

(Canadian) Venture Capital Breakdown - lowkey
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090508.RVCFUNDING05ART1940/TPStory/?query=albert+lai
Canada's challenged system forcing entrepreneurs to turn to the U.S. for cash.
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lowkey
There is an interesting article in one of Canada's national newspapers that
has caused quite a stir among the Canadian VC and startup community.

Also, a rebuttal by Rick Segal, a partner with JLA Ventures:
[http://ricksegal.typepad.com/pmv/2009/05/never-let-facts-
get...](http://ricksegal.typepad.com/pmv/2009/05/never-let-facts-get-in-the-
way-of-a-good-story-him-again.html)

and a response by Andrew Lai, an entrepreneur interviewed in the original
article: [http://simplyalbert.blogspot.com/2009/05/venture-capital-
bre...](http://simplyalbert.blogspot.com/2009/05/venture-capital-breakdown-in-
canada.html)

I am a Canadian entrepreneur with some pretty fresh and relevant thoughts of
my own as we are in the process of raising capital (in CleanTech, not webapps)
but before I share my perspective I would like to hear what others think.

------
pedalpete
I actually pointed this out to Rick Segal (quoted in the article) via a tweet
as the catch-22 of Canadian Venture Capital. Kevin Talbot talks about his
office at UofT which he expects to be lined-up with students trying to pitch
ideas, but the entrepreneurial spirit isn't feeding the system of venture
funds. At the same time, Canada is unable to raise significant VC funds
because of the lack of Canadian VC's ability to capitalize on investments in
the past.

This is a cycle of lack of funds will result in lack of companies getting
funded which results in lack of returns.

So, how do we solve this problem for Canada?

