Streaming Killed The Video Star

October 8, 2010

In 1981, MTV famously launched itself by playing the Buggles video “Video Killed The Radio Star”. While this prediction didn’t come true, radio’s influence in the music business was certainly diminished. MTV had come up with a new business model that disrupted radio’s dominance. The record industry would face an even more disruptive force as [...]

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Watch out for venture financing scammers

September 23, 2010

We’ve all had the emails. Either a Nigerian prince wants to send you money or a British relative has died and willed their fortune to you. All you need to do is send a small amount of money as a sign of good faith and your fortune will be delivered in a few days. It [...]

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WestJet’s Competitive Advantage

September 21, 2010

Carrying on from last week’s blog “Finding Your Competitive Advantage,” this week we look at how WestJet found success by finding its niche in the airline industry. WestJet is a unique case because it was able to position itself as a company that offered both lower prices and better service than its competitors. That’s something [...]

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When is the right time to go for funding?

September 16, 2010

When starting a business, a common problem is a lack of cash. In fact, many of our clients believe simply having enough funding would solve their problems. While it can be partially true, this kind of thinking can be disastrous for a startup. Here’s why. What lenders and investors look for When assessing lending or [...]

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Finding Your Competitive Advantage

September 14, 2010

Before investing in a business, one of the most important things to identify is your competitive advantage. Answer the question “why would customers choose your product/service over competitor offerings?” What makes you stand out from the competition? I’ve found that not enough thought goes into what a company’s real competitive advantage is and many companies [...]

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Our Experience With 99 Designs

September 7, 2010

The website 99 Designs allows people to post design requests for logos, print, stationary, and websites. Designers then submit their designs to a contest where the purchaser picks a winner and pays them a fee. This blog post is about our recent experience with a design project we posted on this service. We posted a [...]

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Some Tips For Successful SDTC Applications

September 2, 2010

The Federal Government’s Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) Tech Fund is designed to help technology developers get funding in the hard to finance pre-commercialization phase. This $550 million fund supports technology supporting “products and processes that contribute to clean air, clean water and clean land, that address climate change and improve the productivity and the [...]

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What’s Better, Infallible or Successful?

August 30, 2010

While working with a client recently, an interesting issue arose. While generating reports, I was given specific instructions on what information was to be shared. More to the point, I was told what was not to be shared. The concern was the information would cast some people in a poor light. In other words, the [...]

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Managing the Construction of Your New Home

August 25, 2010

So you’re building a new house and decide to manage the project yourself instead of going through a builder. The downside is the risk of hiring bad contractors and the time investment required to manage the project. However, the benefits are great as well. You drastically cut builder costs and can potentially build a better [...]

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Some advice for new MBA Students

August 23, 2010

Last week I was asked to address the incoming MBA class at the Edwards School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan. I was one of the speakers along with Peter MacKinnon, President of the University of Saskatchewan and Daphne Taras, the new Dean of the Edwards School of Business. While their comments were welcoming [...]

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