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How to Raise Venture Capital for a Tech Startup

Wednesday, February 4th, 2026

From the outside, raising venture capital appears to be very appealing.

Investment pitches, demo days, angel networks, million dollar rounds, celebration posts, media coverage, etc.

From the inside, it seems like a “marathon and speed-dating” as you pitch your vision to the hundreds of startups the evaluators see each month.

Most founders don’t fail to raise funding because their idea is bad. They fail because they don’t understand how venture capital actually works.

This guide is for practical tech startups that want an honest, usable introduction to raising venture capital—what to expect, what matters, and how to run the process without wasting months.

What is Venture Capital?

Venture Capital involves a lot of risk and a lot of potential reward. VC firms invest money on behalf of institutions into startups, expecting a very large return.

Here is a typical VC fund strategy:

  • Invest in 20–30 startups
  • Expect 70–80% to fail or perform below expectations
  • Count on 2–3 large successes to bring in the majority of the profits

Venture capitalists want to invest in startups that have the potential for large-scale growth. If your start-up is not likely to become a multi million or billion dollar company, then venture capital is not the right funding route to be pursuing.

Why Tech Startups Attract Venture Capital Globally

Venture capitalists are drawn to technology startups for two main reasons:

1. Marginal Cost Approaches Zero

Software, once built, can be used to capture millions of users at little to no cost.

2. Growth Potential is Exponential

Digital products, unlike physical goods, can be sold around the world.

This explains why the following sectors attract most of the global venture capital every year:

  • Software as a Service (SaaS)
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • Fintech
  • Web3
  • Deep tech
  • Marketplaces
  • Health tech

How to Raise Venture Capital for a Tech Startup

Step 1: Decide if Venture Capital Is a Necessity for Your Startup

Venture capital funding is for acceleration, not for survival.

  • Is bootstrapping a path to your goals?
  • Does your business model allow for rapid scaling?
  • Can you continue to grow without dilution?

Tech companies like Basecamp and Zoho scaled without getting venture capital.

Sometimes slow capital allows for stronger building than fast capital.

Step 2: Build a Business That Investors Will Fund

Traction, not ideas, is what gets companies funded.

Your startup becomes investable when you show:

  • Paying customers
  • Market demand
  • Product stickiness
  • Positive economics per unit sold
  • The ability to scale

$5,000 to $10,000 in monthly recurring revenue (MRR) will shift perception at the early stage.

Momentum diminishes risk.

Step 3: Construct a Compelling Story

In a good pitch, 70% is storytelling, 30% is the numerical data.

Your narrative should address:

  • Why is this problem important?
  • Why is this the right time?
  • Why are you the right person?
  • How is this going to be successful on a global scale?

Strong pitches don’t feel like business pitches, they feel like business is going to happen, no questions asked.

Step 4: Create an Impactful Pitch Deck

Your pitch deck should be a document of persuasion.

Important slides include:

  • Problem
  • Solution
  • Product demo
  • Market opportunity
  • Business model
  • Traction
  • Competition
  • Go-to-market strategy
  • Team
  • Financial projections
  • Funding ask

Be clear, visual, simple, and concise.

Step 5: Identify the Right Investors

Understanding investor type is important.

Look for investors who:

  • Understand your industry
  • Have portfolio synergies
  • Provide strategic support
  • Offer mentorship and networks

In venture capital, relationships matter. Warm intros convert better than cold outreach.

Step 6: Dominate the Fundraising Funnel

Fundraising is a numbers game. In general, a healthy pipeline looks like:

  • 80–100 investor conversations
  • 20–30 follow-ups
  • 5–10 serious discussions
  • 1–3 term sheets

No matter the type, rejections are normal. They are statistical, not personal.

Step 7: Get Ready for Due Diligence

When interest is high, scrutiny is high.

Investors will analyze the following:

  • Financial Statements
  • Customer Contracts
  • Product Roadmap
  • Legal Structure
  • Cap Table
  • Organized Documentation

Trust is built when documents are organized and maintained, but the opposite is true when things are kept as mess. Before hiring a CFO, operate as one.

Step 8: Negotiate Smart

Valuation is critical but not everything.

  • Quality of Investors
  • Control of the Board
  • Dilution of the Founders
  • Funding Support in the Future
  • Flexibility in Exits

A slightly lower valuation but with suitable investors typically leads to better outcomes than higher valuation but with terms that are deemed to be too restrictive.

Global Case Study: Stripe

Stripe started by addressing a universal need that all developers had and that was simplifying online payments.

Their first pitch was centered around:

  • A massive global market opportunity in e-commerce
  • Developer-first simplicity
  • Distinct differentiation of the product

This clarity was what allowed Stripe to obtain early-stage venture capital and fueled its growth worldwide. As a result, it is one of the most highly valued private fintech companies in the world.

The takeaway: When solving a problem, getting the timing right is better than just a lot of hype.

The mistakes: Inflated financial forecasts, inadequate market research, founder ego, lack of financial clarity, and a poorly defined monetization strategy.

Investors are betting on your confidence not your arrogance.

The Final Word

Raising venture capital for tech startups requires a lot of groundwork. Preparation, positioning, and persistence are all crucial elements.

Founders that succeed:

  • Build real traction
  • Communicate well
  • Prepare
  • Take rejection well
  • Prioritize investors correctly

Fuel is venture capital. Without traction, that fuel will not ignite.

FAQs: Raising Venture Capital for a Tech Startup

1. When is a good time to raise VC?

  • Early traction, a roadmap for growth, and a clear product-market fit.

2. How much equity do founders give up?

  • About 10–25% per funding round for each stage and subsequent valuation.

3. How long is the VC fundraising process?

  • Typically, it is around 3 to 6 months to secure funding after your initial pitch.

4. Can early-stage startups secure funding with no revenue?

  • Yes, if strong user growth or validation and/or unique technology is demonstrated.

5. What metrics matter most to VCs?

  • Growth rate, Customer Acquisition Cost, Lifetime Value, churn, user engagement, and addressable market.

6. Should founders bootstrap before VC?

  • Yes, it most often provides better negotiating and valuation.

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Mexico Bank Buys Into Singapore Startup in a Big Way

Thursday, January 25th, 2018

For Singapore startup Lucep, their first product hit came from India’s banking industry, with a virtual queue service called VirtuaQ, reports Tech In Asia’s Malavika Velayanikal.

The next generation of VirtuaQ, Lucep OmniPath, is what COO and co-founder Zal Dastur calls “an omnichannel management system” built for banks and medical clinics.

The impact has been international: A leading Mexican bank chain bought into the product in a big way, licensing it for 1,800 branches.

“A lot of banks are looking for ways in which they can reach customers that have never dealt with banks before. These customers expect a bank to behave like any other consumer business,” Dastur said in an interview with Tech In Asia.

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Digital, Robotic, and Data-Driven: Insights Into the Rapidly Changing Economy

Thursday, November 2nd, 2017

BDC has released a report with the six trends that small and medium sized business owners need to know about for 2017.

Three of these trends relate to the rapid rise of the digital economy.

It’s clear that digital technologies are changing the economy with automation, online markets, and by leveraging the power of data—but what can small businesses do in the face of these shifts?

The first trend to be aware of is the growth of virtual marketplaces. E-commerce is already growing rapidly in Canada, and it shows no signs of slowing down. BDC recommends that business owners build a cohesive online presence that reacts to and engages with its customers. This means social media, targeted ads that increase traffic, and mobile-friendly websites that appeal to customers who are reading reviews and shopping via their smartphones.

The second trend is the automation of business activities. Automation refers to robots and artificial intelligence, but it also includes other digital technologies that increase productivity like customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

Small businesses need to strategize for the future of automation now. This means involving your employees in choosing new technology systems, understanding your own knowledge limitations, and reaching out to third-party consultation if needed.

The third trend that will impact entrepreneurs and small business owners is the rise of the data economy. Vast quantities of data are amassed by companies in their everyday operations. Loyalty cards, for instance, track consumer behavior and preference. However, many businesses still do this data collection by hand, which is not only prone to error, but burdensome.

With a projected estimate of 75 billion devices connected to the Internet by 2025, businesses need to use data wisely to optimize their day-to-day operations. This means gathering data more efficiently, but also analyzing it to generate insights that will drive your business.

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What the Growth of Virtual Marketplaces Means for Small Business

Thursday, October 26th, 2017

To mark Small Business Week, BDC released a report that explores six trends impacting small and medium sized businesses in 2017.

One of these trends is a direct reflection of a hyper-connected business landscape: the growth of virtual marketplaces.

More and more Canadians are doing their commerce online, using their smartphones for retail transactions, and feeling empowered by the digital technology in their pockets. BDC forecasts that by 2020, over 25 million users in Canada will be using e-commerce (compared to 18 million in 2016), which means e-commerce capability will become even more crucial for small businesses.

With more information, online reviews, and borderless buying available to consumers than ever before, businesses need to adapt to the rise of virtual marketplaces.

One way small businesses can remain competitive is by building a digital ecosystem. This means personalizing your company’s online presence, making your website mobile friendly, and integrating e-commerce capabilities with your social media platforms.

That also means thinking about local intent—because a customer rarely searches something generic like “web design.” They search the way they talk, like “web design Little Rock,” and they expect the results to feel local, fast, and trustworthy on mobile.

Successful social media engagement is not about aggressive marketing, but about the power of suggestion and the “soft sell.” Become aware of what’s being said about your company in the digital space, and then engage with your customers regularly.

You can also raise awareness of your services or products through Facebook ads or Google Ads.

Learn more: Want to post consistently without spending hours writing? Try an Instagram content generator.

Remember that a crucial part of building a virtual marketplace is listening to your customers and responding to their feedback—whether face-to-face or via 140 characters, you need to hear what the consumer is saying.

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As Big Data Gets Bigger, Are Canadian Businesses Listening?

Monday, October 23rd, 2017

As part of Small Business Week, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has released a comprehensive report outlining the digital landscape’s disruption of Canadian business.

The report, which identifies six major trends facing small businesses in 2017 as they move towards future-proof operations, goes into detail about one particularly cumbersome aspect of the digital world: The rise of big data and the data economy.

Big Data is Big Business

In February, Gartner predicted that approximately 8.4 billion devices would be connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) by the end of the year—a 31% increase from 2016. Using data from IHS Markit, the BDC report, on the other hand, makes it clear these numbers are set to explode, reaching 75 billion connected devices by 2025.

Are Canadian businesses leveraging this information to create growth, or are they letting this “oil of the digital era” (as The Economist put it) slip through the cracks?

Learning What Customers Want

With billions of devices generating data, businesses are tasked with the onerous job of sifting through the noise to retrieve valuable insights. Thankfully, data analysis is getting simpler—and the rewards for doing so include making customers happier, businesses more competitive, and operations more efficient.

To unlock the potential of the data economy, businesses need only make a few adjustments to their existing operation:

  • Use data tools
  • Maintain a customer relationship management (CRM) system
  • Offer personalization

By implementing a CRM system, businesses can simplify—and personalize—data analysis, which can then be used to provide a stronger relationship with new and existing customers. Data tools—including email surveys, Google Analytics, and even software that monitors social media channels—can provide an edge for enterprises wanting to do better business, which is quickly becoming a game of personalizing products and offerings for customers.

To learn more about the changing landscape of Canadian business, BDC’s full report is available here (registration required).

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Canada Needs More Robots

Tuesday, October 17th, 2017

To recognize Small Business Week, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) released a comprehensive report examining the shifting demographics and digital disruptions that are impacting today’s labour force.

This report identifies six emerging trends affecting small and medium-sized enterprises in 2017, one of which is the automation of business activities.

From chatbots to drone deliveries, it’s no secret that automation and artificial intelligence are drastically shaping the way business owners realize their potential. But as the demand for everyday robotics increases, are Canadian businesses keeping up with competitors around the world?

Automation in Asia

The BDC report pinpoints a key statistic: According to the International Federation of Robotics, in 2015, South Korea led the global manufacturing industry in deployment of multipurpose robots — which optimized everything from supply chain management to customer service notifications — at approximately 531 per 10000 workers. That number comes ahead of Singapore’s 398, Japan’s 305, and Germany’s 301 (Canada falls somewhere in the middle, with 136 multipurpose robots per 10,000 workers).

Canada Can Catch Up

As the BDC report explains, while nearly every aspect of contemporary Canadian business can be automated, owners need not overhaul their enterprise to achieve optimization goals. In fact, automation only requires three simple ideas to keep in mind, including:

  • Mapping out business processes
  • Involving employees
  • Shopping and asking around

By analyzing how a business runs, Canadian entrepreneurs can determine where automation can best optimize efficiency. And who better to ask how a business runs than its employees, who have invaluable experience at every level of the operation?

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Girls Are The Key to Disruption in the World of Tech

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2017

The coding world is a man’s world: 80 to 90 percent of code out there has been written by men. This means that the world itself is being designed by men, according to Actua CEO Jennifer Flanagan.

“Coding impacts every day of our lives,” Flanagan said at the Expo for Design, Innovation & Technology in Toronto. “We won’t achieve our innovation potential if we don’t ensure diversity around the table.”

Kids—especially girls—could be the key to the next big tech innovation, she said.

Through experiential learning, Canada’s largest STEM-outreach organization, Actua, teaches foundational skills in science, tech, engineering and math to help kids prepare for careers of the future.

We need women’s perspective for “better research and better products,” Flanagan recently wrote in BetaKit.

“We can no longer explain away women’s participation rates in tech careers by saying that ‘they just aren’t interested’ or ‘that these career types don’t meet the lifestyle preferences of women.’ To do this is to do a disservice, not just to women, but to society as a whole.”

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IBM Helping Women Re-Enter the Tech World

Friday, September 15th, 2017

Fifty-two percent of women in science, tech, engineering and math quit their jobs mid-career. This happens for a variety of reasons, ranging from workplace culture to family responsibilities.

A new IBM program is helping to bring them back by restoring lost confidence and teaching new job skills.

The IBM Tech Re-Entry Program is a challenging 12-week internship for experienced technologists who are returning to work after an extended time away. Interns get the chance to work on high-level projects with a senior-level mentor.

In an interview with CNET, Jennifer Howland, executive of IBM’s Pathways Program, said the program helps make women returning to the tech world more employable.

“Most employers don’t look kindly on the fact that someone has not been doing work and someone has taken a career break for 15 to 20 years,” she said.

IBM isn’t the first company to help bring women back into the fold. Several companies in the financial sector—like Goldman Sachs, MetLife, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley—have rolled out similar programs.

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Robots Are Coming For (Men’s) Jobs

Friday, September 8th, 2017

Robots are coming for human jobs. It’s no surprise. However, the automation revolution is much more than just an economic problem, argues Laurie Penny in Wired.

“It is a cultural problem, an identity problem, and—critically—a gender problem,” she writes.

The robots are mostly eliminating jobs in farm and factory labor, construction and haulage—in other words, blue-collar jobs typically performed by men.

“Millions of men around the world are staring into the lacquered teeth of obsolescence, terrified of losing not only their security but also their source of meaning and dignity in a world that tells them that if they’re not rich, they’d better be doing something quintessentially manly for money. Otherwise they’re about as much use as a wooden coach-and-four on the freeway.”

Men must change their mindset and be willing to take on jobs in the so-called “pink-collar” industry, she says.

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High Rents Driving Biotech Startups Out of New York and Boston

Monday, August 21st, 2017

Young people aren’t the only ones who can’t afford the rent in New York. Biotech firms are also leaving the Big Apple in search of affordable accommodations outside the city.

Though the city offer numerous benefits to growing companies, lab space is simply too expensive to build and operate, says Andras Forgacs, chief executive of biotech startup Modern Meadow.

“We don’t have the time and we don’t have the capital to be in the real estate development business in New York City,” he told VentureBeat. “That’s not what our investors asked for.”

Modern Meadow would have had to pay $200 million to build its own lab in New York. Instead, it found existing lab space in New Jersey.

It’s a similar story in Boston.

Triple net leases are $78.50 a square foot in Cambridge but drop to just $15 in the outer ring of Boston’s suburbs, according to brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield.

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The Silicon Valley Engineers Who Get Paid Millions To Do Nothing

Friday, August 11th, 2017

It’s a well-known secret in Silicon Valley: Big tech companies employ “resters and vesters”; employees who collect full pay and stock without having to do much — or any — actual work.

Though it might sound like an administrative error — employees who have, for whatever reason, fallen through the cracks — there are a few very good reasons why companies allow employees to “rest and vest,” according to former “coasters” interviewed by Business Insider.

Keeping Top Talent Away From Competitors

Some tech companies use “rest and vest” jobs as a way to claim top talent and keep it away from the competition, according to Manny Medina, a former Microsoft executive.

At Microsoft, he saw how the tech giant locked up talent in fields like AI, robotics and quantum computing.

“You keep engineering talent but also you prevent a competitor from having it, and that’s very valuable,” he told Business Insider. “It’s a defensive measure.”

Buying Silence

“Rest and vest” can be used as a way to buy an employee’s silence about the problems facing a project before they depart a company.

“Everyone knew I had a big mouth and would speak out,” said a former “rest and vest” Facebook engineer. “He figured, ‘Hey, it costs us next to nothing keep this person happy for six months.'”

Like a paid period of transition, employees can use “rest and vest” time to cool off and start looking for other work.

Hanging Onto The Most Effective Employees

Some employees can simply do more in a shorter period of time. “10x engineers,” for example, are supposedly 10 times more effective than other engineers, or so the legend goes.

“They might know where the bodies are buried on some project, be called in as a last resort to debug a project, or they are known as a great pinch hitter,” said the former Facebook engineer.

Though “resting and vesting” can be beneficial to companies, it can kill the careers of employees, especially those “working” on long-term research projects, according to an engineer at X, run by Google’s parent company Alphabet.

Engineers can spend years “never shipping anything.”

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Toronto Women’s Entrepreneurship Forum: Space for Radical Generosity

Thursday, June 1st, 2017

The Toronto Women’s Entrepreneurship Forum 2017 took a disruptive approach to the entrepreneurial conference model. Instead of talking heads doling out advice, #TWEF17 was about women entrepreneurs entering into a conversation.

SheEO founder Vicki Saunders has a direct explanation for #TWEF17’s invigorating approach. “Why repeat old approaches in a completely disrupted world? It’s time for new approaches, from large-scale economic ones to even in the way we run conferences. We’re creating an open, generous environment, one that isn’t telling entrepreneurs what they need to do: it’s building a conversation.”

Part of that conversation was the remarkable mid-conference #RadicalGenerosity session, where women entrepreneurs approached the mic to explain what their enterprise needed: And hands all over the room shot up to offer the exact help that each speaker was asking for.

“At most conferences, you’ve got the experts onstage, and then someone in the audience asks a question or makes a point that resonates perfectly with you—then you never get a chance to speak to that person,” says Saunders. “Our #RadicalGenerosity session addresses that. We find that female entrepreneurs often keep their businesses smaller because they don’t ask for help, they don’t put themselves out there.” The session (and SheEO’s upcoming app) creates a safe space for contact between women who can help each other.

The standing-room only success of the event points to another exciting aspect of Toronto Women’s Entrepreneurship Forum 2017: the city itself. “Toronto right now is so exciting for entrepreneurs,” says Saunders. “It’s a city that gives you permission to get out there and go for it. And for women entrepreneurs, who start businesses at twice the pace of men, we’re saying that there’s no need to replicate what guys are doing: what women are doing is working.”

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The Cascadia Innovation Corridor: B.C. Tech’s Ecosystem Advantage

Monday, May 15th, 2017

The tech sector is taking off on Canada’s West Coast and accumulating a growing number of accolades. Vancouver recently passed Toronto as Canada’s top startup ecosystem, according to Startup Genome, and the city’s global influence is growing.

The strength of B.C.’s tech sector is no accident. There are three big advantages of doing business in B.C., according to Ernst & Young’s B.C. technology sector leader Richard Mockett:

1) A ‘Really Strong’ Ecosystem

“[BC has] some of the world’s leading companies…spending a lot of time and money in B.C., establishing real, sizeable operations,” says Mockett.

Those companies introduce a lot of talent, money and innovation to the region.

2) Socio-Economic Benefits

“There’s some favourable government initiatives and policies that enable new businesses,” says Mockett. “There’s a really strong focus on diversity and inclusiveness, which is so fundamental when you’re working in an industry that is based on new ways of thinking and doing things.

“There’s also world class education organizations and a deep talent pool which is just going to get deeper and broader in the short term.”

3) Collaborative Opportunities Between B.C. and Washington State

“There’s synergies between both province and state there to really grow a technology supercluster (The Cascadia Innovation Corridor) that could compete with the other big technology clusters around the world,” says Mockett.

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Closing Canada’s Tech Skills Gap: Teach Youth to Code

Monday, May 1st, 2017

220,000 workers needed: That’s how vast Canada’s tech skills gap could be by 2020, according to Canadian government and industry experts.

If that gap isn’t closed, many tech companies will be forced to look for opportunities outside the country, Waveform CEO Kirk Simpson recently told CBC News.

“If we can find the talent somewhere else, we might open a second location in the U.S. market or in a European market,” he said. “And those jobs will not go to Canadians.”

Teaching young people to code and harness the power of cognitive computing could be the solution. Cognitive is, “beyond doubt,” our future, says Tanmay Bakshi, a 13-year-old developer, coding advocate and IBM Cloud champion.

“If we can get the youth involved in this technology, we’ll be creating more job opportunities for them. They’ll have (a better) chance of getting a better job in the AI field.”

Bakshi is certainly doing his part.

He hopes to personally assist 100,000 aspiring coders through keynotes speeches, his YouTube channel and his new book Hello Swift: iOS Programming for Kids and Other Beginners.

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B.C. Entrepreneurs Get a Big Boost From Tech Heavyweights

Thursday, April 27th, 2017

Drawn by favorable government policies, a deep talent pool backed by world-class educational institutions and proximity to Silicon Valley, Vancouver has lured some of the world’s largest technology companies.

The arrival of these tech heavyweights has unleashed a ripple effect boosting startups in Vancouver and the rest of B.C. as expertise and capital flow from these newcomers, according to Ernst & Young’s B.C. technology sector leader Richard Mockett.

Successful entrepreneurs are regularly teaming up to provide the next generation of entrepreneurs with guidance and funding.

“What that does is creates a sort of cluster effect,” says Mockett. “There’s a lot of entrepreneurs spending a lot of time, capital, and experience in developing the next generation of entrepreneurs… It’s just phenomenal to see the energy, the passion, the whole community is bringing to B.C.”

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3 Practical Steps to Increase Gender Diversity at Your Company

Tuesday, April 25th, 2017

In 2016 women held only 21.6% of board seats in Canada’s largest corporations by revenue, according to the Canadian Board Diversity Council.

While this is an improvement from 2015’s 19.5%, many companies still appear to be lagging behind adding women to their boards. A 2016 survey by the Ontario Securities Commission found that 45% of issuers did not have any women on their boards. Something needs to change.

Enter theBoardlist, a talent platform that engages the tech community to increase gender diversity on boards. Launched in the U.S. in 2015, theBoardlist currently has over 1600 board-ready women. For the past six months, I have relentlessly worked closely with founder Sukhinder Singh Cassidy and the team to support the expansion of theBoardlist to Canada.

If you know a board that needs more women check out theBoardlist to see how it can help. If you know a highly qualified woman who would be an asset to a board, why not nominate her right now.

If your company needs more gender diversity at all levels, you’re not alone. While working with companies of all sizes, I’ve learned these three steps can make a significant difference:

  1. Visit community colleges to find potential employees instead of Ivy League schools.
  2. When looking to fill a position at your company, demand that your HR department or staffing firm show you at least 50% female candidates for the role.
  3. Be a voice for change by calling attention to the number of women at every meeting. When numbers are low, relentlessly ask what can be done to improve it.

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3 Must-Dos After A Conference

Wednesday, April 5th, 2017

How do I know I’ve attended a quality conference? I leave energized, inspired and with a stack of business cards.

At most conferences I meet fantastic people and am inspired by a ton of fresh ideas and endless possibilities. I walk away with a long list of practical suggestions and some game changing strategies, and then reality hits:  

  • I am days behind on emails
  • I have a pile of new contacts with varying degrees of value
  • I have ignored colleagues, projects and life in general

So I hurry back to my office and before I know it, I’m back on the hamster wheel.

Sound familiar?

Recently after leaving a two-day conference, I realized this had to change. Almost all the value from a conference was lost because I didn’t have a moment to thoughtfully plan how to apply my new-found knowledge. I decided that I either had to stop spending money on conferences only to discard the learnings, or do something different that made the conference worth my time and money.

I decided to do something different and it’s working. Here are my tips for acting differently the next time you re-enter reality after a conference.

Starting with the obvious, you should do things, like:

  • Connect on LinkedIn (take 30 seconds for a personal message)
  • Send an email that says ‘great to meet you’ within 48 hours
  • Follow up with anything you promised a new contact, like web links, an introduction, meeting time, etc.
  • If a new contact really impressed you, mail them a personal, handwritten thank you card. No better way to stand out in a noisy online world.

But to upgrade your conference experience, I challenge you to try these three not-so-obvious must-do’s after an event.

  1. Set aside 20 minutes to use the new insights you’ve learned
    For me, the best time to do this is shortly after I leave — usually on the flight home. I set an alarm for 20 minutes and reflect on the key insights so I can organize my thoughts. I think about how I can bring the inspirations and tactical ideas back to my team. Your company can benefit from your conference experience by taking time to thoughtfully bring back new strategies for consideration.
  1. Make the first move
    If you’ve done a conference right, you’ve left with a healthy number of business cards, new LinkedIn connections, and Twitter, Instagram or Facebook followers. But let’s face it, not everyone adds the same value to you or your business moving forward.For those that can, devise a plan to stay in touch. For example:

    • Is there an event that you could invite them to speak at?
    • Is there information you could share, such as industry trends or hot new startups?
    • If you’re interested in what they are building, then consider being more actively engaged on social channels

When reaching out in today’s social media world, remember to use tools and platforms that are easily accessible and give you the best chance to stand out.

  1. Commit to changing one thing for the better
    We learn more than tactical skills from a conference. We learn how to be human. I once heard a CEO of a large company say on stage that during an elevator ride he asks employees what project they are working on. It gives the employee time to share (and shine) and provides insights he might not normally receive. This small change in behavior can make you a better manager, CEO or leader. If you listen for the non-tactical messages and commit to applying one, you could benefit in ways that will surprise you — and your team.

For me, the best conferences are the ones where I feel I’ve made meaningful connections and applied the messages I heard on stage to my personal and professional life. It really begins with taking 20 minutes on your way back to reality and then taking action.

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Wanted: Cybersecurity Experts To Fill Canadian IT Skills Gap

Thursday, March 23rd, 2017

From smart fridges to apps that control your room temperature, connected devices are redefining what’s possible when it comes to home and domestic technology. But they’re also spawning new cybersecurity threats: that same life-improving Internet of Things (IoT) device could turn deadly if taken over by a remote intruder.

It’s a scary reality, but these fears also represent an opportunity for a new generation of computer engineers to tackle emerging security challenges in an ever-changing industry.

However, Canada is facing a severe skills gap in IT-related cybersecurity jobs, especially as the number of job-seekers declines despite an abundance of opportunities. More needs to be done to encourage people to develop these skills, and panelists at the BC Tech Summit offered their thoughts on solutions.

Training

Tyson Macaulay of BAE Systems and Keith Cerny of ACL underlined the need for more post-secondary degree programs with a greater focus on cybersecurity. While some Toronto schools are focused on filling the gap, schools and institutes from across the country are encouraged to follow suit.

Awareness

A significant part of the problem — especially with IoT products — is that not enough people realize the risks of their connected devices, said Absolute Software’s Jo-Ann Smith, another BC Tech panelist. The solution to this problem may start at home, where children could be brought up with a stronger knowledge of online threats.

With a solid understanding in cybersecurity, both kids and parents would be equipped to make better choices about which devices to allow into their homes. Further, fostering an early interest in connected devices with youths could lead to many more IoT and cybersecurity professionals in the future.

With automation — including machine learning and artificial intelligence — the cause of much debate for employment experts, cybersecurity looks to be one field that will need many more human workers long into the future.

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World First: IBM Researchers Store Data On a Single Atom

Wednesday, March 22nd, 2017

IBM researchers have read and written data to a magnet consisting of just one atom for the first time ever. The company’s research results, published in Nature, prove that “the experiment truly creates a lasting, stored magnetic state in a single atom that can be detected indirectly,” TechCrunch reports.

“Magnetic bits lie at the heart of hard-disk drives, tape and next-generation magnetic memory,” said Christopher Lutz, lead nanoscience researcher at IBM Research Almaden in San Jose, California.

“We conducted this research to understand what happens when you shrink technology down to the most fundamental extreme — the atomic scale.”

Although right now the product is pure research, the density of atomic-level storage could substantially alter our relationship with data.

You can already fit your entire music library onto a storage device the size of a penny. IBM’s technique would allow you to fit 26 million songs — Apple’s entire music catalog — onto the same area.

In the future, this development could have significant implications for everything from personal devices and business records to artificial intelligence.

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Vancouver is a VR and AR Hub of the Future

Tuesday, March 21st, 2017

In the global technology race, successful cities are constantly searching for fresh ways to innovate and grow new startups. One of the emerging hot spots is the field of virtual and augmented reality, where the city of Vancouver is aiming to position itself as the up-and-coming global hub.

Here are three advantages that could turn Vancouver’s dreams of becoming a virtual juggernaut into reality:

Talent

With a stable of legendary video game studios and top mobile game developers, Vancouver has built a solid reputation as a center for digital creativity. But its film production and VFX communities also set Vancouver apart: local film studios have created many of the jaw-dropping set-pieces in recent Hollywood blockbusters, with some receiving Academy Award nominations for their work. Given the intersections of film in VR and AR, the outstanding talent pipeline that has made these entertainment studios successful is sure to play a huge role in fostering local startups.

Geography

From sea to sky, Vancouver has always enjoyed spectacular scenery. But its prime location is close enough to key innovation hubs like Silicon Valley — and even exploding digital markets like China — give Vancouver a clear advantage as VR startups seek new investors and begin launching in foreign markets. Its status as North America’s “gateway” to Asia has also attracted a diverse student population drawn to local universities and colleges seen as leaders in developing digital talent.

Ecosystem Support

Governments are now realizing the region’s VR and AR potential. The province of British Columbia announced new tax credits at the BC Tech Summit for companies that are making VR and AR entertainment. Local VR and AR talent is also teaming up to launch a center of excellence to collaborate and help startups scale more quickly.

With this depth of talent, along with an attitude of camaraderie and support in the local ecosystem, Vancouver is a sure bet to be a veritable hub of cutting-edge virtual reality entertainment.

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