Entries Tagged 'montreal' ↓

Should I buy a Meraki Mini, sign up with FON, or is there a more effective way to speed up free, ubiquitous wifi?

Mob Rules inspired me. If you haven’t yet, I recommend doing so. In that article, Mark Pesce mentions the Meraki Mini, and how that could be game-changing for telcos.

There’s a lot to like about the Minis. They’re not completely open-source, but they could run CUWiN software and are cheap. FON seems to have better backing (Sequoia, Google, Skype), but their marketing bugs me (Is that a for-profit trying too hard to be hip, calling itself a ‘movimiento’?).

My understanding is that Ile-sans-Fil isn’t trying to blanket the city with free wireless. Someone please correct me if I have that wrong. While I like what they are doing, I’m attracted to the idea of free wireless everywhere.

We don’t know who will use these technologies, or how. Pesce uses the example of Kerala fishermen, and there’s the example of homeless people using a phone number to improve their condition. The applications I have in mind for ubiquitous wireless - location-based services and augmented reality - might not be the ‘killer-app’. If there are any social aplications for these, I think there’s a good chance they’ll be built in a city like Montreal.

This morning I attended the December MTEB.

A couple of venture capitalists were in attendance, who graciously answered my questions about what is going on with the VC industry. I basically think the industry is big, slow, and doesn’t understand new technology. They’re closely watching the efforts of Montreal Startup, but weary several incubators, seed funds and other schemes have foundered before.

The real surprise was talking with Darrell and the engineers at Stanox. We come from different technology backgrounds: micro-chips, ERP and web. Yet we all have similar attitudes: KISS. YAGNI. Think. Simplify. We’re all fans of Saint-Exupery’s quote on perfection:

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

When I griped about a horrible API I might have to integrate (the variable names are inconsistent and ugly) one VC said “well, it can be ugly, but it’s ok if you make money”. The dividing line was obvious. For the engineers, if it’s ugly and verbose it’s probably buggy. For the investors, it’s bearable if it’s profitable.

The folks at Stanox look like they will be successful, and mentioned they may become angel investors in the future. I’m hoping they succeed; we need more angels like that.

It’s on the company blog, and Marc-André blogged about a typical day here at the office. We need another Ruby developer - either a “Guru” or a “Devotee”. I wasn’t going to blog about it, having sent email / IMs to people to encourage them to apply for work here.

The answers I got were surprising. The main question was around compensation.

Here’s the scoop: pay is above average for Montreal. Plus benefits. Plus stock options. Plus working with an awesome language, a beautiful framework, under good working conditions (read Marc-André’s blog post!)

Now, here’s scoop #2. Marc-André and I will also be interviewing candidates. We have high standards: we are looking for other passionate people. We want people that enjoy coding and are continually learning.

If you don’t have passion, you shouldn’t bother applying. If you do, we expect you’ll have code to show us - although it might be Python, Erlang, Javascript or another cool language.

Ecume is playing at Théâtre de la Cabane Bleue until September 29th. If you understand French and are in Montreal, you must go see it.

The chemistry between the actors is amazing. There’s a magic in the rapport between Morgane and Émile that you usually only see in couples falling in love. They are so credible you let yourself be transported in this utterly bizarre world, where an undertaker can help a dead mother and her expecting daughter communicate.

Ecume is original and zany. It is thoughtful, moving and occasionally very funny.

If you haven’t seen it, take a look at the Gmail video. That’s my “Intro to Swing” teachers Alain Wong and Ann Mony featured on the thumbnail, and again starting around 1:09. Congrats Alain & Ann!

There are more videos of them on youtube if you want to see more of their dancing.

Daniel Drouet just posted another article in his series on VC capital in Montreal. I like where he’s going with this. There is good talent in Montreal, and VCs and Angels aren’t nearly as active as they could be. He finishes by asking “In a city with limited angel activity, how should entrepreneurs proceed? What should local VCs be doing?”

Here’s my take: invest amounts of $50-$250k, with answers for applicants given in 1 week after the first meeting. I know a few people that could build a good product and be ready for an A round or buy-out with $250,000 - and could get a prototype for $50k. Well, less if he wants to hire students that will eat ramen for 3 months.

He refers to a Union Square Ventures post claiming they’re not staffed to do as many small deals as Charles River Ventures. That sounds like nonsense to me. CRV needs fewer partners to OK a seed investment; they didn’t double their staffing to double the deal flow; they’re putting less work into vetting each opportunity. This is normal, since the risk is inherently spread.

One thing I would change about CRV’s standard QuickStart terms is a clause in the case of a sale. The VC should have an upside if the company gets bought out by Google after an angel investment, so incentives are aligned.

To pull this strategy off, a VC would have to be able to assess the technical chops of hackers as well as the market potential of their idea. It would only take one of those to make Montreal a magnet for new startups, so I hope Montreal Start Up succeeds!