Tips and Insights from Scott Lake
In early March, Haro Ventures had the privilege of meeting up with Scott Lake, Co- Founder of Shopify and Founder and CEO of Hello Ventures. Scott had just recently moved to Victoria from Toronto and we were eager to hear the story behind this move.
The word ‘serendipity’ crossed our minds as we heard of Scott’s unlikely stumble upon his dream home in Victoria and the equally unlikely hassle-free procedure of selling his old home out in Toronto that followed. As we talked over our mugs of coffee at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, Scott shared some of his acute observations of our local tech scene.
What follows are some of Scott’s insights that resonated with us the most.
Now is a great time for Victoria:
Victoria reminds Scott of the early Ottawa scene where the cost of living was reasonable and a lack of Startups coupled with recent layoffs by Nortel’s collapse set the scene for great talent searching for employment.
Talented business individuals typically chose to move to bigger cities and get experience in bigger companies for more pay. In Victoria we have the ability to hire young, smart new grads and help them grow their talent.
“Right now Victoria is the perfect storm for tech startups, and has the potential to hit a few companies out of the park.”
The “perfect storm” we have going for us is brought about by a community that is:
- United & cohesive
- Free of cutthroat mentality
- Non competitive, more collaborative
Tips for setting up and Angel Fund in Victoria:
- Make the process as fast and efficient as possible for all parties
- The fund should be open to talking to entrepreneurs at all levels
- Angels want to be able to get in on the highest quality opportunities, which a lot of the time isn’t the IDEA but the entrepreneur
- Do more than just investing. Host events to break down the walls between investors & entrepreneurs
- Assist in minimizing inefficiencies for startups (networking, intros, professional services to set them up with)
Favourite quotes from our interview with Scott:
- “Don’t kill yourself on a bad idea.”
- “It may be hard to pick good companies, but it’s easy to pick entrepreneurs who will eventually be successful.”
- “The best motivation you can spring on yourself is by taking a loan from your mother-in-law.”
- “There are no investors who have ever made money without an entrepreneur.”
It’s inspiring to see that entrepreneurs such as Scott call Victoria their home.
If you want to learn more about how we plan to invest in and grow the next generations of Scotts, join our mailing list.
