them meetings with some of the largest gym chains in the world, something that might not have
happened so early in the life of the company without the backing of such a program. As with many Canadian endeavours, success in the United States led to recognition at home. Montreal-based Real Ventures was one of Gymtrack’s lead investors, along with White Star Capital, which has offices in Montreal, London and New York. The program also gave them a chance to meet other entrepreneurs and build a strong network. “When you go through a selection process and you’re weeding 30 companies out of 1,500 from around the world, you’re going to get serious people,” says Mr. Srugo. “Literally every single person there was, in their own way, spectacular. You’re learning things from everyone.” Mr. Silverstone does have some advice for Ottawa-based companies that want to apply for a program like 500 Startups. “Do something that people care about and do something that people buy or are going to buy. I oftentimes see people building stuff because they think it’s cool,” he says. “But if the customers don’t care, then no one’s going to care … build something that’s going to be big.”
WAVING THE FLAG Gymtrack was the first Ottawa company picked to attend 500 Startups, but it wasn’t the first Canadian company to attend the prestigious accelerator program. Of the more than 800
companies to graduate from 500 Startups, just over a dozen have been Canadian. (The 500 Startups venture capital fund has also invested in some companies that weren’t part of the accelerator.) Here are some of the most notable Canadian companies to attend the program: Rewardli: Founded by two Montrealers, it was a member of the very first “batch,” or cohort, at 500 Startups. Initially, it was a group-buying site for small businesses. It later changed its name to PerkHub and now helps companies such as American Airlines and Google manage customer rewards. Its co-founders recently launched an app to bring back doctor house calls. Pinshape: Originally from Vancouver, it’s a marketplace for products that can be printed on 3D printers. AgFunder: Founded in Toronto, it’s an equity crowdfunding platform focused on the agriculture industry. Accredited investors can use it to invest in agriculture companies and agriculture technology firms. More than $20 million has been invested through the platform. Fuzzy.io: This Montreal-based company is one of two Canadian startups currently in the accelerator program. It helps developers easily add machine learning to websites and apps. Remitbee: A Mississauga firm, it has developed an app that allows people to transfer money between devices and convert currencies at the same time.
MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015
05 TECHOPIA.CA
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to magic.” — ARTHUR C. CLARKE, AUTHOR
CAN OTTAWA BUILD A CONSUMER APP WITH MASS APPEAL? Geolocation social media app Bumpn set to launch at local universities BY STEPHEN KARMAZYN
MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015
Social media is big business. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, WhatsApp – all are members of the billion-dollar valuation club. So where does Ottawa’s tech community stand in terms of developing social media platforms and apps with broad consumer interest? If that question left you scratching your head, consider Bumpn, a new social media app that is setting its sights high. Geolocation is key to the app, allowing communities to form based on proximity. Think Facebook groups
TECHOPIA.CA
06
generated by geography. Aimed at students – ground zero for nearly all social media virality – the app is intended to connect young adults at universities to each other using an interface familiar to the Facebook and Instagram generation. With 10 schools targeted for its official launch this September and Bumpn ambassadors working to turn the social media platform viral, the local startup has big ambitions. Already, its prototype has attracted 4,000 users since its launch earlier this summer. “We actually started off as an eventbased sharing app,” says Moe Abbas, chief executive and co-founder of Bumpn. “And we had this cool location piece that let you discover nearby events.” After talking with users and analyzing data, the company discovered Bumpn’s
location piece was a popular social networking tool. “That’s when we had our ‘aha’ moment,” Mr. Abbas says. “We realized that existing social networks were not built around a user’s location. Our mission is to connect communities, and we’re starting with students.” Based out of Nepean in an openconcept office with a “no-shoes” policy and a barbecue out front, the Bumpn team consists of nine full-time employees and a few interns at any one time. The startup hopes to be the next social media craze to challenge the space’s huge incumbents. Calling Ottawa a “city on the rise” but lamenting the lack of venture capital interest and inclination towards low-risk investment, Mr. Abbas says he hopes he can bring more attention to the place he has called home most of his life. Taking advantage of the federal
government’s Industrial Research Assistance Program, Bumpn gained partial funding, guidance and a network, three elements he believes are crucial to the survival of any startup. “We’ve got to figure out how to survive as Ottawa startups,” Mr. Abbas says. “Hopefully that survival is in Ottawa. But if that survival is somewhere else … life and death is the ultimate motivator.” The company is primarily being financed by IRAP, local investors and Michael Dunleavy of the LaBarge Weinstein law firm. As for overcoming barriers into what is both a lucrative and very difficult market to breach? Mr. Abbas sees one major path. “Virality with retention is the holy grail for social media applications,” he says. While Bumpn will initially launch as a free app, Mr. Abbas plans to monetize by selling ad space on the application. Mr. Abbas sees three major areas to feature those advertisements: branding the photo filter names, ads put in the community feeds that you follow and featured communities. Examples of the three ad types would be a photo filter branded with the name of a company – an idea for which Bumpn has a patent pending – along with an ad for a nearby sandwich joint appearing in Carleton University student’s local feed, and a sponsored Red Bull community/ event feed. “Revenue is a derivative of engagement. Once we have mindshare, we can find all sorts of ways of monetizing,” says Mr. Abbas. Umar Ruhi, an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management, is an expert on social media and e-business. Mr. Ruhi says consumers in the social media space are creatures of habit, something that could pose a huge hurdle for Bumpn. “From a customer standpoint, the network effects and the switching costs, those are two extreme barriers,” he says. “You need to have a critical mass of customers, and people who are already using these (older) platforms are hesitant to switch.” Successful competitors to a Facebook or Instagram need to tap into the right technology and the right sociology trend, he explains. “It sounds a little bit like the check-in apps that we’ve had before. I do see the potential,” he says. “When it comes to future opportunities, I think there is potential for applications that extend our existing social network.” And then it all comes back to the ecosystem. “Canada as a whole is not viewed as being very startup-friendly,” Mr. Ruhi says. “We’re doing much better these days, so people are going that route. But at the same time, there are still hurdles to overcome when it comes to finding funding, finding support from the government. We are making progress, but those are types of things you need to do in order to make it to that level where
TECH-FLIX
Updated local and national video posted weekdays at techopia.ca
We realized that existing social networks were not built around a user’s location. Our mission is to connect communities, and we’re starting with students.
MOE ABBAS
CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF BUMPN
BY STEPHEN KARMAZYN
07 TECHOPIA.CA
The Silicon Valley landscape is dotted with tech giants with a strong mass-consumer connection. From Facebook and Google to Apple and Netflix, multibillion-dollar companies flock to the warm climate, green lifestyle and alluring draw of the San Francisco Bay Area. The term Silicon Valley North has been tossed around as a moniker for Ottawa, not always with great fanfare. Whether you think the term is an apt description of the nation’s capital, there’s one way Ottawa severely lags behind its California counterpart – business to consumer sales (B2C). The Ottawa technology landscape features a few large companies, a rich talent pool and a multitude of startups on the rise. What there isn’t, however, is much of a B2C market in the mould of Facebook or Google. Why? “The reasons are historical and geographical,” says Nigel Harris, a leader in the Ottawa tech scene for more than three decades and the current CEO of Powerstick. com. The history of Ottawa is steeped in business-to-business (B2B), he explains. Going back to when Montrealbased Northern Electric relocated its R&D branch to the capital in the late 1950s, the influx of engineering talent laid the foundations for a tech-focused environment, he says. However, that talent was focused on the more esoteric parts of the market, not on producing consumer goods. And then there’s the geography game. “If you create a B2C company, 90 per cent of your opportunity is going to be in the U.S.,” Mr. Harris says. “If you’re trying to build the most cost-effective product, you’re probably going to build it in China,” but then you lose the benefits of NAFTA, he adds. Powerstick.com, of which Nigel was a co-founder, is on the verge of releasing a very consumerfriendly device – the Mosaic. Essentially a portable harddrive that is Wi-Fi compatible, Harris describes the Mosaic as
the perfect device for a family road trip, allowing everyone to stream their own content. Even with the device gaining some traction in big media outlets and being submitted to the Consumer Electronics Show’s best-in-show competition in Las Vegas, Mr. Harris is still hesitant to participate in direct-to-market sales, especially with big box stores. Instead, he sells Powerstick directly to business customers such as the U.S. military, Tesla and Bank of America and attaches their branding to the devices. “What people are doing now is they’re going to the store, finding something they really like, they’ll find out as much as they can about the product and then they’ll go back and see where they can get it cheaper online,” he says. Mr. Harris says that dealing with box stores is such an onerous process the benefits aren’t worth the costs. Beyond that, B2C marketing presents numerous other challenges, such as having to appeal to various consumer demographics and large swaths of diverse potential consumers versus catering to a single need shared by a number of repeat business customers. One of the ways around the difficulty in marketing in the B2C realm, Mr. Harris saw, was to launch a Kickstarter campaign for the Mosaic. Reaching its goal of $50,000 in pledges with three weeks to spare, Mr. Harris explained that not only was Kickstarter a great place to pick up some extra cash, but the buzz started around the Mosaic as a result of the Kickstarter was the real payoff. For Powerstick.com, it was a great marketing tool. Allan Zander, CEO of DataKinetics, a data optimization and performance company, largely agrees with Mr. Harris’s assessment of the Ottawa tech scene. “Since there was an early ground swell of B2B companies here, comfort was likely developed that way,” Mr. Zander says. “I don’t think the next Google or the next Apple is likely to come out of Canada. The model too frequently is not to swing hard for the fences, but to bootstrap and get something off the ground. The
MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015
you can challenge some of the market leaders.” He looks to one of Ottawa’s biggest homegrown tech success stories for signs of hope. “What Shopify has done in terms of their IPO … that is going to encourage a lot of entrepreneurs,” he says. “Your exit strategy isn’t always to just get acquired. There are other options and here’s a prime example.” Mr. Abbas agrees. “If we get a couple more unicorns that sprout their heads in Ottawa, it’ll make a huge difference (in the ecosystem),” he says.
Ottawa struggles to find any success in B2C tech
money that is required to get a B2C enterprise off the ground is just not heard of [in Ottawa]. “While both [B2C and B2B] companies need engineering talent, a B2C company needs a whole team of strong marketing depth very familiar with B2C challenges,” he adds. “There certainly is good marketing talent available in Ottawa, but it is harder to find than good engineering talent.” Mr. Zander believes the marketing gap is one of the main obstacles to B2C development in Ottawa. He isn’t sure there is a shift in the nature of the city’s tech market towards B2C, but that doesn’t mean he is down on the market overall. “There is a hum again of innovation and entrepreneurial buzz going which is, frankly, exciting,” he says. “I wouldn’t take anything away from that just because it is B2B-focused instead of B2C.” Larger-scale VCs have also been eyeing Canada, Mr. Zander says. “As some of these companies start to increase their value by being more consumer-focused that are driving big multiples,” it may build the ecosystem, he explains. “Hootsuite is not a bad example in my mind for this. Are they leading edge in what they do and demonstrating that they can make it as a Canadian company? Absolutely.” Umar Ruhi, an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management, says local technology firms still generally feel more comfortable with the engineering side of their businesses. “I think the companies in Ottawa are pretty strong when it comes to the core tech in their solutions,” he says, “but they may not be as good when it comes to the augmented product – look and feel, the packaging, the appeal to the emotional aspect of a customer purchase, which is important for a B2C.” The ever-changing employeremployee dynamic is also swaying how businesses operate in both the B2B and B2C fields. “Businesses are giving their employees more of a say in the type of tech they prefer,” Mr. Ruhi says. “Even if you are doing B2B stuff, you still need to go and talk to individuals inside the company. It’s no longer the CIO who is the gatekeeper and you have to go and talk to the CIO and the organization in order for them to adopt your solution.”
“Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly and get on with improving your other innovations.” — STEVE JOBS, APPLE CO-FOUNDER
CUTTING THROUGH THE ‘FUTURE FOG’ OF INNOVATION ECONOMY Understanding the difference between research
new processes and tools best support innovation? Commercialization: How do the best companies target their markets and convert innovation into profit and growth? As a beneficial/helpful side effect, the studies are pulling Ottawa’s business community together. There is no doubt that innovation success depends on the building of community. Today, 80 per cent of all global economic activity is generated in urban areas. The top 100 communities in China have a combined economy bigger than that of France and Germany together. Almost half of the world’s technological and scientific innovation is created in cities. Canada, fortunately, has a good chance of success, but we cannot be complacent. Canada has won as many “Most Intelligent Community” awards as any other nation, a remarkable achievement for its population size. Cities that have won that award include Calgary, Waterloo and Toronto. Ottawa has knocked on that door i-Canada Alliance, information about several times itself. firm-level management of innovation can Ottawa has many strengths. It has be used to measure the contribution of 1,700 high-tech companies and, equally innovation effectiveness. stunning, has seen more IPOs than any It is the first time this kind of other Canadian city in the past five years. measurement has been applied. Ottawa’s companies are masters of the Invest Ottawa’s innovation practical art of innovation. And our city benchmarking study is asking business, could, in fact, lead other Canadian centres social and technology organizations to help them exploit the innovation to give their views on how well Ottawa economy. is doing as a platform for competitive Ottawa could be the key to Canadian innovation. An online questionnaire success in a very different context from its solicits views on how innovation is used usual significance in the political sphere. It to enhance competitive status. The could be the innovation capital of Canada. resulting dashboard will provide insight into Ottawa’s business competitiveness as it is perceived by its top managers. A HOW TO TAKE THE SURVEY companion personal interview survey The Intelligent Community Assessment by dives more deeply into a firm’s innovative Stakeholders Tool (i-CAST) can be found potential. for Innovation at: In parallel, another Invest Ottawa http://fluidsurveys.com/s/Ottawa_ study is asking community leaders to Business_Competitiveness_%2B_ give their views on Ottawa’s progress Innovation_iTCA_2015 on the evolutionary path of becoming a Smart Community. A Smart Community The Intelligent Community survey can be is the end product of a successful found at: innovation economy. The results of this http://fluidsurveys.com/s/Intelligent_ survey will determine the necessary Ottawa_Study_2015/ activities to transform Ottawa into a centre that competes intelligently in the global knowledge world of today and tomorrow. The study features an online questionnaire asking for personal opinions on how well Ottawa is prepared to compete. The results of both studies will be two dashboards on Ottawa’s underlying innovativeness and its resulting “Smart Community” strength. This could trigger new programs and initiatives and set BARRY GANDER new targets to satisfy unmet needs. i-CANADA CO-FOUNDER Invest Ottawa’s goal is to supercharge the community and give all of our colleagues and citizens a direction and a boost. Barry Gander is co-founder of i-Canada, Some of the evaluation’s practical a movement dedicated to creating a questions include the following: nation of intelligent communities large Innovation forces: What trends and small, rural and urban, where all should we be watching? What role does can enjoy the economic development, management play? job growth and social prosperity Cultures of innovation: How does now available in the world’s leading organizational culture aid the innovation communities. i-Canada provides active process and how does leadership support transformational programs featuring the innovation? best practices of the world’s “smartest” New processes and tools: What communities.
and innovation is key, i-Canada founder says
MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015
BY BARRY GANDER
TECHOPIA.CA
08
Many nations have achieved a surge in GDP because of their mastery of the innovation economy. We are all familiar with the Information Economy, and that is still with us, but the broader and more useful term of “innovation economy” is taking hold as the benchmark for success capability. Does Ottawa have an innovation economy and how does it rank against other centres? The answer to this question will predict whether your income will go up or down in the next five years. It is a daunting question, not because we have no information, but because we have so much we are in a “future fog.” There are two crystal balls we can use to forecast our future prosperity. One shows a glamorous picture: Canada is a leading research nation. Ottawa has many research labs. We should be confident that we are entering a bright future. The other crystal ball shows a more dismal prospect: Canada is falling steadily behind in innovation. Our relative economic vitality is suffering. How can these two futures co-exist? How can Canada be ahead in research while stalling in innovation? The answer is that research is the mirror opposite of innovation. In research, money is invested in an effort to find knowledge. Canada is very good at investing money to find knowledge. Generally, this investment is not connected with a rise in GDP. You can be in the best research country in the world and yet watch your income decline year after year. Innovation, by contrast, is a process where knowledge is used to make money. You start with knowledge. You use it to get money (or some other value). As examples, think of the companies that are highly valued today. Facebook, which did not rely on research but used social innovation, is now worth more
than Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer. Google, which creates no original content and is not based on any newly researched invention, capitalizes on its improved search functionality to generate more than $50 billion annually from advertising services. Apple, Microsoft and Google top the list of most-valued companies in the United States and, with respect, it would be hard to characterize their offerings as a product of research rather than innovation. The Internet itself – an innovation, not a new research project – now accounts for 21 per cent of the growth of global GDP among developed countries. The market cap of companies in the technology and innovation sector is now bigger than the mining sector on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Innovation has been credited with creating two-thirds of all economic growth in places such as Great Britain from 2002-08, when all growth stalled. And perhaps the most important stat: high-tech, innovation-based goods are predicted to lead trade growth over the next 15 years. These stories are volcanoes rising from the sea, driven by the immense power of the new innovation economy phenomenon. Innovation economists believe that what primarily drives growth in today’s knowledge-based economy is not capital accumulation, as neoclassicalism asserts, but innovative capacity spurred by appropriable knowledge and technological prowess. It is based on the combination of entrepreneurship and innovation. Innovation has been a very elusive concept to measure. Now, however, thanks to work by Sorin Cohn, leader of innovation metrics at the Conference Board of Canada, and through the
WHAT’S HAPPENING Stay up to date with TECHOPIA’s calendar of events at techopia.ca
— SPONSORED CONTENT —
Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall helps Martello Technologies soar When your business is taking off like a rocket in flight, you had better have a top-notch team at Mission Control.
I
t’s been a busy year for Ottawa’s Martello Technologies. Last fall, it acquired French software maker Netvitesse and raised $3 million through a brokered private placement. “That acquisition and the financing were rocket fuel for us,” said CEO Bruce Linton. Rocket fuel indeed. This past spring, Martello topped the Ottawa Business Journal’s annual list of Fastest Growing Companies with overall revenue growth of 602.4 per cent in the past three years. But when your business is navigating the corporate laws of two different countries, as well as the securities laws that govern capital investment, heady growth must be tempered with prudent attention to detail. The right support, at the right time In the five years since its founding, Martello has matured into a key player in the ecosystem for global unified communications giant Mitel Networks. Its MarWatch software as a service (SaaS) delivers fault and performance management capabilities for Mitel systems. In other words, MarWatch helps Mitel service providers and resellers find and fix problems on their cloud-hosted business communications networks. A crucial partner at every step in this journey has been the team at fullservice law firm Perley Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP/s.r.l.
Perley-Robertson has been growing and evolving alongside Ottawa’s rising tech stars for decades. Today, it’s a truly full-service firm, capable of handling for its clients the details of business startup, international expansion, mergers and acquisitions, cross-border financings and public offerings as well as immigration and the protection of intellectual property rights. And these capabilities are multilingual, something that was an obvious necessity
for Martello’s acquisition of a French firm. Local expertise, global experience “We serve our clients with local expertise and global experience,” said Partner Robert Kinghan, Head of PerleyRobertson’s Business Law Group. “Martello is a great example of a client we have worked with for a number of years to provide the right combination of service and counsel, at the right time.” Take for example, the federal government’s Scientific Research and Experimental Development Program (SR&ED). It encourages Canadian companies to innovate and advance technologies that will spur the growth of this country’s knowledge-based economy.
Perley-Robertson’s expertise in tax and corporate law was crucial to ensure Martello didn’t extinguish its SR&ED eligibility through the Netvitesse acquisition. “With any growth strategy, you have to think of every step, not just the finish line, and we have managed that quite well with the help of Rob and his team,” said Linton. “If you want to be the Fastest Growing Company in Ottawa, you need PerleyRobertson.” To learn more about how PerleyRobertson, Hill & McDougall can help grow your business, visit www.perlaw.ca.
MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015
For Linton, an active entrepreneur and executive in Ottawa’s tech scene since the days of CrossKeys Systems in the mid ’90s, the choice of which law firm to retain for Martello was an easy one.
“I’ve worked with Perley-Robertson for over 11 years, with three different companies,” he said. “You don’t go back to a service provider unless it’s a top quality experience.”
09 TECHOPIA.CA
CONNECTED ON THE GO Check out TECHOPIA newsfeed on your mobile device at techopia.ca
INITLIVE CEO DEBBIE PINARD SAYS SHE REALIZED EARLY ON SHE WAS IN THE MINORITY IN THE TECH WORLD. PHOTO BY MARK HOLLERON
HELP WANTED: WOMEN IN TECH Female entrepreneurs say Ottawa is no stranger to gender gap
MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015
BY CRAIG LORD
TECHOPIA.CA
10
For all of the hype lately around Ottawa’s burgeoning tech scene, it’s easy to gloss over its shortcomings. Namely, this: for every woman you see working in high tech in Canada, there are three men. That ratio is even steeper when looking at women on boards of directors and in management positions at tech firms. Critics say the gender gap is a glaring glitch in the inner workings of the technology industry. Mega-companies such as Google and Apple have recognized this, both making internal efforts to improve diversity (“Inclusion inspires innovation,” noted Apple CEO Tim Cook in announcing its endeavours). Organizations such as the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) have prioritized promoting women in tech through research and mentorship channels. Women Powering Technology, a group that provides networking opportunities and skill-development workshops to female professionals, has an active chapter in Ottawa. Local female entrepreneurs say Ottawa still has work to do to bridge the gender gap. “It’s changed a little, but the majority of people in engineering and computer science are males,” says Debbie Pinard, CEO and co-founder of InitLive.
Ms. Pinard graduated from the University of Ottawa in 1979 with a degree in math and physics. She quickly found herself working for one of the biggest tech companies in the region: Mitel. While there were a few women working at Mitel, even a few women directors, it didn’t take long for her to realize she was in the minority. “I never really had heard about the glass ceiling, or knew that it was an issue in high tech because I never felt like I was treated differently. It wasn’t until you get older and you start to move up in the company that you start to see less and less females,” she says. Perceptions of men and women would sometimes dictate the work they did, Ms. Pinard says. “I used to joke about boy-code and girl-code,” she says, referring to the belief that men were more skilled at dealing with the physicality of hardware while women were better suited for user-interface, front-end work. Sue Abu-Hakima, CEO and co-founder of Amika Mobile, is no stranger to fighting the gender battle in tech. After graduating from McGill with an electrical engineering degree, she progressed towards a PhD in artificial intelligence while working for the National Research Council in the ’80s and ’90s. Despite her obvious aptitude, she says
she was encouraged to take leave when her superiors assumed family life would hold her back from career and educational success. “I was really mad. I got mad because it felt sexist. And NRC wasn’t unique in their approach to women,” she says. The role of the family in a woman’s career can be a contentious issue. The University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management has partnered with CATA and Springboard, a U.S.based company aiming to promote female entrepreneurship, to take a closer look at the influence of family life on women’s careers. Laurent Lapierre, lead researcher at Telfer, says the study aims to provide usable results for women looking to grow their business. “How do women take familyrelated issues into consideration when deciding whether or not to grow their business? Is it always a negative? Is it sometimes a positive?” he asks. For example, if a spouse or other family members make a priority of sharing the burden of home life, a female entrepreneur might feel more free to grow her business. Ms. Pinard believes that talk of women being held back by their families is overstated. “I don’t think that’s the reason why women don’t go into high tech,” she says. “I think that’s the easy way to explain it … Whether it’s male or female, the family has to support them.” Where might one look to fix the gender gap? Both Ms. Pinard and Ms. AbuHakima agree: society as a whole needs to do more to encourage girls to consider maths and sciences as viable fields of study. “It starts much younger. In high school, no girl wants to be a nerd, or not very many. It’s just not cool,” says Ms. Pinard. Dispelling the perception of socalled STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – studies as a boys-only club takes courage, but Ms. Pinard adds there is no reason at all why young women can’t be successful in those fields too. “Just because there are men in the space doesn’t mean that women can’t do it. You shouldn’t be scared and look at ‘Well, it’s all guys,’” she says. “Women are just as capable as men. Don’t doubt.” The creativity inherent to technology is often overlooked, Ms. Abu-Hakima says. “What I love about being an entrepreneur is that you took an idea, which is nothing, which is like air … and all of a sudden, it becomes something real. It becomes a product that you can build,” she says. “That’s something that we have to turn on for kids. So they’ll be more turned on to technology.” Mr. Lapierre’s team is still looking for female entrepreneurs willing to take the survey. Go to techopia.ca for the link to contribute.
BY THE NUMBERS:
CANADA’S TECH GENDER GAP Statistics drawn from Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance Women in Technology division (CanWIT), 2015
25 Per cent of Canada’s advanced technology workforce comprised of women
52 Per cent of highly qualified women working in STEM who will quit their jobs in the first 10 years of their career
37 Per cent of boards of directors in the corporate sector with no female representation
17 Per cent of senior management teams in the corporate sector with no female representation
“People underestimate good luck and fortunate timing in my success.” — MICHAEL POTTER, FORMER COGNOS CEO
mee tings that m ak e yo u look oh-so - good. Reserve your next meeting, incentive or special event and receive the following:
Contact Liliane Cossette, Account Executive at 819-790-6496 or at liliane.cossette@hiltonlacleamy.com 3, boulevard du Casino i gatineau i Québec i J8y 6X4 i www.lacleamy.hilton.com
11 TECHOPIA.CA
*For meetings booked and held prior to march 31 , 2016, based on availability. minimum of 35 actualized guest rooms required per night. offer not valid for meetings that are already tentative, definite, under contract or actualized. taxes and service not included. Certain conditions may apply. st
MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015
Complimentary main meeting room one complimentary coffee break (including coffee, tea and water) Free WiFi in guest rooms and in main meeting room one suite upgrade for every 35 guest rooms/night 35,000 hhonors contract signature bonus points $15 in promotional gaming credits Complimentary outdoor parking
ERRAIN
CHALLENGING T
munity — wa’s tech com issues facing Otta too wide for many some of the key is still pullout looks at a gender gap that 12-page TECHOPIA a visionary CEO to bridging ace from how to repl
G TECH IN
CONNECTIN
OTTAWA
IS IT FINA’SLLY OTTAWA TIME TO THE SHINE IN LD? APP WORpes
VOL. 1, ISSUE 2
31, 2015 MONDAY, AUGUST
CHALLENGING TERRAIN
12-page TECHOPIA pullout looks at some of the key issues facing Ottawa’s tech community — from how to replace a visionary CEO to bridging a gender gap that is still too wide for many
ho Startup has higwh social media for Bumpn, nestudents at app aimed PAGES 6-7
WANTED: IT PROFESSIONALS
RECHERCHÉ : PROFESSIONNELS EN TI
s.ca - carr r e e ier ar c ea s i s u c
csiscaree ca . s r sc
CSIS. SMART CAREER CHOICE SCRS. UN CHOIX DE CARRIÈRE JUDICIEUX
MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015
TECHOPIA.CA
carriereauscrs.ca
carriereauscr s . c a
12
csiscareers.ca