I was able to attend Startup Cape Breton 3.0 at the  Verschuren Centre (main atrium) yesterday and it was a great turnout with fantastic energy.  Peter Moreira, co-founder of Entrevestor.com, was there with his wife and co-founder Carol and their excitement for what is happening in Cape Breton was extremely evident. Peter was able to speak  to the TechSocial crowd the night before and his blog post of the event includes glowing praise for the Cape Breton Starup  Community.

Bob Pelley did a wonderful job getting the discussion going as he introduced the question, and i am paraphrasing,  "With the recent spike in startups here in Cape Breton what do we need to do to as a community to support them and build on this amazing momentum?"

Before I continue I want to explain that I recently recognized my need to allow the adage "Imperfect action trumps perfect inaction" to create a safe area to make more mistakes and on a much more frequent basis and one result is this post... my first on GoCapeBreton.com. By no means is this a comprehensive account of the meeting but simply a quick recap of some notes I took during the amazing discussions that took place.

Remember this is just a quick list... the most important thing is to keep the conversation going!

• Limited access to operating capital when bootstrapping. Need a way to barter services between startups to accelerate growth and build community.
• Having a crowd funding expert in the area that can work with startups to create compelling campaigns to help launch their business.
•   GoCapeBreton.com is now officially live and provides amazing resources and tools to connect with potential employees and employer among many other fantastic tools to keep our community aware of current events and news.
• NSCC IT Works - connecting and networking
• Barter services and be willing to give. Operate on the model that you will need to give 5 times before you will get back... this creates an explosion in service.
• Use the experts at CBU for research and development. There is funding available for short term R&D projects and CBU is ready to help.
• Students need to play a pivotal role in the service based startup economy. They can get very valuable work experience while providing much needed to support to budding startups.
• CBU has recognized the need to develop new and better tech programs and has committed to taking action.
• SLACK Chat App: Using technology to better facilitate communication within the startup community. Create a channel for CB Startup Community as well as a skills / jobs channel to help create quick connections based on immediate need. Download SLACK here.
• The creation of a Cape Breton Startup Accelerator. The idea of Incubator vs Accelerator - a well developed incubator is the best foundation to any accelerator.
• The need for more mentors. Mentor Connect is a perfect place to start.
• Brilliant Labs getting into the schools with Kim Desveaux. The need for more skilled people being willing to teach their skills to others. As we get kids excited about tech and the amazing opportunities we need to have programs ready to continue the education process.
• Propel ICT
• The need for a comprehensive skills inventory for the community.
• Keep international students here by encouraging them to get involved in the startup community as founders or team members.
• Legal advice for startups as well as templates for the basic legal forms needed to get started and protect your intellectual property.
• Working together to better utilize the huge amounts of farming land in Cape Breton and Nova Scotia as a whole to create healthier, greener alternatives for fuels, fibres, etc.

Be sure to like the Startup Cape Breton Facebook page and leave some feedback as well. Thanks :)