Here is a message on behalf of the Lead To Win program:
JOIN LEAD TO WIN AND DRIVE MASSIVE INNOVATION IN CANADA’S CAPITAL REGION
If you are serious about starting a profitable business in Canada’s
Capital region, we invite you to apply to the November session of the Lead
to Win program.
If accepted to the program, you must attend six-days of training scheduled
for November 3, 4 and 5 and November 23, 24 and 25 of 2009. Your company
will be expected to create at least six knowledge jobs within the next
three years.
The Lead to Win program is free to qualified applicants - no strings
attached, no small print, no surprises. Individuals from 50 organizations
are investing to make Lead to Win participants successful for the benefit
of the individual and our community. The objective is to create knowledge
jobs, retain technology talent, and attract direct investment.
To apply to Lead to Win, please complete and submit the application
available at www.leadtowin.ca
We are seeking talented individuals who are able and willing to create
technology-based businesses in Canada’s Capital Region. Each new business
must be designed to grow so it can employ at least six knowledge workers
in Canada’s Capital Region over the next three years.
Lead to Win has three phases. In the first phase, you apply online.
Qualified applicants will then be invited to meet with Lead to Win
leadership. Participants will be selected based on their experience,
commitment, and opportunity profile. In the second phase, you participate
in an intense six day training program where you will learn how to lever
business ecosystems, profitably serve attractive vertical markets, and the
key factors that contribute to the ultimate success of a fledgling
technology company. Upon completion of this second phase, you will be well
equipped, and encouraged, to launch your new technology businesses in the
National Capital Region. In the third phase, Lead to Win connects you to
strategic customers, revenue opportunities, and individuals, companies and
organizations that can provide requisite resources, including capital.
If you know of serious individuals who may benefit from Lead to Win,
please forward this email to them. Note that we are only looking for
serious applicants.
We look forward to meeting the next wave of the region’s technology
entrepreneurs on November 3!
If you need additional information over what is at www.leadtowin.ca,
please contact:
Ludovico Prattico, prattico-at-sympatico.ca
Michelle Iseman, michelle.iseman-at-vitesse.ca
Serge Lafontaine, slafontaine-at-arrow.com
Ian Graham, ian-at-thecodefactory.ca
Rowland Few, rfew-at-sce.carleton.ca
Tony Bailetti, Bailetti-at-sce.carleton.ca
Yannick Bouchard, bouchard.yannick-at-gatineau.ca
Showing posts with label entrepreneurship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label entrepreneurship. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Lead To Win
Well, it's been an interesting journey. But it's only about to begin. I participated in the Lead To Win program. Here is their pitch:
If you are serious about starting a profitable tech-based business in Canada's Capital Region during the current economic situation, we invite you to apply to Lead to Win (LTW). Ontario’s Talent First Network is pleased to announce the launch of the Lead To Win program for laid-off or under-employed tech workers. The program is based upon a program of the same name that was delivered during the last economic downturn in 2002. Over half of the participants in the 2002 Lead to Win program created a new business in Canada’s Capital Region. These new businesses collectively created over 300 jobs and attracted over $90M in investment.
The program is no cakewalk! As a matter of fact, despite all the FREE great food and cake that they fed us during the program, not once were any of us invited to walk or even take a quick stroll across cake of any shape or form (no African dancing either... do your research).
After at least 3 Phases of filtering and improvements, I am proud to announce that my idea has come out on top. Of God-knows how many application 50 some opportunities made it into phase 1, 40 some make it to phase 2 and 30 some made it to phase 3. Of phase 3 participants 19 are rated Green (ready to go) and of them 7 opportunities have been rated Green by all it's assessors. My opportunity is one of those 7, which is cool I guess. I mean if your into that whole "being the cream of the crop" scene.
Anyway thought I'd just put that out there. That's one of the things I've been up to now that I'm back in the hemisphere. I did some other stuff but I can't remember it right now.
To learn more about the program, or to apply for it, visit their website: www.leadtowin.ca
Tell them I sent you. Unless your idea sucks, in which case I never heard of you and you never heard of me. No, like seriously who are you?
But in all honesty, this program is not made to filter people. The idea is to make better entrepreneurs out of us all and to make jobs. You will improve yourself or your idea drastically during the process guaranteed! I highly recommend the program and especially those who voluntarily put it together in true entrepreneurial style. I owe a lot to them and will be even further indebted as Phase III progresses. Actually I will take this moment to thank them and thank them in advance.
Here are some shots of the graduation: I am receiving my diplomat here from David Hudson:
Here I am celebrating with Tony Bailetti:
For those of you who know me best and know how I like to celebrate graduations: Yes, I did pull a Timon (from the Lion King) style celebration just before getting the diploma.
I'll probably write more about this soon but feel free to ask questions... My press secretary will be happy to address them.
If you are serious about starting a profitable tech-based business in Canada's Capital Region during the current economic situation, we invite you to apply to Lead to Win (LTW). Ontario’s Talent First Network is pleased to announce the launch of the Lead To Win program for laid-off or under-employed tech workers. The program is based upon a program of the same name that was delivered during the last economic downturn in 2002. Over half of the participants in the 2002 Lead to Win program created a new business in Canada’s Capital Region. These new businesses collectively created over 300 jobs and attracted over $90M in investment.
The program is no cakewalk! As a matter of fact, despite all the FREE great food and cake that they fed us during the program, not once were any of us invited to walk or even take a quick stroll across cake of any shape or form (no African dancing either... do your research).
After at least 3 Phases of filtering and improvements, I am proud to announce that my idea has come out on top. Of God-knows how many application 50 some opportunities made it into phase 1, 40 some make it to phase 2 and 30 some made it to phase 3. Of phase 3 participants 19 are rated Green (ready to go) and of them 7 opportunities have been rated Green by all it's assessors. My opportunity is one of those 7, which is cool I guess. I mean if your into that whole "being the cream of the crop" scene.
Anyway thought I'd just put that out there. That's one of the things I've been up to now that I'm back in the hemisphere. I did some other stuff but I can't remember it right now.
To learn more about the program, or to apply for it, visit their website: www.leadtowin.ca
Tell them I sent you. Unless your idea sucks, in which case I never heard of you and you never heard of me. No, like seriously who are you?
But in all honesty, this program is not made to filter people. The idea is to make better entrepreneurs out of us all and to make jobs. You will improve yourself or your idea drastically during the process guaranteed! I highly recommend the program and especially those who voluntarily put it together in true entrepreneurial style. I owe a lot to them and will be even further indebted as Phase III progresses. Actually I will take this moment to thank them and thank them in advance.
Here are some shots of the graduation: I am receiving my diplomat here from David Hudson:
Here I am celebrating with Tony Bailetti:
For those of you who know me best and know how I like to celebrate graduations: Yes, I did pull a Timon (from the Lion King) style celebration just before getting the diploma.
I'll probably write more about this soon but feel free to ask questions... My press secretary will be happy to address them.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Blog Action Day
So today is "Blog Action Day".
This is a day when bloggers around the world unite-and-write about poverty in order to raise awareness. Personally, I can't say that I an expert in poverty. I've been lucky enough to have never really experienced true poverty. That said, I'll give my two cents anyhow as part of the effort to raise awareness and knowing that two cents given from multiple sources can add up to worthwhile amounts. Which leads us to my first topic: Microfinancing.
I think that Microfinance can be best explained using infomercialism.
Infomercial for Microfinancer-2000-X already in progress :
Mike: "Many of you are saying to yourselves: Hey Mike, I've heard about Microfinancing, but I'm not really sure what it is. Micofinancing is basically the act of lending small amounts of money to the very poor, by institutions other than big banks."
Member of paid audience: "OK Mike, so that's what Microfinancing is, but why is it an important issue in today's turbulent times?"
Me: "Microfinancing is an important issue because it addresses one of the worlds pressing issues: Extreme Poverty. It does this by allowing money to reach entrepreneurs living in poor countries. Microcredits allow the entrepreneurs to start businesses, provide for their families and stimulate the local economy. They can place larger orders and take on larger projects and hire employees. Most importantly they avoid crippling interest rates that can often reach 100% per month in some countries."
Typical sales-person/host who asks basic naive questions: "That's all fair and well Mike, but why don't these entrepreneurs just borrow from banks?"
Me: "That's a fair and non-basic question Rob Lowe. The reason that the people who receive microfinancing cannot borrow from traditional banks is because they often cannot offer anything as collateral (such as a house, a building or title to land) which banks require when lending money. Even if they do have collateral it’s rarely enough to secure a loan large enough to be profitable for a typical bank."
Member of a visible minority: "If banks don't lend out the money then who does?".
Me: "Microfinancors vary from smaller private banks, non-profit groups and even people like you or me. The best part is that loans can come from multiple sources, so the risk is reduced!"
Grandmother: "Microfiancing seems complicated and I probably don't qualify... Not with my medical history."
Mike: "Not true, Microfinancing is easy to do and only takes a few minutes. There are no medical questions and best of all: The premiums never go up!"
Token blond, overly enthusiastic, soccer-mom type lady: "Wow, that sounds great. How can I Microfinance an third world entrepreneur right now?"
Mike: "You help end Extreme Poverty today by going to a site such as http://www.kiva.org/ and lending as little as one easy payment of $100?"
Rob Lowe: "Come on Mike! You can do better than that."
Mike: "All right Rob, how about this. For a limited time you can: Help end extreme poverty, reduce 3rd world dependence on foreign aid and for today only, as part of a special offer, you can also experience a sense of purpose! All for one easy payment of only $25!"
Rob Lowe: "Amazing Mike! Sign me up for Microfinancing today!".
Man that you never see: "Act Now! Dial toll-free http://www.kiva.org/ right now to fight Extreme Poverty. Usually around 90-100% money back guarantee. Shipping and handling charges do not apply. "
So that is microfinancing in a nutshell. Now that I am done promoting debt, it's time to bash it while trying not to sound like a complete hypocrite:
First off, debt is not a bad thing. In fact debt is an essential concept in today’s shaky economy (perhaps not tomorrows). The problem with debt is that it is often associated with interest, often high interest. Interest is a tool that for years has helped the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It’s based on simple math but since people don’t care much for math, they usually get into financial trouble due to interest associated to debt.
If your financial life was a hike along a mountain, debt would be the grass just at the edge of the path that is often safe to step on in order to speed up your pace. However, once in a while, it gives out and sends you on a trip down a slippery slope that you may end up on for the rest of your hike (never reaching the top of the mountain). In this imagery, the Bank would be the hiker ahead of you that recommends that you walk on the grass in order to reach the top faster. They also insist on hold onto your backpack for you.
All that to say that I hate owing or being owed money so I pay things back as soon as I can and avoid borrowing completely. Emotionally I prefer to give something away then to lend it. But that’s just me.
I'll end this post by mentioning the current global economic crisis. There done. I think we hear enough about it from our propaganda machines. As much as I like the topic I’ll stay clear of it today just cause I just had a long talk about it last night with a co-worker and I don’t really want to go down that rabbit hole again. I want to keep this short and just say this:
1) A lot of people and organizations are making money and (more importantly) gaining power over the "Crisis".
2) Usually if you want to find out who is responsible for a problem you simple have to look towards who is profiting from it.
3) The Federal Reserve should be allowed operate in the way it does.
Thats all for my blog today. Thanks for reading and stay tuned to find out about a really cool tree I StumbledUpon in downtown Florianopolis last weekend.
This is a day when bloggers around the world unite-and-write about poverty in order to raise awareness. Personally, I can't say that I an expert in poverty. I've been lucky enough to have never really experienced true poverty. That said, I'll give my two cents anyhow as part of the effort to raise awareness and knowing that two cents given from multiple sources can add up to worthwhile amounts. Which leads us to my first topic: Microfinancing.
I think that Microfinance can be best explained using infomercialism.
Infomercial for Microfinancer-2000-X already in progress :
Mike: "Many of you are saying to yourselves: Hey Mike, I've heard about Microfinancing, but I'm not really sure what it is. Micofinancing is basically the act of lending small amounts of money to the very poor, by institutions other than big banks."
Member of paid audience: "OK Mike, so that's what Microfinancing is, but why is it an important issue in today's turbulent times?"
Me: "Microfinancing is an important issue because it addresses one of the worlds pressing issues: Extreme Poverty. It does this by allowing money to reach entrepreneurs living in poor countries. Microcredits allow the entrepreneurs to start businesses, provide for their families and stimulate the local economy. They can place larger orders and take on larger projects and hire employees. Most importantly they avoid crippling interest rates that can often reach 100% per month in some countries."
Typical sales-person/host who asks basic naive questions: "That's all fair and well Mike, but why don't these entrepreneurs just borrow from banks?"
Me: "That's a fair and non-basic question Rob Lowe. The reason that the people who receive microfinancing cannot borrow from traditional banks is because they often cannot offer anything as collateral (such as a house, a building or title to land) which banks require when lending money. Even if they do have collateral it’s rarely enough to secure a loan large enough to be profitable for a typical bank."
Member of a visible minority: "If banks don't lend out the money then who does?".
Me: "Microfinancors vary from smaller private banks, non-profit groups and even people like you or me. The best part is that loans can come from multiple sources, so the risk is reduced!"
Grandmother: "Microfiancing seems complicated and I probably don't qualify... Not with my medical history."
Mike: "Not true, Microfinancing is easy to do and only takes a few minutes. There are no medical questions and best of all: The premiums never go up!"
Token blond, overly enthusiastic, soccer-mom type lady: "Wow, that sounds great. How can I Microfinance an third world entrepreneur right now?"
Mike: "You help end Extreme Poverty today by going to a site such as http://www.kiva.org/ and lending as little as one easy payment of $100?"
Rob Lowe: "Come on Mike! You can do better than that."
Mike: "All right Rob, how about this. For a limited time you can: Help end extreme poverty, reduce 3rd world dependence on foreign aid and for today only, as part of a special offer, you can also experience a sense of purpose! All for one easy payment of only $25!"
Rob Lowe: "Amazing Mike! Sign me up for Microfinancing today!".
Man that you never see: "Act Now! Dial toll-free http://www.kiva.org/ right now to fight Extreme Poverty. Usually around 90-100% money back guarantee. Shipping and handling charges do not apply. "
So that is microfinancing in a nutshell. Now that I am done promoting debt, it's time to bash it while trying not to sound like a complete hypocrite:
First off, debt is not a bad thing. In fact debt is an essential concept in today’s shaky economy (perhaps not tomorrows). The problem with debt is that it is often associated with interest, often high interest. Interest is a tool that for years has helped the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It’s based on simple math but since people don’t care much for math, they usually get into financial trouble due to interest associated to debt.
If your financial life was a hike along a mountain, debt would be the grass just at the edge of the path that is often safe to step on in order to speed up your pace. However, once in a while, it gives out and sends you on a trip down a slippery slope that you may end up on for the rest of your hike (never reaching the top of the mountain). In this imagery, the Bank would be the hiker ahead of you that recommends that you walk on the grass in order to reach the top faster. They also insist on hold onto your backpack for you.
All that to say that I hate owing or being owed money so I pay things back as soon as I can and avoid borrowing completely. Emotionally I prefer to give something away then to lend it. But that’s just me.
I'll end this post by mentioning the current global economic crisis. There done. I think we hear enough about it from our propaganda machines. As much as I like the topic I’ll stay clear of it today just cause I just had a long talk about it last night with a co-worker and I don’t really want to go down that rabbit hole again. I want to keep this short and just say this:
1) A lot of people and organizations are making money and (more importantly) gaining power over the "Crisis".
2) Usually if you want to find out who is responsible for a problem you simple have to look towards who is profiting from it.
3) The Federal Reserve should be allowed operate in the way it does.
Thats all for my blog today. Thanks for reading and stay tuned to find out about a really cool tree I StumbledUpon in downtown Florianopolis last weekend.
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