CATA WIT Forum Entrepreneurs Symposium
May 7, 2007
8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Ottawa, Ontario
Kanata Holiday Inn Select
Tap into a hotbed of entrepreneurial spirit and expertise. Explore how other amazing women have succeeded and discover the entrepreneur inside of you. Join our group of serial and first-time entrepreneurs to learn more about the expertise, know-how and passion that goes into building a successful company. Investigate some of the opportunities entrepreneurs have created by leveraging one of the most accessible and simple tools available to them - the Internet. Come meet the next generation of Internet entrepreneurs.
| May 7, 2007 |
| 8:30am - 9:00am |
Event registration and continental breakfast |
| 9:00am - 9:30am |
Welcome address and event kick off
Master of Ceremonies -
Janet Eastman, Sciemetric Instruments
Introductions -
John Reid, President, CATAAlliance
Amy Millman, President, Springboard Enterprises
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| 9:30am - 10:30am |
Panel 1 - Been there, done that, and can't wait to do it again!
| Starting and running a business can be very exciting, but extremely challenging at the same time. These women have done it once and came back for more. Our panelists will share their stories about what motivated and inspired them and what drove them to be so successful. They'll share their tips & tricks on starting a business, the pitfalls to avoid, how to overcome challenges and celebrate the victories.
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Moderator:
Caroline Somers, Co-CEO, Cassidy Bay Group
Panelists:
Suhayya Abu-Hakima, President & CEO, Amika Mobile
Sheila James, Vice President Products and Operations, Moda Solutions
Karen Letain, President, CMI
Lisa Wall, Spending Profile |
| 10:30am - 10:45am |
Coffee break |
| 10:45am - 11:45am |
Panel 2 - From SaaS to Web 2.0: The Next Generation of Internet Entrepreneurs
| Five years after the dot-com industry went bust, there is a new generation of entrepreneurs finding new ways to leverage the Internet and create viable business opportunities. New technologies have enabled the web to move beyond Amazon.com and Yahoo and have paved the way for the new breed of YouTube and Salesforce.com to emerge. Closer to home, entrepreneurs are catching on to Software-as-a-Service and Web 2.0, optimizing the Internet to create successful businesses. Hear how they used the power of the Internet as their launch pad. Explore how they got started and grew their business, and learn how you can do it too! |
Moderator:
Katherine Fletcher, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, iStudio
Panelists:
Nick Desbarats, Founder, ChoiceBot
Mic Berman, Senoir Leader, Freshbooks
Simona Ioffe, Creative Strategy Manager, Fuel Industries
Krista LaRiviere, CEO, Hot Banana Software |
| 11:45am - 12:30pm |
Lunch |
| 12:30pm - 1:30pm |
Keynote Luncheon
Lally Rementilla, Vice President Planning, Lavalife Corp.
It's a Date
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Tips and tactics on making investors fall in love with you and your web-based company. Keynote presenter Lally Rementilla, vice president of business planning of Lavalife will discuss her personal perspective and share her experiences with making a web-based company more successful. She will also address the importance of developing and properly pitching business plans. | |
| 1:30pm - 2:30pm |
Venture Law Line Workshop - Friends, family and angels: How to prepare and close the deal (and keep them happy)
| Venture Law Line (www.venturelawassociates.com) presents a soup-to-nuts review of financing your venture with love money and angels.
In the current market, the number of friends and family financings done each year far outnumber the actual amount of venture capital deals closed. According to one Ottawa-based investor, angels complete 30 times more deals than VCs.
In this fast-paced 45 minute workshop, the team from Venture Law Line will show you how to structure, paper and close an investment by your friends, family and angels. We'll teach you the principles for valuing your venture, give you some tips on how to manage your new investors post-closing, and cover both common issues to consider in the first 90 days following financing, as well as special issues such as investments from non-Canadian residents and deal "sweeteners". You will also receive a CD of handy reference materials, including model financing-related documents.
This workshop is aimed at entrepreneurs who are considering their financing options as well as for seasoned recipients of investment financing who are looking for a refresher to keep their legal costs in line with the size of the financing. The team at Venture Law Line believes that the smart growth of a business is fuelled by the right kind of financing. | |
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