Montreal Tech Watch

Razzle.ca, a montreal-based ecommerce website, is opening tomorrow Friday, 23rd Nov, and will give its visitors the opportunity to buy a heavily-discounted product each day. They manage to offer a low price thanks to lower inventory costs, less promotional costs, and also by getting specific deals on end-of-the-line products from manufacturers and wholesale suppliers.

Razzle is clearly modeled after woot, which pioneered the concept in the USA in 2004. When other ecommerce websites continued to offer more choice, service and options, woot took the path of simplicity by selling only one product each time. To get the deal, many customers waited till the store’s opening at midnight in the hope to get their own gadget or computer component too. The woot model has since been copied successfully in Europe by iBOOD or vente-privee.com, which rank amongst the top ecommerce website in their respective countries.

Razzle is the first e-store of its kind in Canada, and they have already announced they will have the same marketing tactics as woot. I find it smart to launch one month before the holidays. The concept in itself is also simple and efficient, the one you see in marketing textbooks, and should get them many followers.

On en a parlé lors de BarCampMontreal2, on l’a entrevu dans le wiki yulstart, et maintenant, on a apparement atteint la dernière étape pour le projet “coworking”, puisque Patrick Tanguay invite toutes les personnes intéressées à un 5 à 7 mercredi soir, au Bar Inc. 250 avenue Mont-Royal Est. 

Comme c’est le premier du genre au Québec, j’imagine que peu de gens connaissent le concept. Le mouvement en lui-même a démarré en Californie; avec l’avènement des ordinateurs portables et du WiFi, des entrepreneurs et des innovateurs indépendants ont vu l’opportunité de se réunir dans un espace partagé, au lieu de fréquenter quotidiennement des cafés. Prendre un bureau dans un espace partagé a plus de sens lorsqu’on a un startup et que l’on pense avoir une croissance exponentielle. Les conditions sont souvent plus flexibles, c’est moins cher que de sous-louer un bureau, le plus intéressant étant qu’on fait partie d’une communauté d’entrepreneurs, de designers, de consultants, d’innovateurs etc. La formule du coworking a séduit beaucoup du monde; à l’instar de BarCamp, elle rompt avec les modèles traditionnels et est souvent perçu comme un modèle pour le travail du futur. Au Canada, workspace a été le premier à ouvrir à Vancouver, il y a eu ensuite indoorplayground à Toronto, Ottawa est aussi en passe d’ouvrir The Code Factory.  

Bien sûr, travailler dans un espace de coworking n’est pas pour tout le monde, si vous aimez avoir des conférences téléphoniques privées dans un grand bureau, si vous voulez une garantie pour la sécurité, si vous n’aimez pas non plus faire partie d’une communauté et travaillez en solo, l’initiative n’est peut-être pas pour vous. Mais je pense que si vous êtes entrepreneur ou travailleur indépendant, le projet mérite un coup d’oeil.

Si vous êtes donc curieux/se, vous pouvez vous inscrire au 5 à 7 sur facebook, ou visiter le site web.  

Ubisoft Montréal has released last friday the next-generation video game Assassin’s Creed. The local game studio has also released recently major titles, like Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6, Naruto, the rise of a Ninja, or Far Cry, but I find this new title interesting from a technological and business point of view. Some observations:

• To my knowledge, it’s the first time that a video game producer, Jade Raymond, rose to an internet “superstar” status. I keep stumbling on her subtle and not-so-subtle appearances on the Internet, be it official videos from Ubisoft or from “fans”. Previously, only game coders like John Carmack, Will Wright, or Peter Molynex achieved to get this status. She even made it to the national TV, and appears on every single photo about the game, to the point that I sometimes think that she is more popular than the game itself. 
• Ubisoft Montréal started Assassin’s creed in 2004, when the xbox360 was still in development. It’s their biggest project to date, with a production budget beyond $20 million, a team of 300 developers and designers, and a promotional budget well over $1 million. They also invested heavily to make the game realistic, with professors in medieval history serving as consultants for the game. 
• This is also the first video game from Ubisoft that will be used to make movies, by their new Digital Arts division. 

For me, video games studios are now no different than the cinema industry, with video game producers and designers are the equivalent of movie directors and producers. I remember not so long ago an adventure game,  Another World, which was made by just one guy, Eric Chahi. 

5 days after Google launched the Android SDK, Fred Brunel finished TwitterDroid, an Android application that updates Twitter on your Android-enabled cell phone. 

 This is a proof how easy it is to make an Android-based application. Even if I know Fred Brunel is not your ordinary developer (he made TwitterCal, a Ruby on Rails application in one weekend), he also has a full-time job. I know have to add Android to my list of technologies to build upon. mmm oh wait, there was already facebook apps on that list…. and iPhone user interfaces too … and jRuby … and Adobe AIR etc. who also thinks technology is getting faster these days?

ca.intruders.tv has an excellent interview of Casey McKinnon and Rudy Jahchan, who make the Galacticast show. They were at BarCampMontreal3, but I missed their presentation, which was about Canadian content regulations on the Internet.

As independent content producers, they oppose any law or organization which would make sure that there is a majority of Canadian content viewed by Canadians. The nature of the Internet allowed them to have an international audience, but most importanly, they enjoy a true freedom of creation, as opposed to current CanCon regulations on broadcast media which produces mediocre shows on many occasions.

Casey and Rudy are producing a video show which gets 250.000 views each month, have received awards, have created “sub-products” and merchandise items, and might just be a model for any artist which wishes to free himself/herself from traditional models and leverage the Internet to get some visibility and a direct dialogue with fans. Here is a list of some of their presence on the Internet:

• the galacticast website, where they publish their latest videos. Viewers can leave comments and get a code to embed videos on other web pages. Viewers can also send a video to a bookmarking website, like digg, del.icio.us, furl, stumbleupon
• their content is also syndicated on iTunes, and other major video portals
• Casey McKinnon writes on her separate blog while Rudy JahChan manages a myspace profile
• They also publish on flickr, twitter
• They are also proactive on facebook (which is an understatement)

This is a proof that the Internet can be an extraordinary and productive tool for artists and creatives, and get a quarter million of viewers monthly even if you have full-time jobs. Of course, Casey and Rudy are technology geeks and early adopters, and not every other artist in Québec or in Canada have the same ability to understand technology. This is where I believe a startup should step up and offer local artists a “package” that somehow shows them the path on how to use the Internet and bypass traditional producers. iTunes Music Store has shown the way that it’s possible to distribute music and video on the Internet; but the fact that its content and publication mechanism is controlled entirely by Apple makes it a very limited platform. Artists and content producers should be somehow able to have a (limited) degree of control and push/pull their own content. The fact that industry leaders are panicking should also hint entrepreneurs that it’s NOW the key moment to launch this platform.

Company: TeliPlus Inc.

Position: Telecom Business Telephone System Sales Account Executive

Responsibilites and Tasks:
TeliPlus Inc., a Telecommunications Interconnect that provides value added connectivity solutions for business’ in the sales and maintenance of products and services of Business Telephone Systems, CCTV, and Structured Cabling markets, is actively seeking a Telecommunications Sales Account Executive.
The Account Executive will:
• manage, identify and develop new accounts and sales opportunities for the sale of Business Telephone Systems, CCTV and Structured Cabling.
• develop a sales plan
• attend tradeshows

Required Knoweledge:
• proven sales ability
• excellent communication skills in both French and English
• effective problem solving ability
• professional appearance and presentation
• familiarity with the Telecommunications Industry, primarily Business Telephone Systems, CCTV, and/or Structured Cabling environment an asset

Compensation:
Compensation will be based on a combination of a Draw on Commissions + Bonuses + Expense Account, which can equal up to $40-100k+ per year.

Additional info:
TeliPlus Inc., an equal opportunity employer, is a Telecommunications Interconnect in the Montreal region that is focused on the sales, service and maintenance of Business Telephone Systems, Structured Cabling and CCTV solutions to the growing SMB marketplace in the Province of Quebec. Through our strong relationships with Manufacturers and Distributors we can offer a wide variety of new and refurbished traditional Business Telephone Systems, VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) Hybrid Phone Systems, CCTV and Structured Cabling solutions to a growing client base. To learn more about TeliPlus Inc., please visit our website at http://www.teliplus.com .

How to apply:
Candidates interested in this position and whose experience, qualifications and personality match the position profile, may email their applications to TeliPlus Inc. at info@teliplus.com or apply by fax to (514) 335-0006.

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Tech blogs in North America hailed yesterday Bell Canada as the first North America carrier to offer the HTC Touch with an unlimited internet and email data plan at $7, which if found true, would be a dramatic price plunge from their previous offers. See this advertisement from Bell:

image from engadget’s post

In the U.S., the most competitive unlimited data plan comes at $60, from AT&T’s offer for the iPhone. Given that Canadian mobile carriers are known to be more expensive than their american counterpart, I am not sure what to think about this new “unlimited data” plan. I went through Bell mobility online’s store, and there is an option to have the “unlimited mobile browser”, and it specifies:

Check e-mail, play games, send instant messages, browse the latest ringtones and screensavers, and more, for $7.00/month

If you have been around the mobile business in Canada, you know this is in fact an option to surf pre-selected websites from Bell Canada. You will get to use MSN Messenger, go to sympatico and 300 other websites, etc. but as soon as you submit an URL, you will be charged per page. Don’t expect to use Skype, go to your favourite blogs, use RSS readers, or any other online applications. In fact, after a few checks, this plan is offered to most cell phones sold by Bell Canada.

Of course, the $7 plan by Bell Canada is still very competitive, especially on a phone like the HTC Touch, where instant messenging and access to emails are built-in, and made “pleasurable” by the touchscreen.

I forgive engadget to spread false rumours, because they have no knowledge of the local market, but seeing this on Branchez-vous or Radio-Canada is surprising. Bell Canada has indeed great PR agents.

Kakiloc, started by Martin Dufort and then Alain Lavoie, was to offer a mobile presence service. You could for instance know via your cell phone if you had friends nearby. Now, Martin Dufort has “closed the experiment”, although he will continue to blog at location-based.blogspot.com. He also plans to reuse the location-based technology for future applications in vertical markets.

This is sad, because they were working on the project since I first met them, 9 months ago.

I think though that the market is not ready yet to use geo-localized services. This is a marketer’s and an entrepreneur’s dream come true, but it’s slowed down in Canada by data rates, and also by the capabilities of devices currently avalaible. Furthermore, Kakiloc users had to get their friends to use the service to make it useful, making the adoption even more difficult. Google’s android might ease things, but this is not even something I would bet on.

Réseau Capital has released yesterday a study about venture funding in Québec and in Canada. The study is in french and is 8 pages long; you can find it in their “communiqués” area.

Some key figures:

• They have observed a 30% growth in VC investments from year-to-year
• Meanwhile, the rest of Canada went through 47% growth. Québec takes up 25% of all investments
• Information technology takes 49% of all investments, 40% is in biotechnology and pharma
• Expanding companies represented 78% of these investments, while startups and early-stage companies took the rest. Investments to startups declined 26% in Q3 2007
• Montreal and the greater Montreal area takes 82% of all those investments in Quebec
• Foreign investments represent 30% of all VC investments in Québec
• In information technology, telecommunications companies received $25 million, software companies received $12 million, electronics and semi-conductor companies received $10 million, and Internet companies like Praized or Weblo got a total of $6 million

The key figure I am not so happy with here is the decline in funding to startups, it has seen 26% decline in Québec this year, while it has grown outside Québec. However, all the figures are rising, and I don’t think one should be too alarmed at the state of VC funding.

We had a great Blitzweekend open meeting yesterday at Laika. 10 entusiastic people showed up, and we got to brainstorm with some of the brightest minds here in Montréal. Ideas were challenged, the concept was discussed, fresh ideas were brought, and we exchanged on how it fits in the overall technology&entrepreneurship space. It’s great to see Blitzweekend getting more traction every day. For those who couldn’t come to the meetup, here is a recap of the most important points.

First, it’s important to share the vision about Blitzweekend. By regrouping brilliant entrepreneurs, developers, creatives, and investors, Blitzweekend will be ultimately a platform for new ideas, projects and startups. We believe there is a lot of talent and creativity in Montréal, in Québec and in Canada, and that we can do as good, or better than any other place in the world. For every edition of Blitzweekend, we will all learn from the experience and build even more awesome stuff.

One of Blitzweekend’s strength will be the diversity and the freedom we give to attendees. As you all know, the technology space is moving very fast. One month ago, everyone had Facebook on their lips. Two weeks ago, we had OpenSocial. Now, Google’s Android is making headlines. I have no idea what will come up in upcoming months. But we will have 10, 15 or more teams having their own ideas, on their platform of choice, and I trust them to come up with great innovative ideas.

Now, for the meeting in itself, we talked about structure, and what were the events programmed for the weekend, if the members of the “jury” will go through teams and check out progress, also how teams are made, and if people can just come friday night and join an open team. There will be probably a more detailed summary of the meetup at Blitzweekend’s blog, but there is one thing which is sure: we need the brightest people in Montréal and in Québec to participate at Blitzweekend in Feb next year. If you know a brilliant programmer, an entrepreneur, a designer, please talk to her/him about the event and to check out the website. We could probably make posters, or publish ads in Montréal, but I believe each of you know someone who is a perfect fit for Blitzweekend, someone wishing to learn, build and innovate.