Metrics are a meal best served quantitatively. ;) But there are very good things happening. We absolutely need to ramp up UIT Startup. The classroom is filled with #startup piranhas, hungry for opportunity. It's a very diverse group, but they sincerely are all passionate and excited about creating something. If we can scale that up, there are going to be incredible creative and entrepreneurial energies continuing to grow here. A geeky analogy is that of a particle collider/accelerator. Get enough particles, with enough energy, and speed them up... and you get collisions. And those collisions form new things, releasing even more energy, and sometimes things unanticipated. We need more particles, more speed, and therefore more collisions.

I partially agree with you re: your metrics comment. I.e. It was not my original intent to discuss metrics. I was trying to tell a story. And oftimes a compelling narrative has more power to shape public opinion than cold, hard facts. Metrics are certainly important. They are the foundation of debate. But most people need a good story to fully engage (IMHO).

As long as that story is honest, it's usually a more effective way to convey information to a larger audience. I do worry that too much "rah, rah" PR could mask the true details of stuff like the CFIB report card and how it impacts us. We have a tendency toward celebrating and awarding our accomplishments a little too early stage. Guys like Eyking might read those headlines and think we're in good shape, and have it influence his decision to remove himself from engagement with the community, like he did pre-election here at goCapeBreton. It may shift his priorities in Ottawa. Do they really need me? They're already the fastest growing... The NSCC plan to move downtown has its pros and cons. The worst of which, in terms of cons, was that it was a "made for headlines" announcement. While the mayor used it as job justification, an idea alone that it turns out he hadn't even consulted with the president of the NSCC before the Cape Breton Partnership big reveal event. Those, IMO, are irresponsible headlines, and the kind of stuff that can hurt us. That's where I worry. There is growing enthusiasm here, success in programs like UIT Startup and Spark Cape Breton, people working hard, and a small group of highly interconnected folks forming a collective hub for keeping the momentum going. Then we have teams like Protocase, Marcato, and MediaSpark that are just "getting it done". On the other hand, there is a lot of overlap and redundancy in both the ecosystem players and the entrepreneurs showcased (concurrent/parallel versus serial entrepreneurs). But whether we're overstating our growth or strength of emerging startup concepts in headlines; there is no doubt that people are trying things and we're in a seemingly new phase of enthusiasm. Side note: Propel ICT's entry into Sydney in cooperation with the new Accelerate incubator is a big deal. Specifically as they may unlock doors to real funding from outside. This is a very good thing! :)

These are all great points. Joe. I find myself in complete agreement. And having these kinds of conversations to keep the issues top-of-mind are important. So glad to hear that we are 1 step closer to solving the capital problem. Any community that hopes to survive must find (and have some control over) a source of investment capital.

The UIT founder told me that if you really need large capital for your startup, you have to go to the markets that have it readily available. Specifically, we can't expect to extract from our region what isn't available. For him, his recommendation was San Francisco. His team set the precedent for that working out, with significant initial funding, rapid team buildout and development, and an acquisition in an ultra fast exit (< 1 year). But that Propel ICT move is very positive for us. They can definitely help to expand the lens on our stuff to the greater Atlantic region (investment community) and their contacts. There do seem to be bigger investment deals happening elsewhere, and perhaps several of our startups have a gateway into it. Very positive news, indeed. Now we need to nail one big hit to really break that program wide open. :)