Thanks James. Bonus points for noticing the mixed nouns. A complete aside but I’m really looking forward to seeing what the AdHack Community turns out for DreamBank:-) ( yes, we are all working together, how cool is that?).

Boris I’m not sure what the noun mixup was but it looks good now. I guess momentarily we were proponents of closing your mind to possibility and just buying things!

I can only imagine how exhausting ( but interesting) it must have been to be a panelist on Thursday. I ‘m glad you made this post so I have a place to say. “Thank you”. We almost didn’t enter New Ventures because it’s a super busy time for us but I’m so glad we did. For all you start ups reading this, run, don’t walk to enter Telus New Ventures 2009!!

The quality and experience of the mentors panel participants is excellent. We’re lucky to have such a great “incubator” community here.

I didn’t know what to expect from the mentor panel on Thursday and thought maybe it was an “add on” thing. Instead, I arrived for DreamBank’s time slot and on a sunny August afternoon, there were 11 , (instead of the 9 on the list I had) knowledgeable panelist there to listen and offer feedback. It’s invaluable and will definately implement some of it.

Thanks Boris and to all who participated. I guess I better put this on the New Ventures Blog too.
Dawn

Appreciate your comments here and at the presentation. I wish, I could have seen all the other presentations!

The NVBC competitions has been great. I am really impressed with it. I started with a bit of apprehension (I wasn’t sold on the idea of an ‘investment competition’), but the quality of my mentors, the ‘free classes’, and the forced discipline for each phase of the competition have been invaluable.

Glad to see Bootup Labs part of it.

Was great to see you and other folks like David Gratton that I’m really familiar with do your thing for a larger group…and have other folks respond positively as well.

Thanks for the kind words about AdHack and your feedback during the session.

I think you may have Dreambank’s position mixed up in your list. I believe they want people to give dreams, not stuff. (Reverse the nouns and you’ll be sorted.)

As a competitor in the New Ventures BC I’ve had a nice chance to see how well run the program has been and to get a ton of value from the sessions. Angie and the team at NVBC have done a great job. I’d love to stick around for a little longer!

I was in one of the other rooms and also got to see 8 companies. This in addition to the 5 I others I say in the first panel a month ago.

I am always facinated by how the companies use the time. My theory is, outside of the presentation, the time is best spent gaining the insight of the mentors in the room. As always I was surprised how many companies came and presented solo (always a good idea to bring a scribe), to capture the little gems.

It’s my third year on the panels and I have to say the standard of the competition is much higher this year. The next round of the competition is based on a written submission, but once through to the final 10, the companies will be presenting to the great and the good in the VC/Angel community. The panels hopefully offer something many companies lack - objective feedback.