General

3 Jan 2022

Adrenaline Fund Pumps a High Energy First Year into Early Stage Investing

2021 marks the first full investment year for Adrenaline Fund which uniquely applies a passive model, fuelled by our startup and angel ecosystem, to early stage investing. Adrenaline Fund was founded in 2020 in cooperation with 2 other sub-funds in the Archangel Network of Funds. Through the vagaries of. the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021. was our first full year of investing fuelled by a remarkable group of Limited Partners who are accredited investors interested in our Purpose.

PURPOSE

The entire team at Archangel Network of Funds, and the Adrenaline Fund, is driven by a core Purpose, developed over years of building and supporting early-stage companies. In a nutshell, we want to directly impact Canada’s economic prosperity into the future by:

Investing in Entrepreneurs who are building the future of the Canadian Economy through Innovation,
Lowering barriers for accredited investors to participate in, and gain more experience, in early stage investing, and
Accelerating, and directly supporting, the Canadian Angel ecosystem while enabling Canadian startups to scale up to global leadership.

In this post, I’ll further explore our unique model, an exceptional team, what we’ve done so far, and propose a future where this impact can grow many times larger than our results to date.

TEAM

The Adrenaline Fund team has unparallelled experience in building companies, mentoring startups and selecting and investing in the next generation of Canada’s tech leaders but at the early stages. In addition to myself, our team includes Benton Leong and Amber French, and is ably complemented by Venture Partner Danielle Graham and the large Archangel Network of Funds team, many of whom are pictured above. Years of strategic business leadership, coupled with some of the most sophisticated selection and investment savvy, are a big part of what makes Adrenaline unique.

MODEL AND WHY IT WORKS

As mentioned, we believe that the Adrenaline Fund model and thesis is unique, at least in Canada, by fusing the power of a passive approach (like an ETF in the public markets) to the early-stage Angel investment ecosystem.

First of all, the investment decision is designed to support the existing Angel ecosystem through a set of rules to govern the investment process. At a high level, the Rules, shared with LPs, stay largely the same but are tuned in response to changes in. the ecosystem. Thus, rather than active decisions, the focus is on tuning the rules and working to ensure that the angel and startup ecosystem remain of high value.

In case some of you think, like a colleague initially did, that such a “blind investment process” is a bit crazy and perhaps akin to wagering on slot machines, nothing could be further from the truth. The secret sauce of Adrenaline is the collective value-add of the ‘qualified lead investors’ who mentor and provide ongoing strategic oversight (e.g. as a board member or board observer).

In fact, research by Brian Smith, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at Wilfrid Laurier University along with global tech investment trends studied by BDC Ventures, shows an almost 25 times multiplier of success for such angel-backed companies. In summary, in generating larger ‘Scale Up’ companies (with valuations reaching US$250M), Canada has a dismal 0.3% track record (or 1 in 300) compared to the 2.5% number for the us (or 1 in 40). Within the Angel ecosystem, specifically GTAN where the study was conducted, an amazing 8% of investee companies reached the $250M threshold. Unpacking the reasons for this incredible out-performance would include factors like: the GTAN selection process, the ongoing value-adds of experienced ‘deal leads’, the strength of the ecosystem support in the Toronto-Waterloo Tech Corridor where GTAN focuses, and syndication with other capable seed/angel stage investment funds.

The bottom line is that, while adding the energy of investment to an existing process that works, Adrenaline Fund is set up for success.

Further, he model is structured to be open and accessible to the greatest number of Accredited Investors by having the aggregate investment staged over 5 equal annual cash instalments (say $250,000 at $50,000 per year). Since the fund is structured to segregate ‘Vintage Years’, and each Vintage aims to invest in 8-10 companies per year, this ensures a diversified portfolio of 40-50 companies at an extremely affordable entry point. The Vintage structure allows new LPs to join once at the beginning of each year, thus growing the maximum amount of each Adrenaline investment and helping startups even more.

Most importantly, the fund attracts investments from individuals who had never been angel investors since it provides deal flow and deal structure for new investors. In other words, we are unlocking new capital to support Canadian innovation.

PORTFOLIO

The portfolio reflects the diversity of innovation in 2021, transcending the software and consumer focus of a decade ago, with more and more patentable intellectual property and deep tech. The 2021 vintage portfolio comprises:

Artificial intelligence / machine learning (2)
Enterprise SaaS (2)
Fintech (1)
Medical Technology, including Advanced Materials (4)
Networking and IoT (1)

We are excited to welcome the following companies as our first Adrenaline Fund vintage, reflecting the powerful value-adds of the Angel Ecosystem we support:

gives operators of public and private networks visualization of the Quality of Experience of machines and people at the edge of the network

delivers ForceFilm™, a digital “sense of touch” for surgical robotic, industrial robotic/automation, and aerospace sectors

collaboration and facilitation software helps teams inclusively ideate asynchronously, land on decisions together, and communicate plans for action

delivering Explainable AI technology to uniquely analyze data and models, to optimize automation and human-in-the-loop decision making

delivers accurate, rapid, lab quality allergy testing right to the allergists’ clinic

delivers Prelivia, FDA approved technology promoting healthy blood circulation & tissue oxygenation for the bed ridden or chair bound

fosters team engagement and culture for distributed teams through a marketplace of employee experiences

a deep-tech AI providing automated crowd and visitor monitoring and capacity management in high-foot traffic workplaces and public facilities

produces responsive antimicrobial advanced material to prevent infection at the medical device-tissue interface for the dental industry

Fintech firm delivering integrated, AI enabled payment solutions to small business

Amber, Benton and I are pleased with the successful validation of our passive, rules-based model for Adrenaline Fund and are excited for how this will grow in 2022 and beyond.

Feel free to reach out to any of us to learn more and get involved. We’d love to have you on board.

24 Sep 2021

A Personal Carbon Reduction Plan

Today is a Global Climate Strike in cities and towns all over the world. In late 2019, was a crescendo of activity including the first Global Climate Strike and UN Climate Summit. It feels almost like time, and action, has been paused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now in late 2021 marks a return to that pivotal time. With a summer of extreme weather events including the most wildfires ever globally, we are entering a cycle including COP26 in Glasgow. And, for those of us who are boomers, the fact that these climate strikes are led by our youth and children, should add poignancy to the state of the world we have bequeathed the next generation.

As a society and as thoughtful citizens, how can we respond? Thinking beyond surviving the worst pandemic the rich world has experienced in our lifetimes, this is the perfect time to set priorities and make life plans and we must include addressing the greatest existential crisis challenging humanity and the world we live in.

Everywhere the sense of urgency has increased. Scientific models show that the amount of carbon we can pump into the atmosphere must be limited if we are to keep to an increase of between 1.5°C to 2.0°C, which already will be a much changed earth. This remaining capacity to emit carbon, also known as our Carbon Budget, is shrinking rapidly. Hence, each year that passes, such as between 2019 and now, means that living within this carbon budget requires more drastic action and at a much faster pace.

I strongly encourage everyone to take their own personal actions. They are so important to signal to others that the Climate Crisis is serious and to help mobilize action.

Systems Change

Personal actions will never be sufficient. We also need local, regional, country-wide and global systems change to accompany our personal actions. This might be described as re-jigging our long held systems of regulation, taxation and even the incentives in our market economy. In effect, we may be re-writing the rules of capitalism itself. Examples of this include:

Setting a sufficiently meaningful price on carbon to give monetary incentives that nudge business and personal decisions and purchases toward a carbon neutral world.
Ensuring that this carbon price is revenue neutral and doesn’t fall unduly on the less wealthy portions of society.
To ensure that carbon pricing is fair to local industry, a key measure needs to be adopted. Border Carbon Adjustments ensure that the product, say, manufactured in China with coal fired electricity and inefficiently shipped, has a much higher price because of all that carbon used.
Completely removing existing fossil fuel subsidies which the IMF estimates to be an incredible US$4.7 Trillion globally or 6.3% of GDP. Even more surprising, they continue to grow. In Canada, our fossil fuel subsidies grew to CAD$18 billion in 2020. These subsidies are perverse, acting like a reverse carbon price, often nullifying the other actions taken.
Related to fossil fuel subsidies, we need to pressure financial institutions to stop financing the fossil fuel industry. In Canada alone, our big 5 banks financed an incredible CAD$137 billion in 2020, a figure that grew 50% over 2019.

We must keep up the pressure on our elected officials of all political stripes. While we are doing this, here are my thoughts on personal actions we can take. Its a complex topic, but by breaking into down into more digestible chunks, a seemingly intractable problem moves closer to solution. Here are the major categories I use, and note that I will provide further commentary on each in following posts:

Residential

Being a northern nation with really cold winters, means that our homes consume a lot of energy which can be between 20- 25% of our personal carbon footprints. In most of Canada, it takes a lot of energy for home heating as well as cooling and domestic hot water. We also use loads of energy for cooking, laundry, home entertainment, lighting and more.

While we can, and should, reduce our energy and electrical load through active management of our device choices and lifestyle, the biggest gains come from making our homes inherently more efficient.

I am currently designing and building such a sustainable, carbon zero (or negative) home in part to show a direction for the coming years. I hope that this will lead to real insights to help future homes be more sustainable, even the average house.

Of course, most homes aren’t new but have been around for 20, 30, 50 or even over 100 years. Retrofits of those homes are an important part of the mix. Audits against the Energuide for Houses standard help determine both your home’s energy rating, but to help define a path forward. Combing this with systems change, through financing or even property tax abatement to encourage this trend, is clearly the way forward. Systems change that encourages individual action is key. Even the august Conference Board of Canada has published a policy recommendation Green Homes: Sustainable Finance for Residential Retrofits. We can only hope that the appropriate levels of government are spurred into action.

Transportation

Personal transportation may represent over 30% of our personal carbon footprint. Note that I am, somewhat arbitrarily assigning logistics and freight to produce and deliver goods to us into the personal Consumption category below. While we can work to reduce our footprints by living in compact cities with lots of walking and bicycling, this does not work for all. The largest component is the electrification of transportation represented by the acceleration of the move from legacy ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles to EVs (Electric Vehicles). We are also starting to see this trend in small trucks and eventually event transport trucks. Beyond cars, I make several suggestions:

Public Transit – try to take public transit as much as possible to reduce congestion, whether streetcars (trams), buses, subways or commuter trains. Beyond the reduced footprint from shared vehicles (sort of like a giant carpool) most of these modes of transportation are electric or moving in that direction.
Commercial Aviation – This is a key target of activists like Greta Thunberg who refuse to fly (see ‘flygskam‘) there is no question that flying is a growing source of personal carbon footprint. Consider reducing your use of flying, and for those trips you must take, you are strongly encouraged to purchase carbon offsets (see below).
Taxis and Carsharing – Again, you are strongly encouraged to purchase Carbon Offsets for the kilometres you travel in taxis. Until the pandemic, Lyft (and not Uber) purchased carbon offsets automatically. Although that has been cut, they are committed to more EVs and even have ‘Green Mode’ in some cities which are electric vehicles. You wise choices do make a difference.
Carbon Offsets – There are many carbon footprint calculators you can use, for example to offset air travel or other transportation. As I shifted from ICE to EV vehicles, the amount I have to offset is reduced. A good place to start is Carbon Zero and I would recommend choosing local projects that you can better understand when you purchase offsets. And perhaps tell others via social media what you are doing to help educate more people. Another more grassroots approach is to support the urban forest, which is a great carbon sink. Check out Tree Trust which is available in an increasing number of Ontario communities.

Consumption

The old adage of ‘Reduce, Re-use, Recycle’, and in that order, remains true even now. We live in a society where consumption, beyond any real need, has taken hold. And, it is harder to buy quality products that last – witness of the incredibly ugly footprint caused by the trend to ‘Fast Fashion’.

Another aspect to consumption is excess packaging, much of which is made from plastics. Plastics pose enormous problems to our biosphere and in particular the oceans and so reducing or eliminating single use plastics is an urgent need. Further, most plastics are made from oil and hence are another form of fossil fuel consumption. I will soon write a ‘top 10’ list for ways to reduce your personal plastic and packaging footprint – which directly reduces your carbon footprint.

I hope that this provides a high level roadmap to both personal action, but also where public policy needs to go. Of course, it over simplifies a fiendishly complicated topic. At the same time, by dissecting de-carbonization I can only hope that it inspires action, at both a personal and government level.

5 Dec 2017

Canada – A Nation Built by (Extra) Ordinary People

In a previous post, I spoke about my involvement with Canada 150 and also the Canada C3 signature project. The latter is an epic journey divided into 15 “Legs”, on a former Canadian Coast Guard Ice Breaker vessel (the MV Polar Prince, ca 1958) refitted to sail from coast to coast to coast for 150 days, and provide an ideal platform for connections and conversations. As a participant, I can only say I was profoundly changed, inspired, enlightened and mobilized by my time.

At our 150th birthday in 2017, Canada is at a crossroads as it strives to outgrow its colonial past, to find its rôle and place in a new world order and to respond to the recent Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report on the mis-treatment of our Indigenous Peoples in Residential Schools.

Compared to the celebration of our history that was the focus of Canada’s Centennial in 1967, Canada C3 responded directly to such challenges and sought to contribute to a new sense of nation building in our country. The ambitious goal was to engage over 20 million Canadians and contribute to a Legacy for our nation as it looks forward to our bicentennial in 2067 and beyond.

Accordingly, the key themes for Canada C3 were crafted to help in this nation building:

Reconciliation with our Indigenous People, namely First Nations, Métis and Inuit.
Environment: and in particular the challenges of climate change as well as specific challenges facing our coastline and northern regions. A little known fact is that Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world. Issues include species loss, micro plastics in our oceans, effects of higher sea levels and much more. See my post here: “Environmental Awakening Fusing of Science, The Arts and Sea Ice”
Diversity and Inclusion: Canada’s cultural mosaic includes people from all over the world which is a reflection of Canada’s admirable openness and welcoming nature. Although we have always been a country of newcomers. our society still has a way to go to be completely inclusive to: visible minorities, women, LGBT and those with disabilities.
Youth Engagement: As a baby boomer who was a teenager in 1967, I feel that my generation has proactively shaped the Canada we know today. Our generation has achieved much that is good but there are many areas to address. This is always a work in progress. Similarly, today’s youth must lead our quest for the Canada of 2067 and Canada C3 provided a great vehicle from them to learn,
share, contribute and ultimately act to help us build a future civil society that is just and open.

I was honoured and privileged to be a Participant on Leg 7 of Canada C3, from Iqaluit to Qikiqtarjuaq on the east coast of Baffin Island in our newest Territory. Note that I will write posts on most, if not all, of the above four themes through my eyes always amplified by and learning from the amazing people onboard and in the local communities. As I’ve learned, in any human endeavour, it is extraordinary people who shape Canada, and ignite me with a huge optimism about our future. The expedition organizers did an wonderful job in curating a massively diverse group of exceptional people, some of whom might too modestly consider themselves ordinary. In this post, and the following ones, I will try to share my thoughts as shaped by these extraordinary Canadians. I have also learned that, simply by convening conversations, powerful and transformative change can be unleassed.

To illustrate this, the ship had about 60 people onboard at any one time, as follows:

14 crew – from the amazing Captain Stephan Guy who also made the best bread I’ve had in a long time, and a group of hard working marine experts who worked hard 24/7 to ensure we progressed safely and on time,
20 staff – The staff was led by the world’s most innovative outdoor educator, Geoff Green, CM, expedition leader. The staff complement included onboard scientists conducting 25 experiments along the coast of Canada, Zodiac drivers and interpreters; bear guard[ians]; hospitality and cooking; onboard physician; and a Hollywood grade “comms” team of six (2 nationally leading photographers, a videographer, a drone operator and two prolific video and content editors who seemed to work around the clock), and
24 participants, for each of the 15 Legs or 360 for the entire expedition, selected in myriad ways, from invitation, partnership and application, including:
- journalists from across Canada
- a chef – each leg had one chef, part of Food Day Canada that celebrates food and food sustainability across Canada from coast to coast to coast
- a visual artist, one per leg, chosen by a Canada Council adjudicated jury
- a writer – ours was an Order of Canada poet who is a national treasure
- a musician
- educators – who could take the conversations back to our schools
- indigenous people – Leg 7 had 2 Inuit leaders and a youth ambassador from our First Nations
- youth ambassadors – we had 3 young people, already showing tremendous leadership and passion. I believe that, at their young age, this journey will be most transformational for them,
- partners, including from Canada Council, Apathy is Boring, etc
- business people,
- and many, many more.

Through my posts, pictures, and videos, you will meet some of the above people, but my focus for this post will be in the communities we visited on our journey. Since it was impossible for each and every Canadian to participate, I hope these posts can help people share and savour even a small portion of what I experienced.

While the backdrop of our journey, the east coast of Baffin Island, represents some of the most spectacular scenery on our planet, it only provided the context for our discussions and learning. Make no mistake, for those who are connoisseurs of art from the Arctic, the sense of lighting and colours seems alien to our more southern eyes, yet addictively beautiful. Compare the colours and textures of the iconic Inuit Artist Jessie Ooonark, Group of Seven member Lawren Harris, and a Brit bewitched by the north Ted Harrison to the real thing:

In posts that will follow, I will focus more on the people onboardCanada C3. For this post, I thought I’d talk about people encounters in the two main communities we visited, first Iqaluit, and our terminus in Qikiqtarjuaq.

Our first activity as a group was lunch and a hike in Sylvia Grinnel Territorial Park, which introduced us to the unique foliage north of the tree line. The park also contains archaeological sites of the ancient Dorset and Thule peoples. While there, we met a very engaging young Inuk named Jenna, shown here hamming it up for the camera. She was with her family fishing near Sylvia Grinnel Falls.

I was chatting with fellow participant, Lorna Crozier, when Jenna approached us and offered to sing a song

I soon learned that this friendly engagement, even with strangers, is a common part of Inuit culture. When, expecting to learn about some local singer celebrity, I asked her what her favourite singer was, perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised that she answered “Katie Perry”.

Later our group toured the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum, in the former Hudson’s Bay Company store, travelling there by our trusty yellow school bus.

There I saw a man whole seemed interested in our group, so I stopped and chatted with him. The video below explains why the talented artist was in Iqaluit. Jenna, riding her bike, was in the background of this interview, but got removed in editing. Charlie “C5” Johnston was definitely worth interviewing and, was it synchronicity for a person who brands himself “C5” to meet and interact with the “C3” group?

Later in Iqaluit, we got to meet many local people, including the scientists at Nunavut Research Institute, local artists, and kayak building at the local high school.

Days later, at the end of Leg 7 in Qikiqtarjuaq, most of our group climbed the hill overlooking the hamlet and the Canada C3 vessel, and we had a number of amazing encounters.

Initially I was surprised that the girl, shown above with her sister, had such a pro camera. Later, I learned that a journal and fellow participant Caroline G Murphy, had sportingly lent her camera. For more background on this budding young photographer, read Caroline’s article in Le Journal de Montréal J’ai Prêté ma Caméra a une Jeune Inuite de 9 Ans …

And, for those unable to read in French, our discussions on Diversity and Inclusion did encompass the original “Two Solitudes” in Canada, namely French and English. While Google can do a great job translating the article, the photos with the eye of a precocious 9 year old totally transcend traditional cultural divides.

Our final community encounter during Leg 7 was at a ceremony in Qikiqtarjuaq where we gave hockey sticks to the local children, who seem to have a passion for hockey that transcends even southern Canada’s hockey crazy intensity. Leading the presentation was Jim Kyte, fellow participant and the first legally deaf NHL hockey player. Jim is an inspirational leader I was happy to get to know who has overcome challenges that most would shy away from. Today he serves as Dean of the School of Hospitality and Tourism at Algonquin College in Ottawa.

Jim was joined by last minute participant, David Lawson, an Inuk leader who just resigned after 15 years serving his community in the RCMP. I am sure we will hear much more from David who just started a law degree in order to better advocate for his people. For example, he is Board President of Embrace Life Council, an Iqaluit-based suicide prevention organization. In a separate post, I will write more about my journey of learning about the Inuit people and their journey to become a vital part of the fabric of our Canadian nation.

Canada C3 made for some wonderful encounters and conversations. I can only wish that every Canadian was able to share my experiences with the wonderful diversity that is Canada. Even I took a long time to process this life changing experience. In the end, I had my understanding of my own country transformed both by the special world that is Canada’s Arctic regions, but even more so by people who now have a life long bond that will lead to action. These conversations were far from superficial and already, many of us are taking action. As we enter 2018, you will start to learn more about the Canada C3 Legacy Programs which will keep the torch of this remarkable nation building alive and further spreading that light in the form of action and education.

29 Jun 2017

Canada at 150 – What is Your Gift to Canada and the World?

As we approach Canada Day of our 150th year of Confederation, I am compelled to share my personal reflections on where our country is headed, how the lessons of history (positive or negative) are shaping our future journey and the contribution we, as Canadians, can make to our world. Beyond celebration, our nation urgently needs our care and attention. As a result, I am sharing my own journey in the form of a call to action.

Over four years ago, I received a call join a group helping to build programs to shape our Canadian sense as a “Smart and Caring Nation”, inspired by His Excellency Governor General David Johnston. My love of our country has been inexorably shaped and enhanced through extended periods of living and working abroad. The opportunity to serve Canada and to collaborate with an unbelievably talented group of leaders, made it a no-brainer for me to accept this call. Since then, in many varied groupings, conversations about Canada and nation-building were convened at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, the Deloitte Greenhouse, Wasan Island and more. Although not apparent from the core group shown below, a diverse and impactful group of individual leaders, first nations, national and local institutions, and many change makers from the charitable and NGO sector coalesced to help shape and expand this initiative. I am eternally thankful for the leadership of David Johnston and Community Foundations of Canada, for their leadership in starting these conversations. My investment of time and money has been returned many times over in my own knowledge and engagement.

Those early conversations helped to architect and propel grassroots activities around Canada 150 at a time when our federal government hadn’t yet climbed onboard the “150 bandwagon”. Although our path was initially unclear, and the group moving in several directions, eventually it became clear that the combination of passionate people inspired by a visionary challenge to create a “Smart and Caring Nation” unleashed many amazing initiatives. Some of the key Canada 150 themes started to emerge:

Youth Engagement – Millennials (and now, Generation Z) are the best educated generation of Canadians who are passionate and “issues”-driven, yet often fail to engage with the formal political process. Canada 150 is a great way to harness that energy and enthusiasm to shape our governance for the next generation.
Reconciliation with our Indigenous People – Canada has a sad record in our treatment of Indigenous People whose territory European settlers colonized and, without whom, our modern country would not have been built. The December 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report chaired by Chief Justice Murray Sinclair, painted a shocking portrait of the misguided and brutal “Indian Residential School System” previously almost unknown to most Canadians, even many in the First Nations community. Although Canada’s 150th birthday strikes a dissonant chord for many Indigenous people, it remains a unique opportunity to learn from past mistakes and to start building a better future together. In spite of the challenges raised by celebrating years of neglect and mis-treatment, I can only hope that we can find a way forward to a brighter future for all (Indigenous and non-indigenous) people in Canada.
Diversity and Inclusion has become of paramount importance in our increasingly diverse country. Ensuring that everyone “belongs” and can contribute to our common future, is a key priority. Furthermore, we must arrest our growing Inequality before it unleashes the destructive and divisive social forces we see in other countries.
Environmental Challenges – for many, particularly the youth, Climate Change and other environmental challenges caused by the impact of humanity on a finite planet, have gone from theoretical to becoming an “existential” crisis threatening our future wellbeing. I continue to work with others to explore ways to address what seems to be an intractable problem, not just at a government policy level but even more importantly at the grassroots level to engage ordinary Canadians.

Once these high level priorities were identified, many participants contributed to shaping thinking, leading to great initiatives such as the Alliance 150 to increase collaboration and partnership among organizations. And, as Federal and Provincial governments got onboard, these earlier efforts were foundational, setting the agenda for much of the current governmental and NGO work for Canada’s 150th. As we closed in on 2017, I channelled my focus to advising a number of national Canada 150 Signature Initiatives, such as Canada C3 and Canada 150 in our local communities, that directly descends from those early conversations.

As an Ambassador for the Canada C3 expedition, I am excited to see this project’s ambitions surpassed on all its major themes of Reconciliation, Youth Engagement, Inclusion & Diversity and Environmental Stewardship. Watch this nation building exercise grow during the Expedition as it reaches the majority of Canadians. I will use my time on Leg 7 of Canada C3, later this summer, to learn, engage and reflect collaboratively regarding our major Canadian challenges and opportunities.

What started with a request for me to make a gift of time and money, ended up as truly a life-changing gift back to me, and all those involved.

My biggest take away from this process, is that it is important for Canadians, individually and collectively, to work on nation building. Unsurprisingly, David Johnston said it best in a letter “What Will Your Gift Be?”, from his recent book The Idea of Canada – Letters to a Nation. Note that the proceeds from this wise work are directed to building the Rideau Hall Foundation which is another legacy of our current Governor General. In that letter:

“Each Canadian has the power within him or her to give something special to our country and help build that country we dream of. Big or small, complex or simple — it doesn’t matter what Canadians give. The gift each Canadian chooses is as unique as the person who shares that fit. .. young people in our country have a special responsibility to lead our country’s celebration of the 150th anniversary of Confederation.”

People around the world look to Canada as a bastion of democracy, decency and safety, buttressed by our reputation for being obsessively obsequious and our pioneering of international peacekeeping. As times change, our national role and aspirations also need to change. Just as we are no longer the extension to Victorian Great Britain of a 100 years ago, our post World War II Cold War era identity also needs to be re-imagined. What will Canada look like for our bicentennial in 2067? 2017 represents a unique and timely opportunity for us to all participate in shaping our common future.

Canada seems to be such a safe and peaceful country. Yet, present and historical events show that the veneer of civil society that we all hold dear and take for granted, can be fragile indeed. I am still struck by a story told by that master story teller, David Johnston. He reflected on The Ukrainian Pioneer, a 6 panel masterpiece by Canadian artist William Kurelek. Reflecting a life journey familiar to so many Canadians, the work chronicles a Ukrainian villager fleeing Josef Stalin’s genocidal famine of 1932-1933 (Holomodor) [See No. 1] who comes to forge a new life amid the relative tranquility and plenty of the Canadian prairies. However, barely visible in the background of the last idyllic panel The Ukrainian Pioneer, No. 6 (1976) is a mushroom cloud. Kurelek wanted to remind us that the veneer of civil society is thin and needs constant care and protection.

In 2017, many forces threaten the comfortable status quo that we expect from Canadian society. Those who are privileged to lead, indeed everyone, must take these forces seriously. Mass alienation and discontent with our current civil order represents a real cry for change. However, many times those grasping for change latch onto leaders whose seductive rhetoric proves ultimately destructive of the enviable civil society we have built over 150 years here in Canada.

A country is, indeed, the product of the collective hopes, dreams and ideals of its citizens. As John F Kennedy famously said,

“Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.

Yet, sometimes our daily news feeds chronicle the disturbing forces that appear to denigrate all that Canadians hold dear, such as:

a new move to put “drawbridges up”, instead of embracing the global world order,
a pervasive failure to question “fake news”, “alternate facts” and dismissal of reasoned analysis rather than encouragement of intelligent debate and problem solving, and
a shift in political discourse from a “narrative of hope”, to one that lacks civility, grace or higher purpose.

The more I travel and engage with global thought leaders, I learn that Canada is becoming the last bastion of a better way in the world. As a result, I believe those key Canada 150 themes of Reconciliation; Inclusion; Youth Engagement and Environmental Stewardship have escalated in importance from nice to have to social imperatives.

For individual Canadians, using 2017 as a springboard towards a “Smart and Caring” Nation in 2067, there are innumerable ways to make a difference with some combination of the trinity of “wealth“, “wisdom” and “work” focused on civic, social and cultural needs:

Volunteering to give back through a cause is vitally important to you, whether in your neighbourhood, nationally or internationally. A great example is the CANADA150FOR150 Volunteer Challenge
Donating to a cause that will help move the needle. Consider your local community first and your local Community Foundation may be a great place to start for new ideas and approaches, or
If you identify an unmet need in our society, consider starting a new Social Enterprise

Besides being amongst the most fulfilling work you will do in your life, your civic engagement will continue to help shape and grow the wonderful social and cultural fabric of this wonderful country we call Canada.

I have been inspired to continually re-think my gift to Canada, and now see it more of a journey than a destination. Stay tuned …

What is your gift to Canada? Are you prepared to do your part?

10 Sep 2015

Middlebrook Prize on the Move

The Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators has named Adam Barbu as its third winner and is moving up to a whole new level. Founded in 2012 by John Kissick and me, with initial investments from Middlebrook Social Innovation Fund, to support and mobilize Canadian creative talent, the Prize aims to inspire positive social change through creativity and connectedness in a time of unprecedented economic, environmental, social, and cultural challenges.

In our 3rd year, some exciting changes are afoot as we see our vision for the Prize unfold.

First of all, the Prize has a new home in our partner gallery, the recently re-branded Art Gallery of Guelph. Led by Dawn Owen, the gallery provides a compelling new venue to host the Prize exhibition and to mentor the winner.

Secondly, the Prize now has a physical form and a visual identity as befits an increasingly important Canadian cultural icon. Designed by the immensely talented and award winning creative director, Chris Duchaine, our new visual identity reflects the knowledge integration inherent in modern curating interpreted with the most modern design principles. Paying homage to the “White Cube” abstraction of the idealized art gallery, it also references the forces that are breaking down that cube and moving curation firmly into the future, perhaps embracing new ideas like the Ultra Contemporary Art Movement.

Hear Chris discuss his design:

To accompany the design, Chris selected the recently designed LL Circular font by Laurenz Brunner from Lineto in Switzerland. The font manages to be “geometric without being cold” and timeless while modern.

And, finally, the Prize now has a permanent online home with a website at MiddlebrookPrize.ca to properly highlight the accomplishments of this growing group of young opinion leaders in the arts world. To acknowledge that growing influence, the winners comprise an expert centre, using the cloud-based service ExpertFile to highlight the developing oeuvre of our cadre of winners. To further encourage the growth of this network of leaders, Katherine Dennis, the 2013 Middlebrook Prize winner, was a member of the selection jury for the 2015 Prize. We extend a special thanks to Kendra Martin for managing the design and implementation of our web presence.

In keeping with 6 words in the Prize name, (hence the “cube” in the visual design), we’ve chosen a playfully “cubic” hashtag of #MPfYCC. Stay tuned for more exciting developments, but do check out Adam’s exhibition opening on September 17th and the Middlebrook Prize Award Day on October 24th.

27 Aug 2015

Management and Succession Planning of Angel Portfolios

How Can Angels Better Structure Their Portfolios?

[Note: this blog post also appears on the NACO Canada guest blog by Randall Howard]

Angel portfolio management remains surprisingly primitive. Many Angels have built up substantial portfolios over time, yet few give much thought to ongoing management of these valuable assets. The many various spreadsheets, documents, share certificates, warrants, emails and other essential documents are often scattered far and wide. I understand first hand the challenges Angel investors face when managing their portfolios and I also understand that things need to change.

At the beginning of October, I will be moderating a panel at the 2015 National Angel Summit, regarding best practices in portfolio structuring management and succession planning in order to build awareness, and activate change, around this issue. The panel will include two “Super Angels” and a Family Office Professional who will provide first hand perspectives on approaches to filling the portfolio management gap.

The fundamental question we will be addressing is, “how can Angels structure their portfolios better?” We will also be diving into the importance of succession planning for Angel investors.

It may sound morbid, but how many Angel investors have planned or even thought about the huge challenges they would leave their loved ones and executors when they die? Angel investors need to have a well-executed plan in place for their portfolio companies. Like inside companies, succession planning is all about planning for the inevitable to lessen the burden for those who follow.

With this panel, my hope is to shine a light on these less mainstream topics, through awareness and conversation. Throughout the 55-minute session, Summit attendees will learn tangible strategies and tips for proper portfolio management and succession planning. The panel will also ensure that as many audience questions are answered as possible.

It should be noted that the Summit is the signature event of the Canadian Angel investment community, and this three-day conference is an excellent chance to network with startup CEO’s, attend panels and workshops, sharpen your skills, learn from industry leaders and more.

30 May 2015

Snapshot of the ACA Summit 2015

In mid-April, I attended the 10th annual ACA Summit hosted by Angel Capital Association in San Diego. With about 600 people in attendance from dozens of countries, it was an excellent chance to get tuned into the latest trends happening in angel world at large.

And since Angel Investing is now a global phenomenon, it is interesting to note that ACA Summit can have two faces. On one hand, it is a very international gathering of Angel investors and yet sometimes the content reflects the fact that ACA is primarily an association of US Angel investors, for example by showing trends without regard that Canadian angels are just across the border.

The international range of attendees was striking, with many delegations from various European countries; Latin American countries like Mexico, Chile and Barbados; India; a particular concentration from Australia and New Zealand and of course Canada. Regarding this antipodean concentration, one attendee found it odd that there were more of participants from halfway around the world than from Canada.

I am a member of the program committee for Canada’s own 2015 NACO Summit which is being held October 6-8 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, right on the US frontier. I see a huge opportunity to learn and connect with more US and global angels.

Each year, the Angel Resource Institute publishes statistical information and trends in US Angel investing and at ACA released their 2014 Halo Report.

I’ve chosen some personally curated highlights both of that report and the overall conference:

Overall US Angel investment was about US$25 billion in 2014, surpassing venture capital investments. This represents over 300,000 investors in over 70,000 deals. We continue to have less comprehensive data for Canada, but we still lag on a per capita basis, but the gap is narrowing.
Although Crowdfunding was a major topic of discussion, it is still less than 2% of the above $25 billion figure, definitely lagging places like the UK where it is already at 5%.
Median deal size grew over 10% to $2 million in 2014, when co-investment is included. Median pre-money valuation grew 20% to $3 million.
The largest region for deal dollars (17.2%) was the Great Lakes Region (from Wisconsin to Ohio), surprising to those who thought most deals happen in California. Further, almost 50% of all deals are in states on the Canadian border, clearly presenting cross-border syndication opportunities.
Perhaps because of high valuations in the tech “hot spots”, such as New York City and California, more syndication across greater distances was reported, which goes against the traditional notion of investors focusing within a one-hour drive. Again, while the studies of greater cross-country syndication didn’t extend into Canada, it is easy to extend this trend cross-border. A drive could be to focus on those sectors requiring specialized skills such as medical technologies and life sciences.
There were a lot of great sessions on emerging, and ongoing, issues, such as crowdfunding, the new SEC Regulation A+ (mandated by the JOBS Act to simplify raises up to $20 million even from non-accredited investors), an ever increasing push to build new and innovative Angel Funds and even post investment Board governance.
In that vein, I ran an open panel on “Best Practices to Build a Private Equity Portfolio – Tools and Strategies”. What was notable was how primitive such angel portfolio management really was. One participant suggested angels portfolio management was comparable to that of public company portfolios 100 years ago. As Angels learn that a passive approach with little portfolio management is sub-optimal, leading Superangels, the advanced Angel groups and the trend to angel funds are all pushing for more professional portfolio management. Although historically they have worked separately, the increased involvement of Family Offices in the world of angels is also starting to drive greater portfolio discipline. New software tools are emerging to help here as well, such as Seraf – Portfolio Management for Angel Investors which was built by angels unable to find a way to automate their portfolio management.

In summary, ACA Summit 2015 was a fabulous opportunity to meet, network and learn from some of the best global angels and understand about emerging models and best practices. Many side bar conversations, dinners and drinks in the garden were packed with wisdom from around the world.

In October, our own NACO Summit will be a great opportunity for Canadians to similarly share and learn and to connect with a more global perspective as our Angel ecosystem continues to grow from strength to strength.

Typical Modern Meeting - Face-to-face or virtual?

4 Jan 2015

The Downside of Meeting Requests

“Expectation is the mother of all frustration.” – Antonio Banderas

Meeting requests are an amazing invention. Pioneered, and standardized, almost 20 years ago by companies like Microsoft (as part of Outlook/Exchange), Novell (Groupwise) and Lotus (now part of IBM Lotus Notes) this innovation had great promise to automate an essential, yet completely routine, aspect of modern life.

The ascendency of meeting request usage, also rides several trends:

In the 1990s, I had an Executive Assistant who scheduled my time, acted as a “gatekeeper” and also worked on many projects. She was a master tactician who managed to keep 3 or more Type A executives productively multi-tasking. In many ways, sadly, such personal assistance is being subsumed by..
Increasing computational power means that automation of routine tasks, personalized to the needs of individuals is much more of a reality,
The mobile revolution has made meetings much more multi-modal and virtual, but also means that most executives must be productive even while being mobile nomads, and
Calendars have migrated from paper – I switched about 20 years ago – to desktop computers using Outlook and the like, and now to the ubiquitous smartphone and tablet devices. Such mobile devices are both convenient for calendars, but also frustratingly fiddly places to enter complex meeting details.

Thus, enter the humble Meeting Request which has swelled in popularity. I received my first such request from an Outlook/Exchange user around 2000 and they remained rare until perhaps the last 5-10 years. Now they seem to be everywhere.

In homage to my friend and colleague, Jim Estill, the quintessential time management guru, I ought to be cheering this time saving invention.

And, yet my enthusiasm is sorely tinged by a frustrating implementation resulting in suboptimal user experience …

Top 10 Meeting Request FAILs:

Trojan Horse: It has always seemed odd to me that a third party inviting me to a meeting could embed their own meeting information in my calendar, and yet I am unable to edit this “foreign” request that has invaded my calendar.
Split Personality: If Jennifer invites me, Randall, to a meeting, then why does my meeting title say “Meeting with Randall” instead of “Meeting with Jennifer”? Computers are designed to automate routine tasks so there is absolutely no excuse for this one.
No Annotation: I write comments in the notes fields of my calendar all the time. Why can’t I say, for example, “Joe is a bit dodgy” or “First met back in 2001”?
Duplication: Many times I receive a meeting request for a meeting that I have already carefully crafted an entry in my own calendar. Again, computers are supposed to be smart enough to figure these things out and merge them in an intelligent way.
Bad Versioning: Many times when meeting information is changed, such as time or venue, the update isn’t seamless. For example, it is common to have both the original and the updated version lingering in my calendar.
No Scheduling: Meeting requests are often used as trial balloons in trying to schedule busy people into meetings. The endless rounds of “Accept”, “Maybe” or “Decline” responses can end up being quite frustrating, especially for many person meetings. These, often fruitless, interchanges underscore the fact that meeting requests don’t automate routine scheduling. Instead, people have to resort to tools like Doodle to vote on alternatives, and then manually schedule the winning result.
Verbosity by having superfluous words in the limited real estate of the meeting subject line. E.g. pre-pending “Invitation:” or “Updated Invitation:” onto the front of a subject, effectively burying the important words. Many times they are put there to increase the impact and readability of the email subject line to ensure opening, but distract in the actual Calendar entry.
Invitations from Google Enterprise Apps or GMail tend to be the most arcane and ugly. Originally, I chalked this up to Google Calendar‘s relative immaturity compared to Outlook, but the brutally long notes and long subject lines continue to stand out as worst in class, almost to the point that I dread getting invited by Google users.
Lack of Anticipatory Computing: in an age where mobile devices know location, existing meetings and other personal habits, the trend to predictive intelligence could be incorporated into smarter meeting requests. For example, combining meeting requests with shared “Free/Busy” data could remove many manual scheduling steps.
No Personalization: Like my contact list, I put a fair bit of thought into crafting a calendar that is both useful now, but also provides a detailed audit trail of my business interactions. To do this, I use conventions, categories and other techniques that, sadly, cannot be injected into these un-editable meeting requests that instead reflect the third party initiator’s preferences.

Do let me know in comments if I missed any major points.

Given the power of networked computing to automate, why is there such a lack of excellence and progress in this particular area?

In fairness, I believe that part of the problem lies in the interplay between competition and the vagaries of formal industry standards. That said, this should be no excuse.

It is admirable that, unlike word processing formats, the various pioneers started to develop standards call iCalendar (and later vCalendar) around 1997 to standardize file formats (like .ical and .ics) and email server interactions. I do know the Microsoft attempted to extend the functionality with some very useful things around that time. But, for some reason, a great idea got off to a good start, but seems frozen at an almost Beta level of functionality.

To conclude, please read this post, not as a gripe, but instead as a call to action to developers to help take the humble meeting request to the next level of user experience. Any takers?

9 Nov 2014

Fall Of The Wall – 25 Years Later

A mere 25 years ago, the Fall of the Berlin Wall rent the “Iron Curtain” asunder, a re-ordering of western civilization possibly unparallelled since the fall of the Roman Empire.

25 years and 15 days ago, almost by happenstance, I drove the Berlin Corridor, travelled via Freidrichstraße Station behind the Berlin Wall and witnessed an exhausted and bankrupt regime about to collapse.

Today the world has joined Berlin in celebrating this momentous anniversary. This photo shows balloons lighting the old route of the Berlin Wall.

In 2014, we should be celebrating a distant historical memory. However, the sabre rattling by Vladimir Putin who illegally annexed Crimea, has (not so) covert troops actively de-stabilizing eastern Ukraine and causing existential jitters in the other former East Block countries, leads many commentators to be concerned that the Cold War didn’t end in 1989.

In 2009, for the 20th anniversary of these events, I published the following to describe my own experiences in the surreal world that 1989 Berlin represented:

Die Berliner Mauer – 20 Years After the End of History

Randall

1 Jan 2014

Ice Storms Highlight Canada’s Obsolete Infrastructure

As we enter 2014, well into the 21st Century, one lesson for me from the year just past was that Canada seems to be hobbled with 19th century infrastructure. Let me explain.

During 2013, my home in Ontario was subject to not one, but two, different ice storms – in April and December. Both brought down large chunks of trees and both caused multi-day electrical power outages. In decades, this is the first time I can recall losing power for more than 1 day. To have this occur twice, with a combined 8 days of power outage, in a single year is even more striking.

After the first ice storm in April, I recall discussing this with a European colleague who was surprised by the very notion of a power outage. From a European perspective, he suggested the last power outage, of any length, that he could recall was 30 years ago. This started me thinking about why the difference.

In Canada, we have always prided ourselves on being one of the world’s richest countries, with modern infrastructure. However, much of our infrastructure was built for a different time and need. Much of it is really a testament to truly inventive Victorian design. It was indeed wonderful but no longer makes sense in the 21st Century. So, why indeed do we still have most of our electrical power lines above-ground on poles, while the rest of the (rich) world generally buries them? Why do our railways still rely on switches that freeze in winter and need to be operated by workers with propane torches? Why is a city like Toronto paralyzed by a major rainstorm?

Our homes, utilities, drainage and much more was built for a world predating our current period of rapid climate change. Surprisingly there remain in this world Luddites, who bizarrely continue to deny the fact of climate change. While we still have much to learn, on-the-ground results are here for all to see.

I gained significant insight into these issues when as a Director of Gore Mutual Insurance Company, a leading property insurer, I attended an enlightening presentation by the poignantly named Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR). This industry-funded organization is a world leader, collaborating globally in research and advocacy around the causes and solutions for large scale insurance losses, known in industry jargon as a Catastrophe or even a Cat.

ICLR gathers data and works with many academic researchers to increase both understanding and awareness of what causes insurance losses. The data shows that the last ten years have seen huge increases in the number of severity of large scale losses, particularly from damaging wind, water and ice events, which are all significantly driven by climate change.

For example, with increased wind events (typically tornadoes in this area of Ontario), a call for more homes to be built with windows structurally rated to withstand 200 mph wind events makes sense.

Furthermore, climate change means that rainfall in 1 hour can equal what used to occur over 24 hours or more, with flash floods ensuing. In such an environment, instead of our historic practice of getting rid of water as quickly as possible, it is better to slow it down and buffer the potential for flash flooding.

For me, the power outages are a metaphor for how we in Canadian society need to look at our infrastructure with a sense of long term vision. We really need to invest to upgrade utilities, transportation and drainage for the needs of the 21st century. This in no way takes away from the heroic efforts of Hydro workers over the holiday season. I’m simply surprised that attention has never been focused on the root cause and long term prevention.

In an era of political infighting and embarrassing city Mayors, I’m wondering where the leadership necessary to achieve this will come from?