When we think of startups, we usually picture a core group of (mostly) guys coding in a room with cans of coke or Red Bull lined up. That room might be smelly. No frills. Just getting it done. That’s the stereotype anyway. As a seed investor I certainly like to see no waste in spending [...]
I’m guessing that most everyone who reads this blog uses Dropbox. The four year old company has over 50M users and adds a new user every second! It can be dangerous to use such run away successes as lessons when building your own startup. After all, most startups never achieve this level of success. Still, [...]
I was out for drinks with some startup types in Halifax last night when I was hit with a simple question: “What’s the biggest mistake a SaaS company can make?” Have to say, I thought it about for a couple of minutes. One of the beauties of this business model is that you usually have [...]
Oct
07
So let’s face it: the reason we all start companies is to deal with the paperwork and admin that comes from owning your own business, right? Not. Still, it is a necessary evil and the truth is that running a tight back office goes a long towards helping you build a better business. With that [...]
Oct
03
Short post today with an interesting legal judgment for Canadian startups shared with me by the folks at Labarge Weinstein (aka Canada’s most startup friendly law firm). This case involves Zoocasa, a Toronto startup. Like many startups, Zoocasa scrapes a variety of web sites to collect its data. Turns out some of those sites took [...]
I rarely watch the news. Too depressing. But last night we tuned in for a bit. Among the top headlines: growing concern over the financial health of many European Union countries. Markets are concerned about debt levels, raising the cost of debt and starting a downward spiral. People are protesting, governments are in a bind. [...]
The term “CEO” conjures up these images of brave, passionate, charismatic leaders setting grand visions and winning the hearts and minds of customers, investors and employees alike. I hate that 3 person startups routinely have someone called “CEO” (kinda seems ridiculous at that stage). But whatever… every organization of any size must have a leader. [...]
Aug
24
Despite the attempts of regular startup bloggers (like myself) to demystify startups into best practices and easy to follow guidelines, the truth is they are never that simple. If they were, I’d just start one. Then another. And another. I’d have no time for blogging and if I’d figured out the secret, I’d probably not [...]
May
30
Last week I spoke with some entrepreneurs at MaRS in Toronto on one of my favourite topics: SaaS Math – covering metrics, pricing and valuations. My slides from that talk are below. Or if you have 90 minutes on your hands, the full video is here. Saas Math View more presentations from Mark MacLeod
May
16
This post falls under the boring yet crucial category. As a seed fund we are routinely working with companies that are very young. It is common for these companies to have early collaborators come and go before the core founding team gels. You try people out, rely on some outside help and try and bootstrap [...]
The #1 focus in my investment and advisory work is SaaS companies. There are lots of reasons to focus on this segment. For one, it’s large ($21B and growing at 20% per year). In addition, it lends itself well to what I know (metrics) and is great for investors because of the visibility and predictability [...]
May
09
Chris Dixon had an interesting post recently on Dropbox and the importance of investing in people. There is another potential lesson there about the role of competition in startup success. Chris mentions that when he thought about the founder’s idea for Dropbox his concern was how busy the space already was.
Feb
01
Pivot” is the new black. Everywhere you turn, people are talking about the pivots their companies are taking. It’s not just limited to the startup World. I was watching BBC news recently where they showed a fun segment of World leaders, including President Obama, talk about pivots. The reason this is word is so pervasive [...]
Jan
11
I joined Kiltr.com a professional social network for Scottish people (and people who just love the Scots) a few weeks ago. As a proud Scotsman (is there any other kind?) I’d love to connect and do business with people from the homeland. Despite that desire, I have to admit that several weeks later, I have [...]
Nov
08
Last week I spoke with Sunny Handa from law firm Blakes and some accounting and valuation experts from accounting firm BDO on intellectual property for startups. We covered legal, valuation, accounting and practical aspects. The slides from that event are below. On a related note, Miltons has just released a free book on IP for [...]
