Outcomes of the Green Energy Finance Forum

Last Friday saw an extraordinary number of Ontario’s financiers in the MaRS auditorium. Why? The Green Energy Act has brought into being an entirely new class of financial asset: financing Feed-in Tariff based renewable energy projects. In easy terms: the FIT guarantees a good rate of return for wind, solar, hydro and biogas projects. It’s like a government guaranteed bond that pays upward of 10%.

On Friday, MaRS was educating Bay Street about the opportunity. The message: renewable energy projects are no longer a fringe play; they’re a strong, mainstream finance opportunity.

The Green Energy Act puts Ontario on the map when it comes to cleantech, big-time. And MaRS provided the stage for the first real discussion within the financial community about the opportunities it opens up. The objective? To accelerate the flow of large capital into the sector.

The stage was packed with the who’s who of renewable project finance:

• Jerome Guillet (Dexia)
• Ben Warren (Ernst & Young, UK)
• John Burges (Knight Capital Markets)
• Paul Gipe (Alliance for Renewable Energy)
• Nils Mellquist (Deutsche Asset Management)
• Jim Woolsey (ex head of the CIA)

Even Premier McGuinty dropped by. Many of the presentations that day are available online.

My message to the crowd? The Feed-In Tariff is just the beginning of the biggest infrastructure play in human history: our transition to a low-carbon economy. For financial institutions who play it smart and develop a strong internal capacity for understanding how to finance that transition, the FIT will be the start of an on-going strategic advantage.

The event was sold out and the room was still packed at the end of the day. The presentations were smart, the audience interested. This just might be the start of Bay Street getting serious about cleantech.

My thanks to all those MaRSians who help make the event a success!

If you missed it, there’s still a chance to catch the videos on Green Energy Finance Forum TV:

Trade secrets: Will you expose yourself?

Trade secrets. Everyone’s got them. But what’s the difference between them and patents or copyrights or trademarks? The legal difference, I mean?

And how and when you should use each one to gain a competitive advantage over your competitors?  Technology Transaction lawyer Arshia Tabrizi explained each of these IP tools and discussed their pros and cons in his engaging conversational style at last week’s CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101 lecture on “How to Protect and Commercialize Intellectual Property”.

Learn how to use IP to protect and exploit/commercialize your product, service or invention with the resources below, including the video and slides from Arshia’s presentation.

Downloads and resources

• Class Summary: How To Protect and Commercialize Intellectual Propert
• Video: How to Protect and Commercialize Intellectual Property (IP)
• Slideshare presentation: “How To Protect and Commercialize Intellectual Propert“
• Join the Facebook Group: CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101
• Register to get the weekly email updates
• Get articles on IP in the Entrepreneur’s Toolkit:
  • Intellectual property strategy
  • Copyright strategy
  • Patent strategy
  • Trademark strategy
  • What investors look for with respect to intellectual property
  • Intellectual property protection for employers

Arshia Tabrizi is the Founder of Tabrizi Law Office PC, a boutique technology law firm. Previously he was with the Technology Transactions Group at the pre-eminent Silicon Valley law firm of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati.

Money for the biotech industry?

BIOTECanada has made further announcements on the financial condition of the Canadian biotechnology industry.

A recent survey indicated that 70% of Canadian biotech companies have at least a year of cash on hand versus a mere 30% in July 2009.  According to the January 25 news release this turnaround was achieved by companies restructuring their operations (read “downsizing”) and increased access to foreign investment (read “fire sale”). With the important proviso that I haven’t seen the underlying survey data, I can’t help but wonder if the upswing in apparent financial viability was driven by closures of less financially fit companies than any genuine positive momentum.

In other news, there is intense interest in the recently announced Tandem Expansion Fund I, LP – a $300 million pool seeded by BDC, EDC and Teralys.  The fund would appear to offer a significant new domestic source of capital for emerging firms.  Very good.

Tandem arrives at a critical time since various regions around the world are courting our emerging biotechs with tantalizing investment and development infrastructure packages.  Its flattering to have this sort of attention, but in my opinion it’s tragic that Canadian innovators need foreign risk capital life support – after all, the bulk of our life sciences innovations were paid for through our own tax dollars.

Unless we develop a credible and sustainable domestic funding mechanism for emerging life sciences companies it seems inevitable that many of our best and brightest innovations will end up providing economic rewards to other countries.

At times like these I’m reminded of Cal Stiller’s famous refrain “we discover, they develop and we buy back.”

It’s time for Canada to decide whether we’re in the game or not.

The Toronto Star publication emphasizes that more and more social enterprises (defined as “a not for profit organizations with a primary social or environmental mission and an intent to generate revenue in the market economy by providing a good or services”) are being compared on the same standard as traditional for profit businesses. In this study, operations and HR practices were compared.

What was the selection criteria used? Mediacorp editors graded each of the applicants on eight key areas:

1. Physical workplace
2. Work atmosphere and social
3. Health, financial and family benefits
4. Vacation and time off
5. Employee communications
6. Performance management
7. Training and skills development
8. Community involvement

Based on these categories, the YMCA of Greater Toronto and the other non-profit organizations chosen all scored high enough to make the cut.

For example, take the YMCA of Greater Toronto, who made this year’s list.  They’re a non-profit/charity focused on community support and development through three core programs: YMCA health, fitness and recreation, YMCA child and family programs and camps and YMCA employment, skills, youth and newcomer programs. They generates income from membership fees for access to their services. The goal of the YMCA is to provide every individual in the community with opportunities for personal growth, community involvement and leadership.

Social enterprises are beginning to prove that, not only are they strong and important contributors to Canada’s social and economic fabric, they are also rewarding organizations to work for and learn from.

In another Toronto Star win for social enterprises, MaRS client Eva’s Phoenix was profiled in the article, “Where Purpose Trumps Profit.” Eva’s Phoenix is a non-profit youth shelter which runs social enterprise in the form of a print shop.  “The downtown shelter set up the small-job print shop 10 years ago as a way to not only raise money, but also to fulfill its mandate to help troubled youth get off the streets and lead productive lives by training them to get good jobs.”  Eva’s Phoenix is an example of the emerging “hybrid vehicle” that has resulted as a response to the growing interest around social entrepreneurship. Doing good and making money are not negatively correlated. “At the Phoenix Print Shop, the need to raise money for the shelter never comes before the imperative to train the shelter’s youths to move on to another job,” they work hand in hand.

Social entrepreneurship and social enterprise is on the rise. This new hybrid space has begun to prove itself as a sector that can contend with the others. This has sparked significant interest in Canada. Compared to other G8 countries, Canada is lacking at the federal level. Consider particularly the UK which has appointed a minister for the third sector.  In the US, Obama has launched an office of social innovation. Our federal government has yet to see the importance of this hybrid space. Yet organizations like MaRS continue to act as a catalyst for social enterprises in Canada. Social entrepreneurship is an extension of our advisory services provided to traditional entrepreneurs. In terms of operations , HR, business plan development, marketing and strategy there is no distinction to between the two

Another example of how social entrepreneurship is being held to the same standards as any other company… and on the rise.

Watch MaRS Future of Medicine™ TV

Announcing the MaRS Future of Medicine™ online video channel highlighting outstanding presentations from the inaugural MaRS Future of Medicine™ Conference held in Toronto on November 12, 2009.

The mission of MaRS Future of Medicine™ is to showcase Ontario’s leading life sciences innovations, share best practices for commercial development and help facilitate industry partnership and investment. If you missed the sessions or just want a refresh, tune in now!

This conference focused on Ontario’s breakthroughs in stem cell science and oncology — two areas in which our province has incredible strength and depth.

Tune in to the conference channel now!

The online resource features such topics as:

• Optimized derivation of iPS cells
• iPS cells as resources to identify novel drug targets
• An unlimited blood supply from stem cell technology
• High resolution imaging in cancer
• Rapid one-step diagnostics using rare biomarkers
• Novel therapeutic approaches for prostate cancer and liver cancer

Another feature is the panel discussion on the most effective means for advancing novel medical technologies: should we follow the proprietary or open access route?  The participating organizations in this forum included DRI Capital, MaRS Innovation, Structured Genomics Consortium and King & Spalding LLP.

Finally, our video channel features engaging interviews with leading scientists, entrepreneurs and patent lawyers engaged in creating the future of medicine.

Our next conference in this event series will be the MaRS Future of Medicine™ International Symposium on Nitric Oxide and other Gaseous Neurotransmitters Symposium on May 26-27, 2010.

Stay tuned for more from the front lines of medical innovation with MaRS Future of Medicine™!

Don't be left in the dust.

When it comes to new media, it’s important to get beyond the buzz. The web has brought upon us a new communications paradigm for the 21st Century. To early adopters, the domain of “www” is a cinch, to others; it can be decidedly perplexing.

Some would say we suffer from perpetual information overload, an overwhelming stasis. However, paralysis – a common response to feeling overwhelmed – should not be the answer; nor should sticking your head in the sand. A reductionist approach that dismisses the web phenomenon as a “generational thing” will not work either.

The web has transformed communications. For the first time, there exists a mass communication channel that is decentralized, fragmented, self-distributed and highly specialized. Never before has a technological communications medium done more than just broadcast. More than a means to relay a message, it is a platform upon which to network, collaborate and co-create.

But the biggest mistake is to get caught up in the medium. The trick to being an effective communicator in the 21st century has more to do with being a savvy storyteller than it does with possessing technological wizardry. This is not meant as a polemic opposition to McLuhan’s “the medium is the message,” but rather, it is to point out that, given our new context, we must become more strategic about our messaging. The stronger the narrative, the more likely the message – and moreover, the brand – will surface over and above the growing din.

The new paradigm has dramatically changed our expectations around those creating the messages – corporate brands and public services alike. By opening up the channels to more voices, information has become democratized. Coupled with the ability to call up information in an instant, we expect a greater transparency on behalf of those communicating to us.

Building a strong brand takes strategy. Brainstorm the brand with the rigor – it needs to work as a concept offline before even thinking about hitting the online channels. A strong brand has messaging that is consistent and authentic. In the face of these new technologies, it may be easy to forget how personal communication is. Regardless of how it is mediated, the fact remains: communication is still about relationship building. The more consistent and authentic the brand, the sooner trust is built amongst an audience.

In the CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101 session, “Beyond the Buzz,” I discussed what’s possible when leveraging the social web to communicate. I used cases that ranged from the 350 climate change campaign, which yielded unprecedented results worldwide, to Dell’s IdeaStorm, a platform that has taken customer service to the next level.

The notion of “people-powered” communication is at the heart of all of these examples. And the way to get people on side hasn’t exactly changed. People are looking for authentic and trustworthy brands. Success is creating brand ambassadors – when the public is moved to spread your story for you.

Strategic communications in the 21st century is just as much about the age-old tricks as it is about new technologies. It is certainly exciting that entire communication campaigns can be administered at little to no cost and yield tremendous results – not to mention without hiring a big agency to craft the messages. In an increasingly accelerated environment, the challenge will be striking the balance between effectiveness and haste. And if you are strategic, neither should be compromised.

Downloads and resources

Weren’t able to attend the class? Need some notes or want to look something up? Click below for all of the goodies from the lecture. Watch the video and the slide presentation below.

• Class Summary: Strategic Communications and New Media: How to Communicate Effectively in the 21st Century
• Video: How to Communicate Effectively in the 21st Century
• Slideshare presentation: “Beyond the Buzz: How to leverage the social web“
• Join the Facebook Group: CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101
• Register to get the weekly email updates

CIBC presents Entrepreneurship 101 2009/10 – Week 16 – How to Communicate Effectively in the 21st Century from MaRS Discovery District on Vimeo.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr @ MaRS

Listening to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a little like watching a talented chef in action.

His encyclopedic knowledge of his country’s myriad environmental ills, its rapacious corporate culture and legendary political pork-barreling, combined with his clear love of the American landscape itself, cooks up an inspiring feast for the cliche-weary listener. No wooden delivery here (in spite of a nagging vocal hoarseness for which he apologized).

Appearing at MaRS as one of the keynotes in a dynamite lineup for Advertising Week 2010, Kennedy unpacked a basket of ingredients that have long mired his homeland in the environmental soup. Not the least of which is the intricate web of direct and indirect US subsidies that prop up industry’s continuing addiction to cheap coal. Factor in the real costs of coal production – denuded landscapes, poisonous health effects and dwindling benefits for local economies – and your cheap fast-food just got a whole lot pricier.

It may be a familiar enviro-storyline but Kennedy’s speech was not a hand-wringing exercise.

Named one of Time.com’s “Heroes for the Planet” for his success in helping the Riverkeeper organization restore New York’s Hudson River, Kennedy’s cri de coeur has long been that good environmental policy is good economic policy.

From vast solar energy farms in the searing California desert to the “Saudi Arabia of Wind” – go, North Dakota! – the US and Canada unquestionably have the natural prowess to dominate the shift to green energy production. We also have the economic horsepower, he argues: the same capital cost to retool energy production from dirty coal to clean-landing solar photons or night-time wind power can handily generate enough free energy that will, in turn, drive an economic resurgence.

That’s certainly the thinking here in Ontario as well, where the new Green Energy and Green Economy Act lays the groundwork for what many believe will be the largest infrastructure renewal in history. (Watch marsdd.com in the weeks ahead for interviews with some of the key European and North American alternative energy players captured at last week’s (soldout) Green Energy Act Finance Forum.)

The time is clearly right for  investment in Ontario’s growing green economy. As Kennedy reminded us so passionately: Nature is the ultimate infrastructure project.

Watch PR 101 for entrepreneurs

The right media coverage can be a boon for any company and even more so for a start-up.  Just ask the London, Ontario-based voice-over company Voices.com who was recently mentioned in the New York Times article “The Do-It-Yourself Economy”  by Thomas Friedman (author of many influential books such as “The World is Flat”).  Friedman wrote about how the recession is encouraging companies to increasingly shop around the online marketplace for cheaper, faster and more convenient services and gave examples of companies like Voices.com who are profiting from this trend.

The coverage landed the company several large new accounts as well as thousands of new users. Website registration and sales increased by 53 per cent after the article ran.

That’s the power of PR at its best - the ability to create demand and open doors. Being mentioned by a key influencer via a topic of interest to the public can be more effective than advertising or marketing, especially if it comes from a credible source. But PR is about more than just media coverage and getting mentioned by the right people in the right places and at the right time  - it is a hybrid of different communications that build bridges with influencers such as analysts, journalists, customers, bloggers, and investors among others.  Not only must a startup build key relationships both offline and online, they must do so strategically, using key messaging about their company that resonates with these influencers and their audiences.  And they often have to do all this with limited resources.

At last week’s Best Practices: PR 101: Opportunities for entrepreneurs, Hill and Knowlton’s Mary Keating (Senior VP and National Practice Leader, Technology) and David Chin (VP, Technology Communications Practice) talked about when and how start-ups can use PR and some of the practical steps they can take towards building a PR foundation and launch plan.  They discussed tactical tools such as an influencer map, a key message matrix and the key elements of a press kit.  They also covered the sometimes sticky subject of who should be the spokesperson for a start-up and how a start-up can maintain and maximize their PR momentum.

I had a chance to sit down with Mary and David after the session and ask them a few questions.  Check out the video below (“PR 101: 4 hot tips for entrepreneurs“) to hear their answers to these questions:

1. Why is PR so important for a start-up?
2. At what point in a start-up’s development should it start thinking about PR?
3. What are the most important PR materials for a start-up?
4. What tips can you give to a start-up talking to the media for the first time?

You can also check out their presentation slides or watch the presentation video below.

Interested in other great articles on PR for entrepreneurs?  Check out:

• MaRS Entrepreneur’s Toolkit: Public relations articles
• TechCrunch: PR for Startups
• New York Times:  Spinning the Web: P.R. in Silicon Valley
• Nature Biotechnology:  Why media relations matter

Public Relations 101 – 4 hot tips for start-ups

MaRS Best Practices – PR 101: Opportunities for Entrepreneurs from MaRS Discovery District on Vimeo.

Consumers turn to the Kindle

A new year, a new set of technology predictions from Deloitte. Last Wednesday, Deloitte unveiled their annual TMT (technology, media and telecommunications) predictions for 2010 at MaRS and looked back on how their 2009 predictions fared.

Most notable of their 2009 predictions were the rise of netbooks, social networks, smart phones and 3D in theatres and on TV (think Avatar and all the new 3D electronics from Sony and Samsung among others at CES 2010). They were also awfully close on their prediction that one in 10 newspapers in the US would die in 2009 – the actual statistic was one in 12.

This year, the theme was “good enough becomes better than perfect” – meaning that we still want our data anywhere and anytime, but we want to access it economically (and we don’t necessarily need the best device to do it).

So what does Deloitte think that 2010 has in store for technology?  Here’s a sampling from their Top 10 Canadian TMT Predictions for 2010:

1. eReaders fill a niche, but eBooks fly off the (virtual) shelves: eReaders like the Kindle will be bought by some (Deloitte estimates five million will be sold) but they are essentially a niche product that doesn’t appeal to everyone.  eBooks on the other hand, which can be read on numerous electronic devices that fulfill more than one function such as computers, netbooks and smartphones, will do better than eReaders and Deloitte estimates 100 million eBooks will be sold.  Thus “good enough is the new perfect”:  eBooks may look and read better on a specialized eReader device, but readers may settle for lesser quality reading of their eBooks on multipurpose devices.
2. Smaller than a netbook and bigger than a smartphone: Net tablets arrive: Net tablets, on the other hand, could be the eReader killer. Deloitte calls them the Goldilocks of devices: not too big (like laptops and netbooks) and not too small (like smart phones), they are just right.  Tablets will have colour and video, unlike current eReaders.  The world waited with baited breath for Apple’s release of its first Tablet (iPad).
3. Publishing fights back: Pay walls and micropayments: The era of giving it away for free may be over for some of the most influential online newspapers. The New York Times just announced last week that they are indeed going ahead with a pay wall.  Other international newspapers with strong followings will be watching to see if readers will accept paying small amounts for some of their content or migrate elsewhere to free content.  I, for one, love the International Herald Tribune (The New York Times‘ international edition) and will likely pony up the cash to continue reading it.
4. Cleantech makes a comeback but solar stays in the shadows: There has been a recovery in cleantech stocks due to government stimulus and investor interest.  However, solar technology still faces obstacles such as a glut of supply (though this could be good for consumers if prices fall to move inventory) and insufficient growth in demand which will slow production and halt new projects.
5. IT procurement stands on its head: What if it were the employee, not the IT department, who decided what kind and type of gadget (i.e. computer or cell phone) the employee would use for work? IT departments are predicted to become more flexible to accommodate and support different devices.  Employees want to pick their device or, even better, be able to use their personal smartphone and laptops for work  (and thus have them somewhat paid for and supported by their employer) instead of having two devices.  Large chip companies previously targeted their wares at the profitable enterprise sector first, but are now targeting consumers in a more consumer-centric procurement environment. It looks like a more heterogeneous corporate client environment is on its way.

Read more of Deloitte’s TMT Predictions and download the guides for the technology, media and/or telecom predictions at www.tmtpredictions.ca.

Predictions Hall of Shame

Just for fun here’s a taste of some who got their technology predictions really, really wrong:

• “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” ~Charles Duell, Director of US Patent Office, 1899
• “Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” ~Harry M. Warner, Warner Bros Pictures, 1927
• “There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom.” ~Robert Miliham, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923
• “Heavier than air flying machines are impossible.“~Lord Kelvin, President, Royal Society, 1895
• “The horse is here today, but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad.” ~President, Michigan Savings Bank (advising against investing in the Ford Motor Company)
• “Video won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.” ~Daryl F. Zanuck, 20th Century Fox, commenting on television, 1946
• “What use could the company make of an electric toy?” ~Western Union, when it turned down rights to the telephone, 1878

What's the buzz on cord blood stem cells?

Dr. Colleen Delaney and colleagues at Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center published a significant breakthrough relating to new treatment options for acute leukemia and other blood cancers this month in  Nature Medicine journal.

Promising news for cord blood stem cell applications.

For several years there has been strong interest in using umbilical cord blood stem cells for bone marrow transplantation – an attempt to ablate the cancerous cells and replace them with a healthy blood system.  The procedure has been largely limited to transplants in children since the number of cells recovered from a typical umbilical cord is too low to successfully engraft an adult.

Parents in Canada wishing to have essentially a leukemia “insurance policy” for their newborn children are increasingly pursuing cord blood banking (see, for example, Insception, Cells for Life, CReATe) but can this resource ever be of use to treat adults?  Can the limited cord blood cells be developed to allow multiple treatments for the same child?

Dr. Delaney’s team have provided a way forward.  By tweaking the Notch signaling pathway they were able to expand cord blood stem cells 160-fold.  When the expanded cells were used in the clinic they successfully engrafted patients twice as fast as when using non-expanded cells and 70% of the patients appeared disease-free at follow up.  In addition use of the expanded cells led to restoration of the neutrophil component more quickly (neutrophils are white blood cells which act as the first line of defense against infection).

With this work cord blood stem cells have taken an important step closer to the mainstream.