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Booted out of Bootup Labs

livejamie.com

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Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#91

Post by apu »

cperciva wrote: post #85
apu wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But now with Boris Wertz on board, new funding secured, and the spotlight of this story, there is no doubt that due diligence on all sides will improve and the next cohort of startups will be better than ever. Hmm, ok. Disclosure: Boris Wertz is an investor in Techvibes Media Inc. Surprise, surprise.

Surprise, surprise. I doubt Boris Wertz pulled any strings to get the positive spin from Techvibes -- my impression is that Techvibes would find a way to give a positive spin to "meteor headed for Vancouver, is expected to destroy city".

Sure, I didn't mean to imply any particular chain of causality -- just the fact that there is virtually no value in a positive article from Techvibes given their financial conflict-of-interest in this story.

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#92

Post by 9oliYQjP »

rdl wrote: post #35

How hard is it to set up a Vancouver startup independently, if you have 2-3 US citizens who want to relocate? Assume you have $100-200k of your own funding. Gaming the tax credits seems like it takes a bit of effort, but lowers the effective tax rate substantially below even Nevada.

Starting a company in Canada among 2 or 3 people is easy. I should know because I did it when I was a teenager. It cost me $15 for some incorporation templates, $150 for a name search report showing potentially similar company names to the one I wanted to start, and $350 or so in government fees. This got me a company incorporated provincially. You can do it federally too but it's a bit more complex. If you have as much money as you claim you could probably emigrate to Canada in a special business class meant specifically for people starting businesses here.

Starting businesses is easy as pie. If you have enough money to sustain the business before it brings in revenue then I'm not sure what the attraction is to these sort of ventures. If your execution is good then VCs will hear you out regardless of whether you've been "accepted" into a program like this. They may facilitate introductions but there are also government funded programs here in Canada that do not charge money which will do the same.

Tax rates for people smart enough to start businesses in Canada are fairly attractive. It is especially so when you factor in healthcare costs or lack-there-of. However one thing to bear in mind is that it is often a severe hassle an American company to exit an investment in a Canadian company. In some cases it would require 900 signatures of limited partners in the American company and for each to file Canadian income taxes. Google "Section 116 foreign investment". It is something the government here is tackling in a bid to spur VC investment in Canada. But there are still some gotchas (and benefits) to starting a company here.

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#93

Post by apu »

livejamie wrote: post #81

This has been written about on RWW now: How to Burn Bridges with Bootup Labs and Other Investors http://www.readwriteweb.com/start/2010/04/how-to-burn-bridge...

This is one of the most one-sided articles I've seen on RWW. Of all the comments here, they choose this one?

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1266864

And they mentioned Robinson's "This is not how it went down" comment without the main substance of his post (which consisted only of small quibbles) -- or the responses to it.

And does the fact that there was a "a heavy hitting roster" backing Bootup make what was done any more excusable?

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#94

Post by ericd »

vancouver wrote: post #58

The fact that the Managing Director of Bootup would confront allegations in a public forum does not bode well for his organization. I would hope day to day business decisions at Bootup are not done in the same manner. It is ,at best, completely unprofessional.

Why do you say that? It might open them up to some sort of liability (I don't know either way), but as long as they watch their tongue, I think it reflects well on the company to be so transparent.

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#95

Post by trevelyan »

minalecs wrote: post #90
jbox wrote: post #55

Acquisition, investment or acceptance into an incubator are all great things but don't build your startup in such a way that success is dependant upon them. Ultimately, your success will depend on one thing - you. Build your business for profitably and don't count on money until it's safely cleared in your account.

i wish I could upvote this sentiment more. I've also been accepted into an incubator, but had I been declined, I still would of moved forward with release, and marketing plan. After being accepted, I've adjusted my schedule some, but still on track regardless. To me it seems that Jamie is giving up on something that if he truly believed in it, he should continue even now after finding a real job and getting back on h…

Sad, but I agree. Be curious to hear why the investors wanted to invest In the first place if the idea isn't good enough to keep the founders committed when they hit this sort of minor setback. And weren't they working on the business for two-plus months in Vancouver? No demo? No prototype? No sense of next steps?

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#96

Post by qq66 »

DanBlake wrote: post #20

Danny, one of the bootuplabs founders just posted this comment on the post. ///////////// This is not how it went down Jamie. After everything that we did for you and Steven, I'm shocked at how you have twisted the truth for PR reasons. - you were in our office for 2 months, not 3. - you program is 5%-15% for $150k over 8 months - you received $6k over that 2 months - we received nothing in return. - we paid your leg…

Customer, to Taxi driver: "I'll pay you $40 to take me to the airport."

[Taxi driver takes customer 4 miles, throws him out of the cab in a bad neighborhood to pick up a more profitable customer, and drives away. Customer flips off driver as he speeds away.]

Driver, yelling out of window: "What are you complaining about? I took you 4 miles and didn't even charge you!!"

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#97

Post by 9oliYQjP »

cperciva wrote: post #50
dedward wrote: post #41

Can I just say that the fact that either party here is duking this out in a public forum is just..... unprofessional? Especially from the VC firm itself? I suppose I'm a newcomer to this "VC/incubator/startup" community - but in any other life situation, when I decide to pack up and move somewhere far away, I make sure I have stuff in writing, and cash in the bank, and all my i's dotted and t's crossed before I quit…

Can I just say that the fact that either party here is duking this out in a public forum is just..... unprofessional? Perhaps a bit unprofessional, but I'm personally glad it happens. The startup/VC world is all about reputation, and anything which moves the world from "talk to your friends at other startups and find out if they know anything about X" to "google for X and find out what people are saying about it" is…

Quite honestly YC is the only one of these kinds of ventures that I trust. And even in the case of YC, if I were to advise a budding pair of young entrepreneurs, I'd tell them to move back in with their parents for a year, get a low skill but high paying job to give them sustenance money (e.g., bartend or barista), and focus on implementing their idea. There are nice YC value adds like being introduced to influential folks. But part of being a business person is finding a way to get to these folks anyway. Why pay for this service when you can get them for free?

So many startup folks are attracted to these kinds of programs because I think they mimic the illusion of safety that school offered. You have to be "accepted" and it's not a venture but a "program". Everything is geared towards creating this sense of safety without pointing out you are giving up a lot for it. Know why these programs want to save you the hassle of doing your own incorporation paperwork that took me a day to figure out when I was a teenager? Because they have to put clauses in that will help them, not you.

Again, I'm not saying these ventures are sinister. But you can get by without them and in fact may become a better business person for it.

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#98

Post by philk »

livejamie wrote: post #81

This has been written about on RWW now: How to Burn Bridges with Bootup Labs and Other Investors http://www.readwriteweb.com/start/2010/04/how-to-burn-bridge...

How to Burn Bridges with Bootup Labs and Other Investors

They're only investors if they actually invest money.

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#99

Post by realitycheques »

elai wrote: post #12

Why did bootup labs offer funding that is almost 7 to 10 times the 'industry' standard? It's disappointing that an incubator close to home really wasn't.

well this is most likely because they have no experience in how to finance or run a venture fund of any size.
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