MNT Founder Lounge — Vol. 5
JS Cournoyer of Real Ventures talks about the rise of the startup scene in Montreal and where we are headed.
Not surprisingly, Notman House was the setting for the 5th edition of Montreal NewTech’s Founder Lounge series on Nov 24. It is after all one of the main hubs of startup activity in Montreal, and it’s also home to Real Ventures, Canada’s largest and most active seed venture fund.
Jean-Sebastien Cournoyer, co-founder of Real Ventures joined a packed house of entrepreneurs, students, developers and other professionals to discuss his career path, the future of startups in Montreal and offer a little advice to some of us who are just starting out.
Proof positive that you can change directions more than once and still succeed, Cournoyer has reinvented himself over the course of his career. A native of Sorel, QC, he attended Vermont’s prestigious Middlebury College before beginning his career in the US.
As the years passed and his young family continued expanding, Cournoyer explained how he managed to return to to La Belle Province. “Basically, one day my wife told me ‘I’m going back to Montreal” he told the crowd. “She said ‘we’d like you to come with us, but we’re going’ and so here I am”.
It was upon his return to our city that Cournoyer began thinking about what is today known as Real Ventures.
He then explained how they managed to get the VC off the ground and how they selected their niche. He also made a point of talking about one the their first big successes, which was Beyond The Rack.
Of course no discussion about the startup ecosystem in Montreal would be complete with an overview of AI and the city’s new darling, Element AI. “Montreal is the leader in AI at the moment” said Cournoyer, adding “We have one of the best AI schools in the world, and there is real competition for scarce AI talent”.
Obviously he’s right because barely a month after Element AI began getting all this publicity, Google announced it to is investing millions in Montreal to have its AI hub here as well.
When asked if he has any fears or reservations regarding the negative potential of AI, Cournoyer told the audience “I’m more concerned with people using AI to do bad things, than I am with AI just doing bad on its own. A machine has no incentive to do that, those are really human characteristics”.
He also explained that Element AI is cruising along very nicely so far. They have some very impressive people who want to work with them and they receive requests all the time for their services. For the time being at least it does seem like the sky is the limit for AI in Montreal. However, he also careful to explain that certain things need to happen from an investment and training perspective if Montreal is to maintain its leadership position in this field.
Mr. Cournoyer was very generous with his time, as he took questions from the crowd for quite a while, addressing everything from how to get funding for a startup, what types of companies Real Ventures looks to invest in, the potential for and future of the Montreal ecosystem as well as family and the importance of work / life balance.
Overall the evening was enjoyed by all, and we at Montreal NewTech thank Mr. Cournoyer for participating, BDO for being the event sponsor and of course all those who were in attendance for their interest.
See you at our next event, the TechNoel Christmas party on Dec 15.
