.

Meet Our New Intern: Jeff Talajic!

When we announced our call for interns, I was astounded at the response. The quality of the candidates who applied were really strong but out of this pack, we chose one Jeff Talajic to be the newest member of our team. Jeff is going to be interning with Flow Ventures for the summer, so why don’t I let him introduce himself and what he’ll be doing for us, in his own words:

Jumping on this internship opportunity at Flow Ventures was a no brainer for me. I’m an MBA student with startup aspirations, so I’ve decided to take a break from the classroom for the summer and get my hands dirty in the startup world. I’ve requested to help out with all of the unsexy, seldom-blogged about things that are required to run a company — the payroll, bookkeeping, tax remittances, government documentation, SR&ED credits, and even the filing! If I’m going to found my own startup after graduation, I need to know how to manage the nuts and bolts that I don’t learn about in school and I certainly don’t read about in the blogosphere.

This internship also requires me to get out into the community and meet as many interesting startup people as I can, so feel free to introduce yourself if you see me out. My first stop will be at Mondev, the open-source conference taking place in Montreal, May 24-28. The full schedule is here, and if you see me at any of the events be sure to say hi.

Finally, I look forward to bring some fresh ideas, operational muscle, and strategic thought to Flow and help out any way I can. It’s going to be an awesome summer!

So, as you can see, Jeff’s really as keen as can be. He’s already been invaluable putting his weight behind Startup Drinks CA and saving my hide by diagnosing my PC with a network card problem! As they say, the best job security is making yourself indispensable.

Summer Internship Opportunities at Flow Ventures

Robin’s Ultimate SXSW Survival Guide

South By South West Interactive was, in a word, epic, especially as a n00b and a non-road warrior. This is what I learned in (almost) chronological order:

• Choose your seatmate well for the flight into Austin – This way, you’re at SXSW even before you land. Mine was Scott Heiferman, CEO of Meetup.com who is an all-round nice guy. Bonus: see if you can get your plane turned around 30 minutes into the flight due to cabin pressure issues to ensure maximum face time and fear of dying.
• Get some rest – have the airline lose your luggage. You can fritter away your first day pottering around your hotel room in your travel clothes and not unpack your things.
• Party “plans” - treat them with the same disrespect as you do your business plans. Roll with the posse you find.
• Shatter your iphone – it makes for a great icebreaker, pun intended (“what the hell happened?”, “how does that thing still work?”, “HOLY CRAP! I HEARD ABOUT THAT PHONE”) Photo credit: Evan Blaustein
  
• 
• Run into Sean Power randomly and frequently – highly recommended.
• Use a car service – Just because you call a cab doesn’t mean it has neccessarily been dispatched (512-573-2486)
• Have DJs rock your world – namely Flosstradamus (Chicago), Wants Versus Needs (Minneapolis) and Table Manners Crew (Austin represent!)
• Drink early, Drink often - It takes effort to avoid drinking at SXSW so why fight it? Stumbleupon party and Cheezburger party were both excellent. Driskill has great beef jerky (thanks Aidan!) and lots of legit people to meet - just follow the smell of riff raff.
• Gatorade - the true breakfast of champions
  
• Talk about something other than tech – entertain people with videos of your dog Boomer! (thanks John!)
• Panels – ignore the title, research the speakers (thanks Stevey!) and/or go to things you know NOTHING about and expand your mind (thanks David!). If you’re on a panel, encourage people to participate by offering them free beer (thanks Grace!)
• Warm up your vocal chords if you’re going to a panel with Tara Hunt. She will probably make you sing and dance. You’ll appreciate the energy boost it gives you.
• Bring a Sharpie – you never know when you might need one.
• 
• Extend your stay – have your homeward bound flight canceled due to technical issues and stay in Austin an extra day. Don’t forget to cancel your next day’s meetings! Bonus: try to be stranded with David Dufresne (what a mensch!) and hit the music festival. Super Bonus: make sure it coincides with St. Patrick’s Day and watch the chaos reign!
  
• 
• Duct tape – bring it or buy it at 7/11. Your choice.

But enough about me though. How was your week?

Startup Drinks Around Canada - Wed, Jan 27, 2010

Hi Everyone!

We’re back on track with Startup Drinks with a whole slew of events happening across Canada.  Startup Drinks Waterloo were the first ones out the gate this year kicking us off on January 5.  You can see the recap here.

Next week there are drinks happening in cities all over the country, check it out:

VANCOUVER

When: 5pm, 27 January, 2010

Where: Downstairs, Alibi Room (157 Alexander Street @ Main) (map)

Your hosts: Brian LeRoux (Nitobi), Boris Mann (Bootup Entrepreneurial Society)

EDMONTON

When: 5pm, 27 January, 2010

Where: TBA

Your hosts: Cam Linke, Startup Edmonton

CALGARY

When: 6pm, 27 January, 2010

Where: Bottlescrew Bill’s Old English Pub in the back private room (140 - 10 Avenue S.W.) (map),

Your hosts: Kory Arsenault, eSchedule

Sign Up Here!

TORONTO

When: 7:30pm, 27 January, 2010 (*special post-DemoCamp time*!)

Where: Imperial Pub in the Library Room (54 Dundas St. E)  (map)

Your hosts: Brian Watson and Robin Gittens (CEO Fusion), David Crow (Microsoft), Mark Evans (ME Consulting)

Sign Up Here!

OTTAWA

When: 6:00pm, 27 January, 2010

Where: Patty Boland’s (101 Clarence St) (map)

Your host: Cory Darby, Kelly Rusk (Startup Ottawa), Steve O’Halloran (Assetlabs)

Sign Up Here!

MONTREAL

When: 5:30pm, 27 January, 2010

Where: Brutopia (1219 Rue Crescent) (map)

Your host: Robin Ahn (Flow Ventures)

Sign Up Here!

ST. JOHN

When: 6pm, 27 January, 2010

Where: Big Tide Brewing Company (30 Princess St) (map)

Your host: Jeff Roach (Propel Accelerator)

Sign Up Here!

FREDRICTON

When: 6pm, 27 January, 2010

Where: Garrison District Ale House (426 Queen Street) (map)

Your host: Jeff Roach (Propel Accelerator)

Sign Up Here!

ST. JOHN

When: 6pm, 27 January, 2010

Where: Big Tide Brewing Company (30 Princess St) (map)

Your host: Jeff Roach (Propel Accelerator)

MONCTON

When: 6pm, 27 January, 2010

Where: Vie Tapas & Lounge (196 Robinson St, at the back of Robinson Court) (map)

Your host: Jeff Roach (Propel Accelerator)

Sign Up Here!

HALIFAX

When: Time TBA, 27 January, 2010

Where: TBA

Your host: Jeff White (Kula Partners)

*** updated with 3 cities in New Brunswick! ***

Haiti Tweetup Wrap-Up: $10,000 for Haiti!

(tons more photos here, all photos courtesy of Julian Haber)

A huge thank you to everyone who was involved with Haiti Tweetup! Here’s what we accomplished in one week:

• 120 people attended the event
• 35 businesses donated prizes
• 20 lucky/skilled people won prize lots
• media coverage on CBC, CJAD, the Montreal Mirror and elsewhere online
• $5093 raised in total ($2800 from the auction, $1668 at the door, $625 online)

Since the Canadian government is matching donations, this translates into $10,186 which is going directly to Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders Canada.

Whether you attended the event or lent your support in other ways, we should all be proud of what we were able to achieve. I didn’t doubt for a second that the Montreal community would rise to the occasion.

A special thank-you goes to Robin Ahn who put in a huge effort to get all of the logistics sorted out including finding the venue. She is now our resident Silent Auction superhero. Believe me, organizing one is a superpower.

Thanks to the following people who volunteered or helped find sponsors: Christina Baudin, Lateef Martin, Massimo Farina, Sarah Lolley, Julian Haber, Christine LaFontaine, Peter Bailey,and DJ Andy Williams

And a huge shout-out to individuals and businesses to contributed prizes:

• Cruz Limousine
• Scandinave Les Bains
• DNA 11
• Pure Love
• Liz Claiborne
• Brazen Design
• Epicierie Fleur
• Gina Roitman
• Le Groupe Spectacles Gillett (GEG)
• Julian Haber
• Kevin Ledo
• Good Life Apparel
• Automatic Vaudeville Studios
• Spa Zazen
• Studio Sweatshop
• Solares
• Geoff Lapp Trio
• Sasha Kleinplatz
• DeAnne Smith
• McAuslan Brewery
• CBC Radio
• Marc Andre Cyr
• Mainline Theatre
• Moksha Yoga
• McCaughey Consumer Products
• Lorraine Craig
• Blackeye Design
• Ogilvy Renault
• 3Even
• ASM Performing Arts
• Geordie Productions
• Ristorante Capriccio

We’re working on new fundraising projects that will focus on the long-term rebuilding effort in Haiti so stay tuned. If you want to help out, please drop me a line and stay in touch.

Raymond

Haiti Tweetup - What’s Next?

Thanks to everyone for their enthusiastic support of our Haiti Tweetup fundraising drive! We need your help on the final drive for participants on Tuesday, 19 January at Casa Del Popolo (4873 blvd St-Laurent) between 5:30pm and 8:30pm. 

Get tickets here: 

http://haititweetup.eventbrite.com/

Check out the Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=272804474001&ref=ts

Reasons to come:

1. Haiti needs help on the ground and they need it yesterday.  This is an international issue (that needs no more explanation from me) AND it’s also a local one.  Thousands of Haitian Canadians are worried sick and losing sleep over their friends and relatives; they deserve to know that we’re with them and we support them. 
2. DJ Andy Williams will provide the sound and fury for your rump shaking pleasure. 
3. Prizes! Prizes! Prizes! Raffles and silent auctions will be going on for a list of wicked prizes that won’t stop growing! 
4. Did I mention something about an earthquake ravaged country just-a-few-short-hours-by-plane away? Yes, that one. 

How to help: 

1. Send an email.  Copy and paste all of the above in a new message, send it to your entourage then sit back and take the credit. Plagiarism for a good cause doesn’t count. 
2. Get on the phone - call your friends to come out and meet you for a drink on Tuesday at Casa del Popolo! They’re good people and itching for a way to give - the $10 donation-at-the-door might just be the trick.
3. Get Social on Facebook and Twitter - shout it loud and proud that you’re coming with the #haititweetup hashtag.  Let everybody know that Haiti has your support and ask them to join you. 
4. Work your contacts - Do you have friends in high places? Know people well placed in the media who just need to know about this initiative? Point them to this blog! 
5. Add a Haiti Tweetup Widget to your web page - it’s beautiful and functional. Code here: [<div style=”width: 250px;”><iframe name=”countdown” id=”mgframe” src=”http://www.eventbrite.com/countdown-widget?eid=536979119″ width=”250″ height=”420″ marginheight=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ scrolling=”no”  frameborder=”0″ ></iframe><a href=”http://www.eventbrite.com/r/ecount”><img src=”http://www.eventbrite.com/s.gif” alt=”Events” border=”0″/></a></div>]

Add the Haiti Tweetup Widget to Your Web Site

If you have a Web site, please consider adding the Haiti Tweetup Widget to your home page to help spread the word about the fundraiser on Tuesday January 19th. You can see an example of the widget to the right of this page.

Just cut and paste this code into your Web page:

<div style=”width: 250px;”><iframe name=”countdown” id=”mgframe” src=”http://www.eventbrite.com/countdown-widget?eid=536979119″ width=”250″ height=”420″ marginheight=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ scrolling=”no”  frameborder=”0″ ></iframe><a href=”http://www.eventbrite.com/r/ecount”><img src=”http://www.eventbrite.com/s.gif” alt=”Events” border=”0″/></a></div>

Thanks

Raymond

Help for Haiti - Montreal Fundraiser Tues Jan 19th @ 5:30pm

It’s rare that we post non-business stuff to the Flow Ventures blog but we’re making an exception to announce the Haiti Tweetup to help raise money for disaster relief efforts.  This fundraising get-together will be held next Tuesday January 19th at 5:30pm at Casa de Popolo in Mile-End Montreal.

See all the details and RSVP here: http://haititweetup.eventbrite.com/

Tickets are free but we’re asking that people donate at least $10 at the door. All proceeds will go to the International Red Cross (http://www.icrc.org/) who are already on the ground in Haiti and have been for quite some time. If you can’t make it, please just donate directly to the organization of your choice.

Help spread the word using #haititweetup on Twitter. Look for the Facebook event called “Haiti Tweetup Montreal”.

thanks,

The Flow Ventures team

Why you should attend StartupDrinksCA

This week marks a major milestone in the life of StartupDrinksCA. It’s the first time the event can be called a truly Canadian event rather than something that’s just happening in a few cities. Since organizing StartupDrinks in Montreal over a year ago, we’ve managed to expand it to Toronto, Ottawa and Waterloo. Now we’re happy to welcome Halifax (which ran its first StartupDrinks last week), Moncton, St. John, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. I’m sure there will be more Canadian communities joining.

We’ve created a new Web site (www.startupdrinks.ca) to make it easier to organize and promote StartupDrinks in your city. Check it out to see when StartupDrinksCA is happening in your city.

To mark this important milestone, I thought I would highlight the 3 reasons why I think you should attend StartupDrinksCA:

1. Celebrate your community - I’ve recently started reading Who’s Your City? by Richard Florida. He talks about how important creative clusters are to the work of creative people. StartupDrinks is a great way to celebrate how vibrant your local tech entrepreneurship community is. Take a step back and realize that you’re surrounded by passionate, talented people who’ll go out of their way to enable your passion and talent.
2. Build your reputation - Your personal reputation in the community is crucial, not only if you’re a social media professional. It applies to all types of businesses. Regularly attending StartupDrinks is a way for you to develop a reputation with people you aren’t necessarily doing business with today. But when opportunities arise (e.g. someone looking for a co-founder, or their next investment) you’ll appreciate the fact that you have a social bond to back up the fact you’re LinkedIn.
3. Talk about yourself - All startups (and entrepreneurs) are works-in-progress. There’s no better way to develop and hone your pitch (business or personal) than getting out there and doing it. You’ll get great feedback and just the exercise of hearing yourself pitch will give you new insight into what works and what doesn’t. The nice thing about StartupDrinks is that there are no speeches and no panel of judges. Be yourself, share a pint and talk about your projects.

One last reason: there’s a fabulous prize (paid out in kudos) for the person who attends the most Startupdrinks in different cities. We call it: Startup Lush. So far I’m winning but I’d love to have some competition!

Startup Drinks CA is live!

Big news!

Startup Drinks has expanded to include eight beautiful cities - Halifax, St. John, Toronto, Waterloo, Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary and Montreal.  Startup Drinks Canada also has a new home over at www.startupdrinks.ca and twitter account (@startupdrinksca), to keep you informed on what’s going on locally and nationally.

If you’re eager to help organize for the fun and fellowship, contact your local organizer.  Your support in getting the word out from exactly where you’re sitting right now is always appreciated too.  Use the usual or unusual channels, I’m not picky!  This is a completely community run event for all to enjoy.  Thanks to all of our city volunteers who saw the need and stepped up so fast it nearly made my head spin!

If you’ve never been before, it’s really simple.

1. Go to www.startupdrinks.ca and look up your city’s date, location and time.
2. Sign up to show your support and let your organizer know you’re coming.  Make a date with yourself or a friend and go.
3. Order a drink and introduce yourself to someone you’ve never met before. Repeat as needed.

We don’t have presentations or sponsors and fully encourage people just to have a good time while getting to know their local startup community. This is the last one for 2009 so please accept my sincere thanks to each and every one of you who came and made it a success.  The kudos belongs to you.

Here are the need to know details for Startup Drinks Montreal:

When: Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 5:30pm

Where: Brutopia, 1219 Rue Crescent (cnr Ste-Catherine) (map)

Sign up here!

Next Startup Drinks Montreal: January 27, 2010