8Jul
Top 3 Reasons to Attend the International Startup Festival

01_PME Blogpost Everyone knows that the beginning of a Montreal summer also means the beginning of festival season. However, unlike most festivals in the city, The International Startup Festival offers much more than just a good time. Welcoming the world’s top entrepreneurs, founders, investors and mentors, this festival is prime destination for anyone wishing to learn more about the experiences of some of today’s most creative minds. Harry Finkelstein, COO of Shopify, Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder of Reddit, and Deepa Kunapuli, White House Digital Strategist, are just a few of the big names that will be in attendance. From July 13th to 16th in the Old Port, The International Startup Festival will provide a good and needed dose of unconventional and valuable learning that can help you take your start-up to the next level.

1. BUILD YOUR NETWORK

The Startup Festival’s tent village allows for authentic interaction between all festival goers. Meeting fellow entrepreneurs, key note speakers, and investors in a casual setting is a great way to build your network. Taking a step back from your smartphones and connecting with those around may very well lead you to your next investor, business partner or employee.

2. PITCH YOUR IDEA

If you dare to be bold, pitching your idea at the International Startup Fest can offer numerous advantages. This year 12 startups will get the opportunity to pitch in front of a live audience and panel or experts on the interactive stage. Not only does this give you a great opportunity to practice your public speaking abilities, it also comes with great visibility for your brand.

If you’re not one of the 12 startups pitching on the interactive stage, not to worry! Startup Fest also hosts numerous competitions with monetary rewards up to $200,000.

3. UNFORGETTABLE & UNCONVENTIONAL
Start-up fest is the biggest start-up event in all of Canada. It brings together investors, mentors and founders from some of the worlds hottest start-up cities. This is your opportunity to learn from the worlds best. They have either done what your looking to do or are doing it. What makes the event memorable is the best practices and know how that are shared and the collaborative environment that the organizers create.

4Jul
Top 3 Networking Spots in Montreal this Summer

02_PME Blogpost If you are an entrepreneur looking for networking opportunities in Montreal this summer, you are definitely in the right city. Whether a casual or formal setting, Montreal offers numerous opportunities for you to make new contacts and learn more about different industries in the startup world. Here are the top 3 events you should definitely visit this summer.
1. STARTUP DRINKS MONTREAL
If you enjoy socializing and having drinks with people who share your love and passion for startups, Startup Drinks Montreal is the place for you. This event happens on the last Wednesday of every month. This casual get together is one of Montreal’s longest standing events in the startup community. It’s an ideal place to meet new entrepreneurs, professionals, and students looking to learn from internship opportunities. No speakers, no agenda, Startup Drinks Montreal prides itself on its layed-back approach to learning from the experiences and interests of those in attendance.

2. INTERNATIONAL STARTUP FEST
The International Startup Fest is one of the largest startup event Montreal’s summer has to offer. Attracting people from different parts of the world, and some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs, this festival should be at the top of your destination list. Happening from July 13th to July 16th, attendees will have opportunities to pitch, listen to experienced and accomplished speakers, learn about new startups, and connect with one another in the tent village.

3. JEUNE CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE- RESEAU DES JEUNES ENTREPRENEURS
The end of summer does not mean the end of prime networking season in Montreal. On September 1st, the Jeune Chambre de Commerce de Montreal will be hosting its training session for Reseau Jeunes Entrepreneurs (Young Entrepreneurs Network). By joining this network you will be presented with countless opportunities to meet other startup founders, coaching on market knowledge, and collaboration on different entrepreneurial projects.

These are just a few of our favorite hangouts this summer. Fortunately for you there are things happening almost every day in Montreal’s start-up community. Check out the Montreal new tech and start-up calendar for more!

3Jun
Stephen Bronfman CoFounder PME

http://maximum-impact.co/stephen-bronfman-entrepreneur-investor-philanthropist/

Allan Isfan interview Stephen Bronfman at C2MTL

Stephen Bronfman, ProMontreal Entrepreneurs(PME) co-founder, sat down with Allan Isfan from Maximum Impact and had a short chat . They discuss entrepreneurship and the various Montreal based initiatives his foundation is supporting with a particular focus on ProMontreal which he help start 16 yrs ago along with Jimmy Alexander.

He recorded this podcast at the C2 Montreal conference, an incredible conference that the Economist, coined as “the business conference unlike any other”. Approximately 5,000 attendees from all corners of the world come to Montreal to network, experience new things and learn from speakers like Mohammad Yunus, Chip Conley , David Suzuki and Stephen Bronfman.

To hear the podcast it it’s entirety, click here

Hope you enjoy.

24Nov
Working in an Incubator

Jonathan Bercu of PME-funded business “Tryb” discusses the pros and cons of working in an incubator.

Bootstrapping can be beneficial for some entrepreneurs: it teaches them how to spend wisely, lets them make more profit, and lets them keep full control of their company. However, this approach does not work for everyone, and some startups prefer to work in incubators.

Incubators are organizations designed to help the development of startups by providing them different services, from management training to co-working space. However, there is a competitive admission process, and every incubator has its own criteria and requirements, as well as types of help they will provide to your startup; things like mentorship, expertise, access to investors, and in some cases, working capital in the form of a loan. This shows, once more, that you must do your research to find the incubator that is right for you. Before you apply however, here are some pros and downsides to consider about entering an incubator.

Pros

Using the shared working space and supplies provided by an incubator, allows you to reduce your overhead while you grow.
Networking: if you have a problem that is just to difficult for you to solve, you will have a multitude of peers in your incubator to help you out. In an incubator, you can work with other entrepreneurs and learn for their mistakes before you make them yourself.
Incubators also provide training and other resources for you to grow your business. You will have access to seasoned mentors that can give you advice and insight and they will challenge you with questions, you never though of asking yourself.
Incubators can help you identify resources in your area, be it human resources, government programs, or financing. You will be able to discover lots of new opportunities that can grow your start-up.

Downsides

Office space will be free, but it also has its downsides: you will have adapt to your environment, and there will be lots of distractions.
The application process can be rigorous and competitive. For most incubators, an applicant is required to submit a detailed business plan.
Some incubators will tempt you with high promises and great opportunities, but will not deliver. Others will impose different conditions such as equity, for example. Speak to entrepreneurs who are already in the incubator to gain a first-hand review.
Many incubators require a time commitment and a adherence to the schedule set by the incubator, which can include many training’s and workshops. Yes, you will learn a lot, but you’ll also spend a fair amount of time doing it.

If the downsides of applying to an incubator are too much for you to handle, you can stop reading this post and make more productive use of your time. If, however, joining an incubator is something that interests you, here are a few good places in Montreal:

District 3

District 3 is located at Concordia University and offers office space, startup programs, as well as one-on-one coaching. District 3 offers a place for entrepreneurs, creatives and engineers to come together and develop their startups.

Centech-ETS

Centech is an incubator that offers financial aid, office space, and specialized training to tech startups. Being a start-up at Centech will also provide you will access to different tech events across the city, as well as an annual golf tournament!

InnoCitéMTL

This brand-new accelerator and incubator is aimed at making Montreal a model digital city, and ties closely to Denis Coderre’s Montreal Smart City plan. It offers pitch and demo sessions, and provides workshops, funding, and office space for its startups.

McGill X-1

McGill University’s new X-1 accelerator program, is an intensive 10-week summer program to learn the skills to become better entrepreneurs. The program is composed of a speaker-series, mentorship, workshops, advisory board meetings and time-to-build hours. The three core pillars of the program focus on customer relations, the product and the business model.

These are just a few of the incubators available in the city of Montreal. If none of these tickle your fancy, consult a full list of Montreal incubators by downloading our entrepreneurship guide. Remember to research the incubator that is right for you, in order to maximize the benefits of growth and experience for your startup.

22Sep
Incorporating a Business in Quebec

Incorporating

Incorporating a business is usually highly advantageous for entrepreneurs, but can be a long and complicated process. When a business is incorporated, it becomes legally separate from its owners, and can act independently from them. According to the Entrepreneur website, incorporating a company provides the company with most of the legal rights granted to individuals, with the exception of voting rights.

The biggest advantage of incorporating a business is the limited liability that it brings to the owners. Once a business is incorporated, it becomes a separate legal entity. Any debt that it has or any outstanding loans are the responsibility of the company itself, not its owners. If the company goes bankrupt, the individual finances of the owners are not affected, and any claims against the assets of a corporation are not the responsibility of its shareholders.

However, incorporation comes with enormous amounts of paperwork that, although it is a separate legal entity, the company can’t fill out itself. Owners must constantly document all major activities and transactions made by the corporation. Filing these documents becomes a lot more complicated once the company is incorporated.

In every Canadian province, the laws concerning business incorporation are different. However, you may choose to incorporate under the federal jurisdiction or under a provincial jurisdiction. As a general rule, if your company is active in only one province, incorporate provincially. If it is active in more than one province, incorporate federally. Incorporating provincially is less expensive, but usually takes a lot more time, and has a weaker name protection policy. Furthermore, you will only have to file one set of annual corporate fillings, while you will have to file two on the federal level, making things a little more complicated. Some provinces have unique rules: for example, Quebec is the only Canadian province that has no residency requirements for Directors. In Quebec, here are the steps to incorporating your business:

Establish the name of your business

If you decide to name your business, the process of incorporation will be longer and more demanding. Provincial laws dictate that the company name be French, but is allowed to have an English version. However, the English version must be a direct translation. You can also number your company: the government will automatically select a number for you, which will greatly speed up the process.

Designate your head office and company leaders

The company must have a residential or commercial address in Quebec. If it does not, you may have to consider getting a Virtual Office. After your address is set, you must provide the Director of the company, along with his or her personal details: this personal does not necessarily have to be a Canadian citizen. The company must also have officers: the government of Quebec requires each company to appoint a President and a Secretary. Finally you must provide the government with the names and addresses of the shareholders of your company: each company must have between 1 and 50 shareholders.

Structure your business

You need to provide the government with the number of employees that you have as well as with all of your company’s business activities. Furthermore, all companies must determine, at the time of incorporation, their capital stock structure, restrictions on stock transfer, and limitations on business activities.

Incorporating your business has many advantages, but it must be done right. Before incorporating, consider speaking to a legal expert to make sure you meet of the criteria and that your business is ready for that next step.

17Sep
Processus de demande du fonds promontreal entrepreneurs

16Sep
ProMontreal Entrepreneurs Application Process

9Sep
Tips for Getting Into PME

PME tips Accelerator

Tip 1: Apply early

We start reviewing applications on a rolling basis as soon as the application window opens. More than half of the applications come in on the last day. If you want us to spend more time on your application, get it in early. We get a lot of funding applications, so this is your chance to stand out. If you wait until the last minute, our review of your file will also be last-minute, and there will be no edits.

Tip 2: Put effort into your application and give as much detail as possible

The fact that we are a social business does not mean that we are not a serious program. Review your application before submitting it, and make sure it is complete. Don’t assume that you can submit a poor application with missing documents and then send us the rest in a few weeks.

Tip 3: Come prepared

You need to convey who you are, why your business is interesting, and be prepared for us to dig into everything from your unit economics and customer acquisition strategies to long-term plans and where you met your co-founders. Make sure you prepare your file and have all of the required documents when you come to your meeting. Arrive on time to your meeting with all the required documents, and be professional.

Tip 4: Research the program

Make sure that PME is right for you, and that you are right for PME. Know what our terms are, know how we work, and come prepared to tell us what you want from PME. Read about our selection criteria and about the requirements you need in order to be eligible. Do not apply if you did not read the criteria, or if you do not meet some of them: we will not make exceptions. Make contact with our funded entrepreneurs to find out how PME has worked for them, and see if you can benefit in the same way.

Tip 5: Tell us what you’ve learned

The most important skill you can have is the ability to adapt quickly. Tell us what you’ve learned. What were you wrong about? What’s your unfair advantage? Describe what you have done since the launch of your start-up, and what you have learned about the industry and entrepreneurship in general. Show us that you have grown as an entrepreneur, and explain to us why you are ready for funding.

Tip 6:Tell us your vision (why you are doing this?) and how you’ll grow

Where are your customers? How will you reach them? Tell us what you’ve done. Unscalable growth is fine (and reflects hustle), but ultimately we’ll need to see a path to scalability. Explain to us how you intend to grow, how you will market your product and sell it, how you will target new markets and expand your customer base, and how you will innovate and further develop your product. You need to convey a realistic long-term plan to make your business credible.

Tip 7: Make sure we understand your traction

You must be able to prove that your start-up is growing and has made significant progress so far. By providing factual growth evidence such as sales records, you are reducing the risk that comes with the investment, improving your chances of getting into PME. Traction can also be proved by the amount of active users, or the amount of views on your website. As we cannot simply fund ideas, you must be able to show that your business has already attracted customers and that your product can sell.

I hope this is helpful. We’re grateful for all the amazing companies we received applications from. Application is open NOW, so apply here. And good luck!

10Jul
International Startup Festival

Montreal is a city starting to get known for encouraging start-ups and providing them with the right conditions to grow. For the past four years, Montreal hosts the International Start-Up Festival, that brings together investors, start-ups, and analysts from more than twelve different countries. Yes, this is an amazing opportunity, but the ticket price of $500 might give you cold feet. It’s worth it though. Below are a few reasons on why you should attend the International Start-Up Festival.

Networking

The festival hosts a multitude of different people from the entrepreneurship world. First off, there are the investors. If you are looking for funding, or simply want to connect with powerful people from the business world, this is the place to be. You will be able to meet representatives from a multitude of VC firms, as well as angel investors, depending on what you are looking for. If you are too shy to directly go up and talk to an investor, you can attend one of the festival’s many cocktail networking events, designed especially for that purpose.

Not looking for money? No problem. If you are searching for a co-founder, there is no better place. With hundreds of entrepreneurs on the site, your chances of finding a partner are higher than ever. Alternatively, you can meet and connect with different incubators, and perhaps find yourself a nice new workplace.

Education

Entrepreneurship is not easy. Do you have trouble gaining traction, finding the right market for your company, getting funding, or virtually any other issue related to start-ups? The International Start-up Festival provides great keynotes and presentations every day, with speakers such as Terry Jones and David Segal. Whether you need inspiration or information, you are sure to find a presentation that will be of interest to you.

By networking with other entrepreneurs and investors, you will also be able to discuss some of your ideas and get feedback or suggestions. Anywhere you go, you will learn something that will help you grow your start-up. If you don’t, you’re probably spending too much time partying.

Media

With media passes already sold out for this event, you can expect a full coverage from a multitude of different media organizations. Mingle with reporters and get your start-up featured in the media: you direct a large amount of attention to your start-up, and gain more customers.

ProMontreal Entrepreneurs, is a Patrons of the festival, and sponsors a starving start-up to attend, because we have seen first hand what attending the festival could mean for a start-up. If you are attending, come say hi!

This type of event is very beneficial for Montreal, as it brings international attention to the city and its start-ups. As an entrepreneur, you will be able to make priceless connections that are very hard to get outside of the festival. Attend as much keynotes as you can, but don’t forget to have a good time!

25Jun
Montreal Smart City

Only a few weeks ago, a private initiative was launched to help and assist start-ups located in Montreal: InnoCité MTL. This program is a business accelerator that funds and promotes smart start-ups and emerging companies. Innocité MTL is “composed of workshops, development sprints, pitch and demo sessions”, as well as “a 12-week prototyping program in an urban setting”.

This program is based on the Montréal Ville Intelligente (Montreal Smart City) campaign set in place by Denis Coderre, the mayor of Montreal. It aims to transform Montreal into a model technological and numerical city by 2017.

As these two programs are very closely connected, InnoCité greatly favors technological start-ups that support the interests of Coderre’s campaign. The businesses that are given priority are related to urban mobility, direct services to citizens, general lifestyle, the democratic process, and economic development.

This initiative can provide many good things to the city of Montreal. As new modernized and smart businesses emerge, Montreal will become a model technological city. Developing start-ups will create jobs and new opportunities for citizens, increasing the overall standard of living. Denis Coderre stated that this program “will generate economic spinoffs that will contribute to the growth of our metropolis”. InnoCité MTL will boost entrepreneurship in Montreal and will contribute to the sharing of ideas and the development of solutions to current technological and economic problems.

However, this business acceleration program is extremely competitive. Start-ups are judged based on their business plan quality, growth potential, and their relevance to Montréal Ville Intelligente (Smart City). If selected, businesses will receive a $50,000 down payment and constant guidance until their prototype stage.

This initiative is a great opportunity for start-ups in Montreal, and will provide great benefits to the city. New jobs, better technology, Montreal may soon become a model digital city!