Comments on: Summing up Ontario’s VC industry in 5 minutes flat

By: Nestor Cruz

Nestor Cruz — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:59:47 +0000

Think longer term instead of playing politics in job creation.

Many unemployed Canadians can become entreprenuers leveraging their workplace experience. They need support to make it a reality.

Absolutely need to be able to work with VCs and not rely on Angel investors.

By: JD

JD — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:34:02 +0000

Great Article !!!! I think government need to play major role in order to raise VC Funds.

By: Ra

Ra — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:25:31 +0000

Stop building expensive office towers and instead start supporting community initiatives.

Reduce barriers to foreign direct investment.

Entrepreneur visas should be much easier to come by.

Introduce something equivalent to the Bayh-Dole act to standardize the commercialization of inventions generated on university campuses with government funding.

By: AT

AT — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:51:36 +0000

Questions:

#1) Specifically, beyond a stated diversification and expected return benefit, what benefits are Ontarians getting from the 20% allocation to US funds through the OVCF? Is there a MOU that the US funds are expected to sign that outlines these benefits? Does said MOU include an undertaking to invest in Ontario?

#2) Have any non-Ontario commitments been made out of the OVCF? If yes, why have they not been disclosed on the OVCF website?

By: William Mougayar

William Mougayar — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:46:47 +0000

Great list, and you know the issues from the inside out.
As an entrepreneur feeling this pain, 3 things:
1) We need more VC funds that can invest in early stage companies/rounds, i.e. at the $500K-1.5M level. That segment is dry now.
2) Bill 116, Bill 116, Bill 116. It’s a roadblock. Can we get rid of it?
3) The government must know when it’s in the way, and not try to be involved in everything.