For the past several years, the Founder Institute has expanded throughout Canada supporting aspiring entrepreneurs across the country. After helping founders launch some of Canada’s fastest growing companies in cities like Montreal and Toronto, the Founder Institute is now coming to Vancouver to play an important role in that region’s developing startup ecosystem.
This new chapter will feature a bevy of talented Mentors to guide Founders through the difficult process of building a business, and will be led by local experts John Thornburn (Founding Partner, Connekt Resources, Inc.), Rob Foxall (Co-Founder, Pacific Venture Capital Conference & Competition), Rick Pasin (Mentor, Beedie School of Business at SFU), and newcomer Aliya Amershi (CEO, Founder & Chief Techie, AskaTechie Technology Services Inc.).
Here's what Aliya has to say about Vancouver's growing startup ecosystem:
Vancouver is an ideal place to start a business because it's a micro startup ecosystem, where the costs to build a business from scratch is lower than other places and the opportunity to find high quality talent is quite high. Plus the community here is very supportive when it comes to mentorship and advice.”
The Vancouver Founder Institute Director team is lucky to have Aliya on their side; with over 20 years of technology experience under her belt, she is aware of the demands and challenges of the tech industry. Also, because her current company, AskaTechie.com, is an online matchmaking marketplace of vetted tech experts that helps entrepreneurs find qualified IT professionals, Aliya already has valuable insights into the needs of budding founders and what they need to launch a strong company.
The trends I see for Vancouver is that more highly-skilled talent will be choosing Vancouver to be their home. That combined with the rise of the remote workforce and freelance economy, more of these premium grade knowledge-based workforce will either be offering their services to the global market or building amazing companies to compete at a global scale.
Since announcing its launch, the Vancouver Founder Institute has attracted more than 450 attendees it’s hosted over the past several weeks, with even more expected to attend leading up to the final application deadline. One of the biggest benefits that those who are accepted into the Vancouver Founder Institute will have is that they will not have to quit their day jobs to join and complete the program, as it focuses specifically on those who are at the idea stage.
In fact, many of the Founder Institute’s best Founders joined the program without even having an idea, instead compensating with a tireless work ethic, a collaborative mindset, and the dedication to overcome unexpected challenges. And with the large population of qualified tech talent in the area, the Vancouver Founder Institute is bound to yet another one of FI’s most promising chapters.
FI can help entrepreneurs by giving them the precise guidance they need to go from idea to launch of either a prototype or MVP, or help guide them to pivot their business in the right direction, if that's the case. Plus, FI tests if you have the actual Entrepreneurship DNA to actually build a business, since it is tough, REAL tough. It's probably one of the most challenging ventures that people will have to endure.
