Accelerate AB – Calgary, July 13th

If you missed this event, mark it down for next year. It is the best $20 you will spend in 2012 if you are an entrepreneur / start-up in Alberta. We stumbled across it during the weeks leading up, and we weren’t sure what to expect as far as content, other than “there will be a bunch of VCs and Angels in the room”. We took that as enough of a carrot and we were registered.

Hosted Mount Royal University, the format was fairly relaxed. Four hundred of us filed into a large ballroom that had a stage at the far end. From 1-5:30 PM, Accelerate AB brought to stage some of Canada’s great tech success stories from The Valley and Bay Area of California. Guest speaker ages ranged from 20 – 5o in age and the “color” of the content did not disappoint.

As a start-up, you often come across loads of information relating to capturing venture capital or angel investment. In our experience, much of it can be very generic, obvious, safe, and nothing more than suggestive. You could say that it can be “less than inspiring”. Accelerate AB offered a body of content and conversation that was legitimate. The stories were real and much of the safe posturing was removed to reveal the bare-bones of how these Canadian start-ups, now based in California, were spurred.

While we have a lot of great technological brain power here in the north, we are a disbursed population. We don’t have a single hot pocket or mecca we can refer to, unlike The Bay or Valley. Getting exposure to this caliber of entrepreneurial talent was a great experience. As I mentioned, book early next year and expect to pay more than $20 to get in the door.

A jam-packed afternoon of great advice and motivation

Jesse Richard and Robert Murphy enjoying some cold ones at the Accelerate AB After Party (Sea Hawk Investments).