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Booted out of Bootup Labs

livejamie.com

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Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#131

Post by hello_moto »

bigboote wrote: post #66
dannyrobinson wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a manager of Bootup, I can assure you that we haven't been personally paid anything. The $50k is funnelled through the company to maximize canadian tax credits, which can amount to a meaningful amount of money. And it's used to pay for rent, legal, accounting, and other services that are for the benefit of the startup.

Tax credits are one of the reasons I didn't start my business in Canada. (I'm Canadian and I know the workings of some Canadian tech companies, but my current projects are all in Silicon Valley.) The way it works is that you get 50% of your R&D expenses back from the gov't, in cash, several months later. To claim it, you have to write reports explaining the R&D value of each project. Besides the obvious bureaucratic…

What constitutes R&D expenses if I may ask?

I used to work at a startup that makes no money at all. They asked me to sign some sort of "fake" stock options as part of the SR&ED requirements. Of course the numbers were meaningless (pennies or whatnot). So I'm very interested on how this works.

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#132

Post by realitycheques »

jamesshamenski wrote: post #80
libretard wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This might be a valid assertion if there were any VCs investing in Bootup Labs. There evidently aren't.

Evidently, the VC's investing in BootupLabs are 'W media ventures' and 'growthworks'. http://blog.bootuplabs.com/2010/04/14/wertz-joins-board-firs...

growthworks has one of the lowest rates of return of venture funds,

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#133

Post by jamesshamenski »

gyardley wrote: post #120
jamesshamenski wrote: post #47

Boo the VC's in this one! The investors of BootupLabs did not have confidence in 57% of their latest pool of startups. i wonder why they invested at all if they dont fully back their judgement? Here's what probably happened, I bet the investors squeezed Boris and Danny with the alternative option being closing their doors early on all 7 companies. Sometimes VC's do evil things to extract more ownership in last minute…

I can't speak for every investor in this incubator but Boris Wertz of W Media Ventures has money in my own startup and I've always found him to be an upstanding, helpful guy - First Round Capital introduced him to me and I've always been grateful for that. I wouldn't particularly call Boris a VC, though - more of a large angel, investing the money he made from the startup he founded himself. It's a bad idea to slight…

A lower tide sinks all boats.

I hear you when you say it's bad to slight individuals you don't know anything about. I am very familiar with Boris Wertz (through multiple friends of friends) and the good he has done for the small Vancouver tech scene. However, this is a massive blow in the effort to encourage tech companies to establish a presence in Vancouver (effecting the Vancouver VC recruiting pool). Some other city will be drinking Vancouver's Milkshake.

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#134

Post by realitycheques »

keltecp11 wrote: post #57
mikeyur wrote: post #38

Bootup Labs has posted their side of the story on their blog: http://blog.bootuplabs.com/2010/04/14/wertz-joins-board-firs...

"Bootup is back on solid ground and ready to continue it’s role as a leading North American Seed Accelerator." VERY bold statement.

Solid ground? Give us a break... they're turning on the reality distortion field, again!

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#135

Post by realitycheques »

jamesshamenski wrote: post #47

Boo the VC's in this one! The investors of BootupLabs did not have confidence in 57% of their latest pool of startups. i wonder why they invested at all if they dont fully back their judgement? Here's what probably happened, I bet the investors squeezed Boris and Danny with the alternative option being closing their doors early on all 7 companies. Sometimes VC's do evil things to extract more ownership in last minute…

Right! And where is the investment support from all the big name, successful mentors?? Guess they're either free-riders or store window dressing...

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#136

Post by realitycheques »

nickmolnar2 wrote: post #78
mikeyur wrote: post #38

Bootup Labs has posted their side of the story on their blog: http://blog.bootuplabs.com/2010/04/14/wertz-joins-board-firs...

Adding Boris Wertz was a great move, and not a moment too soon. He adds credibility, and capital, to Bootup at the time when they need it most. It's a good thing, too. While their misfortune has certainly hurt people, myself included, Bootup is a great addition to the Vancouver startup ecosystem. 3 new companies is far better than 0 in my books. They also throw fantastic events and mentor many more entrepreneurs than…

Parties were fun, the rest was just meh. Too much time self promoting and no real resources to really build companies. Not having the right management team is a critical flaw. Look at the track record.

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#137

Post by realitycheques »

apu wrote: post #93
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 do…

Makes it worse! Think about it... would you let your name be used this way, and/or associate with a company that you wouldn't put your own money in when it was badly needed?

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#138

Post by realitycheques »

trevelyan wrote: post #95
minalecs wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

likely little meaningful assistance when the fund manager is in panic mode scrambling to raise money...

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#139

Post by fnid2 »

cperciva wrote: post #2

When I saw this title, my immediate thought was "hmm, I wonder if this is about Bootup Labs?" I've met the people behind Bootup Labs, and I like them. They're smart. They're enthusiastic about what they're doing. But I was never really convinced that they were able to make things work financially. I've seen enough startups that I can usually tell when a startup is running on fumes and spending all their energy on try…

I don't think it is your responsibility to apologize for bootup labs or on behalf of all vancouverites or canadians for that matter. I've interacted with the bootup labs team on more than one occasion and have never gotten a good impression from them. They are the kind of middle men who take too much from entrepreneurs and give too little. I feel bad for anyone who is convinced to enter into their system, both entrepreneurs, and the investors who give them money.

Furthermore, Canadians do not apologize for everything. I know plenty who never apologize for anything.

Also, a little more ranting about Bootup labs, there are way too many programs like this that are actually credible. I encourage all who are thinking of applying to their program to strongly consider otherwise. If you can't get into another better incubation program, it means your idea needs more work. I haven't seen anything positive from bootup labs and I can't say anything positive about the leadership behind bootup labs -- this was true way before this very revealing incident.

Any entrepreneur considering joining the bootup labs program is better served to keep their day jobs and bootstrap their company without bootup labs. Please, stay far far away.

Re: Booted out of Bootup Labs

#140

Post by realitycheques »

apu wrote: post #91
cperciva wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

A one-sided, unresearched, fluff article.
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