Update: Here are the slides from John’s presentation Raising Capital in 2010
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Bootstrapper or not, at some point in time you’re going to be interested in finding some external funding for your startup. There are a number of government programs that you can tap into and despite what you hear in the news there are angel investors willing to invest in your company if you’ve got what it takes. But learning the ins and outs of funding can be a bewildering process.
TeamCamp very pleased to have John Shannon (@me_now) as a speaker at our next meeting. John is a well-known personality in the Ottawa startup community and will be sharing his insights into some of the “tricks and traps” of funding.
John Shannon is one of Ottawa’s quintessential entrepreneurs. Early in his career he worked in Canada and Europe developing low-level software, systems and mobile networks with Bell Northern Research and then Nortel. In 2000 he left Nortel to be CTO and co-founder of the company that became Bill Me Later, ultimately acquired by eBay in 2008. John has also been a co-founder and early contributor to at least half a dozen other Ottawa startups and one of Ottawa’s active Angel investors. Besides helping raise significant venture capital for several companies, he’s orchestrated millions of dollars of angel investment and government programs. In addition to his experience applying technology to business opportunities, John is an expert at early stage financing and business development (from http://www.theottawanetwork.com/).
We’ll be starting a little early for this meeting because John will be racing off to a Founders and Funders event immediately following his talk.
When: Thursday Dec 3rd 2009 at 5:30PM to 8:00PM
Where: The Code Factory, 246 Queen St. Ottawa (ring the buzzer to come up to the 2nd floor)
While it’s not necessary to register for the event, it would be great if you could let Twegather “bot” know that your coming:
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Hope to see you there!
- TeamCamper Chris
PS – don’t forget about the “cookie jar”
I plan to cover the financing ground in general, but if anyone wants specific topics covered in more depth, feel free to let me know @me_now on twitter. John
John, I’d like some insight into how to structure a company in a way that makes it less onerous for angels/VCs to fund a start up. For example,
- what’s the best way to incorporate your company?
- does it make a difference where you incorporate, US or Canada, NB vs Ontario?
The same question applies for government funding. What’s the best way structure and operate a startup so that it’s easier to obtain grants etc.