Tag Archives: CUTC

Did I ever tell you about that time where Stephen Wolfram talked at a conference, but he was not physically able to come so he skyped with us and used a remote controlled camera to ‘look’ at the audience. It was incredible.

Beautiful UofT

Things I learned at CUTC

  1. Just do it.
  2. To succeed you must fail.
  3. The internet allows start-ups to get going without much capitol.
  4. Incubators are where it’s at.
  5. Persistence is crucial.
  6. The businesses on top made it there at night and on weekends.
  7. Luck is all about perspective.
  8. If you don’t do it, someone else will, and they will beat you.
  9. You learn best when surrounded by people smarter than you.
  10. Networking is most effective when you’re genuine and look for common ground.
  11. “Tell me more” will save you when you’re lost in a conversation.
  12. The start-up lifestyle is a lot less glamorous then you may think.
  13. Reach out to people you want to connect with, regardless of their title.
  14. New technology may enable old ideas to become plausible.
  15. Small companies are the bomb.
  16. Look for a career where you’re not only making money and good at what you do, but you’re passionate about what you do, and you’re changing the world.
  17. CTFW – Change The Fucking World
  18. We must place are bets on the crazy people, the unreasonable people, the mad people. The incremental steps that are being taken towards the big issues such as poverty, green energy, population growth, scarcity of resources and global warming don’t have enough impact to fix problems of this magnitude. We need to take chances on brilliant, revolutionary ideas, regardless of how impossible they seem, because that will give us the best chance and progress.
  19. The way we think about failure can be extraordinarily disabling – give yourself incentives to fail and embrace failure on the path to success.
  20. Start now, what’s the point of waiting?
  21. If you aren’t maximizing your productivity, you’re being lazy. Busy work is a form of laziness.
  22. 9-5 jobs and flex hours are becoming a thing of the past, the new model is results based only – work when you need to work,  where you want to work, and only spend time on things that relate to your result.
  23. Cell phone banking is starting to have a huge positive effect on Africa.
  24. Incremental product development produces the most value for your time and money.
  25. Predictions based on trends of the past can be interesting, but are still usually wrong.
  26. Multitasking is a myth.