Software Hamilton

Once again, it was my pleasure to be asked by the Innovation Factory folks, to help coach and mentor the next batch of our Hamilton startups for their presentations to Innovation Night:3 held just last Wednesday nite at the MIPs Centre here in Hamilton! And what a batch it was!

We had founders that were inventors, community builders, marketing mavens, new app builders and print publishers…and one and all were so damn passionate that it was a pretty easy task to coach them into developing their one or three minute presentations – and myself and the other coaches/mentors there all had a great time doing just that and I wanted to invest in a couple myownself, eh!

So….more than 200 of us business types met in the Atrium in the MIPs Centre for a wonderful night once again, of presentations and networking! There was food and a bar and even the bad storm outside didn’t hurt attendance much at all! We met and we talked…we chatted…we exchanged business cards and in general learned about the rest of our Hamilton community business folks over a period of a few hours! And what a success that alone was….and here’s a reminder of what Innovation Night is -

““Innovation Night is Hamilton’s key event for innovators and entrepreneurs to share and develop their ideas, practice and perfect their pitch, and present to their peers and the local innovation community…”

And here’s a list of all of the presenters from the listings provided…a couple I believe were held up by the weather or other issues but the list was so full of passionate founders that I know that the couple of missing ones will be back!

• Saad Anjum of CUBTUC
• Dave Billings with the Computer Cable Egg
• Dave Boyle with Dog-I Database
• Chris Connell of eSports Championship
• Dan Dexel of Cool Canuck Corp.
• Chad Fullerton and Timo of Agency Marketing Tool
• Michael Lee of Moon Lander Playbook
• Henry QUach of After Class Room
• Sergio DiGiovanni of QCard
• Jeremy Freiburger of the Non-Profit Coalition
• Adam Jarczyn of Boomurang
• Chris Partridge of iPhone Holder

All of the above presenters did an excellent job of making their one or three minutes pitches and each was judged by our panel of 5 Judges who awarded our two iTouch prizes and who were as follows –

• Doug Barber (Gennum)
• Robin Dindayal (Awareness, Inc.)
• Carol Leaman (17muscles.com)
• Cindy Porter (Trivaris)
• Ted Scott (Mohawk)

– and our Master of Ceremonies was Dave Carter (Awareness, Inc.) who did a great job of ushering in each of the presenters and then handling the Q&A sessions after each to help the crowd of a hundred+ both hear and enjoy the whole night! Much was learned and much was explained…..and the nods from all around the Atrium were many!

But what about the winners? Well in the one minute presenter section, Dan Dexel of Cool Canuck Corp. was the winner and here’s his pitch from my own notes -

“Hello, my name is Dan Dexel, and I am the president of Cool Canuck Corp. We are a performance apparel company using a new chemical free cooling fabric for all our products. Did you know that companies such as Nike, Reebok and Under Armour all use chemical treatments on their fabrics to assist with moisture wicking and evaporation? Did you also know that after several washings, these treatments begin to break down and deteriorate, compromising the garments ability to function as originally intended?

Our fabrics are made using hollow core polyester yarns and a patent pending technology that incorporates the use of water, thermoregulation, moisture wicking and transport to deliver an instant cooling effect, for about the same cost as the leading brands.

Testing has shown that our fabric temperatures are 20-30% cooler than our competitors fabrics, and athletes’ core temperatures are typically half a degree cooler over a 60 minute workout period. A cooler body will sweat less, require less fluid intake, recover quicker and perform more efficiently. This advantage can translate into those few seconds that sometimes make the difference between winning and losing.

We are currently looking for Channel Partners who can help with distribution and retail for our many cooling products…”

How’s that for a pitch! World class atheletes as well as house leagues and gym-goers everywhere will know this product soon I’d bet!

The winner in the three minute presenter section was Sergio DiGiovanni, of QCard whose personal story about a major and critical traffic accident that had changing impact on his life and showed him that for those who suffer from brain injuries would have a need of the learning tools that he’s developed struck a real personal note for him – and for the Atrium audience as well! I watched as moments after his presentation, many attendants came up to him to present their business cards and arrange times to meet to discuss his startup! I know that he too, is on his way!

So thanks – big big thanks to our Innovation Factory and the evening’s sponsors – Innovation Factory, SBPartners and McMaster Innovation Park too for their leadership and help in building the new Hamilton momentum for startups here in our community! #Kudos to one and all!