And a unique format at that. Attendees were asked, at the door, to pick a sticker: blue if you were a financial provider, VC, or investor, red if you were a founder. I chose red, and the night unfolded in exciting and unpredictable ways.
One of the main reasons for attending is because you never know who will be there.
During the event I was able to chat with any number of individuals I've always wanted to consult, or get into specifics on topics I don't normally have an audience.
Meeting with investors and VC organizations
I was able to speak to a representative from Easly. I was describing how many entrepreneurs or startups need sound technical fundamentals from the outset of a project, or run the risk of untenable technical debt in the future. I also referenced a conversation I had with Bob Seeman, who pointed out that a failure to plan for infrastructural considerations, IT expenditures, cybersecurity/privacy/ legal compliance provisions, or even constructing a roadmap with a Software Development Lifecycle (SLDC) can all detract from valuations when a business looks to sell or exit .
Moral of the story: If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.
This is why Acorn wants to find these alignments with early stage organizations, organizations who need assistance with this kind of development, or venture capital/investment firms with a portfolio of businesses who could partner with Acorn to support their investments.
By partnering with companies to collaborate on their vision meeting with sound technical fundamentals, we can use this teamwork to increase the probability of investment, ROI, and ultimately success in outcome.
We make an effort to post about these issues, and functional resolutions, so that when we're at events like the Canadian Tech Founder Social we can share ways in which our work can directly benefit early stage investors and founders.
Which leads to the importance of diagramming for project success where we demonstrate the value and power of visualization for training, onboarding and establishing roadmaps for organizations.
We wrote a very detail oriented article below with lots of different examples on the impact of diagrams.
Meeting talented founders, and talented individuals
I had a number of great conversations with individuals throughout the evening discussing some of areas I want to see Acorn moving into, and teasing out details of others professional experiences. I was able to:
Between identifying areas that need skills augmentation and technical support, and conversing with subject matter experts (SME) who can help us to prepare proposals, chase down grants, and come into engagements prepared and well researched, we can increase the probability of success within the initiatives we support by tailoring our skills and expertise to the types of problem sets outlined by an SME, and that ways computation and design can support SME's, and their teams.
It's very important to have well researched and organized methodologies for aligning investment with skill. Digital design, user experience, and computation are one input in a much broader suite of initiatives. By attending events like the Canadian Tech Founder Social, it's great to be reminded that there is a huge need to figure out these complex dynamics between business and investment through process and implementation. It's reassuring to be introduced to the beautiful pool of talent that exist amongst Vancouver's start-up and entrepreneurial ecosystems.
2024 is looking to be a great year for innovation, new ventures and collaborations. We are here to support and love to see the growth of our local BC ecosystem.
We appreciate your time and interest for reading this blog. We are passionate to create quality informational content to educate our readers.
If you have any questions or want to know how our team can collaborate or support your initiatives, feel free to contact us or email Samuel at: samuel@acorninteractive.ca.
