February 9, 2011
1 Comment
Purple Forge is a proud finalist for the following 2011 OCRI Awards:
Purple Forge is also a proud finalist for the following Exploriem Bootstrap Awards:
July 31, 2010
4 Comments
I am a big fan of mind mapping tools. My favorite tool has traditionally been Freemind, a free tool that works across Windows and Mac. I recently changed over to using XMind and have been exploring mind mapping tools on the iPad.
Mind mapping is one application that seems to be exceptionally well matched to the “touch” environment of the iPad. Adding nodes, moving around relationships, arranging the mind map graph display … are all much easier to do using “touch” then the mouse. Two mind mapping applications currently available on the iPad are:
The most promising of the two is iToughts HD. The features that set it apart from Mindnode include:
Found another “touch” mind mapping tool? Let me know!
July 21, 2010
1 Comment
I had an interesting discussion last week regarding OCRI with a few local entrepreneurs. The general issue being “What good is OCRI?” for entrepreneurs in Ottawa.
There was a lot of negativity about the lack of relevance and the fact that OCRI has increasingly become something of a joke around town due to its public fights with politicians (“The City does not own OCRI!”), lack of transparency and general lack of results. OCRI has serious issues, there is little debate on that point.
However, it is worth noting that OCRI does/has run some programs that, in the past, I have personally found of value and which are worth highlighting:
July 21, 2010
1 Comment
If you are an entrepreneur in the Ottawa region working on launching or growing your start-up, the following organizations have the most to offer:
July 21, 2010
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Yesterday I attended the TiE event on “Leveraging Government Funding – Sources and Strategies”. It was a good session. For any aspiring entrepreneur in Ottawa, I highly recommend joining the TiE organization.
For those entrepreneurs looking for alternative sources of capital for their start-up, a very good site which provides comprehensive information to help you find available programs from Federal and Provincial governments is http://www.canadabusiness.ca/eng/search/sof/.
July 17, 2010
6 Comments
There has been a lot of interest in the mobile app development cluster in Ottawa. I recently took an inventory of companies in Ottawa who were developing mobile apps or mobile related software. The current list of companies I found is below:
If anyone has others to add please drop me a note at brian@purpleforge.com, or add to the comment thread for this posting. I will keep this list up-to-date.
Looking for a job at a great mobile app company? Send your resume to careers@purpleforge.com.
January 11, 2010
0 Comments
I was doing some research and noted that there is a wide range of titles people and companies are using related to social media marketing:
Some trends on job titles with “Social Media”:
Anyone seen any other titles?
January 10, 2010
0 Comments
November 26, 2009
0 Comments
Mobile applications, combined with cloud computing and software offers the unique ability to reach out to the world and collect real-time information from the community. Ever wonder what the “Mood of the Nation” might be at any given hour? How about over a week? Month or more? The iPhone app “Mood of the Nation” does exactly that.
If you do not have an iPhone, you can still view the results online.
If you have an iPhone or iTouch – download the application and add your mood to the world view.
November 26, 2009
1 Comment
The following table provides a list of sites that provide reviews and directories for iPhone applications. Many accept submissions for review, some are automated:
A great blog with survey stats from iPhone developers on what works and what doesn’t – iPhone App Marketing: What Works (and What Doesn’t)?, some of key findings from the blog’a survey:
Marketing Techniques Employed
The two most common marketing practices were:
- publicizing their app on forums (employed by 71% of respondents);
- and creating a supporting website for the application (66%).
Other common techniques included:
- Making frequent updates to their app to increase App Store visibility – 57%
- Offering a “lite” version of their paid app to stimulate trial – 57%
- Submitting their app to review blogs – 57%
- Soliciting user reviews within the App Store – 51%
- Making price cuts to stimulate demand – 43%
Other techniques tried by a minority include:
- Purchasing advertising on other websites – 14%
- Purchasing Google AdWords to attract buyers – 14%
- Purchasing / trading for in-app advertising – 14%
- Hiring paid Public Relations help – 11%
- Search Engine Optimizing (SEO) supporting websites – 11%
Marketing Technique Effectiveness
Despite the broad array of marketing techniques employed by developers, relatively few were reported to be worth the investment of time and money. On a 3-point scale, from Most Effective (valued at 3 points) to Least (1 point), five techniques received an average rating greater than 2. The leaders (including the average rating / number of responses) include:
- Paid PR – rating 3 / 2 responses
- Offering a Lite version – 2.58 / 12 responses
- Submitting to app review blogs – 2.4 / 10 responses
- Making frequent updates to increase App Store visibility – 2.3 / 10 responses
- Soliciting user reviews – 2.01 / 7 responses
Three other techniques were judged to be somewhat effective, including:
- Cutting price – 1.88 / 8 responses
- Posting to forums – 1.8 / 10 responses
- Creating a supporting website / landing page – 1.63 / 8 responses
And three were viewed as the least effective (at least among the small population who had tried them):
- Keyword advertising (Google AdWords, etc) – 1 / 2 responses
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – 1 / 2 responses
- Paid advertising in apps (AdMob, etc) – 1 / 1 response
——
What do you think drives app downloads the most – share your opinion and see what others think - http://www.communitypriorities.com/appmarketing
November 10, 2009
0 Comments
RESEARCH Infosource released a report last week titled “Canada’s Top 100 Corporate R&D Spenders List 2009 Analysis“
Canada’s communications/telecom sector was the number one R&D spend – with 2008 research spending on associated products and services representing 40% of total industrial R&D. Of the top 100 R&D performers, 15 were from the communications/telecom sector.
In 2008, Nortel was the number one R&D spender. Nortel spent more on R&D than number 2 Bell and number 3 Magna combined.
Next year’s report will likely see the pharmaceutical sector replace communications/telecom products as the leading performer of R&D in Canada. According to RESEARCH Infosource -
The full effect of the deteriorating world economy will be reflected in next year’s Fiscal 2009 corporate R&D spending results. It is hard to envisage better overall performance than in 2008. For one thing, it appears that Canada’s perpetual R&D spending leader (Nortel Networks) will be absent from the list in 2009. In consequence, total corporate R&D spending will undoubtedly be affected – in a downward direction.
The full report from RE$EARCH Infosource is available here and is worth reading.
November 9, 2009
0 Comments
Ottawa-Gatineau is #9 in small business growth among Canadian CMA’s (Census Metropolitan Areas):
November 7, 2009
0 Comments
VC Investments Q3 2009 – MoneyTree – National Data
VC Investments Q3 2009 – MoneyTree – Regional Data
VC Investments Q3 2009 – MoneyTree – Top Deals
VC Investments Q3 2009 – MoneyTree – Charts
VC Investments Q3 2009 – MoneyTree – Press Release
Corporate Venture Capital Group Investment Analysis 1995 to Q1 2009
Economic Impact of Venture Capital
Venture funding stalls in third quarter
Q2 2009 VC Industry Overview
Q2 2009 PE Industry Overview
Québec’s Venture Capital Market in Q2 2009
The Impact of Venture Capital in Canada on Economy, Jobs and Innovation
November 6, 2009
3 Comments
I recently asked some friends for their insights into automated testing tools for iPhone. Based on the feedback (special thanks to Kevin Burr!) and some research, it turns out there are a few expensive commercial services/tools and some emerging and very interesting open source applications, including:
DeviceAnywhere (commercial)
Cucumber (open source)
A good overview of integrating Cucumber with the iPhone -
Here is a video of Cucumber driving an iPhone application -
Google Toolbox for Mac (open source)
UIspec (open source)
Some good blogs with current information on iPhone GUI testing include:
November 6, 2009
1 Comment
I posted some information back in August about GUI mock-up tools. Since then, I have tried a variety of tools, including the hosted Protoshare and the multi-platform desktop application Balsamiq Mockups. In the end I selected Balsamiq Mockups as the preferred tool to use.
The following shows an example of the type of prototyping that Balsamiq Mockups can deliver. It also provides the ability to automate the navigation to more easily show the flow and intended behavior of the application.
The following video provides a good overview of the tool and its features:
The reasons for selecting Balsamiq Mockups:
To make it easy to share the mock-up files within the team, we also decided to use dropbox.com. Dropbox allows seamless sharing of files with a team, provides backups of the files, allows multiple computer access…
Updates:
This blog entry has some good pointers to various templates and stencils that are useful for doing iPhone mockups – http://iphoneized.com/2009/03/roundup-iphone-stencils-graphics-templates/, as well as additional insights into iPhone mockup tools (both computer and pen and paper!) – http://iphoneized.com/2009/11/21-prototyping-mockup-wireframing-tools-iphone-app-development/
October 26, 2009
0 Comments
Morgan Stanley recently published data on key economy and internet trends. The presentation is available online at various locations, including SlideShare below:
October 8, 2009
0 Comments
The Lead to Win program is accepting applications for the November session.
If you are interested in creating your own company – check out the program at http://www.leadtowin.ca.
Spaces are limited and the program has been over subscribed for every session held so if you are interested do not delay getting your application submitted.
Check out some of the companies that have successfully made it to Phase III of Lead to Win.
August 15, 2009
0 Comments
Come “Jobnob” with cool new startups and other job seekers at this informal networking happy hour where unemployed people who want to keep their skills sharp are matched up with startups that could use their help.
- Bummed Out Job Seekers – are you willing to volunteer at least 5 hours a week for a startup? Help out a startup and you’ll get a leg up on the competition, keep your skills sharp and have some good experience to put on your resume. And when the giant gears of the economy start churning again, you could well be one of the first ones back on the payroll.
- Cash Strapped Startups – are you willing to buy a smart, talented, unemployed person a drink? Come with one or two specific projects that you need accomplished and we’ll help you find the perfect person to get the job done. And if you get funded you can always hire them!
They have run three JobNob events so far and have two more scheduled for August and September.
Related information and press coverage is available here.
This would be a great program to have running in Ottawa. Organizations such as Lead to Win, OCRI, The Ottawa Network, CATA or Ottawa Talent Initiative would be good sponsor organizations to make this happen locally.
August 15, 2009
0 Comments
The Gartner “Hype Cycle” illustrates the growth, maturity and adoption of technologies. It can be used to determine whether to invest in types of tech – technologies with high user benefit and low time to mainstream acceptance are ripe for investment and implementation, while technologies with minimal user benefit and a long time until mainstream acceptance should be approached with “extreme caution.”
August 12, 2009
0 Comments
Purple Forge has two immediate openings:
Visit http://www.leadtowin.ca/jobs/app/ for more information.
August 12, 2009
0 Comments
The CVCA has released their Q2 2009 Venture Investment data.
August 11, 2009
0 Comments
This is another cool technology – a lab on a chip that does over 1,024 different chemical reactions in parallel.
The technical paper describing the technology is available online.
August 1, 2009
0 Comments
If you are currently working in Nortel, Mitel or any of the other local tech companies that are under stress and under the threat of downsizing, then you are probably thinking about your “Plan B”. If your “Plan B” involves launching your own business, then you should take a close look at the Lead to Win program.
Past successful Nortel alumnus who have participanted in Lead to Win have included: Chuck Colford (Trigence (aka AppZero), Congruance IT), David Vicary (Nakina, Weyes Eyes), Jerry Everett (onconference), Brian Hurley (Liquid Computing, Purple Forge), and many others.
Lead to Win is now accepting applications for it’s 4th session which will occur later this year (Lead to Win is currently nailing down the exact date and will announce it soon).
The program is focused on helping enterpreneurs develop and grow their businesses.
The program is free to qualified participants.
Program details, application process, testimonials, FAQ’s, training materials, etc are available online at www.leadtowin.ca.
If you know others who might be interested in the program, please send them to www.leadtowin.ca!
June 17, 2009
0 Comments
Lead to Win held a reception on Monday evening for participants and supporters. Special guests included the Mayor of Gatineau and the acting Mayor of Ottawa. Both expressed their support for the Lead to Win program and new businesses the participants are hoping to launch.
Mayor of Gatineau, Marc Bureau
Acting Mayor of Ottawa, Michel Bellemare
Participants at the reception commented on the strong and growing support from the community for the Lead to Win program.
Past Lead to Win Alumnus David Vicary, CEO of Weyes Eyes and past CEO and founder of Nakina Systems announced that he had secured seed funding for Weyes Eyes, his second start-up venture. For more on this, please read the related Ottawa Business Journal article.
David Vicary, CEO Weyes Eyes
Photos from the event are available online.
The reception was hosted by Développement économique – CLD Gatineau (DE – CLDG).
June 17, 2009
0 Comments
Industry Canada announced on Monday that they will be providing additional funding for BDC.
The funding allocation includes $350M for BDC‘s venture capital activities that will allow it to make additional direct investments of $260 million over three years in Canadian businesses already in the BDC portfolio, as well as investments in new seed technology companies and later-stage technology companies. It will also allow BDC to commit $90 million over three years to private, independent Canadian venture capital funds.
This funding is in addition to the $75 million in venture capital funds allocated in the Government of Canada’s Budget 2008, which is being used to support the creation of a privately run venture capital fund.
This is great news! BDC has been, and continues to be a key player in helping grow Canada’s innovation, economic growth and economic diversity.
June 7, 2009
0 Comments
Here is a recent call for participants from Dr Tony Bailetti for the 3rd session of the Lead to Win program which starts on July 28th – please spread the word!
INTERESTED IN LAUNCHING A NEW TECH BUSINESS? LEAD TO WIN WANTS TO HELP YOU!
If you are serious about starting a profitable technology business in Canada’s Capital region, we invite you to apply to the next session of the Lead to Win program.
The Lead to Win program is free to qualified applicants – no strings attached, no small print, no surprises. Individuals from 37 organizations are investing to make Lead to Win participants successful for the benefit of the individual and our community.
Details on the program, including past success and testimonials from participants are available at www.leadtowin.ca. If you need additional information over what is at www.leadtowin.ca, please contact:
- David Hudson, dhudson1014@rogers.com
- Ian Graham, ian@thecodefactory.ca
- Ray Barton, ray.barton@vitesse.ca
- Rowland Few, rfew@sce.carleton.ca
- Serge Lafontaine, slafontaine@arrow.com
- Tony Bailetti, Bailetti@sce.carleton.ca
- Yannick Bouchard, bouchard.yannick@gatineau.ca
Spaces in the Lead to Win program are limited – so prospective participants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.
Application instructions are available online at www.leadtowin.ca.
If you know of others who may benefit from Lead to Win, please forward this email to them – help get the word out!
Regards.
Tony Bailetti
Lead to Win Program
May 31, 2009
0 Comments
The server market is getting hit hard these days – announcements in just the last few months:
My bet is on Cisco capitalizing on the turmoil and emerging stronger and more dominant then ever before.
IDC forecasts server market to decline through 2010
May 22, 2009
0 Comments
The 2009 Lead to Win program kicked-off this week. The program was originally planned to support 30 participants per session. Due to overwhelming demand from highly qualified candidates the program capacity was doubled and 61 participants were accepted into the May-June program.
The first three days of workshops went exceptionally well. All participants were highly qualified, highly motivated and highly committed. The workshop was intense and there was a lot of interaction between the participants and the program leaders. A breakdown of the participants company types, target markets, etc. is available: Lead to Win May 2009 Portfolio Snapshot
Photos from the first day of the program are available online -
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| Lead to Win (May 19, 2009) |
May 22, 2009
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Reports from Mercury Press highlight the continuing decline of Venture Capital in the US:
Nationally, VCs invested $3 billion into U.S. companies, down 61 percent from the $7.7 billion invested in the first quarter of 2008. It was smallest quarterly sum since 1997, and the sharpest decline on record.
In the Bay Area, the world’s leading hub of innovation, $1.2 billion was invested in 172 deals during the quarter. That was a 43 percent decrease in dollars and 26 percent decrease in “deal flow” from the previous quarter.
May 15, 2009
0 Comments
‘SixthSense’ is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world with digital information and lets users use natural hand gestures to interact with that information.
It offers some interesting ideas for potential new applications.
