Random Thoughts @thompsonj-blog - Tumblr Blog

Next Generation Founder

Had the pleasure of meeting someone today. Someone who represents the next generation of innovation, economic development, and to be honest the future for our city and province.

This person just finished Grade 10 of high school.

I love his startup idea, but like most it might not survive. I love his passion for wanting to make a difference. This will survive, but only if we - as fellow entrepreneurs and founders - nurture and support him.

It is all about supporting the the founder, first. His current idea may not flourish to become the next big star from Atlantic Canada. But if we don't provide a nurturing environment to a young founder, one willing to venture into this crazy world, can we expect him to stay here?

I won't get into my opinions on investment attraction....(but yet I typed a long paragraph, and deleted...)

Here is what's needed:

1. Founders: we need to support the next generation. Whether the high school student on his first foray into this crazy world, or the senior-prenuer wanting to make a go of it.

2. Startup Employees: you have a lot to give. Whether you're a Node.js, Clojure or Ruby guy/gal, we can all lend 1-hour to help. Imagine if you had a shoulder to lean on when trying to solve a technical problem when you first started.

3. Mentors: keep doing what you're doing. Full disclosure, I'm a Launch36 mentor and know we're doing awesome things. If you're not part of a formal mentorship program (doesn't need to be Launch36), you likely have something to give. Sometimes experience, a critical eye, or sober second thought is worth a ton. You'll be amazed at what can happen over a cup of coffee.

So back to my meeting today...he's off on customer validation and his homework is to explore all that is Lean Startup. He has a good idea, one that has potential. Baby steps for next couple of weeks.

In closing, I've said this to many but worth repeating. I got some of the best advise from someone and all that person asked was to pay it forward. Like that person is doing, I continue to do so today.

Activator

A few weeks ago, I was asked to be part of a selection committee for the next cohort in UNB's Activator program.

Being honest, I really didn't want to take an entire day away from work. Having spent a lot of time 'giving back' with Launch36 as a mentor and helping to organize East Coast Startup Week, really wanted to focus on a smaller number of things: personal life and my own startup.

But, I said yes.

Highlights from yesterday:

"I want to be the driving force behind my success." said one of the student leader candidate. This simple sentence says so much about what it takes to be an entrepreneur and startup founder.

"Without the courage to act, passion is meaningless." from another student leader candidate. I've met a lot of folks with a strong passion for an idea, or solving a problem but they don't act on it.

"This is Me 2.0" essentially describes the journey another student leader is on to gain the experience and skills to become an entrepreneur. Realized where his passion was and acted on making it a reality.

"This is our plan for sustainable growth" said a company about their idea to reduce their reliance on the goodwill of others.

In the end, I'm glad I said yes. We, in the startup community, often say success comes from connections & collisions. I most certainly collided with a few new faces yesterday, and I look forward to staying connected as they progress through Activator.

Off to the office now...such is startup life!

Follow me on Twitter: @thomjeff

nemrow-blog

I finally said it, my startup failed. Fuck. I felt like I was coming out of the closet when I first stated it aloud to my co-founder. We both knew for months it was not working out, but we never explicitly defined our situation as a failed one. Now that the elephant in the room has a name, we’ll...

thompsonj-blog

Brutally honest post of the real startup life experience. Thanks for sharing!

If balancing the budget were only this easy....

Using the CBC budget calculator, here are my thoughts on how to go about balancing the books in New Brunswick.

Yes, I know. It isn't this easy. No budget, whether for government, for business or even your personal budget is easy to balance. I'll come back to why I think it is even more difficult for governments later in this post.

My thoughts on getting to a $2-million surplus.

Revenues

We can't cut our way out of this mess...

Corporate Income Taxes: Rollback the majority, not all of, the Graham tax cuts provides $20-million boost. They were a mistake then, and only worsened by not addressing two years ago.

HST: Increase the HST to 14%. Yes, I believe consumption taxes are generally fair when they have a low/middle income credit like the HST does. Result is $137-million boost.

Personal Income Taxes: Rollback the majority of the Graham tax cuts. Like corporate taxes, a silly move when the Province was facing major uncertainty and overspending by almost $800-million each year of Graham's tenure. This is the biggest boost to revenues at $160-million.

Gasoline Tax: No change and it was very tempting to increase. Let's keep it in our back pocket if/when we need to address further shortfalls.

Tobacco Tax: Increase a small amount. I'm not a smoker and would love to increase further but I think it would only benefit the black market trade and increase enforcement costs.

Highway Tolls: I will never forgive Lord for removing the tolls. It was a classic example of using our tax dollars to get elected. After the capital costs to implement, I don't believe this measure will provide much net gain.

Health Levy: Our taxes pay for healthcare. Full stop. I agree with the Minister Flemming that his Department has, for too long, enjoyed year after year increases. I also believe it is the new tool in the political campaign strategy: drop an MRI in a riding likely means re-election.

New Revenues: $323-million.

Spending

I believe there is more that can be cut than the budget calculator provides. For example, reverse the decision to increase cabinet by 2 positions. Where has the Conservative mantra of "smaller government" gone?

Health (-2%): Every department should be able to cut spending by 2%. So Health should cut 2%. When I read about a health network cutting 5 of 8 vice presidents, I'm left with why does a health network need vice presidents? What role does the Department play? In the medium-term, we need to challenge this belief that every nook and cranny of New Brunswick needs full-service healthcare. It is unsustainable.

Education (-1%): I haven't done the math, but seems the Minister made more spending announcements in 2012 than he did in spending cuts. Savings from any efficiency measures announced were being put back into the system.

Social Development (0%): No change, but I would encourage the Minister responsible to find 5% efficiency gains and take that money for new programs.

Economic Development & InvestNB (-5%): So much to say...Let's leave it at every organization should be able to find 5% efficiency.

Transportation (-5%): Stop, please stop promising 4-lane highways to get re-elected. For the next couple of years, we will need to delay some projects. This is tough one as delaying regular maintenance means hefty repairs later. Yes, open to kicking the can down the road on this one.

Environment & Local Government (-5%): Not sure of the split between both, but would think there are some gains in efficiency and attrition without affecting programs & services.

Total Decrease: $89-million.

So why will it be hard for government to balance the books?

I am sure it is tough to increase taxes. But many a finance minister has had to tell taxpayers the straight facts. It is now time in NB. We also need to repeal the Taxpayer Protection Act. It handcuffs the Finance Minister's ability to raise taxes.

I am sure it is even harder to tell your candidate / MLA there will be no new MRI, 4-lane highway, new ferry, school renovation, or a convention centre in their riding. Stop spending future tax dollars for your reelection. And voters - see through the promise and what it will mean to future generations.

In closing, call your MLA. Share your thoughts on how government can act responsibly to earn your vote in the next election.

Join the conversation. I'm @thomjeff on Twitter .

Startup Friendly Communities

I have a few of the Fredericton startup founders on Facebook. One spent the afternoon boarding at the local ski hill. The other snowshoeing 7-miles to a cabin in the woods for a weekend away. It was also Shivering Songs Festival - a celebration of great musical talents and another great way a few spent their weekend with friends and family.

Their posts reminded me of a comment another startup founder made a few weeks ago about Fredericton: "A place where startups live, grow and prosper".

Startups are hard. They demand a ton of work. They are only successful if their founders are living a well balanced life (okay, maybe not all the time). It is nice to see they can find great things outdoors, away from a computer so close to Fredericton.

It really is a place to live, grow and prosper. Startups and their founders.

Follow me on Twitter: @thomjeff

Growing Startup Community

Have been thinking a lot about how this region can grow its startup community lately. Have also been thinking how we can encourage future generation to stay in the region as we have an aging demographic tsunami about to hit. So what if we combined a program like Lean LaunchPad where students would incubate their idea. Those who want to go beyond ideation would be guaranteed a 4-8 month paid work-term to launch. This phase would be guided by Launch36 (or similar) program. The outcome would be retention of an incredible brain trust of knowledge workers at our higher education institutions with possibly the next high growth breakthru like Radian6 or Q1. So where does the funding come from? Why not relax the NB Growth Program for student lead entrepreneurs? I don't know how much co-op students earn in a 4 or 6 month co-op, but would be a wise investment in growing next generation of entrepreneurs. Thoughts?

#startups #nb

The Year Ahead...

There are a lot of great things ahead in 2013 that will come from focus, hard work on my part (and others) and yes, a bit of luck. Thought I’d share a few that are top of mind as I wrap up the first work day of 2013…

1. Be A Disruptor: I work with a great team at a company I founded in 2012. We, with a few strategic partners, will be a disruptor in the Big Data market in 2013. Going from an idea I had that enterprise business value isn’t in how the enterprise stores & analyzes big data, but how it extracts value, through action, as its generated. As the business founder, executing on this strategy falls on my shoulders but it cannot happen without a strong team ensuring we have product that exceeds expectations - ours and those of our customers & partners.

2. Atlantic Canada Startup Region: A lot has happened in the last 18-months to put the region on the startup map. Yeah, a few headline acquisitions have helped but not for the reasons you think. Each one, including my last startup acquisition in 2009, have but a “Mojo” into the region. Also, Launch36 is doing great thinks growing founders & startups. DAL Lean LaunchPad is one of my “wow” moments in 2012. Like Launch36, this course is growing the next generation of startup founders & entrepreneurs. Startup Kitchens, Clarity & Entrevestor are doing great things to promote those in the startup industry, connecting founders and aspiring entrepreneurs / mentors. Stay tuned for great companies emerging in 2013 who will be the next Radian6, Q1 & GoInstant.

3. Our Time To Lead: I read Startup Communities again over the holidays. I feel a rising tide in the Atlantic Region where entrepreneurs will lead innovation vs. waiting for our political leaders to bring us to the promise land. Yes, likely a bit controversial statement and not suggesting they don’t have a role to play…they do. Read Brad’s book to understand my comment.

On a personal note…Work/Life Balance

This is something I will focus on in 2013. I left a high paying job in March 2012 to get back into startup life. The last 3 months of 2012 where a brutal reminder of what it’s like in startup universe as a founder. If you have made the transition from corporate to startup, you get it! I can’t fall into the trap where work is 100% of every waking moment. So I will be practising what I tell others ~ balance.

So that is what is top of mind as I end the first work day in 2013.

Cost of Canadian Air Travel - Just Look Around

The Reasons Why Welcome You On Arrival.

Have spent the last few days on a multi-city tour across Eastern Canada. Landed at Toronto's Pearson Airport this afternoon and the reasons why it, along with many other Canadian airports, have the most expensive landing fees is right in your face on arrival.

In the 5 minutes it took me to walk from my gate to the airline business lounge, I was surprised at the number of staff members simply sitting around. Here is a summary:

9 CATSA Airport Security staff on Level 2 departures hanging around the state of the art full body scanner. Regardless of time of day or day of week, there is always a congregation of staff members there while passengers stand in a long queue. It isn't there is a lack of scanners as I've never seen more than 2 of the 4 in operation.

8 Ground / Baggage handlers and others who meet your flight. I'm not sure if they are airport or airline employees, but they love have a semi permanent perch in the D1 to D10 gate area.

2 Airline employees browsing their smartphones in the D1-D10 perch. Not sure why they couldn't have walked out to meet our arriving flight - we wait a few minutes until one decided it was best to get back to work.

2 Airline employees sitting on golf carts on the main departure level. I guess standing on the ready in the event they are needed.

So that is 21 employees at Pearson not overly busy on a 5 minute stroll. We blindly pay through 'included fees' for CATSA who are among the most unfriendly and inefficient security screeners in the world, and among highest landing fees to Pearson.

If the Canadian Government wanted to improve competitiveness of Canadian Airports, start looking around at what greets you on check-in or arrival.

#airport #taxes

Road Trips

“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” Robert Stevenson

Some of the fondest memories I have in life are the road trips taken with friends. By car, train, airplane or sailboat...the mode of transportation really didn't matter. Rather the time spent with friends and those shared experiences you will share later in life.

I had the pleasure of working with Kristaps Danevics, one of the gentlemen in this video documenting their journey across the US. Watching it reminded me of my own road trips and that the great affair is to move.

Explore. Dream. Discover.

Those three words capture the life of a startup founder. If you thought you'd heard them before, you'd be right.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

As many of you know, I was the co-founder at Conseros Software in 2006 and recently founded UserEvents. I know what it feels like to 'throw off the bowlines' and to chart into uncharted waters. Exhilarating and rewarding. Full of ups, and downs. But never once disappointed by the things I didn't do.

I mentor a few startups and I am involved in PropelICT's Launch36 accelerator program. Launch had their selection camp for the next cohort on Saturday. Eleven great teams came to tell their story and the path they will explore and discover.

As a mentor, it is truly rewarding to see their passion and drive. Their willingness to throw off the bowlines. It is encouraging to know the next generation of startup founders & entrepreneurs is casting off the bowlines in Atlantic Canada.

Follow me on twitter @thomjeff

#startups #launch36 #propeclict

I'm running the Fall Classic in Fredericton in a couple of weeks and today was one of my last long training runs. Awesome day for a run with cool temp & light winds this morning.

I love the trail out to the Bucket Club - it is 6.6-miles from my hours, the perfect turn when running a 13.1-mi. Overall a pretty good run: a PB 5km time and a pretty damn good 10km time. I wasn't planning on doing either, and paid for it at the 12-mile mark. It is that point you need to suck-it-up and get on with it. But saying that, I do need to practice pacing - I fail at it almost every long run.

I finished, and exactly on target for my goal time.

#running #fredericton

Walking home and snapped a few pictures while walking across the train bridge in Fredericton.

#fredericton

Today, I am a runner

Will be heading out for a Saturday morning run soon, having a bite to eat before heading out for a run along the river. While flipping through friend's Facebook updates and the latest from those I follow on Twitter, I got to thinking about my first race and how long it has taken to become a runner.

Without going into too many details, I decided to enter my first race in 2006. It was a 10k local event. It was incredibly hard and I remember going home and taking a nap that afternoon. But I did feel a sense of accomplishment and kept running.

If you had met me in 2006, your first impression of me? He's anything but a runner! Sure I had the shoes, the Garmin and a credit card to register for a race. I was with runners at the starting line.

My personal trainer told me exactly that during a training session in 2006. Gold hard truth that goes in one ear and out the other.

So who was I?

I was the guy who would end the work week with a few cold-ones with a slice or two of pizza. Happy hour? Count me in! Breakfast was the box of cereal with mentions of bran or fibre suggesting a healthy start to the day. Trips to the local gym for circuit and spin classes, and the guy who found comfort getting a personal training program every 3 months.

But I kept running. On the back of my first 10k, I entered a half-marathon in 2007 and finished pretty near bottom of my division. But I finished, and kept running.

But I also kept up the same lifestyle - have fun, eat well!

I did improve slightly over a handful of half-marathons and 10km races. Those improvements in distance and time lead to my first marathon in 2011. I didn't have a good time in the marathon. I was hungry at the half-way mark (bad!) and then I simply ran out of gas with about 2 miles to go.

It was then I realized I was ignoring the most important aspect of training - nutrition. It was then, standing still on the course as others ran by me, when I realized I had to learn more about nutrition and lifestyle.

I did something about it. I stopped doing what I was holding me back. It was hard, but happy to say I'm glad I did it. Why?

Today, I am the guy who is 35lbs lighter than guy who ran that marathon.

Today, I am the guy who loves to greek yogurt, cottage cheese & fruit for breakfast

Today, I am the guy who runs at a faster & more comfortable pace.

Today, I am the guy who casually says "let's run a little 10km"

Today, I am the guy my personal trainer calls a runner.

Today, I am a runner.

Breakfast over, body hydrated and shoes on. Now this runner needs to get out for his run.

Follow me on twitter @thomjeff

#running

Creative Disruptors

I saw this in a recent MISC magazine on Creativity and found it to describe well the DNA of any startup founder.

The world needs a new breed of creative disruptor to set the course of our future. They – who challenge conventional wisdom with intellectual daring, who risk their careers and reputations for what they’re convinced of and who are fierce in the face of failure – bear the torches in volatile times.

Humanity fails when we tread in fear of failure. And to that end, we’ve failed on many fronts. We’ve failed to ask questions, to ask different questions, to challenge old thinking, to revisit old ideas and to better articulate new ones. We’re failures only when we fail to see from a future perspective, when we fail to break the rules and when we fail to keep trying.

This same spirit needs to find its way into how governments rethink their service delivery. Where are the creative disruptors in healthcare and education?

I find the conversation focused on physician recruitment, hospital beds, school districts and teachers. The same hotly debated issues 20 years ago and I'm sure going back even further.

Join the conversation on twitter - I'm @thomjeff in the twitter-verse.

P.S.: In case you want to read more on the 10 Creative Challengers.

Following My Inner Voice

I left a damn good job a couple of months ago with a plan to take a break from the so called rat-race. It had been a long road starting in 2006 as the Founder/CEO of Conseros Software, negotiating an acquisition in 2009 the lead to a great three-year run with an iconic company.

Funny how plans can change - I'm back in the startup industry with a great company called UserEvents. Based in Fredericton, I'm working with two of the most awesome technical guys you can find around here and I'm leading the business side of things.

On the title of this blog post - "following my own inner voice". I felt it appropriate given these words by an iconic business leader:

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. Steve Jobs

This is my second startup, and I am looking forward to a repeat of the good times had at Conseros. Startup life isn't easy, so you celebrate the good ones - they help get you through the tough ones.

Follow me on Twitter: @thomjeff

#startup #userevents

Our Time to Lead

I posted three tweets yesterday with #OurTimeToLead tag on the topic of Innovation in New Brunswick.

My plan was not to expand on those thoughts, but I'm seldom a man of few words. So the topic of this blog post are my views and recommendations on how to become more innovative as a region, and create an eco-system that is sustainable in the long-term.

By no means should this be taken as a complete or even perfect plan. It is far from that but I hope it encourages others to join the conversation.

These thoughts came about after reading the Province's Innovation Report, released a few days ago. I had great hopes of something evolutionary (okay, maybe I was looking for revolutionary), but I didn't see either to be honest. My top-3 thoughts on the report:

I welcome the increase in the SBITC, and hope government move quickly to make this happen. We all know of two recent acquisitions and there are others, including my own startup that was acquired in 2009. Let's make it very attractive for those individuals to re-invest their proceeds in New Brunswick.

The Minimum Process Fund is a great idea and together with the SBITC, it should provide greater access to startup capital.

I do not see the need for a coordinating agency, arms length or not, to help coordinate activities across other stakeholder organizations. This is only solving a symptom of a larger problem - too many agencies. (Putting my political hat on for a second, I simply view this as another plum position like CEO of NBLC or Efficiency NB for 'friends of the party'.)

I have others, but this post isn't about that. Rather, it is a call to action to those in the New Brunswick startup community. I'm calling it Our Time To Lead and it is based on four principles:

Our Time To Lead

Startups are the pillar of innovation and prosperity.

A successful startup eco-system is one that self-sustains.

Government's role is simply to provide an environment for the eco-system to thrive. It is now time to de-politicize innovation.

It is the industry that must lead the charge, charting its own course and accountable to itself for the outcomes.

The following are my recommendations on charting a course ahead with this agenda. I have met with others who share similar insights, and should point out, the ideas are not solely my own, rather a collection of my own, and those from others.

#1: Come Together As One.

Until we speak with one voice as a industry, we can not lead. We must go beyond the historical constraint of ensuring regional balances between east/west, or north/south. Yes, this means change with industry associations merging into one. I won't name those I'd see merging in this post as I don't want to alienate. This is meant to be an open dialogue.

#2: Emulate proven models vs Re-Inventing the Wheel.

We have all the puzzle pieces: access to capital, talent, and mentors. We need to put these pieces together, i.e.: complete the puzzle. An Accelerator should be set-up whose goal is to complete the puzzle.

It is one with a physical location, and only one. If you want to be part of the program, it may mean a daily commute or relocation. We can not afford to build satellite campuses as the success of the program relies on mass (the more startups the better) and diversity (many minds produce great things).

#3: Welcome with Open-Arms!

True to our Maritime hospitality, we should openly welcome any startup founder or business with open-arms whether you are from New Brunswick or elsewhere. It will be a core component of our economic growth agenda. One day I hope it eclipses our long-running strategy of importing larger companies (hint: call centres) through economic incentives.

Let's start a conversation using Twitter Hashtag #OurTimeToLead and given the interest, maybe a TweetUp on this topic in the near future.

Follow me on Twitter: @thomjeff

#OurTimeToLead #Startup #New Brunswick #Innovation

The Fredericton Marathon is tomorrow morning and thought I'd have a little fun with the GPS data my Garmin 405 collects when I'm out running. I took its data and loaded into Google Earth for the visualizations.

The Song is "Girls Like You" by The Naked And Famous. I like the beat & intro...great way to start a run.

#fredericton #marathon #running

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