Techopia 20160314

AVOUR UITFUL ENDE FR g’ brilliance pays off UOttawa prof’s ‘biohackin

CONNECTING TECH

IN OTTAWA

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Kanata’s hotte tech subsectors PAGES 3-5

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FRUITFUL ENDEAVOUR UOttawa prof’s ‘biohacking’ brilliance pays off

Incubators playin roles for startups PAGES 8-9

CLIENT CHAd’sSEtips CEO Paul Emon for sales success PAGE 15

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University of off ‘biohacking’ brilliance pays

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Kanata’s hottest tech subsectors PAGES 3-5

ON THE GROW

Incubators playing key roles for startups PAGES 8-9

CLIENT CHASE

FRUITFUL ENDEAVOUR

University of Ottawa prof’s ‘biohacking’ brilliance pays off

CEO Paul Emond’s tips for sales success PAGE 15

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KANATA’S BRIGHTEST LIGHTS These companies are leading the way in area’s highest-performing sectors

BY LUCY SCRENCI

Last month, the Kanata North BIA released a report on the area’s technology ecosystem outlining the sector’s impact on the overall economy. Not surprisingly, the study found that tech is a major driver of growth in Kanata North, directly or indirectly employing 26,000 of the area’s 30,000 workers and generating more than $6 billion in annual economic activity.

The BIA’s study looked at 10 subsectors of the tech industry and assessed their individual impact on the overall ecosystem. TECHOPIA has zeroed in on four of those subsectors, profiling a leading company in each one. Here are TECHOPIA’s subsectors to watch in Kanata North.

NUMBER OF WORKERS

SOFTWARE

REVENUES

$

576.6M PRODUCTIVITY BASED ON SALES-PER-EMPLOYEE

$

209K

I do think that Kanata is actually very interesting to go to social networking events now, because when you ask people what they do, it’s no longer, ‘What part of telecom do you work on?’ It’s, ‘What is your tech company?’ I’m talking to people who are doing aviation systems to people who’ve got gaming applications to people who are trying to figure out the next trend on consumer behaviour.

EXPORT RATIO

95%

The defence and aerospace sector in Kanata employs more than 1,400 people and generates in excess of half a billion dollars in annual revenues.

One of its leaders is Neptec Design Group. Though the previous Conservative government cut funding to Canada’s space program, that hasn’t slowed Neptec’s growth. The producer of elaborate sensors and robotics technologies for the space market has been extremely successful in securing contracts with international space agencies.

Neptec founder and chairman Paul Nephin says Neptec has developed numerous sensors for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, supporting roughly 40 of NASA’s space missions. In addition, Neptec staff have racked up 30,000 hours or more in Mission Control at NASA. Nephin says the company, which employs about 100 people in Kanata and another 10 in the United States and England, will likely see at least a 30 per cent increase in revenues in 2016, thanks mainly to a rise in exports.

Most recently, Neptec collaborated with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency.

“We developed a sophisticated metrology system to align X-ray telescopes on orbit,” says Nephin. The technology will allow scientists to better distinguish black holes and other objects that normally appear blurry.

Neptec’s long history has allowed it to refine its proprietary and in-demand technology, which has also been spun off for use in terrestrial applications. Its sister company, Neptec Technologies, builds sensors for the mining and construction industries.

“We’ve been developing the expertise and intellectual property for 25 years,” says Nephin.

That track record keeps Neptec busy.

The company is planning to develop a lunar lander sensor for the European Space Agency and to collaborate with

03 TECHOPIA.CA

revolutionary steps that make them work better” – will become a dominant industry in Kanata “because we get how to do big stuff like that.”

MARTELLO TECHNOLOGIES CEO BRUCE LINTON

DEFENCE, SECURITY AND AEROSPACE

MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

Roughly 10 per cent of Kanata’s tech workforce is employed in the software sector, which brings in $576.6 million in annual revenues. Not surprisingly, software providers took up the most spots on the Ottawa Business Journal’s roundup of fastest-growing companies last year.

At the top of that list was Martello Technologies, maker of fault and performance management software for unified communications systems.

Founded in 2009, the company has already achieved a number of major milestones, raising $3 million in funding in 2014 and acquiring French software firm Netvitesse the same year. The firm now has nearly 30 employees, 22 of them in Ottawa.

Martello CEO Bruce Linton credits the company’s software-as-a-service model for allowing it to support a high volume of clients. Martello serves 2,000 customers in 18 countries.

Linton believes that software companies are able to flourish in Kanata because of an influx of “people who understand very complicated, technically advanced large systems.

“The resource pool is terrific, there’s many layers of years of experience, so if you want some junior people, some intermediate people and some senior people, they happen to all be here.”

This range of talent will allow the software sector to continue to gain traction, says Linton.

He predicts that software defined networking – “systems that progressively work better because they identify the

2,757

NETWORKING IN KANATA: NOW VERSUS 15 YEARS AGO

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” – HENRY FORD

the International Space Station on a multi-purpose sensor.

While Nephin is keen to keep expanding the company’s international reach, he looks forward to seeing what plans the federal Liberals have in store to boost support for the aerospace industry.

“We’re hopeful with the new government that they’ll have better insights by making investments in space and be a little bit more progressive in funding the space agency,” he said.

ON KANATA RECOVERING FROM ITS LULL IN TECH

NUMBER OF WORKERS

I think over the last five years or so, things haven’t been rosy and companies have had it a little tougher in prior years. I have seen some things starting to pick up now … and I think in general the area is starting to boom.

1,425 REVENUES

$

566.5M PRODUCTIVITY BASED ON SALES-PER-EMPLOYEE

$

398K

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PAUL NEPHIN, FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN OF NEPTEC

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EXPORT RATIO

60%

KANATA’S LEGACY OF TALENT PULLS IN MAJOR CORPORATIONS

MANUFACTURING, ENGINEERING, INDUSTRIAL AND SYSTEMS DESIGN With more than 1,100 employees and annual revenues of $343.5 million, this sector boasts a diverse group of companies.

A standout is Pleora Technologies, a provider of video interfaces that has led the way in defining global standards for video delivery over Ethernet.

Founder and CEO George Chamberlain recognized back in 2000 the potential that the Ethernet posed for video networks.

“At that time it was done using proprietary networks, proprietary hardware and software and cabling,” says Pleora president Harry Page.

“George Chamberlain saw how broadly deployed the Ethernet was becoming. It was becoming the global standard, and he believed that there was a need to develop technology to take advantage of that.”

Chamberlain’s work informed the basis of the Gigabit Ethernet GigE Vision standard. One hundred and sixty companies from around the world participate in the standards body, and Pleora continues to co-chair the committee that was created in 2003.

The breakthrough made setting up inspection systems much more accessible, Page explains.

“It allowed these video applications to be managed like an Ethernet network, to allow for broadcasting and multicasting, so it’s built on a lot of the advantages that Ethernet had that weren’t available in the old inherent legacy technologies.”

Pleora’s technology was originally developed for factory automatic applications, particularly for the quality control inspection of electronics such as circuit boards.

“It really was kind of the emergence of what we call ‘intelligent imaging,’ so that’s taking in a high-quality image and using that as a basis to make a decision,” says Page, whose company employs 62 people.

The technology is now pervasive, used for inspection systems in the transportation, medical and military sectors, and Pleora’s interfaces can

There were 25,000 employees in the Ottawa area after their companies went through their downturn; it put a lot of very talented people on the market.

So there’s a wealth of talent here, and in fact that’s one reason why Huawei came to Ottawa. Ciena is building the largest facility that’s been built in the area in a long time.

PLEORA PRESIDENT HARRY PAGE

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THE STATE OF THE CLEANTECH SECTOR IN KANATA AND EMERGING COMPANIES NUMBER OF WORKERS

1,122 REVENUES

$

343.5M PRODUCTIVITY BASED ON SALES-PER-EMPLOYEE

$

307K EXPORT RATIO

80%

96 REVENUES

$

18.6M PRODUCTIVITY BASED ON SALES-PER-EMPLOYEE

$

194K EXPORT RATIO

CLEARFORD PRESIDENT AND CEO KEVIN LOISELLE

60% 05 TECHOPIA.CA

Although the clean-tech sector in Kanata is represented by fewer than 100 employees and produces a comparatively small $18.6 million in annual revenues, the sector was singled out for its growth potential in the technology industry study.

One promising company is Clearford Water Systems, which has refined a proprietary water management and sanitation turnkey solution. Its packaged systems are cost-effective and require less maintenance than conventional sewers, according to Clearford president and CEO Kevin Loiselle.

Normally, sewage systems pose various engineering issues. Pipes need to be built at a particular slope and they need to be able to deal with peak usage, while manholes are required to remove blockages caused by trash and other debris, resulting in very high maintenance costs.

Clearford’s technology allows for treatment of sewage right at the source, placing less of a burden on pipe networks and the treatment plant.

Treatment facilities are accordingly built smaller and simpler, significantly reducing costs.

Loiselle points out that de-centralized treatment plants make more financial sense for less developed areas.

“These systems for small towns and peri-urban systems make a lot more sense than trying to pipe them to central locations – it’s a 10th of the price in some cases.”

Clearford has also instituted a “pay-for-performance” delivery model whereby it designs, finances, builds and operates the system and customers pay back the company on a monthly basis.

Loiselle hopes the model will change the mindset of municipalities and developers looking to replace or install water infrastructure.

“You could get very good high-tech solutions that may appear to be more expensive on the purchase, but when you look at the lifecycle costs of them they’re actually significantly cheaper.”

Clearford One systems have been installed outside of Canada in Peru and Columbia, and a facility was also recently set up in Kemptville. The company, which has 15 employees in Kanata and 50 worldwide, is also installing a system in India this month.

NUMBER OF WORKERS

MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

be embedded into existing imaging systems.

The firm has about 120 customers around the globe, Page says. It generates roughly half of its revenue is in North America, with the other half split between Europe, India and the AsiaPacific region.

In addition to having a strong channel partners in most major countries in Asia, Pleora also provides video interfaces to three-quarters of the world’s top 10 X-ray panel manufacturers.

The company also maintains a strong presence at international conferences and trade shows for embedded technology, photonics and vision.

CLEAN TECH

I happen to think it’s a huge growth sector, and that we do have a presence here in Kanata. We don’t have the kind of support and presence that high technology has … but I think we have some very interesting companies here in Ottawa, in general, and many of them in Kanata, specifically.

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Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall helps PageCloud create a sensible IP strategy

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PageCloud is not the next WordPress.

In fact, the team behind this Ottawa startup has no desire to be the “next” anything when it comes to shaking up the content management system (CMS) market.

Why? Because it has developed a better, and profoundly different, way to build personal and professional websites.

“Every CMS on the planet is trying to make it easy for the average user to change things, but with cookie cutter templates, that only allow little things to be changed in some places,” said PageCloud founder and CEO Craig Fitzpatrick. “What we offer is true creative freedom that’s never before existed.”

What makes PageCloud so special? A true “what you see is what you get” platform that makes building websites as easy as drag and drop.

Users can add photos, text, videos and other elements

to web pages using dragand-drop movements and keyboard shortcuts.

Think of it as taking the same intuitive user experience and creative freedom common to the best desktop publishing applications, and applying it to web design.

Comparing PageCloud to WordPress, or to any other conventional CMS, is like comparing an HD flatscreen TV to an old tube TV, Fitzpatrick said.

Wooing investors, customers alike He spent three years hammering out the base code for PageCloud as a parttime hobby, before realizing he could turn his own frustration with conventional web design tools into a business.

After a first round of seed-financing raised at home, PageCloud secured a second round in early 2015 from a group of Silicon

Valley investors. A third round followed last summer.

PageCloud has raised $6.2 million in total to date and is now working on a Series A venture capital round.

The PageCloud team has grown to 18. In the six months leading up to its launch last Nov. 30, it achieved cash-flow break even and enjoyed a hugely successful pre-sale, signing up 14,000+ customers in 100 countries. PageCloud also made a splash as a finalist in the TechCrunch Disrupt 2015 battlefield competition in New York.

Creating real business value Key to it all has been ensuring that PageCloud’s secret sauce – its intellectual property (IP) – is suitably protected. For that, Fitzpatrick and his team rely on fullservice business law firm Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall.

“As a small company, you

are under attack on so many fronts,” Fitzpatrick said.

“Taking steps to protect your IP is an often underused tool that can be used to create real business value.”

It’s also a primary means of defending a tech startup’s competitive differentiator, added Perley-Robertson patent specialist Adrian O’Donnell.

“To build and protect their brand, startups must put in place a strategy that may include patents, trade-marks, trade secrets and other forms of protection,” he said. “It’s a matter of understanding what information to disclose and when, in a manner that best fits the needs of a startup on a budget.”

For example, O’Donnell worked with PageCloud to protect 20 of the company’s key inventions, with only two patent filings.

A startup’s most powerful asset “I encounter many

entrepreneurs who think that just talking to a lawyer about IP is going to cost them money,” O’Donnell said. “But I consult with startups all the time with no obligation, to help them understand that value of investing in a sound strategy, and how the costs can be deferred over a timeframe that makes sense.”

For Fitzpatrick, cost must be weighed against value.

“As we grow, it’s really becoming evident how much value our patent portfolio has, to attract investors, generate positive press, protect our brand against competitors eager to crack our code, and as an asset we can someday monetize,” he said.

Is it time to talk strategy?

To learn more about how Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall can help develop an IP strategy for your business, please visit www.perlaw.ca.

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HOW CAN KANATA NORTH IMPROVE? BIA study looks at gaps in regional innovation hotspot

BY CRAIG LORD

The Kanata North BIA commissioned Doyletech Corporation to perform a market gap analysis study alongside its economic impact study to assess what’s still missing in the local tech hub.

TECHOPIA sat down with BIA executive director Jenna Sudds to ask about the biggest gaps that emerged from that research. Here is an edited transcript of that interview.

TECHOPIA: What was the intent of the gap analysis study?

KNBIA: “The market gap analysis was really intended to give us a clear picture of where there were opportunities within the various subsectors. And then within each of those subsectors, they analyzed what the capacities and strengths were. We also did almost 40 interviews with various executives across Kanata North. It wasn’t strictly that we were looking at industry or private industry gaps; we also looked at softer things like transportation, retail, services, all of these. It was kind of the whole picture. We ended up breaking it down into private sector gaps and social infrastructure gaps. It made sense that they were very distinct, some very different issues. Some you expect the public sector to fill the need, like when you’re talking about roadways or public transportation.”

TECHOPIA: What were the main areas where they saw room for growth?

KNBIA: “One issue that came up again and

firms. I think people often think of Kanata as the land of large multinationals, but the

with business, and one of the questions of course that I’m delving into with them is ‘What are the issues they’re facing?’ And so now when you put in perspective that 75 per cent of these companies are fewer than 50 employees, when you hear an issue once, perhaps it’s unique to that company.

But you hear it three times, four times, you keep hearing it, it’s easier to equate that to a larger proportion of your businesses.

It gives us a bit more perspective as far as commonalities.”

JENNA SUDDS IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE KANATA NORTH BIA. PHOTO BY MARK HOLLERON

TECHOPIA: When it comes to infrastructure concerns, what’s the approach to solving those problems?

KNBIA: “That’s an interesting point. For example, when it comes to LRT, obviously all parts of the city would be better off with LRT in place. Cognizant of the fact that this is provincial and federal money that is hopefully funding the current plans, the reality is that lobbying efforts need to be directed particularly to our MP. We’re fortunate in that we do have good relationships with both our MP (Karen McCrimmon) and our MPP (Jack MacLaren), and they’re certainly discussions that we keep pursuing. With the federal budget coming up, now is the time to be really vocal in these regards.”

TECHOPIA: What are the big challenges going to be for Kanata in the next few years?

KNBIA: “We need to really ensure the infrastructure is in place, and ensure that this is a place that is easy to get to, and that people are attracted to working and living here. I think one of the things that we have to offer is that work-life balance, having such a great community. If we aren’t able to improve our infrastructure and services in pace with the growth of employment, that’s certainly a concern for us moving forward and would make it a less attractive place to do business.”

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TECHOPIA: Were there any particular things that surprised you in the analysis?

KNBIA: “The numbers around size of

TECHOPIA: How does this new information change your strategies?

KNBIA: “I do a lot of meetings one-on-one

MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

again was skill set: a lack of C++ coders, for example; a need for more cloud-service providers locally; software tools locally …

Although we have L-Spark, and it’s growing, historically it has felt like we’ve missed out and we’ve needed more incubator and accelerator activity. High tech-oriented retail stores, there’s nothing like that here.

Those were the top ones that came out.

And then there’s social infrastructure gaps: roadways, LRT, airport access; a need for more restaurants; a variety of housing. An executive club was one of the things that came up in more than a few interviews. The list goes on and on.”

data showed us that I think 75 per cent was actually 50 employees or less. So it’s really showing you the amount of activity happening here. It’s not just the big guys.”

“For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.” — RICHARD P. FEYNMAN

TONY BAILETTI

DIRECTOR, CARLETON’S TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

FLEDGLING STARTUPS EAGER FOR HELP Entrepreneurs looking near and far for incubator, TECHOPIA.CA

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accelerator programs Creating prototypes, finding clients, building revenue streams, getting to scale – starting a business isn’t easy. It can all be very daunting, especially to a new entrepreneur.

That’s where accelerators and

BY CRAIG LORD

incubators come to the rescue.

With plentiful business resources, mentors and a healthy knowledge base, these organizations are there to help both fledgling startups and established businesses hit their marks.

“It’s that old saying, ‘Children aren’t raised by just parents, it takes a village,’” says Patrick White, director of operations at L-SPARK, a Kanata-based incubator and accelerator for enterprise software startups. “It’s the same kind of thing with

The demand in Ottawa is huge.

The (incubators and accelerators) that are in place right now cannot cope with it.

The more we have the better ... I think that Ottawa has done a wonderful job.

We have Invest Ottawa, we have L-SPARK, we have Lead to Win. This is a major interorganizational commitment to make Ottawa a magnet to attract entrepreneurs.

WHAT’S HAPPENING Stay up to date with TECHOPIA’s calendar of events at techopia.ca

a company, it takes a whole community.

Someone is always going to be able to point to that company that was able to do it without any help” but often that’s not the full story, he says.

L-SPARK had 175 applicants for its second cohort and selected nine in total. But local companies looking for mentors and resources are not limited to programs in Ottawa only.

Take Zighra, for example. The online and mobile banking cyber security company ended up looking to London, England to find the accelerator best suited to its needs.

The company recently joined the Barclays Accelerator, which is sponsored by the British banking and financial service company. Yes, that Barclays, the marquee sponsor of soccer’s English Premier League.

Zighra beat out 700 other applicants from around the world to nab one of the 10 coveted spots in the latest cohort of the fintech-focused program. Barclays provides tools, equipment and facilities to help members get their services to market as well as mentors who offer companies advice on everything from networking to pitching.

“One of the reasons we went to (the London-based accelerator is) because it was sponsored by Barclays. It had a brand behind it,” says Vipin Menon, head of growth and partnerships at Zighra. “We wanted to expand into the Euro market, we wanted a beachhead.

Getting us into Barclays gets us into the hands of champions that can … take down the barriers of entry.”

Menon believes some accelerators can function as a sort of an “MBA 101,” which is great for first-time entrepreneurs but not so much for veteran company-builders. He believes that whether an incubator and accelerator is necessary to help a firm grow all depends on the company and its specific needs.

UNIVERSITY VS. INVESTORS Tony Bailetti, director of Carleton’s Technology Innovation Management master’s program and the school’s Lead to Win accelerator, sees such programs as “advanced courses” for budding entrepreneurs.

UBI Global, a Swedish benchmarking organization, recently ranked Lead to Win as the seventh-best university incubator and accelerator program in North America. The program has incubated startups since 2002, and companies from the five years leading up to 2014 that were part of Lead to Win generated more than $19.3 million in sales in 2014.

Bailetti draws a distinction between academic programs such as Lead to Win and industry-based services such as L-SPARK. “We all complement (each other, but L-SPARK is) run by investors, they take

equity,” he says. “The university, we don’t do this.”

But to Bailetti, there’s no competition between the two. In his eyes, there’s more than enough room for many more incubator and accelerator programs in the capital.

“The demand in Ottawa is huge,” he says. “The (incubators and accelerators) that are in place right now cannot cope with it. The more we have the better.”

One new entry into the field is the Founder Institute. The Silicon Valleybased organization is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs who maintain a day job but wish to explore their own business ideas in their off-hours. Codirector Stefan Celeski calls the Founder Institute an organization for “part-time entrepreneurs.”

While the group hasn’t officially confirmed it is setting up shop in the capital, Celeski says it will probably launch in the fall. White believes it will be an important addition to the Ottawa ecosystem.

“One of the issues is (L-SPARK is) only focused on enterprise (software-asa-service companies),” he says. “Tony (Bailetti) has done some great stuff with respect to the academic world. Startup Garage (at the University of Ottawa) is as well, but I think we need something in the middle. And Founder Institute is a great piece being added.”

White says he doesn’t see the Founder Institute as a competitor to L-SPARK.

Like Bailetti, he thinks there is a place for many different kinds of incubators and accelerators. He says some could focus on prototyping and validating, for example, while others could concentrate on how to scale a company and still others could emphasize client acquisition strategies.

“We’re not trying to compete against each other, we’re trying to elevate everything,” he says.

“I think there’s room for other players. It’s like a marriage. We give somebody a mentor two days a week.

That is a marriage. Not each incubator/ accelerator is going to be a perfect fit.

You have to go find out what else is out there and find out who is the perfect fit for you.”

And this is just the beginning when it comes to such programs in the Ottawa area. Invest Ottawa offers a host of services to help get new businesses on their feet, and the city is home to a number of other accelerators and incubators that are all aiming to improve the startup ecosystem.

“I think that Ottawa has done a wonderful job,” says Bailetti. “We have Invest Ottawa, we have L-SPARK, we have Lead to Win. This is a major inter-organizational commitment to make Ottawa a magnet to attract entrepreneurs.”

Get your applications ready.

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10 UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA PROF. ANDREW PELLING’S ‘CRAZY’ EXPERIMENTS ARE CHANGING THE WAY SCIENTISTS THINK ABOUT REGENERATIVE MEDICINE. PHOTO BY PETER THORNTON, UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA

“Like my new telephone, my computer works just fine, my calculator is perfect, but Lord, I miss my mind!”

— AUTHOR UNKNOWN

BIOHACKING LEADS TO TED SPOTLIGHT UOttawa prof isn’t afraid to pursue ‘crazy’ ideas

BY STEPHEN KARMAZYN

Most people might not see how growing a human ear from an apple could be the key to disrupting the multibillion-dollar regenerative health sector.

Then again, most people aren’t Andrew Pelling.

The University of Ottawa professor and first Ottawa TED Fellow rose to prominence for his “biohacking” experiments that included carving an apple into the shape of an ear and growing human tissue on it. The cellulose structure of the apple became the “scaffolding” that supported the human skin.

Since then, the 37-year-old Canada Research Chair in biology and physics has performed trials on mice that have shown some promise, with blood vessels even growing into the apples.

That research eventually earned Pelling an appointment as a 2016 TED Fellow, one of only two Canadians and 21 people chosen worldwide.

At a recent event sponsored by HUB Ottawa, Pelling talked about his experience with TED as well as his research.

He said he is looking into expanding his “biophysical manipulation” lab into the

ByWard Market in the hope of becoming more connected to the community. He envisions people coming in and posing questions, suggesting ideas and otherwise turning his lab into more of an open-source facility.

This one of the many ways that Pelling believes his facility is different from the average university research unit.

“I made my whole lab an experiment from day one,” he says. “I’m young, I don’t want to run a traditional lab. Unlike many labs – and there’s nothing wrong with this – but many labs are focused on a specific disease or specific problem. Focusing on one problem … for 30 years of my life just scares the hell out of me.”

Pelling and his researchers aren’t afraid to try a bunch of “crazy” ideas, he says. Even if not all of them work, he adds, the process can lead to unexpected breakthroughs.

“We ask some pretty wild, crazy questions, or at least on the surface (they) seem kind of nuts, but we test and validate them with scientific rigour. What you end up doing is discovering all sorts of things that you never thought were possible. That’s led to some really cool innovations. We’ve spun out a company now. There’s all sorts of cool things going on.”

The company, called Spiderwort, sells biohacking material and open-sourced lab equipment to help people grow what Pelling and his team create, meaning customers can become biohackers from the comfort of their own kitchens.

Pelling wants to expand the mandate of his lab as far as he can.

“What the working hypothesis is, if you put a bunch of really creative, curious people in a space and give them resources to fail and try things, then great things will happen,” he says. “And that’s what’s been happening.”

Pelling hopes his research will lead to a disruption of the regenerative medicine business. Currently, replacing bone and skin often necessitates the use of cadavers or products derived from animals, a process that can prohibitively expensive.

Pelling says that a loonie-sized piece of biomaterial can cost US$1,000, whereas he and his lab can make the same product for a fraction of a penny growing the same material from plants.

“For once we may have decreased the cost of health care for material (that) is really deployable and accessible to anybody on the planet,” he says, noting the regenerative medicine sector is projected to be worth $67 billion by 2020, up from $16.4 billion in 2013.

Pelling has been something of a world traveller since his TED Fellow appointment. After returning from a TED Talk in Vancouver last month, he headed to Geneva for the Gathering for Open Science Hardware hosted by the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

Pelling is loving his introduction to the TED network, noting he made valuable contacts in Vancouver.

“There’s definitely some payoff down the road. I’m not ready to announce anything (but) I think there’s some pretty interesting opportunities coming up.”

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2016-03-03 11:42

“A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.”

— AUTHOR MICHAEL LEBOEUF

THE TECHOPIA PANEL INCLUDED (FROM LEFT) UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA ENGINEERING DEAN CLAUDE LAGUE, KLIPFOLIO FOUNDER ALLAN WILLE, SHAWN MINCOFF OF MNP LLP AND LORRAINE MASTERSMITH OF PERLEY-ROBERTSON, HILL & McDOUGALL LLP. PHOTOS BY MARK HOLLERON

TECHOPIA IS GOING ON TOUR! We’re getting offline and heading out to meet local tech companies and make real-life connections happen. Our first stop was Klipfolio, where founder and CEO Allan Wille sat with a panel of TECHOPIA partners – Lorraine Mastersmith of Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP, Shawn Mincoff of MNP LLP and Claude Lague, dean of the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Engineering – to field questions about his 15-year run at the dashboard software company. Publisher Michael Curran moderated the session.

Here are few choice quotes from Wille.

THE FACETIOUS LABEL OF OVERNIGHT SUCCESS: “Most companies out there are not overnight successes. Most successes have been around for more than two years, more than five years in many cases, 10 years, right? I think that 15 years is definitely a long time, especially in software, but yeah, let’s still call it an overnight success, why not?”

THAT STARTUP HUSTLE: “It’s hard. It’s really hard. We started the company in 2001-2002, and there was not an angel or a VC anywhere that was going to invest in a pre-revenue startup. And I actually think that was a good thing … We had to either sell or not be in business. So it was a real harsh reality. I sold every deal in the company for maybe the first 10 years.

And I never want to do that again. It was a lot of work, really working with customers

to find out what they wanted.”

THE DRAW TO MARKET: “We would often sit around, the three founders, and we would say, ‘Well, should we go out and get some financing? Is the time right?’ And we were kidding ourselves. The time was not right. What was talking was this lack of success that we were facing. There’s a lot of companies that are in that same boat. And they will prematurely go out to market, even when they don’t have the growth metrics. They spend a heck of a lot of time spinning their wheels, and eventually they get themselves into a place where their name is synonymous with ‘don’t touch this company.’”

HIRING FOR A STARTUP VS. HIRING FOR AN SMB: “Then, it was a lot more of a discussion

of risk. With a company of three people, five people, six people: are you going to be around next year? Next month? Much of the hardship we didn’t share with our employees, but they must have known, ‘I am taking a risk here.’ You get the people that are inherently drawn to that, and

some of them aren’t with us anymore.

They loved the early stage company – that was their element … It’s a different set of people that are around today. But it’s a different company. You don’t have to sell the risk element as much as you sell the grand vision.”

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“Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman — not the attitude of the prospect.”

— BUSINESSMAN AND PHILANTHROPIST W. CLEMENT STONE

THE STRAIGHT DOPE How to ramp up sales at your startup PAUL EMOND CEO, VERSATURE

BY PAUL EMOND

Paul Emond knows his stuff when it comes to sales.

The entrepreneur who launched his first tech business in 1993 is currently CEO of Versature, a cloud-based business phone solutions provider.

Emond has more than two decades of business expertise, mostly focused on management, sales and marketing.

In 2012, Versature was named Ottawa’s small business of the year by OBJ and the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce.

Here are some of his thoughts and tips on taking a tech startup from its first sale to a successful base of subscribers. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

TECHOPIA: How do you find your initial clients?

EMOND: Oh, it’s been a long time since I’ve done that (laughs). It’s about getting yourself out there, meeting people, inbound marketing, getting face-to-face with people. That’s the initial stuff. With the first 10 customers, you’ve got to get your feet on the street and get stuff done.

TECHOPIA: How do you grow your client base?

EMOND: The best thing to do is to business right now because you have to maintain that relationship down the chain of employees. I used to know every single one of my customers and I don’t anymore.

Making sure that the kind of relationship that I want my customers to have from a sales perspective goes down the line, goes down through my VP of sales, through my salespeople. We have a team of 10 now, so you have to make sure that the quality control is there. The important part is to make sure that these connections are happening.

TECHOPIA: Any last tips?

EMOND: Don’t go out on your own before you have at least 500 contacts on LinkedIn. Build your network to avoid spinning your wheels.

TECHOPIA: Any good sales stories?

EMOND: My biggest and most lucrative

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contract in my first business came as a result of talking up another salesperson waiting at reception with me before a big presentation. You never know where business will come from. Talk to anyone who will listen.

MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

leverage those customers you’ve got for referrals, whether it’s industry referrals or companies in their space who maybe will you’re all three, that’s great, but that’s find the same kind of utility in whatever hard to find. you’ve given them. These days it’s all about inbound marketing and making TECHOPIA: What did you wish you knew sure you are able to get the ideas that starting out in relation to sales? you want out there into the world and let them know what it is you’ve got to offer.

EMOND: I hired my VP of sales recently and what he brought was a network of TECHOPIA: What advice do you have for people. That is really important when get to that level, but you can have entrepreneurs who are not as skilled on you a network like that even when you’re the sales side of the business? starting out. Let’s say you’re in school and you’re thinking of starting something.

EMOND: I would advise to find a partner I just started my own business and got (laughs). If you’re an engineer, you’re going, but really I would have been a lot really good at what you do but you can’t better off going to work somewhere for learn the sales side adequately. a little while, building my network, then I have a really good idea of what I’m going out on my own. good at and I have a really good idea of It’s hard to start out when you know what I’m not good at. The only way when nobody. If you have that network of you’re really small to get that kind of help people you’ve worked with or people you and expertise is to find a partner that’s know in the industry, then you’re a lot willing to invest the time and effort that better off. you are.

When you’re a little larger and you TECHOPIA: How does B2B sales change have some income and some excess versus B2C? cash, you can hire for those things.

At the beginning it’s pretty hard. At EMOND: B2B is all about relationships the beginning you need those three where B2C is more transactional. In B2B founders: the technical person, the you really have to build that relationship. salesperson and the operations guy. If That’s the problem with scaling my

I have a really good idea of what I’m good at and I have a really good idea of what I’m not good at. The only way when you’re really small to get that kind of help and expertise is to find a partner that’s willing to invest the time and effort that you are. At the beginning you need those three founders: the technical person, the salesperson and the operations guy.

AVOUR UITFUL ENDE FR g’ brilliance pays off UOttawa prof’s ‘biohackin

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FRUITFUL ENDEAVOUR UOttawa prof’s ‘biohacking’ brilliance pays off

Incubators playin roles for startups PAGES 8-9

CLIENT CHAd’sSEtips CEO Paul Emon for sales success PAGE 15

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