I’m jealous of Waterloo Region. There I said it. And I love what’s going on in Toronto.
Iain Klugman and the team at Communitech are doing a fantastic job building mindshare making Waterloo the regional hub for technical entrepreneurship in Canada. I’m also a little biased. I’m a UWaterloo graduate. I participate in events like Entrepreneur Week, Founders and Funders and Strategic Partnering Day. I think that TechCapital and their staff have a great portfolio and are doing a great job engaging entrepreneurs and the community. Groups like Velocity are leading the charge for innovative entrepreneurship education. Waterloo is a great example of academic, corporate, community and startup engagement. It’s a functioning ecosystem.
Sure it’s not listed on the Mercer Quality of Living Survey. Nor is it in Monocle’s Most livable cities. There’s a suburban feel and the need for a car. And depending on who you listen to the hospital quality has fallen over recent years. But the strong community groups, a world-class technical university that encourages industry participation, a wicked entrepreneurship community and advocacy group. But there is are great events like the Quantum2Cosmos and the Public Lectures from the Perimeter Institute. There is Janet Lynn’s Bistro and Langdon Hall (ok it’s Cambridge). It’s a great place to be an entrepreneur.
Make sure you try to attend Entrepreneur Week 2009 they have a great list of events including:
- November 16, 2009 10:00am
Chris Hughes, Founder of Facebook & Co-ordinator of My.BarackObama.com and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at General Catalyst - November 17, 2009 8:30am-10:30am
Tim Bray, Founder of Open Text and Antartica Systems
Ali Asaria, Founder of Well.ca
Should be a great week.