Collision Conference 2019

by Reema Duggal | May 24, 2019

This week I attended the Collision Conference 2019 in Toronto.  Over 25,000 attendees from 125 countries, 730 speakers, and 1100 startups. Wowed by the amount to speakers, sessions, and topics. Felt like I was drinking from a tech fire hose for three days.  I learned a lot.  10 things I’d like to share:

Looking to build an application but know nothing about technology?
Check out London, UK based engineer.ai. They’ve productized software development by letting you choose the type of application you want to emulate, the features in the application that are important to you, the platforms you might want it on, and the maintenance you require.  Oh yeah, and you can see how your pricing and timeline will change in real time. Pretty cool stuff.

So Happy for Lisa Denis of Emoggo
Silicon Halton supermember Lisa Denis was selected for the COLLISION ALPHA Program – giving the spotlight to early-stage startups with outstanding potential and connecting them to influential names and resources.  Emoggo is the better way to explore and experience nearby places to shop, eat, and connect.  Check her out on Twitter or the EMOGGO website.

Lisa Denis, Founder, Emoggo | photo credit: Lisa Denis

Got aching feet? Want comfortable and supportive custom-fit footwear?
Check out Vancouver, Canada based wiivv.com. They build custom fit footwear from your phone. You download their app and take pictures of your feet. They digitally map your feet to 200 points. Then, they create custom sandals or orthotics at a great price.  They’re a startup that has partnered with Dr. Scholls to deliver custom 3D printed inserts for their customers. Canadian startup helping a 100 year old company innovate.

Have you seen the crazy filters on Snapchat that change your gender? They are agugmented reality filters.
Listened to a fascinating conversation Eitan Pilipski, VP of Camera Platform, Snap Inc. talk about how they see themeselves as a camera company that is reinventing the camera and putting augmented reality into the hands / eyes of their customers.  In the future, these crazy fun filters may morph into educational / industrial uses.

Cyber attacks and data breaches cost consumers, companies and countries billions of dollars annually.
Hacked and dumped, or leaked identity information is proliferating in the surface, social, deep and dark web and bad actors are using this information to launch new attacks. Monical Pal, CEO of 4iQ spoke of how her company continuously collects exposed identity information found in open sources, curates the collections of compromised identities, and then helps protect consumers from identity theft and investigate fraud, financial crimes and other threats.

Is Entrepreneurship in Crisis? Did you know there were more entrepreneurs in 1970’s?
Canada’s Tobias Lütke, founder and CEO of Shopify, one of the world’s leading commerce platforms, discussed the current state of entrepreneurship and the most pressing issues facing today’s brands, from small and medium businesses to major retailers.  His mission, make it easy for everyone to become an entrepreneur, whether they understand tech or not.  So far, he has 800,000 customers and is doing over 1 billion in revenue.

Tobias Lutke, CEO Shopify | photo credit: Collision Conference

Saving the Planet With Technology
Jennifer Marsman from Microsoft discussed their AI for Earth program – $50 million in grants to projects that use artificial intelligence to address four critical areas that are vital for building a sustainable future – climate, agriculture, biodiversity, and water.

Who Is Afraid Of Automation?
Will humans be replaced by robots? Well, it depends. Navdeep Bains – Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Government of Canada; Dmitry Grishin – Founder, Grishin Robotics; and Daphne Koller – CEO, Insitro had a really good discussion about the impact of automation on our jobs. Learned more about Canada’s Innovation and Skills Plan – and the safeguards they tried to put in place to ensure people and reskilling come first in the world of automating everything. And, also learned that Canada had just signed in May 2019 the Declaration of the International Panel on Artificial Intelligence (IPAI), and released further details on the Panel that will see Canada and France working together to guide the responsible development of artificial intelligence. The Panel will be an organization dedicated to AI and plans to bring together some of the world’s “greatest global AI experts.” It hopes to be a global reference point in the development of AI, rooted in human rights, inclusion, diversity, innovation, and economic growth.

Where Are Investors Putting Their Money? Seems Everywhere.
Sat in on three different investor focused sessions (there were at least a dozen).  These 5 areas caught my attention: artificial intelligence in every industry; saving the planet; reinventing food; enterprise software reinvention; and digital health. Investors included: Brendon Kim – Samsung NEXT; Karin Klein – Bloomberg Beta; Christine Tsai – 500 Startups; Anu Duggal – Female Founders Fund; Tim Draper – Draper Associates; and Ann Winblad – Hummer Winblad.

2019 COLLISION PITCH Champion
Watched the finalists of the COLLISION startup competition battle it out for the title of 2019 PITCH champion. Finalists included: Chelsea Fawn Briganti from Loliware – biodegradeable seaweed straws; Dickson Nsofor from Korapay – Africa Payment Infrastructure; and Phaedra Randolph from Spero Foods – dairy and eggs reinvented.  Great to see Loliware win to save the planet!

Chelsea Fawn Briganti, CEO Loliware | photo credit: Collision Conference

And so many sessions I missed. Just not enough time to get to all the parallel sessions.
But I understand that the COLLISION Team will be putting videos up of many of the sessions on the COLLISION YouTube Channel.
Will I be there next year?  You bet – already in my calendar!

Canada’s Podcast – Reema Duggal

by Reema Duggal | Jan 7, 2019

Canada’s Podcast interviews entrepreneurs and business leaders in Canada to keep them informed on what’s going on throughout the country and globally, enabling everyone to connect and network with their guests. Each episode interviews a unique Canadian entrepreneur from each city and provides both a national and international platform for them to discuss their business and journey.

Last week, I was interviewed by Phillip Bliss and discussed my entrepreneurs journey. Listen to the podcast here >

This Is Marketing

by Reema Duggal | Dec 31, 2018

I’ve read or listened to 7 of Seth Godin’s books.  Each and every one has had a profound impact on my thinking.  The Latest – This Is Marketing – is really important.

• Invent a thing worth making, with a story worth telling, and a contribution worth talking about;
• Design and build it in a way that a few people will particularly benefit from and care about;
• Tell a story that matches the built in narrative and dreams of that group of people – the smallest viable market;
• Spread the word;
• Show up regularly and consistency for years and years – engage your tribe to make things happen.

Happy New Year

by Reema Duggal | Dec 31, 2018

Everybody has the same 365 days in a year.  It’s what you do with them that is important.

As we set New Year’s resolutions, a big part of business focus is what we’re going to do differently in those 365 days.  My focus for this year:

• More connections – not merely on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter – but face to face conversations with people I can help
• More collaboration – actively finding people to work together with on projects and initiatives
• More community – growing my other venture Silicon Halton.  The best community I know
• More content – need to write a lot more than I did in 2018 and years past
• More learning – I learn every day, but I’m going to focus my learning to a few core topics related to business and health

How about you?  What are you going to do differently with your 365 days?

[bctt tweet=”Happy New Year. Everybody has the same 365 days in a year. It’s what you do with them that is important. Fine tuning my plans for 2019!” username=”reemaduggal” via=”no”]