Something I Don’t Know How to Fix
Take a couple of minutes and read these two recent posts by David Crow:
Both are about creating or nurturing a vibrant tech startup community in Toronto, which I think is important for the city as a whole, and vital to the long-term health of the university as government funding becomes less dependable. But did you notice what’s not there? I’m the only faculty member named in the first, and while the second lists MaRS, the Ontario Science Centre, and OCAD, it doesn’t mention the University of Toronto. Can you imagine someone in Silicon Valley not mentioning Stanford or Berkeley when describing who’s involved in the local tech scene? I wish I knew how to fix this (how to get more university faculty involved in the local tech scene, not how to edit David’s posts to include them), but nothing I’ve tried so far has worked. I’m open to suggestions…
“I’m the only faculty member named in the first” – Then, this means that in a year, no faculty member will part of the list
The University should make it easier for professors and graduate students to spin-off. Also, the 25% profit policy (am I right?) is deadly for many businesses.
I’m not suggesting that more profs should spin off companies — I don’t think that’s necessarily their role. I *do* think they ought to be more involved in giving advice, providing a solid foundation for “folk engineering” ideas, etc.
Good catch Greg. It is something that needs fixing.
The other night at FOSSLC you said “I don’t encourage my students to start their own companies right out of school, but that they join other startups to learn the ropes.” Perhaps that is a way to start building closer ties between the local universities and startups.