Going Global: Expanding the Footprint of Canadian Technology Firms
Canada is a trading nation. Our domestic market is too small to support significant growth of more than a few companies in any given sector. To succeed, Canadian firms need to sell to the world.
Canadian technology firms are mostly small. Their CEOs are typically experts who have first-class scientific and technical skills. Many of them start companies with little or no business ability or experience. They learn as they go. A small percentage of the thousands of firms doing R&D in Canada are profitable and growing. Almost all of these successful technology firms export a high proportion (typically over 90%) of their products and services.
RE$EARCH MONEY will look at how best to help Canadian technology firms expand into other countries to grow their business. CEOs of successful Canadian technology firms will describe how they do it, the challenges they faced, and where the Canadian policy and cultural environments need to change to make it easier for others. International experts from the public and private sectors will share best practices from around the world. Policy makers will have an opportunity to explore future options so that Canada can compete effectively in the global knowledge economy.
Issues to be explored include: corporate strategies, marketing, distribution, technology alliances, research alliances, policy instruments, European Framework Agreement, bilateral S&T agreements, multilateral agreements (e.g. ESA).
Speakers, Panelists, and Moderators include
Professor Alan Barrell was educated as a Biologist and worked for six years in National Health Service Hospitals as a Haematologist before spending 20 years in a variety of management positions in the International Healthcare Industry. He was CEO of Baxter Healthcare UK and Europe until moving into the Electronics Industry sector in 1985. As CEO of two leading Industrial Ink Jet Printing Companies, Professor Barrell travelled the world and established businesses in more than 100 countries Domino Printing Sciences plc and Willett International both grew into global businesses with sales, in Domino’s case now beyond $600 millions.
Professor Barrell then spent four years as Managing Partner – Cambridge Gateway Fund, a $75 millions early stage technology venture fund, before concentrating on work in the educational and Entrepreneur support fields. He is now Entrepreneur in Residence, University of Cambridge, Visiting Professor of Enterprise, University of Bedfordshire, Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship, University of Xiamen, Fujian Province China Senior Enterprise Fellow University of Essex and International Fellow, Laurea University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki, Finland. He has made a special study of the impact of technology and cluster development on regional economic growth and development and contributed to research on this subject in the Cambridge sub-region and elsewhere. In 2005 Professor Barrell was honoured by Queen Elizabeth II – who Awarded him The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion. He is one of only eleven recipients of this Award. In 2006 he was appointed Special International Advisor – Youth Business China.
Alan Barrell is Executive Chairman of NHS Innovations East, the Health Enterprise Hub supported by EEDA.
Jeffrey Crelinsten is CEO of Research Money Inc. and publisher of RE$EARCH MONEY. He is also President and CEO of The Impact Group, a consultancy he co-founded in 1987, specializing in science, technology and innovation policy, communications and education. Jeffrey has been studying challenges facing tech entrepreneurs and the innovation ecosystems that try to support them for over 25 years. He developed the R$ conferences to bring together leaders from the private and public sector to address critical issues around innovation policy and knowledge-based commerce.
Before founding The Impact Group, Jeffrey taught science and human affairs at Concordia University and had an active career as a science documentary writer for radio and television.
Jeffrey is Senior Research Fellow at the Innovation Policy Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. He is a founding director of the International Commercialization Alliance and is a past-President of the Canadian Science Writers Association. Jeffrey has a B.Sc. in physics from McGill University, a M.Sc. in astronomy from University of Toronto and a Ph.D. in history of science and science policy from University of Montreal.
Kevin Fitzgibbons is the Director of the Science and Technology Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Previous to joining the Department in August 2007, Kevin was the Executive Director of the Office of the National Science Advisor. From 1991 to 2004 Kevin worked as a strategic planning and policy analyst at the National Research Council of Canada. He has a Master’s degree in Political Economics from l’Université de Montréal.
Dr. Suzanne Fortier has served as President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) since January 2006. Before her appointment to this position, Dr. Fortier held a number of senior research and administrative positions at Queen’s University. Dr. Fortier is a crystallographer by training, specializing in the development of mathematical and artificial intelligence methodologies for protein structure determination. During her time as an active researcher, she was a member of the Protein Engineering Network of Centres of Excellence (PENCE), the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems (IRIS) and Communications and Information Technology Ontario (CITO). She has received the Clara Benson Award for a distinguished contribution to chemistry by a woman (1997), the Entrepreneurship Award from Communications and Information Technology Ontario (1997), and the Queen’s University Distinguished Service Award (2005).Most recently, she received an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia (June 2006). A native of St-Timothée, Quebec, she attended McGill University, where she received a B.Sc. (1972) and Ph.D. (1976).
Dr. Fung is the Chairman and CEO of the ACDEG Group of companies. He has partnerships in forest products, biomass energy, chemicals, electrical power cogeneration, agric-foods, marine equipment, OEM parts manufacturing and packaging wastes recycling in North America, Europe and Asia. He obtained his Bachelor, Master and Doctorate degrees in chemical engineering from McGill University in Montreal and completed the senior business executive program at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Dr. Fung was a member of the ministerial strategy advisory group of the Canadian Minister of International Trade (2006-8). He is currently chair of the national board of directors of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, a Member of the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Strategy Advisory Committee of NSERC, senior fellow of the Asia Pacific Foundation and past president of the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering. He is also a member of the national board of directors of the Canada China Business Council (executive committee), Canadian Green Chemistry & Engineering Network, International Science and Technology Partnership Canada (chair of China Sub-committee), CentrePort Canada Inc. and the Western Canadian Transportation System Strategy Group.
In January 2008, Karna Gupta was named CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of Certicom. Mr. Gupta brings with him 27 years of high-tech experience both in public and private companies. Prior to his appointment at Certicom, Mr. Gupta held the role of President for the Real-Time Billing Division of Comverse Technologies in New Jersey. In this role, he had the responsibility for the setting the strategic direction of the Billing Division and managing a globally-distributed workforce and serving a global customer base. His previous role in Comverse was Chief Marketing Officer for Comverse Americas. Mr. Gupta also held several executive leadership positions with Bell Canada, including Vice President, Product Development and Management. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and a Master of Business Administration degree in Marketing and Finance from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. He has also attended executive development programs at Duke University, Harvard/MIT and the University of Western Ontario.
Jeff Hauswirth is a member of Spencer Stuart’s global CEO and Technology, Communications and Media (TCM) Practices. He has been pivotal in the strategic planning of the firm’s technology and communications initiatives and is one of Spencer Stuart’s most experienced recruiters of CEOs, directors and senior executives. Jeff has led important projects in all of the TCM sectors including telecommunications, computing technology, software, and IT. He also founded Spencer Stuart’s international Bridge Project, which advances the firm’s global reach and coordinates its international activities on behalf of clients. Jeff is also the managing partner of the Montreal, Toronto and Calgary offices as well as a member of the firm’s global Board of Directors. Before turning his focus to executive search in 1994, He demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit, co-founding a unique valet laundry service business and an electronic B2B real estate-based offering, provided to select clientele. He has been a guest speaker on topics ranging from executive leadership and succession to recruiting within a global talent pool. He has been interviewed by a number of international publications and has authored studies on leadership in the high technology and real estate sectors. Jeff sits on the Board of Upopolis, which is a private social utility that connects young patients in hospitals with community, friends and family around them. A graduate of the Canadian Junior College in Lausanne, Switzerland, Jeff holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Guelph.
Mark has written extensively on research and innovation policy and funding issues since 1994. As the Editor of RE$EARCH MONEY, he has interviewed hundreds of industry executives, senior government officials, research managers and other leaders in Canada’s science, technology and innovation communities. Mark has worked as a journalist and editor for several publications over the past 35 years, including “Network Letter, Report on Wireless”, “Canadian Communications Reports”, “The Electronics Communicator” and “The Ottawa Citizen”. He resides in Ottawa and is an avid music and film aficionado.
Paul Kedrosky advises the Kauffman Foundation as a senior fellow. In this capacity, he uses his experience as a technology entrepreneur, venture capitalist and academic to explore new programming opportunities for Kauffman in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation, and capital markets. Most recently, Kedrosky has been the executive director of the William J. von Liebig Center in San Diego, California. Using an innovative seed capital program, the Center catalyzes the commercialization of technologies from the internationally ranked University of California, San Diego. Kedrosky is a venture capitalist, media personality, and entrepreneur. He is a sought-after speaker; an analyst for CNBC television; a columnist for TheStreet/RealMoney; the editor of one of the best known business blogs on the Internet; and he is frequently quoted in major publications around the world. He has published more than 300 articles in academic and non-academic publications. Kedrosky obtained his undergraduate degree in engineering from Carleton University, his MBA from Queen’s University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario.
Mark has prepared Spartan for rapid growth by raising financing and recruiting key members of the executive team. He is now responsible for building out Spartan’s capabilities in sales and marketing and spearheading the globalization of Spartan through strategic partnerships. Mark has 28 years experience in high-technology engineering, sales, marketing, and senior management. Prior to joining Spartan, he was founder of Magnitude Capital Partners, where he provided management consulting and fundraising assistance to early-stage companies. Past positions include Managing Director, Global Sales & Marketing at Nortel Semiconductor and VP Business Development at MOSAID Technologies.
Suresh Madan is Executive Vice President and Portfolio Manager with Excalibur Capital Management Inc. He manages equity portfolio focused in US and Canadian markets. Previously, Suresh managed money for multi-billion dollars Reichmann family for nearly ten years. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a Canadian Investment Manager (CIM) with over 25 years of international experience. Suresh was a consistent gold medalist during his academic career, which earned him a Bachelor of Science degree, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, as well as a graduate degree in Industrial Engineering. His previous work experience includes management consulting with SB Billiomoria (now Deloitte and Touche) in India and financial consulting in Saudi Arabia . Suresh is the Chapter Vice President of TiE Toronto and Chair of TiEQuest Business Venture Competition. Suresh is a frequent speaker on issues relating to financing for early stage companies and alternative public strategies.
Andrea Mandel-Campbell is a veteran journalist, author and sought-after public speaker. She is currently an anchor at CTV’s Business News Network and is the author of the celebrated book, Why Mexicans Don’t Drink Molson, which takes a penetrating and unapologetic look at why Canadian companies fail to go global and why they must. As a public speaker, Andrea regularly travels the country to speak with government, companies and industry associations about the challenges and opportunities globalization offers and what Canadians need to do to be more competitive both from a private and public policy perspective. A foreign correspondent in Latin America for close to a decade, Andrea was the Mexico bureau chief for London’s Financial Times as well as correspondent in Argentina for Business Week Magazine. Andrea is on the board of directors of the Canadian Council for the Americas and sits on the editorial board of Export Development Canada’s quarterly magazine, ExportWise.
Mr. David Martin is responsible for establishing and communicating the strategic direction of the company, as well as creating and maintaining corporate alliances and partnerships. Mr. Martin is an industry leader with over 30 years’ experience in high-technology management and development. He is recognized worldwide as an expert in distance collaboration and is the author of a number of articles and papers on the subject of working and learning at a distance. He has a degree in applied mathematics, and is a founding member of the Calgary Council of Advanced Technologies (CCAT). He is also a member of the Society of Information Displays.Mr. Martin is the named inventor on a number of U.S. patents and patent applications pending in the U.S. and around the world. He recently received the 2004 Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATAAlliance) Award for Private Sector and Leadership in Advanced Technology in recognition of his outstanding technological innovation and corporate leadership. He received the Outstanding Achievement award from the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) for the invention of the interactive whiteboard. In 2006 he served as the Conference Co-chair of the ACM conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work. He also received the annual Pace Award from TeleSpan recognizing the contribution he has made to the teleconferencing industry for over a decade. Mr. Martin was the Chair of the Alberta Value-Added and Technology Commercialization Task Force and has served as a member of the expert panel on Canada’s Role on International Science and Technology. He has been a member of the Leaders’ Forum on Innovation and Commercialization organized by the Conference Board of Canada. He is also a member of the Board of Management of the Alberta Economic Development Authority.
Randy Mitchell joined the International Trade Administration in June 2001, from the private sector where he had a history of entrepreneurial development in Russia, Japan, and the United States. From 1997-2001 he was founder of a start-up e-commerce company exporting U.S. consumer goods to the Japanese. In that position he built a management team that included former Fortune 500 executives including the former Chairman, CEO and President of Avon Japan. Along with his team he raised $3.5 million in venture capital financing and built strategic partnerships with some of the largest companies in Japan and the United States. Mr. Mitchell resided in Russia from 1992 through 1996, where he built distribution networks in Moscow and St. Petersburg for U.S. and Scandinavian food and beverage brands such as Nestle (Findus), Sara Lee, Anheuser-Busch, Tyson, Subway, Campbell Soup, and others. This included working with Russian entrepreneurs in distribution, retail, and food service. He is an alumnus of the 2005 Venture Capital Institute and currently represents the International Trade Administration on the Board of Advisors to the Latin American Venture Capital Association (LAVCA). Mr. Mitchell has also served as U.S. Secretary on bilateral venture capital working groups with the governments of Brazil, Australia and the European Union. Mr. Mitchell, a speaker of Russian, has traveled to 38 countries. At the International Trade Administration, Mr. Mitchell is responsible for supporting foreign investments of U.S. private equity / venture capital firms, increasing the exports of U.S. private equity and venture capital and enhancing the competitiveness of the U.S. private equity venture capital sector.
Daniel Mothersill is a serial entrepreneur and a serial Angel investor. In the last decade, he has founded and financed seven companies and spun off three of these as profitable enterprises. He is founder and chair of the Ciris Group of Companies and president and founding member of the National Angel Capital Organization. Daniel created and heads the Angel Network Program for Ontario’s Ministry of Research and Innovation dedicated to developing core standards for Angel investments in the province and seeding the formation and expansion of formal Angel groups. Daniel is chair of the Angel stream for the Canadian Venture Forum, strategic advisor to the Banff Venture Forum, advisor to the New Brunswick Securities Commission on the commercialization of innovation, guest lecturer to the MBA program at Ivey, founder of and facilitator to several Angel groups, and board member of the CEO Fusion Centre. On behalf of the TSX Venture Exchange, he has presented the benefits of the CPC program to Angels and entrepreneurs in major Canadian cities. Prior to forming Ciris in 1991, Daniel was head of investor relations for Nortel. Daniel also founded the go-to-market boot-camp paradigm for the Toronto Venture Group. At more than 100 boot camps, Daniel has trained some 2,500 SME executives through his proprietary presentation preparation program. These entrepreneurs have gone on to capture more than $2.4 billion in seed and angel capital. Daniel studied at York University, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Humber College and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
Since 1997, Robert has expertly managed the startup, financing and growth of Ocean Nutrition Canada. His 20 years of senior management experience in the Natural Product, Marine Biotech, Food Retailing, Wholesaling and Advertising industries have helped make us Canada’s fastest-growing marine biotechnology and natural product ingredients company. This experience includes the creation and management of several startup companies, and responsibility for large multinational corporate division operations. It has also allowed Robert to assemble a sizeable, extremely accomplished, multidisciplinary team – the cornerstone of our business strategy, and a major contributing factor to our revenue growth.
Frank is Head of the Fund Investments Group which currently has commitments to 18 Canadian private capital funds. Within his new role, Frank will also promote our portfolio companies in Asia, helping them to take advantage of these large markets. In his capacity as the Asia liaison for the Venture Capital division, Frank leads Technology missions to introduce Canadian companies and to help them commercialize their products in Asia. He also advises portfolio companies in their go to Asia market strategy. Frank was responsible for Venture Capital investments in Information Technology at BDC Capital. Before BDC Capital he was with the Corporate Finance Group at CP Rail. Prior to CP Rail, he was with Ernst & Young (E&Y), involved in planning, design and implementation of Strategic Information Technology plan and Systems Conversion. Frank had been a guest lecturer at SFU for the Executive MBA program and MBA Information Technology. He is the current Chair of Monte Jade Science Technology Association (2008-2010). Monte Jade is an international organization with 15 chapters in North America and Asia with the mission of promoting the commercialization of Technology companies. Frank Pho holds a Bachelor of Commerce, a Diploma of Accountancy (graduate degree) from Concordia University and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia.
Sunil Sharma is a rotational Foreign Service officer with Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He is currently in the midst of a 3-year assignment with Canada’s Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) where his mandate is to build strategic relationships with risk capital communities across the world. Sunil has recently concluded his 4-year posting as Consul and Trade Commissioner (Head of Consulate) in San Diego, California and was responsible for opening one of Canada’s newest diplomatic missions. Previously, Sunil was Chief, Legislative, Regulatory and Policy Affairs at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) and served as Canada’s representative to the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization’s General Assemblies in Geneva and was elected Vice-Chair of a key technical committee. Prior to his work at CIPO, Sunil served as a Senior Investment Analyst for Technology Partnerships Canada, an investment arm of the Government of Canada. Earlier, Sunil served as Manager, Industrial Development at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in Montreal, Quebec where he assisted many of Canada’s space technology companies in various areas of business development and international partnership. Sunil holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Victoria and a Master’s of Industrial Relations degree from the University of Toronto.
Paul Thoppil was appointed Director General for the Global Business Opportunities Bureau at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade on September 15th, 2008. He is responsible for the development of proactive integrative trade strategies for various business sectors, the facilitation of international opportunities for Canadian business generated by Canada’s missions abroad, the provision of advice on the global competitiveness of Canadian firms, the establishment of links between Canada’s innovation community and its foreign counterparts, and various grant and contribution programs in support of the above. Between May 2004 and August 2008, Paul worked in a number of positions in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Previously, Mr. Thoppil was the Chief Financial Officer and V.P. Risk and Financial Services of Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), Canada’s export Contracting agency. In this position, on behalf of the Government of Canada, he established the Government’s first overseas investment fund, the Canada Investment for Africa. Mr. Thoppil commenced his tenure at CCC as a senior business development officer negotiating export contracts for Canadian companies and leading sectoral trade missions to other countries. Mr. Thoppil joined the federal civil service in 1991 as a policy analyst with the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Department of Finance. Mr. Thoppil holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Ottawa (1989). Paul is also a Chartered Accountant (1990). He articled at Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) and was a consultant to government and various small and medium sized businesses in audit, tax, and financing matters during his tenure at PWC.
Conference Program
Day 1 - March 12, 2009
08:00 - 08:30
Registration and breakfast
08:30 - 08:40
Welcome and opening remarks
Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway
08:45 - 09:15
Opening Keynote: A Billion and Beyond
David Martin, Executive Chairman & Co-Founder, SMART Technologies
09:15 - 10:15
Panel 1: International Collaborations - Do's and Don'ts
Robert Orr, President & CEO, Ocean Nutrition Canada Ltd.
10:15 - 10:30
Networking Break
10:30 - 11:00
Keynote: Perspectives on Going Global
Alan Barrell, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Cambridge University
11:00 - 12:00
Panel 2: Global Capital
Sunil Sharma, International Director, Canada’s Venture Capital and Private Equity Association; Senior Trade Commissioner, Venture Capital, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Suresh Madan, Executive Vice President & Portfolio Manager, Excalibur Capital Management Inc.
Frank Pho, Vice-President, Fund Investments Group, BDC
12:00 - 13:15
Lunch and Keynote: Why Going Global Matters More than Ever
13:15 - 14:15
Panel 3: International Best Practices
Randy Mitchell, International Trade Strategist for Private Equity, US Department of Commerce ; United States Representative to the OECD Working Party on Entrepreneurship
Paul Thoppil, Director General, Global Business Opportunities Bureau, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
14:15 - 14:45
Closing Keynote: Global Technology Integration: A Canadian Perspective
Proceedings & Presentations
