Somen Mondal is a Canadian entrepreneur and the Co-Founder of Field ID (N4 Systems Inc.). Field ID is a leading enterprise Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that helps organizations automate safety compliance by leveraging the cloud and mobile devices. Mondal served as Chief Executive Officer of Field ID until N4 Systems Inc. was acquired by Master Lock LLC (a subsidiary of Fortune Brands) in December 2012. He now serves the company as Vice President, Sales & Marketing.

As a Co-Founder of Field ID, Somen is responsible for corporate vision, strategy, business growth and customer satisfaction. Committed to establishing the company as a market leading solution, Somen’s leadership has helped earn Field ID a spot on the Profit Hot 50 and Deloitte Fast 50 Companies-to-Watch lists. In 2012, Somen was named winner of the Ontario Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in the “Emerging Entrepreneur” category.

Somen holds a B.A.Sc. in Computer Engineering from the University of Toronto and an MBA from Queen’s University.

http://www.extremestartups.com/mentors/somen-mondal/

As we enter the last week recruiting for our Spring 2013 cohort, we are hosting an office hours next Tuesday February 12th from 4-6pm.  Please come and meet our team, alumni and mentors to find a bit more about our program.

No need to rsvp, just show up to 639 Queen Street West, 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON.

Our applications for our cohort close February 14th 11:59pm EST, so don’t wait too long!  Apply now! http://www.extremestartups.com/apply/

We hope to see you there!

Let it be.

That’s pretty simplistic advice coming from one of the most respected tech venture capitalists in the world, but that’s the gist of the zen-like message Brad Feld delivered to a gathering of about 100 local startup community leaders at the Burroughes Building on Tuesday. The co-founder of Foundry Group and an early investor in a number of successful tech ventures like Zynga, SendGrid, Urban Airship and Cheezburger Network, was on hand to share his philosophy behind building successful startup communities and promote his new book – appropriately titled Startup Communities - with prominent members of Toronto’s burgeoning tech scene. At an intimate invite-only event presented by local accelerator Extreme Startups, Feld urged attendants to reject the idea that a community needs to be a certain way or emulate another city for it to work. Building a successful startup community means embracing what makes Toronto successful, encouraging inclusive and active engagement and embodying the spirit of “give before you get.”

He takes his thesis from his experience of moving to Boulder, Colorado in 1995 despite not knowing anybody there (“My wife was moving there and I was welcome to join her.”) and seeing it develop the highest entrepreneurial density in the world thanks to seeds planted in the 1970s. The key to the success of Boulder’s startup community has been an inclusive community lead by entrepreneurs with a long-term vision and commitment that transcends macro economic cycles. Governments run on four year cycles. Universities run on one and seven year cycles (school year and tenure track). Startup communities must run on 20 year generational cycles, but also constantly renew their forward looking vision. “I moved to Boulder 17 years ago, but I’m not in year 17 of a 20 year cycle. I’m in year 17 of a 37 year cycle. In five years I’ll be in year 22 of a 42 year cycle.”

A startup community will stagnate if the terms are being dictated from on high, says Feld. Patriarchs – established local leaders – may try to control a startup scene with regulations or cronyism, but if you have an “old white guy problem,” Feld says the best advice is to ignore them. Don’t deliberately provoke them, don’t kiss their ass, just go about your business and eventually some of them will come onside. He favours the “glorious mess” of a network as opposed to a stifling hierarchy because, in general, telling others what to do just does not work. Feld’s model is centered on open and active engagement where anybody can be a mentor and relationships develop naturally. It’s a model that he posits can work anywhere.

Toronto’s tech scene is vibrant and eager to put itself on the map, something made clear from the audience’s questions about “taking the next step” and “making a mark.” Though he admits he doesn’t feel like he knows the city well, Feld likes what he sees in Toronto and Canada thanks to the “raw intellectual horsepower” and technical expertise here, and what he calls our “general resourcefulness.” What he has noticed about Canadian entrepreneurs, along with their counterparts in the Midwest United States, is their tendency to be apologetic and “lead with your chin.” Following Feld’s philosophy means taking what you may perceive to be weaknesses and look at them positively.

During a discussion about the roles of advisers versus mentors (paid advice versus free help) and leaders versus feeders (entrepreneurs versus service providers, governments and institutions), a participant started his question by saying, “I’m one of those ‘evil consultants’…” but before he could get any further Feld stopped him. “That’s what I’m talking about. Consultants aren’t evil, nobody said that. I know you’re being self-deprecating but the language matters. It can develop a sense of non-inclusiveness.”

Sunil Sharma, a co-managing director of Extreme Startups who helped organize the event with his co-founder Andy Yang, moved to Toronto from the more established tech scene in California because he was attracted by the intellectual horsepower that Feld also recognized. He and a few others invited Feld to address the local community because they felt there was something Toronto could learn from the Tao of Brad Feld. “In California, there was a strong spirit of community. There was a general level of satisfaction in seeing the success of others. In Toronto there’s sometimes a mentalitythat there is a limited supply of successful outcomes.” That’s something that Sharma and Feld both say is not true.

If we’re to take Feld’s message to heart, for Toronto’s startup community to blossom into the next stage of its evolution, its members should take a deep breath, focus their strengths, accept their limitations and seek transcendence of entrepreneurial moksha. Namaste.

(Full disclosure: Extreme Startups and Toronto Standard are both located on the third floor of the Burroughes Building but are otherwise unaffiliated.)

Original link: http://www.torontostandard.com/technology/brad-feld-on-building-a-startup-community

Toronto-based accelerator Extreme Startups was first announced in January, with a $7 million fund to invest in early-stage companies, and its first cohort took place during the late spring and early summer. That group did pretty well, with startups like Shoplocket, SimplyUs, and Verelo (all covered in TechCrunch!) graduating earlier this summer. Of the five participating, two raised seed rounds of $1 million or more from Canadian and U.S.-based VC firms.

Like other incubators, Extreme Startups provides funding, mentorship, and access to administrative and legal support for startups that participate. It gives teams $50,000 at the start of the 12-week program in exchange for 10 percent of equity, as well as an additional $150,000 convertible note upon exiting the program. In addition, participating startups get coworking space, will attend weekly classes, and will have access to more than 50 mentors that have signed up to help.

Today, Extreme Startups is announcing that it has selected the next five companies to take part in its incubator. This second cohort will take place over the next few months and end with a demo day on November 28.

• Kera – Lets developers build in-app tutorials that can interact with page elements like buttons, text inputs and forms.
• Picatic – Previously covered by TechCrunch, Picatic provides crowdfunding for concerts and other events.
• MyShoebox – Gives users unlimited photo backup in the cloud.
• Shifthub – A SaaS-based shift scheduling platform for small and medium-sized businesses.
• Venio – Provides a platform to help users create and plan healthy meals.

In addition to the startups that are participating in its accelerator, Extreme Startups has also put aside some space for promising young companies to work alongside them. It’s launched the Preccelerator, which provides free coworking space and other perks for five awesome startups. Here are the five that are in this time:

• Bebedo – Platform for searching nearby events.
• BRIKA – Limited-time only sale site for well-crafted goods.
• MommiesFirst – Curated care package service for new and expecting moms.
• Pictoreo – Mobile platform to create beautiful pictures with motion.
• Relay – Mobile collaborative entertainment platform.

Original post: http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/05/extreme-startups-second-cohort/

Brian Church is currently country manager for Canada and head of sales solutions for North America at LinkedIn. A transformative sales and business leader, Brian has spent the last 14 yearsworking with the world’s largest technology firms. As country manager, Brian leads Canadian operations for the world’s largest online professional network and is responsible for increasing awareness, adoption and advocacy of LinkedIn with a focus on driving revenue, strategic partnerships and member growth and engagement.  As the head of Sales Solutions Brian is helping sales organizations at companies throughout North America transform their business through the social selling power of LinkedIn.

Previous to taking on his current role, Brian was responsible for launching the hiring solutions business for LinkedIn Canada, focused on helping Canadian companies identify and attract the best talent to their organizations.

Prior to LinkedIn Brian managed enterprise sales for Google, where he focused on the development, awareness and expansion of the Google Apps for Business platform into the Canadian market.  Through driving the Canadian organization’s expansion from market strategy, resource deployment and customer acquisition he achieved substantial year over year business grow across all lines of business.

Before joining Google, Brian held sales and management positions with SAP and Oracle where he was engaged in successfully bringing about change in organizations from insurance to healthcare.

Brian holds a Bachelor of Administrative Studies from York University with a specialization in marketing.

http://www.extremestartups.com/mentors/brian-church/

Jason’s entrepreneurial spirit and leadership capabilities have driven Vital Insights into the spotlight as one of North America’s fastest growing technology companies. An innovator and visionary, Jason has increased year-over-year company revenues in the past 5 years to a level of over 10,000%. His in-depth knowledge of technology and business acumen allow him to understand his clients’ needs and with great enthusiasm and dedication, he has successfully completed a full re-branding and re-organization of the company to better serve its customer base.The results of this have heralded the company with a three time, consecutive ranking on the coveted Deloitte Fast50, as well as, back-to-back placements in PROFIT magazine’s Top 200 Fastest Growing Companies in Canada and an impressive ranking of 61st, on the Deloitte Fast 500, which ranks the 500 fastest growing companies in North America.  Most recently his company Vital Insights captured public equity attention and in August 2012, Jason sold a minority stake in his company worth over $20M to a European & NYC based Private Equity firm for additional growth capital to continue globalization of the company.

Jason is a Toronto Chapter member of the prestigious Young Presidents Organization (YPO) where he serves on the membership committee and is a member of the Toronto Chapter Board of Directors. He sits on the board of numerous technology based companies and has recently become a panelist on the BNN Syndicated Network show “The Pitch” where the top entrepreneurs pitch for an opportunity to have Jason invest his capital and knowledge into promising businesses.

http://www.extremestartups.com/mentors/jason-tryfon/

Wendy Lea is the CEO of Get Satisfaction. Wendy founded The Chatham Group, where she currently serves as an angel investor, strategic advisor, and board member for a long list of startup companies. She serves on the board of Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2.org). Wendy has been recognized as a Top 100 Woman of Influence in Silicon Valley.

http://www.extremestartups.com/mentors/wendy-lea/

Farah Perelmuter is  CEO & CO-FOUNDER of SPEAKERS’ SPOTLIGHT, an agency that represents the most highly-acclaimed and best-selling authors, business visionaries, athletes, political leaders, entertainers, adventurers and inspiring individuals (www.speakers.ca). To date, they have arranged over 12,000 speaking engagements for clients in 30 counties. They also represent leading trainers who deliver practical workshops, in-depth training programs, facilitation, consulting services, and more. Speakers’ Spotlight’s Celebrity Division connects entertainment, sports and media personalities with organizations for sponsorships, endorsements, public relations/media spokesperson campaigns, product launches, personal appearances.

Speakers’ Spotlight was co-founded by Farah and her husband Martin in 1995 – the year they got married, moved, quit their jobs and took an entrepreneurial leap of faith. Although they were a young couple with minimal business experience, no staff and no office, they poured their meagre savings into something they could call their own Farah and Martin pursued their dream with intense drive, not allowing themselves to be swayed by the judgments of others, the setbacks they faced, or challenges that lay ahead. During the road ahead, and a veritable rollercoaster of risk, determination and innovation, their business has become Canada’s leading speakers bureau, and one of the world’s largest and most respected.

Speakers’ Spotlight has been listed in Profit Magazine’s PROFIT 100, and for the last two consecutive years, Farah and Martin Perelmuter were finalists for the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Profit Magazine has ranked Farah as one of Canada’s Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs for seven consecutive years. The Women’s Executive named her as one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100. In 2009 The Women’s Post named Farah one of Canada’s Top 20 Women of the Year.

Speakers’ Spotlight has been recognized for “giving back” and making a difference to many lives worldwide. For the last 3 consecutive years, The International Association of Speakers Bureaus’ awarded Speakers’ Spotlight with the ‘Community Service Award’ for their incredible contribution to helping children around the world. Most recently they have created their own charitable initiative, The Speakers’ Spotlight Scholarship Fund, in partnership with Pathways to Education.

http://www.extremestartups.com/mentors/farah-perelmuter/

Jonas Brandon is a venture investor and technology entrepreneur. Jonas cofounded Captual (acquired by Desire2Learn), an education technology company based on an open source research project developed at the University of Toronto. He was also an early investor in GoInstant (acquired by Salesforce), a next generation enterprise co-browsing company. An active angel investor, he previously managed venture capital for Rogers Communications and Inflexion Partners. Jonas grew up south of the 49th parallel and is a member of the Florida Bar. He graduated from the University of Florida with a Juris Doctor, cum laude, and Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude. Jonas lives in Toronto and wears his passion for Canadian startups on his sleeve as a cofounder of StartupNorth.

http://www.extremestartups.com/mentors/jonas-brandon/