Building a company is not exactly paint-by-numbers, and there is no formula or manual out there that can effectively describe how to manage a tech start-up. Entrepreneurs that get it have often first tried, failed, and tried again before finding success. It is only by doing and having a great network of advisors around you that you can accelerate this process. Some thoughts on how to bridge the gap from MaRS Advisors and Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIR) across the province:

2. Technology entrepreneurs
encounter many challenges when
moving their innovation off the
bench and into the hands of
customers …

3. attracting funding,
carving out a market,
finding that lead customer,
or sometimes making payroll that
week.

4. Bridging the gap is not exactly
paint-by-numbers, and there is no
formula or manual out there that
can effectively describe how to
manage a tech start-up.

5. Entrepreneurs that get it have
often first tried, failed, and tried
again before finding success.
It is only by doing and having a
great network of advisors around
you that you can accelerate this
process.

6. Some thoughts on how to bridge
the gap from MaRS Advisors and
Entrepreneurs-in-Residence across
the province:

7. ”How many companies get to the point where they
have won something big, only to realize that they
do not yet have their key supplier partners on
board? Working with your customers is the key
priority and one role of the CEO at all stages of a
company’s growth. Close behind, especially when
building a complex and custom product, is the need
to build the value proposition, confidence, and
capability of the supply base so that it can scale in
line with the company’s growth.”
Peter Becke, Entrepreneur-in-
Residence
Ottawa Centre for Research and
Innovation,
Former President & CEO, Metconnex
and SiberCore Technologies, Former
VP Business Services, Nortel
Networks

8. ”Watch your weekly cash flow! Forecast your (cash)
balance by the week. Lack of cash is what causes
companies to fail, even high-growth companies.
Don’t assume that your robust revenue growth is
fundable. Once you actually need money in the
short term, you can’t get it. Down the road, you
may have to give up big chunks of future wealth in
finding distress investors – wealth you should be
keeping.”
Ron Close, Entrepreneur-in-
Residence
MaRS Advisory Services, Toronto
Former President, Bell New
Ventures, BCE, Former President &
CEO, NEXTAIR Corp.

9. ”If you’re on the verge of failure, get some sleep and don’t
get consumed by the experience. Focus on the positives,
especially the fact that you have been through the best
business crash course around. Business failure is widely
viewed as an asset because of the valuable lessons it
teaches. It toughens you up and shows you that you’re
fallible. Next time around (and there will be a next time)
you’ll spot the warning signs earlier and will have the skills
and experience to deal with a crisis.”
Dennis Ensing, Entrepreneur-in-
Residence
Techalliance, London
CFO TransGaming Inc.
Former CFO Viron Therapeutics

10. ”Some of the biggest successes employed ‘asymmetric’
strategies. They zigged when everyone else zagged. The
key is to offer ‘unexpected value’ to the customers not
being delivered by competitors. Finding this value is
elusive – but it really forms the core of customer-driven
innovation. It starts with research in your target market.
Don’t ask customers what they want in a product, they
often don’t know. Instead, focus on the ‘jobs they need to
be done’. Do better research and reinvest the saving you
uncover to deliver on innovations the market really
values.”
Peter Evans, Venture Group Advisor
MaRS Advisory Services, Toronto
Former VP Marketing, Flo Network
(acquired by DoubleClick), Former
Director, Research and Marketing,
Media Linx/Sympatico, Founder,
Riverdale Partners

11. ”Rational thought might lead a customer to be interested,
but emotions complete a sale. Tap into the emotions of
the purchaser through: confidence in your ability to meet
delivery goals; relief from a bottleneck you eliminate; and
pride in the delivery of improved performance. Marketing
and sales programs without emotion will not work and
neither will your company.”
Terry Graham, Entrepreneur-in-
Residence
Innovation Synergy Centre
Markham,
Former Chairman & CEO, Image
Processing Systems (IPS), Founder
of ITEC

12. ”Remember that an invention or a discovery is a
product. Not all products succeed – and for reasons
unrelated to their ingenuity. Know when to stop
investing time, energy and money into a product
with no future. Also, know your own limitations as
an inventor. Respect that others with differing skill
sets and experience may actually be better to lead
your company into the next stage of development.”
Wendy Hill, Entrepreneur-in-
Residence
MaRS Advisory Services, Toronto
Former R&D Director, Amgen
Canada
Sr. Director, Clinical Research,
GLYCODesign

13. ”Many think that regulatory oversight and related
documentation is only important at the end of the
process. Financing a company requires a business
execution strategy including recognized regulatory
milestones. Without this the entrepreneur has little
credibility.”
Greg Hines, Entrepreneur-in-
Residence
MaRS Advisory services, Toronto
President & CEO, ArcticDx Inc.
Former President & CEO Tm
Bioscience

14. ”As a venture begins to grow, it can be a difficult
time for everyone – for the founders who have to
give up some control, for the new employees trying
to contribute and for investors who are demanding
the path to financial success. This is the time to
establish the right culture. If the founders are
having a tough time adapting and letting go, it
ultimately will impede success. Remember, culture
and leadership start at the top and from the very
beginning.”
Krista Jones, Venture Group
Advisor
MaRS Advisory Services, Toronto
Former VP Strategic Marketing &
Technology MTS Allstream.
North American Bsiness
Development Leader, Personeta,
VP Network Metronet

15. ”Don’t chase money. Chase the skills that will make
you and what you are building really great. Building
a great technology company is a highly iterative
process: from technology to customers, back to
technology. Your business will attract money only
once there is real evidence that the technology is
solving someone’s problem. Chasing money alone
will leave you chasing your tail.”
Veronika Litinski, Director, Venture
Group
MaRS Advisory Services, Toronto
Consultant, MMV Financial, Canada,
Strategics Advisor, Selera
Pharmaceutical, California, Director
Venture Finance, GATX Capital,
California

16. ”Too often companies undertake projects that will yield
them a couple of points gross margin when operating
perfectly, but because of how these projects are executed,
the company is at risk in the process. Marginal projects
often involve a high use of capital and human resources
while taking management's focus off the keys to success in
the business.”
Richard Lockie, Entrepreneur-in-
Residence
HTX, Toronto
Former Managing Director, MDS
Capital, VP Finance LA Varah Inc.

17. ”There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people in
the world who can help you build a successful
business. Getting introduced and leveraging those
people is key. How do you find them? Talk to
people, lots of them. Tell them about your idea and
then listen. It is incredible how opportunities arise
out of the most mundane of conversations.”
Dan Mathers, Entrepreneur-in-
Residence
Communitech, Waterloo
President & CEO, eSight Corp,
Former President & CEO, IceFyre
Semiconductor

18. ”Everyone wants that elephant customer – the one
so big that you don’t need any others. Make sure
that you scale up to feed the elephant. The
demands of their system, their “our way or the
highway” mentality, and abusive payment practices
can hammer you. By all means tackle the elephant
customer, but budget for twice the cost and twice
the time commitment. Evaluate the project
regularly and be prepared to walk away if
necessary.”
John Pickard, Entrepreneur-in-
Residence
Bioentreprise, Guelph
Former Managing Director, Accolade
Innovations, Former VP Sales &
Operations, AT&T Prepaid

19. ”Think about how you can build your company
without raising capital. First, find out how you can
get customers to finance your business through
sales, or perhaps sales of services to start with.
Build a business plan and business model around
sales and see where that takes you. Then you can
compare the sales-oriented plan to the finance-
oriented plan and see which is the most effective
way of generating wealth – 90% of the technology
companies out there would be better off using sales
vs external financing to generate growth.”
Charles Plant, Managing Director,
Market Readiness Program and
Advisor
MaRS Advisory Services, Toronto
Co-founder, Former President & CEO
Synamics Inc.

20. ”It’s easier to copy than to innovate. It’s easier to
sell on price than to create value. But do the tough
things. When you do the easy things , there is more
competition. When you do the tough things there is
less competition and more margin. Clearly you
have to know your own capacity, but if you do the
toughest thing within your capability you will have
fatter profits.”
Robert Quance, Entrepreneur-in-
Residence
MaRS Advisory Services, Toronto
Former General Manager MCI
Canada,
Founder and Former President,
Metrix Interlink

21. ”Technology entrepreneurs are most comfortable
pitching their technology, not their business
proposition. An investor is more interested in the
business – and potential return – than in the
technology per se. A customer is only interested in
how the technology solves their particular problem.
Too many pitches devote 90% of content to the
wonders of the technology with the business value
proposition squeezed in at the end. By that time,
the audience has long since lost interest.”
Tony Redpath, VP Partner Programs
and Advisor
MaRS Advisory Services, Toronto
Former VP, Primaxis Technology
Ventures

22. ”When you pour your blood, sweat and tears into a
company consider an equity position. Focusing on
the upside is what is important, and you want to
share in that success when it happens. Even if it
means a short-term sacrifice in the early days, it’s
worth having equity in that winning lottery ticket.”
James Sbrolla, Entrepreneur-in-
Residence
Ontario Centre for Environmental
Technology Advancement (OCETA),
Mississauga
Chairman, Environmental Business
Consultants, Former Partner
Canaccord Capital

23. ”Entrepreneurs may dream of building and selling a
huge dot-com, but few understand how difficult it is
to run a company, let alone build it. Building a
company can wear you down if you’ve developed a
great technology. You might consider selling or
licensing the intellectual property to a big player
instead of making that long climb yourself. In an
early sale, the value is in the technology rather
than in the customer base.”
Ron Smith, Entrepreneur-in-
Residence
Innovation Synergy Centre
Markham
Former Chairman Vicinity
Corporation, President & CEO
Beyond.com, Merisel North America

24. To get in touch with a
MaRS Advisor or EIR
contact:
advisors@marsdd.com