Dear Alberta MLAs, Honourable Members of the Alberta Legislature, Hello, I am Trent Johnsen. I am the Co-founder, CEO of a communications technology company “liveweb”. I serve on the Board of a Calgary-based Venture fund, and worked with Creative Destruction Lab Rockies, Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary which over the past 60 … More An Open Letter to Alberta MLA’s about our future.
I have written here about wealth creation in the 21st century before. Here’s the important part: This thought and article were penned in 2011, by this guy . . . and with each passing year he’s been proven more correct. And he puts his money where his mouth is. And why Software Developers are considered the New … More What Albertans Don’t Realize About Our Future.
Bessemer Venture Partners “BVP Cloud Index” is one of the best examples of new economy as compared to old economy. The graph below speaks for itself: It’s a terrific site that includes complete detail on the companies that make up the BVP Index and insightful data on the current state of SAAS valuations. You can visit the … More Cloud Valuations head for the Stratosphere.
On startups in Europe: Remarks to European Parliaments. A speech delivered to Chairpersons of EU affairs committees of European Union parliaments, at their COSAC meeting in Tallinn, Estonia on July 10, 2017. Twitter / @Riigikogu Esteemed Chairpersons, Delegates, dear fellow Europeans, I stand before you here today because I build companies in Europe. I founded my first one … More A Shining (small market) Example for Alberta – Estonia is punching almost 10X above Europe’s average Venture Capital investments of 0.08% of GDP
An articulate, insightful article on challenges and opportunities in Alberta Technology published in it’s entirety from the LinkedIn post from Bill Whitelaw – (links to original article at Bill’s picture and name below.) Published on February 16, 2017 Bill Whitelaw President & CEO at JuneWarren-Nickle’s Energy Group Here’s the thing about ecosystems: they … More Let’s quit claiming Alberta has an innovation ecosystem. Because it doesn’t.
Minister Deron Bilous provided an update to the forthcoming “Alberta Investor Tax Credit” yesterday (September 29, 2016) in a Press conference and press release; link to source in image below: It may just be political expediency but the continued language about “small business” is concerning on a number of levels. The largest, fastest wealth … More Progress, but does Alberta have this right yet?
This is such a terrific article I’m reposting the entire article here for AlbertaTechnology readers – click on the John Stackhouse image below to visit the source article in LinkedIn For diversity and inclusion, no country is hotter than Canada. So why are we so worried about innovation, which is supposed to thrive on those … More “What’s does Canada need? A bit more frankness, and a lot more failure.”
If you haven’t been introduced to Mark Suster and his work at “Both Sides of the Table” then we have a pleasant surprise for you. Mark recently explored Why Acceptance of Failure is Critical to Startup Success? a perfect follow on to our most recent post on innovation, risk, and national culture. An excerpt from Mark’s post below, follow the … More LA VC Mark Suster provides a perfect follow-on to previous post on innovation, risk and culture on Both Sides of the Table
“Canadians are more risk averse than Americans” I explained. “Everyone is more risk averse than the Americans” my friend replied. “if you think Canadians are afraid of failure, you should see the Germans!” he explained. “They even have a word for the enjoyment of seeing others fail – schadenfreude.” I laughed. He was right. We … More innovation, risk and national culture
Thank you to Bruno Steppuhn at Diversify Alberta for more details on Alberta’s new investor tax credit. Based on information to date it appears that although the Alberta government has announced up to $45 million a year over the next two years for investors, timing details and ability to apply and use the credit are not … More 6 Things You Need To Know About Alberta’s New Investor Tax Credit
Alberta Technology 