thanks for passing by, it s very much appreciated

I also think it’s important to collaborate and exchange in Montreal.currently, I am watching the yulstart wiki and I think it can be a central place for entrepreneurs.

I will write a more detailed followup about this post ad the comments later

At TechnoMontreal, we’re trying to do our small part in providing a central point of reference for entrepreneurship resources (and other resources that can help people in Montreal’s IT industry). It’s clear that it’s a work in progress but through the Resource Centre on our website, there is info on business needs for entrepreneurs.

Of course, we’re open to suggestions. How can we make ourselves relevant to the tech entrepreneur community in Montreal? What information could be useful? How can we play a role in making Montreal, in your words, ‘a great innovative city’?

when I was at university, a guy from a startup came and made a presentation about his company, in order to hire some “bright” guys. a lot of students came. I am not sure if he found what he was looking for, but i think you could definetely do the same.

Entrepreneurship is a tough one. I agree with Heri that our universities are doing the job – biz schools are up there, and even other schools like engineering are teaching business skills to our future gen of entrepreneurs. But to me, the problem is elsewhere. We have proved again and again can we are great innovators. The challenge is getting from a great idea to structuring a company to deliver on this idea. Once the student has left school, he or she is left to him or herself. Anxiety starts – “Do I have the right product mix? How can I deliver the pilots that my banker wants before financing me so I can hire a marketing director who will be able to help me find the quality pilot clients that I need to impress my banker? How do I get access to VCs and angels, and what will I say to convince them? Any body out there to help me??? Now???”

To me, this is the problem – individuality. “Not my problem”. When Les Ailes de la Mode faced challenges, something quite unusual for us happened – other biz persons came to help out. Just because – they wanted to help. But our province is made of small, tiny companies, without a big name like Les Ailes. It seems to me that we need mentoring more than entrepreneurship.

Notice that I have turned the table around – there are gifted persons and they can get trained. But, collectively, we must assist this talent so that it can emerge. Is the problem that we do not have enough good entrepreneurs, or that we do not help them enough become great managers of successful worldwide companies once they start?

I believe that we all have a collective obligation to ensure that our entrepreneurs become the best they can be. Universities play a role, but during a brief encounter in the life of an entrepreneur. We all have a role to play as well, and we at TechnoMontreal will be working on that with others as well.

Lyne

I’m looking for people who are interested in the startup world, read Paul Graham, WANT to run companies some day. Maybe they’re looking for experience or don’t have a “big idea” yet…

I also think there’s a frustration amongst companies in terms of finding “entrepreneurial-minded” people. So it’s not just about getting university students to create companies, it’s also about encouraging them to work in startup environments.

And I agree, communication is definitely a key issue.