I was fortunate to be invited by Technology Alberta to attend the Singularity University Summit several weeks ago in Edmonton. SU is all about exponential tech and what’s, perhaps surprisingly, possible now – from AI and citizenship to cleantech and medical records. The full slate of talks are now available here, but start with SU Chair for Entrepreneurship Pascal Finette’s excellent closing keynote for a great overview.
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I just spent the last couple days in beautiful Banff at the Banff Venture Forum, a prestigious annual gathering of venture capitalists and other investors. My company RallyEngine was selected to pitch to the whole room, which I did yesterday morning during their “Startup Spotlight”.
We paid for the opportunity and bent our international travel plans to make this event. While we’ve pitched at several events over the past year, this one was a bigger deal because we chose it as the venue for announcing our first-ever fund-raise – a belated Seed round. For a bootstrapped company with sales and momentum, no small thing.
Unfortunately, “Startup Spotlight” turned out to be pitch coaching in disguise – and in public. I delivered what I felt was one of my stronger pitches – five minutes on the dot and nobody in the room looking down at their phones… and then the panel of investors/judges/critics ripped it apart. The thing is they didn’t critique the substance of what I pitched so much as the style. “I felt you didn’t make the best use of the first 20 seconds.” “I didn’t like that photo you used on Slide X.” They criticized one presenter for bringing notes up to the podium and another for slowing down in the middle. Continue Reading…
Last weekend I attended the World Domination Summit (The what, Steve? Come again.) and I’m still reeling from the experience.
WDS was started five years ago by Chris Guillebeau, the author of The $100 Startup and The Happiness of Pursuit, and blogger at The Art of Non-Conformity, where he’s chronicled his quest to visit every sovereign country on Earth (which he’s now achieved). It’s a gathering of his community in celebration of the core values of community, adventure, and service, held annually in the amazing and beautiful city of Portland, Oregon.
Last week I ventured to the gorgeous Wasatch Mountains an hour or so east of Salt Lake City in Utah where I had the pleasure to partake in Field Innovation Team (FIT) Boot Camp 3.0, an exciting gathering of 30 or so eclectic folks to discuss disaster innovation. (Yes, this is a real thing.)
I wrote about the experience over at the RallyEngine blog. Check it out.