Winners of the TechAlliance 60-second pitch contest

A 60-second pitch – some think it would be a simple task to master, but as the 16 participants in TechAlliance’s recent pitch contest soon learned, a lot can happen in one minute.

While you may not have a timer ticking away behind you, as our competitors did, it’s important to keep in mind that you risk losing your audience the more complex or lengthy your pitch gets. No matter if your audience is an investor, a customer or if you’re trying to recruit a new employee - K.I.S.S., or risk getting the kiss-off.

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Betting on management is quite the gamble.

An interesting study has recently been released which calls into question the validity of the “always bet on management” mantra.

To study the impact of management talent on fundraising, Dr. David Townsend (North Carolina State U.) and Dr. Lowell Busenitz (U. Oklahoma) followed the capitalization outcomes for 144 Oklahoma-based technology ventures ranked for management strength and technology strength.

Not surprisingly, ventures which had a combination of strong management and strong technology were able to raise funds to meet their development needs.

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Here’s the round-up of the week in the newsfeeds. Below I highlight my favourite articles of the week from each category.

Today’s Top Pick - “Investors Bet on Payments via Cellphone“. Find out more under Business and Entrepreneurship.

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Here’s the round-up of the week in the newsfeeds. Below I highlight my favourite articles of the week from each category.

Today’s Top Pick - “Government of Canada Announces $450 Million in New Funding for BDC to Assist Canadian Businesses“. Find out more under Venture Capital.

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Are we locking down on innovation?

The situations in which Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt and senior staff at eHealth Ontario have found themselves in recent weeks have provided the fodder for numerous public accountability headlines. Much has been said about the extent to which a politician must take responsibility for the actions of the civil servants within their portfolios. Absent from this discussion is the inevitable risk that accompanies the triumvirate of change, technology and innovation that is at the centre of these cases.

The danger is that the calls for public accountability encourage risk-aversion and conservative policies. Continuing further down this road would be most unfortunate for Canada.

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Tax talk putting you to sleep?

Flow-through shares… tax credits… income tax act regulations section… maximizing investor potential… qualifying transactions, blah, … Zzzz zzzzzzzzzz. Snore!

Wow, nothing can put a pragmatic, action-oriented cleantech entrepreneur to sleep faster than the tax code. But wake up, cleantech entrepreneurs, the intricacies of flow-through shares might be just the trick to land that key investor.

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Changing our idea of the role of women

Last month, the Right Honourable Kim Campbell was presented with the EVE award which recognizes women for their significant achievements in politics. At the event, Campbell spoke of the necessity of women in politics but was mindful of the barriers in place that prevent this from happening. She recalled her political career and her rise to the most powerful and respected political position in Canada while acknowledging that it was not always easy.

We may want to believe we are gender neutral when it comes to getting the best person for the job but it’s not always the case.  The gender issue has always been contentious for professions that fall outside the stereotypical female roles, particularly when women are negotiating a space they traditionally haven’t occupied yet. SiG@MaRS works with many female social entrepreneurs who are creating a new path that benefits them and Canadian society. To celebrate them and the other “fearless women” who are making a difference, SiG@MaRS is holding an evening held at the Tarragon Theatre featuring Judith Thompson’s play, Body & Soul. At this event SiG@MaRS will be announcing the Ontario Trillium Foundation funding of the feasibility study for the School for Social Entrepreneurs, which will promote female entrepreneurs.

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Henry Chesbrough first coined the term “open innovation” in his book Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology (2003).  He described a shift from a traditional closed model of innovation to an open model in which R&D-driven firms look outside their organization to solve internal research and development problems.  By working with external individuals or organizations, a firm can benefit from an increase in the number and diversity of potential solutions that would not have been possible in-house.

Life sciences businesses can now take advantage of this trend after the launch of the latest online marketplace for problems and solutions.

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Reward: $60K for cleantech ideas

What better way to start my MaRS Cleantech blog than to inform all those aspiring cleantech entrepreneurs of a $60,000 award! Ok, it’s not cash - but it is high-value access to Global 500 executives at Yet2.com’s exclusive Fortune 500 Executive Briefing and $20,000 worth of high-powered consulting services from Drayton Weissenfels Inc. It’s called “Clean 15″ and the idea is to connect cleantech startups with large companies. A kick-start to your cleantech business.

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Time for lightening up about the recession?

It is not all doom and gloom in the VC land: reporting from the 2009 Canadian venture capital industry meeting.

I really dreaded receiving a fresh dose of recession-fueled doom while heading to Calgary for the annual CVCA (Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association) conference. But I was pleasantly surprised by the comments from the panelists as well as chatter during the networking sessions.

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