Organizers
Heri Rakotomalala |
Heri Rakotomalala does web application design and development and is into implementing innovative ideas. His main tool of choice is Ruby on Rails. He has been working actively since late 2006 with the Montreal technology scene, and works closely with entrepreneurs, investors, startups, developers and designers. Heri is also the founder of MontrealTechWatch, a blog about technology and innovation in Montréal.
Heri Rakotomalala holds a Msc degree in engineering from INT Télécom, an engineering school in France, and a DESS in Management from HEC Montréal. He is originally from Madagascar. |
Mehdi Akiki |
Mehdi Akiki is currently working on his brand new startup, Your TeleDoctor. YourTeleDoctor is going to offer video visits over the Internet. The concept is simple: let anyone connect with a physician online and have medical consultation as well as diagnosis and prescription from the confort of his home. He got the idea after doing a numerous number of remote consultations with his parents in Morocco. He is also a fierce defender of his home town and is involved in several associations and projects related to its development. He is an active member in the startup scene in Montreal since June 2007. Mehdi Akiki holds a Bachelor Degree from Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, and a Masters Degree in Software and Computer Engineering from Concordia University. His research was on "A Novel Method for Firewall Rule Testing and Validation". |
Denis Canuel |
Denis Canuel est un entrepreneur. Dès 21 ans il fut co-fondateur de trois commerces en informatiques. Il est un expert dans divers domaines informatiques dont les dernières tendances de l’Internet. Il est également un expert dans le domaine des environnements de hautes performances et en particulier les environnements Internet. Son travail au Japon et aux États-Unis l’a amené à travailler avec de très grandes compagnies. Finalement, il est actif dans le milieu des « startups » à Montréal via son blogue QuebecValley.com, il participe à des rencontres techno-entrepreneuriales comme les BarCamps et les DemoCamps et il fait parti du comité organisateur « BlitzWeekend ». Denis Canuel is an entrepreneur. He started when he was 21 years old by co-founding three computer stores. He is an expert in many computer fields including the latest Internet trends. He is also an expert in high performance and Internet computing. His work in Japan and the United States allowed him to work with many very large companies. Finally, he is active in the montreal startup community through his blog (QuebecValley.com) and he frequently joins un-conferences such as BarCamps and DemoCamps. Finally, he is part of the BlitzWeekend organizing team. |
David Massé |
David has spent the last 15 years advising and managing investment funds and high tech companies and startups as consultant and venture capital portfolio manager. David holds a Bachelor degree in finance-economics and a M.Sc. (International Management) from HEC Montréal. David conseille les fonds d'investissement et les compagnies de technologie depuis 1994 à titre de consultant et de gestionnaire de portefeuille de capital de risque. Il détient un baccalauréat en finance-économie et une maîtrise ès sciences de la gestion de HEC Montréal. |
Raymond Luk |
Raymond Luk is the founder of Flow Consulting, a venture consulting firm specializing in developing high-growth technology companies throughout North America. He is an experienced entrepreneur having started, funded and operated 4 technology ventures over the last 12 years. He has been an executive at a publicly traded technology company and also works actively with non-profit organizations focused on developing entrepreneurship. |
Panel
Étienne Lagacé |
Étienne Lagacé is an associate at iNovia Capital, one of Canadas premier managers of seed and early-stage venture capital funds. Engineer by background, Étienne started his career as a software developer and has been involved, for the past five years, in technology commercialization and investments in high growth potential companies. Étienne Lagacé est un professionnel en investissement chez iNovia Capital, lun des plus importants gestionnaires de fond de capital de risque de démarrage au Canada. Ingénieur de formation, Étienne a débuté sa carrière comme développeur de logiciels et se consacre, depuis les cinq dernières années, à la commercialisation de technologies et à linvestissement dans des entreprises à fort potentiel de croissance. |
Vincent Guyaux |
Vincent Guyaux, Embrase Business Consulting, Chairman of the board Vincent has extensive management and business development expertise in North America, Asia and Europe in high-tech industries. He was President & CEO of Imaginum, a fabless chip manufacturer, General Manager of Mindready's Embedded Systems Division, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing at Locus Dialog (acquired by InfoSpace) and Sales Manager at Apple Canada. Vincent Guyaux, Embrase Business Consulting, Président du conseil d'administration Vincent possède une vaste expertise en développement des affaires et en gestion d'entreprises dans le domaine des hautes technologies en Amérique du Nord, en Asie et en Europe. Il a été Président et Chef de la direction de Imaginum, conception de puces nouvelle génération, Directeur général, Systèmes Embarqués chez MindReady, Vice-président Ventes et Marketing chez Locus Dialogue (acheté par InfoSpace) et Directeur des ventes chez Apple Canada. |
Hang Le Hong |
Hang Le Hong a décroché un baccalauréat en finance de l’Université Concordia. Elle a débuté sa carrière au sein d’assureurs d’envergure internationale. Son expertise en gestion de risques et assurances comprend plus de 12 années d’expérience. Hang est vice-présidente à la division des risques spéciaux de Globalex Gestion de Risques Inc., une entreprise desservant notamment une clientèle nichée dans les nouvelles technologies. Elle est chargée des grands comptes avec une spécialité dans la technologie de l’information incluant les nouveaux médias.
Hang Le Hong has a Bachelor degree in Finance from Concordia University. She started her career with internationally known insurers. She has more than 12 years experience in risk management and insurance. Hang is Vice President, Special Risks Division, Globalex Risk Management Inc., an insurance broker serving new technology clients in niche markets. She is responsible for major accounts and specializes in information technology, including new medias. |
Matthew Harrison |
En tant que directeur chez BDO Dunwoody S.E.N.C.R.L., Matthew Harrison se spécialise en vérification et services-conseils, principalement auprès des entreprises des secteurs de la haute technologie et des services financiers. Diplômé des universités McGill et Concordia, Matt compte environ 10 ans d'expérience dans le domaine. BDO Dunwoody peut vous guider pendant cette période cruciale entre la phase de démarrage, où vous devrez établir des bases solides, et le moment où vous recevrez votre premier financement important et aurez besoin d’un niveau plus élevé de certification et davantage de services. Pendant cette période de transition, une relation suivie, la bonne compréhension des activités et de la vision de votre entreprise constitueront des questions déterminantes. Matt Harrison sera à votre disposition pour discuter des questions administratives et financières de votre entreprise et vous permettre de concentrer vos efforts sur les produits et le financement, tout en vous assurant l'appui d'une solide structure.
As a manager at BDO Dunwoody LLP, Matthew Harrison specializes in audit and advisory services, with a focus on the high-tech industry and financial services. Matt has approximately 10 years experience in the profession and holds degrees from both McGill and Concordia Universities. BDO Dunwoody offers to bridge that crucial period between the start-up phase, during which your company will need to establish a solid business structure, and the point at which you receive your first large financing, when increased interests will require a higher level of assurance and services. The critical component during this transition will be the development of a relationship between your company and BDO, and a strong understanding of your company’s business and vision. Matt Harrison will be available to discuss ideas to augment the administrative/financial side of your business, so that you can focus on your product or service and future financing, secure in the knowledge that a solid foundation is there to support you. |
Experts
Maude Ouellet |
Maude Ouellet a obtenu le titre de CMA en 2007. Elle compte plus de 3 années d’expérience dans le domaine des assurances et gestion de risques. Elle a développé une expertise dans le segment de l’assurance de la responsabilité des administrateurs et dirigeants et maîtrise toutes les connaissances d’analyse financière de sociétés en démarrage. Maude est directeure de comptes adjointe à la division des risques spéciaux de Globalex Gestion de Risques Inc., une entreprise desservant notamment une clientèle nichée dans les nouvelles technologies. Elle est chargée de s’occuper des entreprises spécialisées notamment en technologie de l’information incluant les nouveaux médias.
Maude Ouellet obtained the title of CMA in 2007. She has more than three years of experience in the field of the insurances and risks management. She developed an expertise in the Directors & Officers Liability insurance and has the necessary financial analysis knowledge for start-up companies. Maude is an Account Manager Assistant with in the division of the special risks division, Globalex Risk Management Inc.; an insurance broker serving new technology clients in niche markets. She is responsible for clients specialized in information technology including new medias. |
Raymonde Lafrenière |
Raymonde Lafrenière a débuté sa carrière notamment auprès d’assureurs d’envergure mondiale avec plus de 15 années d’expérience. Elle a développé une grande expertise dans le domaine des réclamations. Sa grande compréhension des contrats est un atout afin d’apporter des conseils judicieux en matière de prévention des sinistres. Raymonde est directeur de comptes à la division des risques spéciaux de Globalex Gestion de Risques Inc., une entreprise desservant notamment une clientèle nichée dans les nouvelles technologies. Elle agit à titre de gestionnaire de risques. Raymonde Lafrenière started her career with worldwide insurance companies and she has more than 15 years experience. She has an important claims expertise. Her great knowledge of insurance policies serves to offer judicious advice with regards to claims prevention. Raymonde is an Account Manager in the Special Risks Division, Globalex Risk Management inc., a risk manager serving new technology clients in niche markets. |
Martin Lessard |
Martin Lessard, conseiller en développement d’entreprise
Dirigeant d’expérience possédant une expérience internationale en développement des affaires. Offre aux entreprises son expertise de gestionnaire afin d’optimiser leur plan d’affaires, leur prévisions financières, ainsi qu’un plan d’exécution efficace. Martin Lessard, Advisor to early-stage ventures Seasoned executive with international expertise in business development. Provides emerging companies with executive management and corporate development best practices, in order to optimize their business plan, financial projections and an efficient execution plan. |
Pierre-André Meunier |
Pierre-André Meunier founded his own e-commerce company immediately after graduating from École Polytechnique in Montreal. He then joined GTI Capital, a leading early stage private VC firm based in Montreal in 1996 as Portfolio Manager. Pierre-André was appointed as CFO in 2001, then President and CEO in 2002 at Codagen Technologies, one of GTI Capital portfolio company. He then joined ISR Technologies, a University spin-off in 2004 before returning to GTI Capital as General Partner in January 2006. Through his various VC and operational assignments, Pierre-André has developed a solid knowledge of the operational and financial challenges that today’s entrepreneurs are facing. Pierre-André sits on the board of directors of several IT companies and institutions such as Diablo Technologies, DFT Microsystems, ESM and the Centre d’entrepreneurship of the Université de Montréal. He holds an Industrial Engineering degree from École Polytechnique de Montréal. |
Guillaume Thoreau |
User Interface and UXP consultant. |
Yann Rousselot |
Partner at Présent Profit. |
Alistair Croll |
Alistair Croll is a consultant, entrepreneur and writer with fifteen years' experience in technology marketing and strategic product management. He is a founder of startup accelerator Rednod. In 2000, Alistair co-founded and completed financing for Coradiant, whose web performance management appliances are used today by hundreds of the world's biggest companies to manage web applications and user experience.
Prior to Coradiant, Alistair founded web performance consultancy Networkshop and held product and marketing positions with 3Com, Primary Access, and Eicon Technology. He blogs at Bitcurrent and is a staff writer for GigaOm, and a faculty member of networking tradeshow Interop where he runs tracks on data centers, web performance, operations, SaaS, and in-the-cloud computing. In 1997, Alistair co-authored Managing Bandwidth, one of the first books on QoS and converged networking. Alistair holds a B.Comm with honours in strategic marketing from Dalhousie University. |
Thomas Geissmann |
Thomas Geissmann est avocat et a obtenu son diplôme à l’Université de Montréal. Il a été admis au Barreau du Québec en 2006.
Il a débuté sa carrière professionnelle au sein d’un grand bureau pancanadien et s’est joint à Brouillette & Associés en 2007. Il exerce en droit des affaires et de la propriété intellectuelle. Sa clientèle se compose, entre autres, d’entreprises de nouvelles technologies et d’entrepreneurs qu’il représente pour tous leurs besoins d’affaires. Monsieur Geissmann est cofondateur et actuel président d’une compagnie montréalaise oeuvrant dans le domaine de la musique. De plus, il siège sur le conseil d’administration d’un organisme sans but lucratif. Thomas Geissmann is a lawyer and graduated from the University of Montreal. He was called to the Bar of Quebec in 2006. He started his law career in a major Canadian firm and has joined Brouillette & Partners in 2007. He practices in Business Law and Intellectual Property. His clients are mainly doing business in the technology field and entrepreneurs that he represents for all their business needs. Mr. Geissmann is the cofounder and actual President of a Montreal based company working in the music field. He also acts as a director of a non-profit organization. |
Sebastien Paquet |
Sébastien Paquet est professeur d'informatique à l'UQAM-Téluq. Son expertise se situe dans les domaines du logiciel social, du partage de connaissances et de la collaboration sur le Web. Il détient un doctorat de l'Université de Montréal en informatique; sa thèse
explorait les blogues et les wikis comme moyen de partage de connaissances.
Avant de se joindre à l'UQAM, il a été chercheur au Conseil national de recherches du Canada, où il menait des recherche sur l'introduction
des logiciels sociaux dans les environnements d'apprentissage, et directeur des services professionnels chez Socialtext, une entreprise
américaine qui fournit des logiciels sociaux aux petites, moyennes et grandes organisations.
Sébastien Paquet a été impliqué dans le comité du Symposium international sur les wikis (WikiSym) et dans les comités consultatif
des initiatives ELGG et Project Opus. Il a un blogue en français et un autre en anglais, en plus de coéditer le blogue collectif
"Many-to-Many" sur le logiciel social. Il collabore avec des étudiants dans des projets reliés à ses travaux de recherche.
Seb Paquet is a professor of computer science at UQAM-Teluq. He is an expert in social software, Web-based knowledge sharing and collaboration technology. He holds a Computer Science Ph.D. from Université de Montreal; his thesis explored blogs and wikis as knowledge sharing tools. Before joining UQAM, he was a research officer at National Research Council Canada, where he studied the introduction of social software into learning environments, and manager of professional services at Socialtext, a US startup that provides wikis to enterprises. Seb Paquet has been involved in the organization of the International Symposium on Wikis (WikiSym) and in the advisory board of the ELGG and Project Opus initiatives. He writes English and French language blogs, and is a coauthor on the Many-to-Many blog on social software. He collaborates with students in projects connected to his research. |
