I spend a lot of time talking to (many awesome) startups in Ottawa, and occasionally commenting on programs that are offered to entrepreneurs.  Some say that I’m too critical of programs that try to help startups – because every little bit helps.  Right? I don’t think so. In fact, I think many programs distract would-be Continue Reading

When I talk to startup founders, I often subconsciously put them on a spectrum that ranges from what I call Missionary to Mercenary. On the one end there’s the missionaries who will not rest until their idea has been adopted by the whole world. Their startup is a labor of love and their passion comes Continue Reading

I’m excited to announce our most recent team member to the Mercury Grove team, Guido Giordano. Guido has a sharp analytical mind, a passion for startups, and international experience and viewpoint that is a huge asset to all startups in Ottawa. Guido is a young and passionate entrepreneur who just arrived in Canada from Italy. Continue Reading

I don’t watch tv.  The only “shows” I watch are hockey and Sponge Bob Square Pants.  So while everyone else in the world has already seen the Budweiser hockey commercial, I just saw it for the first time last night, and, like most things in my life, I immediately drew a parallel with startups. The Continue Reading

*Disclaimer: Advertising is a tricky game, there are a lot of moving parts, so to keep this post applicable to the majority I’ve included some qualitative review of each advertising medium as well as quantitative stuff like cost and weighted averages based on cost per thousand impressions. Guidelines The Three Prongs of Advertising There are Continue Reading

As many people in Ottawa know, Mercury Grove has been a huge supporter of local startups ever since we moved our “headquarters” here 5 years ago.  Over the last five years we’ve opened our office to local entrepreneurs to hang out for free, hosted several DemoCamps, launched StartupDrinks in Ottawa, contributed and helped found the Continue Reading

Last night we arrived in Montreal for StartupFestival – an inaugural conference for startups in Montreal Canada. Judging by day 1 (of 3), this conference is going to become an annual event for the Mercury Grove team.  The excitement and enthusiasm of everyone there was palpable, and with an amazing lineup of visionary speakers for Continue Reading

Here is one of dozens of emails I get daily from twitter: This drives me nuts!  Here is what I (now) know about Doug Scott: He is the President of OgilvyEntertainment – which I assume is part of Ogilvy & Mathers He has a lot of followers and follows a lot of people He has Continue Reading

Last weekend I was a judge for a local geek-a-thon called HackOTT (Hack Ottawa).  The concept, started in Toronto by entrepreneurs Leila Boujnane from TinEye and Cory Reid from Freshbooks, brings together extremely talented developers for a day (a Saturday, no less) to prove their technical brilliance and see what they can build in six Continue Reading