Disruptive Thoughts

Last night I had a fantastic meal with Howard and Ellen Lindzon in Toronto at a wonderful Italian restaurant on Eglington. The internet is such a wonderful tool for making and strengthening connections and friendships - I’ve met them only once before at dinner about a year ago and have only exchanged emails and blog comments with Howard over the past year.

And yet.

It was a free rolling conversation, one that friends would have. Covering everything from the Phoenix Suns to the Wallstrip deal to future investments… it was a great evening. To make things even better they wouldn’t let me pay for dinner (I’m thinking of making a sign on cardboard that reads “will work for food!”).

Howard’s an incredibly bright guy who is tapped into the web scene - as an entrepreneur and an investor he’s had an amazingly successful 12 months. It will be interesting to see what the next 12 have in store for him.

It also made me smile to see how engaged Ellen is in everything (”behind every great man…”).

Thanks again for dinner you two, hopefully the venture that received my blessing this time will do as well as the last one (fyi, this year it was Adaptive Blue).

Last Tuesday at Philthy McNasty’s off of Brant the diverse innovation occurring within the Golden Horseshoe region was celebrated. The turn-out was once again stellar and the buzz at the end of the evening when the discussions took place was infectious. I heard back from all 16 presenters, I think, saying that they received some form of valuable guidance or made a positive and helpful connection.

I walked away from the evening once again proud of all that’s occurring in our region. From innovations in hearing aid technology to modular support accessories for wheelchairs and a few web based technologies… the start-up community in Hamilton and the Halton region is healthy, which was so great to see.

Thanks to everyone who helped make the night a success as well as all of the attendees who came to help support the ideas, but especially the presenters who passionately shared their thoughts.