Bruce Croxon is a legend in the Toronto startup scene. He’s led successful startups as an operator, but also is known as a mentor and investor, and of course he’s also become a bit of a media celeb. It was great to chat with him about the Canadian startup ecosystem, how much it’s grown and where it’s headed.
About Bruce:
Bruce Croxon is a Canadian entrepreneur, television personality, and venture capitalist. Croxon is currently a partner at Round13 Capital and co-host of BNN's TV show, The Disruptors. Croxon co-founded the dating website Lavalife and joined the cast of CBC's Dragons' Den from 2011-2013.
Support for this podcast comes from Silicon Valley Bank
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In this episode we discuss:
03:42 The Canadian Tech Scene today compared to the late-1980s
07:36 How homegrown capital has changed the game
10:37 Maintaining competitive advantage of Canadian VC
16:51 Helping spark the entrepreneurial spirit in potential Canadian founders
20:00 Is the blitz-scaling style of startups compatible with Canadian Investors
25:51 The changing mindset of Canadian LPs
28:34 Getting into growth stage rounds of companies
31:17 Why founders need to take seriously who they are take investment from
33:34 The next industries Canada investors should back
38:03 Keeping talent local
41:10 What the Canadian government should do to spur startup growth
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