March Newsletter
March 6th, 2014
We are anxiously awaiting the start of spring and are looking forward to seeing you at two great events happening this March.  Please read on below for all the details!

You will also have recently received our Special Edition Newsletter announcing some of the great programming already confirmed for our Annual Retreat in June.  Registration is now open, and there are a few places reserved for qualified CEOs and Executives that are not currently AceTech Ontario members.  CEOs can attend for the all-inclusive price of only $1,800, and Executives for only $699!  Please click here to see all the information and register today to attend!
In This Issue
Mergers and Acquisitions Power Session

Whether you are doing the acquiring, being acquired or preparing an exit, "being prepared" is key.

 

You will not want to miss the insights this panel of experts will provide as we talk about Mergers and Acquisitions with the focus on getting prepared NOW.

It doesn't matter if this isn't on the horizon for you right now - there are things you can think about today that will lay the groundwork for a smooth transaction whenever it does come about.   

 

We will start with reviewing Metrics and Deal Structures with Alex Graham of RBC, Jason Myler of MHT Partners and Win Bear of SVB.
Next, we will look at Tax with Santino Mariani
, Tax Partner, KPMG.  We will also look at Deal prep and Getting to commitment with David Pamenter of Gowlings.   Finally, we will talk about Due diligence with Richard Pay, Partner in the Deals Group with PWC.

This session is open to our CEO and CFO members.  It will be interactive so be sure to bring your questions.  Register now to attend.

Quarterly Dinner with our Leadership Award Winners

March 26th will be the first Quarterly Dinner of 2014, and we are excited that two of our Leadership Award Winners will be speaking!

Krista LaRiviere will be speaking on
"Incorporating Search, Social & Mobile Discoverability Trends into Your Digital Marketing Strategy" 

The lines between paid, owned and earned media are quickly vanishing. Brands are now publishers and content consumers interact with your web presence from countless devices.

 

CEOs and marketers need to feel confident that their brand is being discovered in both search and social at the appropriate stages of the buying cycle. They need to understand that an outsourced agency is indeed adding long-term value to the web presence asset in both search and social regardless of device.

 

Also, Niraj Bhargava will be speaking on"Partnering with the Big Guys: Leveraging the Might while not losing Flight"
 

Lets face it - no matter how much technical competitive advantage you have, the big guys have the edge.  This session will explore why a smaller tech company may, or may not, want to partner with the multinationals.  And if you do - what are some tricks to gain the value while avoiding the pitfalls of dealing with large corporates.

 

Niraj plans to share some of the lessons learned and facilitate dialogue amongst the participants on the topic of technology growth companies partnering with large corporations.

 

 



We are excited to be holding our event at The Spoke Club!  And we have an exceptional opportunity for all AceTech Members that register and attend the event - you will be given a complimentary 6-week trial membership to The Spoke Club! You will be provided with further details at the event.

Invitations have gone out - be sure to register online to get all the details and attend this event.
PwC's 2014 Vision to Reality

Apply today and be considered for one of the coveted mentoring spots at this year's Vision to Reality Mentorship Program

 

 

As part of PwC's 2014 Vision to Reality Conference, thementorship program provides founders and CEOs of growth stage technology company's exclusive access to a network of industry leaders who can provide advice on how to take their business to the next level.    
On April 9, 2014, selected founders will participate in two 75-minute sessions to tackle challenges including fundraising, strategic alliances, strategy and scaling operations. Following the sessions, attendees are invited to an exclusive cocktail party co-hosted by our keynote speaker, Razor Suleman of Achievers.  

 

 

Apply today by completing our survey.


Survey findings will be presented at this year's Vision to Reality Conference on April 10th and captured in our annual Report on emerging Canadian companies.    

Mentorship Program

Conference

 

Apply 

 

Wednesday, April 9, 2014


3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Sessions

6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Cocktail party

 

PwC Tower

18 York St. Suite 2600

Toronto

 

Mentors

Anish Acharya
, Partner, Google Ventures

Mark MacLeod, CFO & Chief Corporate Development Officer, FreshBooks

Dave Stein, Co-founder & Co-CEO, Rypple (Acquired by Salesforce)

Elaine Kunda, Former CEO of B5Media (Acquired by Alloy Digital)

Ben Yoskovitz, Vice President- Product, GoInstant (Acquired by Salesforce)  




Application deadline: February 28, 2014

 

Register

 

Thursday, April 10


12:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.  Conference

5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.  After party

 

Arcadian Court

401 Bay St.

Toronto

 

Speakers

 

Razor Suleman,  Founder & Chief Evangelist, Achievers

Kirstine Stewart, Managing Director- Canada, Twitter

Harley Finklestein, Chief Platform Officer, Shopify

Gregory Gunn, VP Business Development, Hootsuite

Davis Stein, Co-founder & Co-CEO, Rypple (Acquired by Salesforce)

 

Moderator

 

Erin Bury, Managing Director, 88 Creative

 

For more information on the Vision to Reality Mentorship Program, selection criteria  and speaker/mentor bios visit www.pwc.com/ca/v2r

Link to application survey: http://pwc.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_dmc2novVQ5xY2cB 

Link to conference registration:  http://www.pwc.com/ca/en/forms/2014-04-10-vision-to-reality-conference-2014.jhtml


WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!

Leor Grebler, CEO - Ubi

http://www.theubi.com/ 

 

Marc DiGiorgio, CM) - IndustryBuilt Software

http://www.industrybuilt.com/Home.aspx  

 

Glen Richardson, CFO - IndustryBuilt Software

 

Derek Cardy, CFO - Geosoft 

ARTICLES OF INTEREST

TiEQuest is looking for judges. If you want to be a judge, please fill out this survey

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/28LZSF5

 

The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship

http://bit.ly/1fEUe0A

 

There is no Gender Gap in Tech Salaries

bit.ly/1eWm0jc 

 

15 Tools Every Entrepreneur Needs for Managing Social Media

entm.ag/NBdaRK 

 

Here Are The Top 10 Emmerging Technologies for 2014

http://read.bi/1bM4kvS

 

MEMBER HIGHLIGHTS
Michael Benadiba, CEO of OrderDynamics named top 20 under 40
http://bit.ly/1pDfR4p

Retail Cloud Sofware Company eCommera Secures $41 Million to Fuel Global Expansion
http://bit.ly/NsaRkh

IntelliResponse Launches Virtual Agent for Salesforce
 http://mwne.ws/1nTKTRX

gShift Launches Twitter Social Keyword Research Module for Marketers
http://bit.ly/1mi9voo

* if you have stories about yourself or your business you want to share, please email them to [email protected]

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