David Crow - Latest Comments

Re: Professional Icons

Maks Maksimov — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 13:05:24 -0000

http://www.favewallpapers.c...

Re: My current tools

Nancy — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 10:21:33 -0000

Oh, I use Yaware for self-tracking

Re: The Calendaring Land Grab

Mark Evans — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 13:19:11 -0000

I'm a big Tempo fan. I used Fantastical on the desktop.

Re: Scotch tape, safety pins and spaghetti – SMB marketing automation

Yulia Mikhailovna Teryaeva — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 14:54:25 -0000

Great post.

Re: Marketing Technology Landscape

Yulia Mikhailovna Teryaeva — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 14:53:29 -0000

Thanks David. I work at a marketing agency and this actually quite fascinating!

Re: Where are the RIM alumni?

davidcrow — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 15:35:35 -0000

There are folks like Dennis Kavelman now COO at Desire2Learn. The diaspora is increasing, but there was a long window before this started to happen.

Re: Where are the RIM alumni?

davidcrow — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 15:33:15 -0000

Things have definitely changed post 2008. Hard to believe such significant change in <6 years.

Re: Where are the RIM alumni?

sgw — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 07:58:16 -0000

Times have changed! Ps Pushlife (acquired by Google) was founded by former RIM-er Ray Reddy. Dave Yach's Auvik Networks is one of what must be like close to a hundred in KW now - many by youngsters with experiences at RIM ... and many that are stealth.

Re: The Calendaring Land Grab

Geoffrey Momin — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 18:55:42 -0000

I recommend Cal by Any.do. It's clean, minimal, and connects seamlessly with their To-do list manager. It's free too.

Re: The Calendaring Land Grab

William Mougayar — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 22:54:24 -0000

Check out MobileDay, a paid app if you want SF integration.

Re: Coworking in Montreal

Mike — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 18:28:34 -0000

NEXUS MONTREAL recently moved their coworking space to a new location.
http://www.nexusmontreal.com/

Re: The Calendaring Land Grab

Sebastian — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 13:32:24 -0000

Great post David, I agree that a lot of these solutions do great in their own niche, yet no one has been able to take majority stake in the market because the features and users are spread across multiple platforms. I am working on a solution that consolidates the best features from these apps, to offer expanded social utility and engage a large user base, which then could monetize similarly to Twitter or Google. I will shoot an email your way with more info, I'm really interested to get your input.

Re: Coworking in Montreal

Orbit Montreal — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 13:06:46 -0000

We are launching ORBIT Montreal a new coworking space in Montreal: http://www.orbitmontreal.com/

Re: Marketing Technology Landscape

Ryan Connors — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 09:59:17 -0000

David,

I think it will become increasingly hard to define marketing technology organizations by silos. While this list is extensive, I do believe that there's a missing element of customer engagement where you'd find companies like Totango (as you mentioned), MixPanel, Apptegic (my favorite) and Jbarra.

Re: Chief Shit Disturber

Scott Francis — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 12:45:48 -0000

is that fortunately or unfortunately? :) I think it isn't about necessarily bigger stake, just puts some skin in the game - which some startups will really appreciate. depends on the relationship, i suppose :)

Re: Chief Shit Disturber

davidcrow — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:32:37 -0000

The part that concerns me is how much the access relies on personal reputation and not necessarily the quality of the company/idea/pitch. Not that is fair in love and war (or fundraising), the educational practice for most founders is pretty straightforward, i.e., winning is 90% preparation and 10% execution (maybe 5% tiger blood). I have often thought that this is the benefit of an incubator. Look at the YCombinator folks, it was the pedigree and the editing along with the extremely selective input process that guaranteed better output.

The second concern is the "fire breathing", sounds too much like a Dragon or possibly a Shark ;-)

I think there are some basic economics that change with scale, i.e., capital allows you to "invest" in these companies and take a larger percentage. I'm wonder how @seanellis charged before Qualaroo. I should ask.

Re: Chief Shit Disturber

Boris Mann — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 00:17:06 -0000

No, you don't need to change :) Focusing all of that intent on just one company is a little relentless -- and there is the balance of letting them learn to run their own business.

Too many engagements at once can be draining.

There is something about being a funding broker. Except broker is not the right word. Some of the old school programs have names like "Investor Ready". If they can get past the fire breathing David Crow, a company is investment ready. And many would be happy to pay to go to that kind of boot camp.

We have to kill pay-to-pitch, but someone still has to prep companies on one side, curate them in the middle, and bring the check writers to the table on the other. I'm convinced we need to burn down the non-existent networks that exist around this now (at least, those that are pay-to-pitch) and create new ones.

Re: Chief Shit Disturber

davidcrow — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 10:52:42 -0000

@sfrancis unfortunately, I am able to make some investments, i.e., according to my AngelList profile I target 2-3 investments/year @ $10k each.

I haven't seriously done the consulting game since I lived in Austin. Part of the challenge is that my offering has changed in the past >10 years. I'm not longer the most effective bit pusher. I think revisiting the product/offering and trying to iterate along with the perceived value.

Re: Chief Shit Disturber

sfrancis — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:14:26 -0000

Another approach is to offer some of this help for "free". Offer the help, have them pay you what they think it is worth, in whatever currency makes the most sense for them - equity, cash, etc. If you don't need the money in the short term, this may be a good way to build some currency with people who will recommend you. When you settle on the "right" way to be compensated, you'll have a list of referrals to back up your value.

Yet another way is to offer the advice, and let it lead you to investments. There are a few folks who appear to do that in Austin. This assumes you have enough $ to be involved in angel investing I suppose... But it is definitely an interesting way to see more companies and pattern match and challenge them.

Thanks for the cross-link, btw. Wondered why I was suddenly getting traffic from the chief shit distributor :) er, Disturber :)

Good luck, David!

Re: Chief Shit Disturber

davidcrow — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 15:45:23 -0000

Agreed on all points.

I think the challenge is that over the years I have focused on helping early stage, pre-product/market fit companies with a variety of things. And that this market is a terrible market unless you are a founder of these companies. It's part of the reason that I decided to join OMERS Ventures. An opportunity to change the game I am playing, i.e., to see later stage companies.

My fear is that for a lot of founders, it's scary/difficult to have a guy like me helping/calling bullshit and engaged. I should ask Mark Organ or Marc Castel. Because I can be relentless. Maybe I need to change.

Re: Chief Shit Disturber

Philip Papadopoulos — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:32:51 -0000

David,

A couple of quick thoughts:

Consulting to start-ups is a tough business. They usually don't have the money to pay a market rate. Compensation based on outcomes is hard, since how are those outcomes measured? If you are selling advice, like a lawyer, and maybe aiding in the implementation of that advice, then the client should have no problem with paying for that advice. They don't stiff their lawyers. If the client does not want to pay, then they have not seen the value in the advice you are providing.

As for the role of a funding broker, how do you capitalize on the network of investors (people, groups etc.) that you have built over-time and the mutual trust? Rather than charging a commission / fee based on the funds received, maybe if you have some capital, be part of the investment round?

Philip

Re: Reinventing Email

Abdallah Al-Hakim — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:29:58 -0000

I am hoping that Google buying sparrow will lead to more sparrow features showing up in gmail. I am already much happier with their new iPhone app and iPad devices.

Re: Reinventing Email

Brad Patterson @ Evercontact — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:25:18 -0000

agreed. i loved sparrow for my non-google email account last year, but still doesn't compare to having rapportive, boomerang, unroll.me, the labs... oh it's the bomb ;-) (just started experimenting w/ pause and I'm a fan).

Re: Mesh Marketing

jenniferlum — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 19:28:46 -0000

Thanks for the kind words David! I'm so impressed with all of the momentum that's building in Toronto...and you continue to be a key driver for the community's growth.

Re: Jet Cooper – Drupal Developer

Simone Kane — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 00:42:35 -0000

I was totally unknown about this Jet Cooper site I came to know from your which provide better facility for the client.