Rob Darling

Working on startup #3. More 🙋🏼‍♂️than answers.

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

The top 100 🇨🇦 tech companies in 2021 via @briefedin 👇 1/6

@faire_wholesale @dapperlabs @trulioo @getclearco @hopper @ApplyBoard @venasolutions @Blockstream @tenstorrent @deepgenomics @AlayaCare @GaNSystems @GeneralFusion @ConexiomPowered @TopHat #startups #VentureCapital

[Transformer Lab @transformerlab]

Our lab built the highest-quality quantization for running Ideogram 4 on consumer GPUs. Our Q4_K build outperforms the standard NF4 baseline in both image and text quality at the exact same 10.4 GB size, while our INT8 matches the uncompressed FP8 ceiling. 🧵👇 @ideogram_ai

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

@MikeMcDerment @fnthawar @garrytan @bram Definitely but it creates a pull.

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

@MikeMcDerment @fnthawar @garrytan @bram When I’ve looked at these numbers in the past, specifically UW grads, the trend was not on the decline and the going advice is to still raise money from US investors before talking to Canadian investors. Maybe the last couple of months will have an impact on this?

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

@garrytan @bram If you wanted to play in the NHL but there were limited Canadian options (7 teams), you would go to the USA where there were more options for success (25 teams), wouldn’t you? I cheer for Canadian founders no matter where the head office is. They are still on team Canada.

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

@andrewdsouza @harleyf The experience of being a B2C founder in Canada is very different from that of a B2B founder.

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

@wors @Runql @robdarling OK - now we have a twitter account. @runQL_HQ

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

@wors @Runql @robdarling Thanks @wors! runQL does not have a twitter account 😀🫢 we are at https://t.co/s4rj37582p though!

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

@jrodgers @ckneumann @classonde @BetaKit @twosmallfishvc @PanacheVC @ImpressionVC I’ll start by restating that there are multiple great 🇨🇦 VCs that are currently doing pre-seed rounds. How can founders find them?
1. Founder Networks
2. Look in the past via https://t.co/QO9fp2W87y & current seed announcements that also contain the pre-seed date and investors.

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

@ckneumann @jrodgers @classonde @BetaKit @twosmallfishvc @PanacheVC @ImpressionVC “Stay tuned for my future post on why there's no good Pre-Seed data (seriously 😉).”

💯

I know quite a few 🇨🇦pre-seed deals that have not been announced and are not listed on VC websites, CVCA reports, crunchbase, pitch book, or https://t.co/K53W18ylcR.

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

@mattroberts @byosko You bought me lunch once…

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

@mattroberts https://t.co/87Sh7dpFtS

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

@mattroberts Makes sense. Seems to me it would make a lot of sense in Canadian cities too.

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

@jrodgers @mattroberts @markmacleod_ LOL

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

@mattroberts @classonde What’s an appropriate “small round” size for pre-seed and an appropriate “measurable milestone” to get to a seed priced round?
Something like the following for B2B SaaS?:
Pre-Seed Round: $1M USD?
Measurable Milestone: 10 happy paying customers with x on the wait list?

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

@FounderEric Focus on customers, sales and product. If it is not related to one of those three then forget about it. When those three things are going well the rest will become clear.

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

@josephfung @jrodgers @alexandernorman I would put most weight on #1.

[Rob Darling @RobDarling_]

@josephfung @jrodgers @alexandernorman I’m guessing 3 things:
1. Less activity at early stage as investors slowed down capital deployment (market conditions)
2. Companies not announcing early stage raises
3. Relationships (maybe they are not getting contacted as much as I was based on my relationships)

[Plum @plum_io]

We are proud to announce that our CEO @caitmacgregor, has been recognized by the Women World Awards with a 2022 @GlobeeAwards, Achievement in Innovation, Gold Globee Winner!
Learn more: https://t.co/LJX0aB25eD
#goldglobeewinner #globeeawards #ceo #womenintech #innovation

[Caitlin MacGregor @caitmacgregor]

Join me today at @ElevateTechCA at 2:20 pm!
#womenintech #ElevateFest2022 #plum #talentacquisition #talentmanagement #futureofwork