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] by Don Sagrott - An open letter to bc premier Christy Clark re the gov.bc 100M venture fund
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<h1 style="text-align: center;">100m </h1> <h1 style="text-align: center;">"a plan for the BC.gov VC money"</h1> <h2>[WHAT]</h2> <ol> <li><strong>] by Don Sagrott - An open letter to bc premier Christy Clark re the gov.bc decision to invest $ 100M into a venture capital fund</strong></li> <ol> <li>] in dec of 2015 the <a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2015MTICS0033-001951" target="_blank">bc government announced</a> they will be investing 100M /$ into a venture capital fund to invest in the provinces technology sector</li> <li>+ ] the details of the plan will be announce at the #bctech conference on jan 18 </li> </ol> <li>] <strong>AIUI/from what i can glean of "their plan" at this point it looks something like this</strong></li> <ol> <li>] the .gov will hire a <a href="http://www.bcbid.gov.bc.ca/open.dll/showDisplayDocument?sessionID=481703561&disID=31113731&docType=Tender&dis_version_nos=2&doc_search_by=Tend&docTypeQual=TN" target="_blank">private sector manager via its RFP process</a>, to oversee the disbursement and management of these funds to various VC firms </li> <li>] there is currently only <span style="text-decoration: underline;">a handful of VC firms</span> operating in the province, part of the fund managers mandate will be to bring further VC business to the province.</li> <li>] the VC firms will then select where to invest the gov funds ( imagine your surprise when the investments they make go into their own portfolio companies)</li> <li>] it sounds like - targeting - series A investments ( series A investments aren't really 'startup' investments ) </li> </ol> <li><strong>] Hootsuite founder Ryan Holmes shared "his plan" for what the government should do with these funds</strong></li> <ol> <li>] # 4898 - SUMMARY on dec xx,, Ryan Holmes wrote an open letter to cC premier B with his suggestions on investing the 100m ( aka "a PLAN for BC's 100M VC fund" )</li> <li>] 50M for education - </li> <li>] 50M for investment, down the line - </li> </ol> <li>] </li> </ol> <h2>[WHY]</h2> <ol> <li><strong>] should the government be "investing" in the tech industry?</strong></li> <ol> <li>] this article is not an arguement for/against investing in 'the industry', this article assumes that 'the decision' to invest has been made to invest, this article is about "how" we should be investing. I assume the arguement as to wether we should be investing looked something like this / pointing out some of the PROS/CONS ,</li> <li><span style="background-color: #00ff00;">] PROS</span> it creates jobs, the jobs that it creates are better, aka they pay more then other jobs, white collar, green, its a growing industry, its a diversified ] it is an investment, NOT a grant or a gift, we should expect a return. </li> <li><span style="background-color: #ffff00;">] CONS</span> ] if this industry is so wonderful, why does it need gov investment, ] shouldn't private investors be lining up to invest. ] gov should NOT be in business, ] </li> <li>] CONCLUSIONS - </li> <ol> <li>done right - it could be a huge success and a big win for the province</li> <li>done - it will benefit some, </li> <li>done wrong - it will benefit some, it will likely close the door on future initiatives</li> </ol></ol> <li>] </li> </ol> <h2>[WHERE]</h2> <ol> <li><strong>] READ THE FULL ARTICLE</strong></li> <ol> <li>] </li> </ol></ol> <h2>[WHEN]</h2> <ol> <li>] 2016-01-0d</li> </ol> <h2>[EXAMPLE]</h2> <ol> <li>] </li> </ol> <h2>[HOW-TO]</h2> <ol> <li><strong>] DO leverage your capital </strong></li> <ol> <li>] 100M - federal government, municipal governments, private BUT most importantly benafactors ] VC firms, ] startups </li> </ol> <li><strong>] DON'T invest in those who dont need it</strong></li> <ol> <li>] The hootsuite, slacks, avigilons, build direct's of the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Vancouver startup ecosystem</span> are all succesfull startup companies, they have the means, the people, the experience to pursue VC on thier own accord.</li> <li>] Lets also not confuse our startup ecosystem with the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">established players in the tech industry</span>. Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft don't need your investment capital. </li> </ol> <li><strong>] DO develop a "super accelorator", "modelled on" silicon valleys most successfull accelorator(<span style="text-decoration: underline;">yc</span>) but <span style="text-decoration: underline;">better </span></strong></li> <ol> <li>] We currently have 5+ "accelorators" operating in the province, Whats the biggest difference between our most well known homegrown accelorators and the (arguably) worlds most successfull accelorator, ] almost every single one of our <span style="background-color: #ff0000;"><strong>current BC 'accelorators' are looking to <span style="text-decoration: underline;">take money out of</span> the startup companies</strong></span> up fron - aka they want to earn money off of the potential startup companies that they "sponsor". </li> <li><strong>] <span style="background-color: #00ff00;">YC puts money into the startup companies it selects,</span> they provide expert training and ongoing guidance at NO COST</strong> and <span style="text-decoration: underline;">most importantly</span> .... - YC makes a small investment(125k) for a small equity stake(approx. 7%) in the startup. YC wins when the startup wins.</li> </ol> <li><strong>] DO utilization - use it for your own purposes</strong></li> <ol> <li>] according to recent press reports, the gov has spent/invested over $115M and counting on <span style="text-decoration: underline;">a single system(panorama)</span> for the Health Ministry. ] At the current time panorama is partially implemented, partially functional, riddled with bugs(12,000+) and being re-assessed(at additional cost) all accruing cost. </li> <ol> <li><span style="background-color: #ff0000;">] BOTTOM LINE The gov has WASTED 100+M on a single system from a single vendor. SO FAR.</span> </li> <li><span style="background-color: #ff0000;">] The gov has many, many systems.</span></li> </ol> <li><span style="background-color: #00ff00;">] hire/sponsor your own accelorator backed "startup companies" to build gov it projects -</span> Lets assume our startup company could build you <span style="text-decoration: underline;">a working prototype</span> of a <span style="text-decoration: underline;">functional,</span> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">bug free</span> system, that <span style="text-decoration: underline;">users actually liked</span>, for <span style="text-decoration: underline;">a mere fraction of the development and operating costs</span> of big old tech giants. Why wouldnt you want to invest in this?</li> </ol> <li><strong>] DO re-invest </strong></li> <ol> <li>] assuming we can generate a profit, lets be prepared to re-invest that profit and grow this fund further. </li> </ol> <li><strong>] DO marketing </strong></li> <ol> <li>] educators - </li> <li>] capital - investors/ - </li> <li>] companies - </li> <li>] talent - </li> </ol></ol> <h2>[REFERENCE]</h2> <ol> <li>] SRC = </li> <li>] # 4843 - <a href="/view/article?id=4843" target="_blank">SUMMARY bc gov announcement of 100M venture fund</a> - SUMMARY articles(2) about announcement by IN gov-systems/bc/index</li> <li>+] # 4898 - <a href="/view/article?id=4898" target="_blank">SUMMARY article ryan holmes open letter</a></li> <li>] # 4894 - southern ont should be an innovation cluster, not a farm team</li> <li>] # 4423 - ycombinator - qry='ycombinator company success rate' ] <a href="https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-success-rate-of-startups-that-have-been-funded-by-Y-Combinator" target="_blank">yc success rate</a>, ] some <a href="http://blog.ycombinator.com/yc-portfolio-stats" target="_blank">yc portfolio stats</a>, ] <a href="http://priceonomics.com/the-big-winner-from-y-combinators-success-sequoia/" target="_blank">sequoia is the big winner behind yc</a></li> </ol> <div><hr /></div> <div> <p>the 100M gov of bc venture capital fund and how it should be invested</p> </div> <div> <div> <p> </p> </div> <div> <div><strong>- the PROBLEMS are ... // </strong>current entrepeneurs often cite</div> <div><strong><br /></strong></div> <div>--> 1] Vancouver Housing - the cost of "housing" is too high to make it an attractive place for newcomers or for ( "decline of vancouver" guy, aka sodaku president) </div> <div>--> 2] brain drain - </div> <div>--> 3] capital (access)</div> <p><strong>- the SOLUTIONS are </strong></p> <div>--> 1] Abbostford, chilliwack, mission, kelowna, penticton, vernon, kamloops, victoria, nanaimo </div> </div> <div>--> 2] brain drain - ] re recruitment, ] </div> <div>--> 3] capital (access) - </div> </div> <p><strong>100m/4.6m</strong></p> <p>== $ 21.75 pp</p> <h1 style="text-align: center;"> </h1>