Bootup Labs Starts up to help Start-ups in Vancouver

Lloyd Budd wrote about Bootup Labs today … and wondering what rock I’ve been under that I hadn’t heard of them sooner since I also found Rob covered them days ago on Techvibes and Boris and Danny put me on their blogroll.  Sheesh.

Regardless, Boris and Danny have started up a start up incubator in Gas Town to help folks wanting to get a company going in Vancouver (and the rest of BC I assume), well, get going.  From Lloyd’s post:

These guys will help you find the funding to take your product/service and turn it into a business. But what you will discover along the yellow brick startup road is, if you don’t want to wind up crushed by your house or enslaved by the wicked warlocks of the West, you need good advice, good advisors.Even if you already have the funding you need and know what you are doing, access to the best advisors is invaluable:

What we’ve been looking for is the wisdom of a very special entrepreneur who’s been through what we’re going through. Someone who sees things a little differently and makes us feel right at home. Someone with a long term outlook, not a build-to-flip mentality.²

If I was putting together my own startup, I would ask, beg, plead, literally do everything possible to get Boris to be an advisor. With Bootup Labs that is part of the package. Source: A Fool’s Wisdom » Bootup Labs – Vancouver Tech Startup Incubator

Good idea?  Freakin’ great idea.  I’ve known Boris since I started blogging I think I probably met Danny at some point … but I’ll be sure to wander over to their offices next time over on the Mainland.  Haven’t been a part of several start ups now, getting help early is essential.  Boris and Danny, yeah, they’re connected which will be more than a little helpful.

You know, these are pretty exciting times in Canada right now.  I have a lot of optimism (I think working for b5 helps that tremendously) about the startup, funding, and tech scene up here in the great white north.  I’m not the only one who feels this way either.   Rick Segal did a review of his 2007 VC activities (JLA Ventures is b5’s VC) and looking at Techvibes’ watch list for this year (and just Vancouver mind you), you can’t help feel good.

Let me add to that for you.  Greg at Techvibes has updated the start up lists for Alberta, Toronto (where b5media is number #1 baby!), and Vancouver.  Wow what a hot list.  Boy do I have a bunch of new feeds to add!  I already added ten new feeds of Canadian startups this evening alone just following links for this post.  Now all I have to do is find time to chat with all these folks.