About Katherine Korakakis

Katherine has spent most of her life working alongside start-ups in various verticals. For 10 years, she was responsible for the development of entrepreneurial initiatives and projects under the auspices of the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge, a Youth Secretariat program of the government of Quebec. She has authored and co-authored guidebooks on entrepreneurship education. Katherine first developed her passion for building businesses when she co-founded Glambiton. She was instrumental in the development of the first National Entrepreneurship Day for the province of Quebec. Katherine has served on the Boards of numerous non-profit organizations and currently sits on PMEMTL Centre-Ouest and EPCA. She sits on the investment committees of PME MTL Centre and PME MTL Centre-Ouest. These entities are the decision making bodies with regards to business financing with the city of Montreal. She currently is Manager of Entrepreneurship for ProMontreal Entrepreneurs (PME), an early stage VC fund and entrepreneurship program that invests in multiple verticals. The fund has a social business model and has been around for 20 yrs.Katherine has spent most of her life working alongside start-ups in various verticals. For 10 years, she was responsible for the development of entrepreneurial initiatives and projects under the auspices of the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge, a Youth Secretariat program of the government of Quebec. She has authored and co-authored guidebooks on entrepreneurship education. Katherine first developed her passion for building businesses when she co-founded an entrepreneurial training event for girls called Glambition. She was instrumental in the development of the first National Entrepreneurship Day for the province of Quebec. Katherine has served on the Boards of numerous corporations and currently is the vice-president of PMEMTL Centre-Ouest and president of EPCA. She sits on the investment committees of PME MTL Centre and PME MTL Centre-Ouest. These entities are the decision making bodies with regards to business financing with the city of Montreal. Katherine is the Manager of Entrepreneurship at Ometz an early stage VC fund and entrepreneurship program that invests in multiple verticals. The fund has a social business model and has been around for 20 yrs.

4May
Top 5 Sources for Reference Letters

To apply for funding to various programs (including ProMontreal Entrepreneurs), candidates are often required to submit a letter of reference, and I am always asked for my advice on whom to request a letter from. It’s not a good idea to ask for a reference letter from an employee or a parent, because of the conflict of interest it creates which therefore makes the person writing the letter not credible.

So, what is a letter of reference? The letter serves as a character reference, where the person is vouching for you, your skills and your abilities to get the job done. In the letter, they need to provide context as to where their knowledge comes from, and they should clearly outline the project, context or experience they had with you in order to write the letter.

That being said, who can you ask to write you a reference letter? Here are the top 5 sources:

1) People from the same industry
It’s important to establish yourself as an active participant in your industry. Presumably, you are in contact with other individuals from your industry that are not direct competitors but that know the industry and the opportunity your product or service may offer. They could talk about your potential impact or innovation, or express an interest they might have in doing business with you. This is also known as a letter of intent. Even though this contact may not know you on a personal basis yet, they should state in their letter that they have intentions of working with you or doing business with you in the future. Of course, just because they mention this in their letter does not make it legally binding.

2) People currently doing business with you
If you are a few years into the startup stage of your business and you have some traction, chances are you are already doing business with various people. For example, it could be a supplier, distributor, or retailer you’re working with. We once funded a company that got a reference letter from a store that was directly implicated in selling their products. They can vouch that you have a good quality product or service.

3) Past employers
Past employers are great sources for attesting to your work ethic, your achievements, your leadership, and any transferable skills that you have in the workplace. They are ideal because they have firsthand experience in working with you.

4) Past professors
Asking for a reference letter from a past professor is a great idea for younger entrepreneurs who may not have as much experience in a professional work environment. In the past, I’ve received glowing letters of recommendation from professors of Masters/PHD students we’ve funded. Professors can attest to your diligence, work ethic, and they can easily back up any of their claims with references to your past projects or grades.

5) Community service
Perhaps you don’t have much experience in a work or university environment, but you spend a lot of time doing community service. If you’re an active member of an organization (i.e. you’ve volunteered there more than once or twice), and especially if you hold some sort of leadership role, getting a reference letter from a supervisor could be valuable.

If you have any other ideas for reference letter sources, feel free to leave a comment below!

23Feb
Demystifying Industry & Market Analysis

Understanding how your market works and what customers want is vital. When done right, it will enable you to find investors, help spot potential roadblocks, and most importantly, attract customers.

Having a properly done market analysis is going to provide key data to convince the investors that your business idea is worth investing in because you will have the hard numbers to back it up.

What is a Market Analysis?

Market analysis is determining the characteristics unique to your particular market and analyzing this information, which will help you make informed decisions for your startup. A market analysis will help you determine and gather valuable data that will enable you to get to know your customers, figure out your competitors, set pricing and pinpoint exactly where opportunities lie.

Industry Description and Outlook

The first step is to describe your industry, paying close attention to its current size and historic growth rate, as well as other trends and characteristics. Relevant industry metrics like size, trends, life cycle, and projected growth should all be included here.

Target Market or Niche Market

It’s important to establish a clear idea of your target market or niche market early on. A lot of new entrepreneurs make the newbie mistake of thinking that everyone is their potential market; they are not. By identifying your real customers, you’ll be able to better use your marketing dollars in an effective way while attracting and retaining loyal customers. The target market section of your business plan should include the following:

User Persona and Characteristics: A persona represents a cluster of users who exhibit similar behavioral patterns in their purchasing decisions, use of technology or products, customer service preferences, lifestyle choices, and the like. Behaviors, attitudes, and motivations are common to a “type” regardless of age, gender, education, and other typical demographics.

Market size: Do your research and find out who and where your competitors are, and how much your customers spend annually on your product or service. How big is the potential market for your business? A question you should ask yourself is who do you fear most and why?

Competitive Analysis

Evaluate your competitors by placing them in strategic groups according to how directly they compete for a share of the customer’s dollar. For each competitor, list their product or service, strengths and weaknesses, and size. Obviously, it’s a good idea to know what you’re up against, but this strategy also lets you spot the competition’s weaknesses. Are there customers out there being under served? What can you offer that similar businesses aren’t offering? The competitive analysis should contain the following components:

Market: Who are your main competitors? Are there any indirect competitors who could impact your business?
Competitor strengths and weaknesses: What is your competition good at? Where do they leave a gap where you can come in and meet the need they are not addressing?
Window of opportunity: Does your entry into the market rely on time-sensitive technology? Do you need to get in early to take advantage of an emerging market?

Barriers to entry: Is the industry easy or difficult to enter? If entry is easy, competitors enter the market during periods of high profitability and expand production capacity. This drives down prices and profit margins. Barriers to entry make it more difficult for competitors to enter so profit margins remain favorable. Barriers to entry include the following:
- Limited access to markets – If the market is dominated by well established branded products, a new entrant will need to spend the time, money and effort to establish a successfully branded product.
- Large-scale production – If large scale production requires substantial financial investment, the financial requirements will limit entry.
- Limited access to technology or production processes – Patented technology and other intellectual property will also limit entry.
This is where you examine your weaknesses. Be honest with investors and yourself.

Regulations

Some business may be subject to governmental regulations or restrictions in order to provide a fair ground in which to do business. If your business is subject to regulations or restrictions, you’ll need to bring them up and discuss how you’re going to comply with them. Is there a cost to the compliance?

In conclusion, market analyses vary from industry to industry and company to company. Most of the information you will need to include can be found by a simple Google search and, most importantly, it can be found for free. Keep in mind that a little estimation is okay, but the bulk of your numbers need to be based on facts and they must, in all cases, be sourced. If you don’t know were to begin, download our entrepreneurship guide that outlines all the good places to start your market research.

22Jan
Top 6 Entrepreneurship Blogs You Should Read

All you really need to brush up on your entrepreneurial skills is a good internet connection and a functioning computer. A simple Google search will result in great advice that you can use to your startup’s advantage. You can find amazing blogs from seasoned entrepreneurs, or even watch live streams and webinars. And, best of all, they are free! One of my favorite channels is the 500 Startups. If you look through their archives you can find so many helpful video resources on a number of topics are are sure to enlighten your entrepreneurial understanding.

If you’re more of a reader you should consider following blogs regularly. They will help keep you up-to-date on various entrepreneurial practices that could make or break your business. The following are six blogs that I look to for information and tips that I pass on to any entrepreneur that I coach.

Tomasz Tunguz – tomtunguz.com

Tomasz Tunguz’s blog is well-written and informative. It’s a great resource for finding out how your company fits into industry trends. He always provides metrics and analyses to corroborate his findings, which make his points easier to understand. Tomasz updates often and provides great tips for start-ups.

Dan Martell-https://clarity.fm/danmartell

Dan Martell offers tips on entrepreneurship in general and emphasizes the entrepreneur rather than the business. He uses real-life examples to help entrepreneurs navigate the startup arena, and provides really practical advice to new business owners.

Duct Tape Marketing – ducttapemarketing.com/blog

Duct Tape Marketing gives marketing tips that are simple to follow and easy to understand. You could have a fantastic business but if you don’t know how to sell your product, you’re dead in the water. Marketing is crucial, and the information that Duct Tape Marketing provides transcends industry, meaning it’s applicable to any business.

CB Insights Blog – cbinsights.com/blog

CB Insights Blog is ideal if you’re looking to raise VC money. It provides examples that will give you crucial insight on potential investors, and will help you clue in on important investments happening in the world of business.

Tech Crunch – techcrunch.com

As its name suggests, Tech Crunch only highlights new initiatives in the tech world. If you’re running a tech company, it can give you ideas on how to position your business in comparison to your competitors.

Ryan Hoover – ryanhoover.me

Ryan Hoover, inventor of Product Hunt, is a young entrepreneur who is easy to relate to. His writing is simple, funny, and unintimidating. I often refer his blog to young entrepreneurs who are entering the tech world and could use someone to identify with.

Bonus tip: A fantastic way to keep track of your favorite blog posts is by using Pinterest. Here is the LINK to my page where you can see which other bloggers have caught my eye.

8Dec
Hiring Talent for Your Startup

Today’s startups need the best possible talent. Great people are out there and it’s up to you, as the entrepreneur, to find them or to attract them. Perhaps you have never been an employer before, so it’s imperative to have a clear understanding of the kind of talent you need, but most importantly, the kind of work environment you wish to cultivate. Like every individual has a personality, every company has a culture. What kind of culture do you wish to have? Is it unique? Energizing? Compelling? Here are some tips for hiring based on your company’s culture.

Hire slow & fire fast. If an employee doesn’t fit the vision you have for your workplace, listen to your intuition and let them go. Not all people will fit within the culture of your company; they may hinder the creative process and slow down teamwork, even if, on paper, they’re qualified for the job.

Hire relevant experience. Desired work experience should be defined not in terms of years, but rather in terms of specific work achievements. A way to define work experience is in relation to their previous work environment. As you review candidates, pay attention to work histories in which applicants were required to perform with little managerial supervision and team assistance.

Don’t be too micromanagy. At some point, you’re going to have to relinquish some of your responsibilities. This is the only way your company will grow. Hire people you have confidence in so that you won’t be inclined to monitor their every move. An autonomous and proficient worker will give you peace of mind.

Pay well and have the right incentives. It seems like a no-brainer, but paying well and having the right perks in place will really help you attract some killer talent. Instill a results-oriented work environment wherein the employee is allowed freedom, and the main mandate is getting the job done. This is the type of innovative perk that attracts people.

By the time you create the right company culture, you should have the type of start-up where great talents want to work at. Who seeks out companies like these? Individuals who are sharp, capable, and motivated.

Like attracts like. Kind attracts kind. And if you want to attract innovators, you’ve got to be innovative.

24Nov
The Benefits of a Social Business Model

At ProMontreal Entrepreneurs, our incentive is to help our community. Our primary concern is to give young entrepreneurs the resources they need to launch their businesses by providing tactical help, funding, or in some cases, both. In other words, we are not in it for the money but for the socio-economic impact inherent in such an initiative. The model ProMontreal Entrepreneurs uses is called a social business model.

This model is based on the innovative ideas of Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank. Grameen Bank provides micro loans to individuals in poverty-stricken areas (it began in Bangladesh), in order to alleviate them from poverty. What makes Grameen Bank different from charitable organizations is that it does not simply offer a one-time solution to poverty; the goal is to cultivate and maintain financial and economic stability. It promotes the ethos of the quote “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime”. The impetus is to try and solve poverty instead of simply managing it.

I believe that there’s a place for Muhammad Yunus’ model in industrial nations, and it starts with PME. As a community, we decided to put our efforts together to enable our youth—to inspire them to stay in Montreal, and in some cases, to free them from the cycle of poverty. We’re different from other programs because we have extremely low interest rates, we require a personal guarantee in the form of a promissory note, and we give our founders moratorium on payments and interest for one year. This is drastically different from getting a loan from a bank, for example. The bank’s interest rate may be low (6%) however they do not take risks; they need their money back guaranteed. In other cases, the way interest in calculated is based on risk. The riskier the business, the higher the interest rate.

An initiative that focuses solely on the socio-economic impacts and benefits of entrepreneurship is unprecedented in the Montreal area. We believe there is immense power and potential in knowing that what we offer will have a direct impact in someone’s life. In our fifteen years, we have witnessed firsthand just what this impact means for our cohort members. Once we have helped them and their business is thriving, the impact can be felt by all—whether it is by the jobs they create, the innovations they bring, or the taxes they pay. PME helps build a strong economic landscape for all Montrealers and Quebecers. Many times, an individual with a budding business idea is looking for someone who will take a chance on them and believe in them. That’s what PME is here for, and that’s the main goal in adopting a social business model.

14Nov
What Montreal’s Best Startups Think of Montreal

ProMontreal Entrepreneurs is proud to have been a part of the organizing committee for the Rendez-vous des professionnels de l’entrepreneuriat, that took place on November 3rd 2014. This video, produced by Rachel + Michel, asks the entrepreneurs behind Montreal’s successful startups what made them choose this great city. We thought that asking the people that run the businesses their opinion was key in defining what matters the most to them. One of our alumni members, Noemie Dupuy of Budge Studios, is featured. Noemie also made top 10 in Profit Guide’s list of top 100 Female Entrepreneurs in Canada.

11Nov
Inspiring Young Entrepreneurs

ACT FEARLESSLY. If you have a budding business idea, the worst thing you could do is not pursue it. Many young adults are afraid to enter the world of entrepreneurship because they think they’re too young, or they feel like they don’t have the right qualifications. If you have an incredible idea and an entrepreneurial spirit, all you need is a plan of action and some funding. Luckily, if you live in Quebec, there are plenty of opportunities to obtain financing (Futurpreneur, Young Promoter, ProMontreal Entrepreneurs, to name a few). Montreal offers a favorable landscape especially for young entrepreneurs, and it becomes more difficult to access lower interest loans as you age beyond 40.

DECIDE PASSIONATELY. If you’re researching entrepreneurship, one of the main tips you’ll come across is to be fearless in your decision-making, and that’s because passionate decision-making is going to be the driving force of your entrepreneurial pursuit. Focusing on something that is of interest to you will be crucial in your efforts later on because it’s all about operating within a context that continues to inspire you. If you’re passionate about the task at-hand, you will be that much more inspired to tackle it head-on. Opening a business is a lot of work and it will take a toll on your personal life, but if you’re passionate about it you will have the drive to press on during hard times.

SATISFY A NEED. The best way to decide on your next business venture is to have a critical look at something you’re passionate about and pinpoint ways to ameliorate the system: what kind of product/service is lacking here? How can I develop something that will satisfy a need? Whenever you think, “I wish ‘x’ service existed” or “If only there was a ‘y’ product to help me right now”, seriously question whether or not you could make a business out of filling in these blanks.

VALIDATE YOUR MARKET. Once you decide on a product/service, it’s important to make sure it’s a real need; be certain that this issue you are solving is really an issue. You don’t need to have taken extensive business classes to be able to do this. In fact, simple research will suffice. Approach it the same way you would approach a school project—you need to do your research before you can write a good thesis. Try to find statistics that corroborate your end goal (Stats Canada really helps!). Don’t be worried if your idea services a niche market. It’s actually much easier to operate within niche markets because there’s less competition.

CULTIVATE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT. The thing is, not everyone is meant to be a business-owner. Having a good idea is useless unless you have gumption to pursue it in a meaningful way. My mother always encouraged me to be entrepreneurial, and although I never acted on that advice in my teens, it stuck with me and now I can’t help but think in a very entrepreneurial way. By using the term “entrepreneurial spirit” I don’t mean to evoke the sentiment of capitalist greed – rather, I mean that I am able to think creatively, and that I am unafraid to venture down the unbeaten path. I don’t have an education in business, but I do have the ability to be innovative, and that’s a huge advantage.

– Erica Falco, Intern at ProMontreal Entrepreneurs

23Oct
Money Stopping You From Starting a Business?

No money to start a business? Even though you have limited cash, it doesn’t mean you don’t have any options. It is possible to start a business with very little money, if you have the right combination of skills, work ethic and marketing know-how.

According to some experts, to succeed in a business project, you should think carefully about all the skills you have that could be helpful to others.

A great way to start is to make something. Yes, making something does take an initial cost in supplies, but often times, these products can be sold for many times over their actual cost. What you decide to make is up to you, but there are several places you can sell your handmade options online:

Abe’s Market deals in natural and organic goods, such as lotions, candles, granola, and more.
icraft deals with independent artists and crafters from around the globe. They sell only new handmade products.
Etsy is one of the largest online markets for almost anything homemade, from jewelry to wooden toys for kids.
eBay is one of the biggest online eCommerce marketplaces in the world.

Many business owners sell their products on multiple platforms to get the most exposure possible. It is important to make sure your inventory stays updated on all sites you have a storefront on. If you want to learn about more resources for selling homemade items, check out this Lifehacker post.

23Sep
Finding a Co-Founder

I am asked a lot of questions. Aside from “where do I get money to fund my start-up?”, the second most-asked question is: “where do I find a co-founder?” It is a difficult question to answer, because it’s not just about someone who will share in the work, which at the beginning can seem insurmountable. It is also someone who will have to share your passion and your commitment to seeing the idea through. I’ve been a victim of partnering with a friend. In the end, it didn’t work because he just wasn’t committed enough to the project. It changed our friendship.

Now for the million dollar question, where can you find a co-founder? My answer is always the same: you find a co-founder when you least expect it. When talking about your business idea in an informal setting: over drinks, over dinner. It works best when it’s not forced. Then, it just happens; that magical moment when it just clicks. It’s really as simple as that. Sure, there are websites that promise that they can help you find a co-founder but personality and work ethic is so important, I think that meeting someone in an informal setting and seeing how this person interacts with others and with you, is the best way. You find other commonalities that transcend a business relationship, which in my opinion is very important. Remember you will spend so many hours together and make complicated decisions together so if the personalities don’t fit, it won’t work.

26Jun
Describe ProMontreal Entrepreneurs in One Word