Yesterday was Startup Camp – one of the biggest gatherings of entrepreneurs, technologists and startups in Montréal’s calendar. Our colleagues at Syntenic were one of many sponsors of the event, and the team from Replayedu ran a live stream so that even more than the 150 or so attendees could take part.

Tara Hunt was MC and we were lucky enough to have Chris Shipley and Lori Collins as keynotes. Bitcurrent’s Alistair Croll helped to select the final 5 pitches.

Chris Shipley kicked things off with an inspiring presentation for any startup entitled “10 things entrepreneurs do to screw up their startup”:

1. DON’T Think like a guppy.
   • Posture yourself as a big company and you will become one.
2. DON’T Confuse vision and focus.
   • You need a big vision which everyone needs to know and share.
3. DON’T Fall in love with technology.
   • It doesn’t matter how great your tech is, you still need a reason for people to change their behavior. Fall in love with your customers and they’ll tell you what to make.
4. DON’T Focus on fundraising instead of building the business.
   • How you will use your time, what brings most value to your company?
5. DON’T Let investors run the company.
   • Seriously, how much does your investor think about your business? Use them for advice and counsel only. Don’t be paralyzed by asking investors for permission.
6. DON’T Fail to measure.
   • How do you know if you’re making progress? Where are you going and how fast are you getting there?
7. DON’T Ignore Yellow Lights.
   • Take heed of warning signs. Your optimism cannot be allowed to trump your reality.
8. DON’T Hire good people.
   • Instead, hire great people. Founders have to be the dumbest ones in the room.
9. DON’T Neglect the details.
   • Don’t overlook accounts, tax etc. Pay now, or pay a lot more later.
10. DON’T Lose sight of values.
    • Every company has a culture. Is yours accidental or deliberate?
11. DON’T Waste time.
    • While you’re killing time, time is killing you.

Next came the five pitches by the startups that the judges had selected from all the applicants:

RushPRNews was up first, with a white label PR distribution service including social network reach, sentiment analysis and analytics. The company is seeking seed investment.

Next came NetworkHippo a personal relationship management tool that integrates with your e-mail and social networks and lets you take your network with you when you change jobs. The company is seeking users, feedback and investment.

The third pitch was from Assetize, which allows people to monetize their Twitter streams by injecting adverts targetted to the audience of the user. They are seeking seed funding.

After the break there was a surprise announcement from Nyla Ahmad of Rogers Ventures, a new Canadian VC fund that Rogers have set up, to try and keep them more at the forefront of innovation. The fund was launched yesterday and entrepreneurs can submit their elevator pitch on the website.

Nyla introduced the fourth pitch which was Thoora, a news portal based around automatic monitoring of social networks and blogs as well as traditional news outlets. They are in beta and are looking for users and feedback.

The final pitch was from Tekkino, who make a system for reducing aircraft fuelling errors and checking fuel quality. They got the crowd’s attention by using their electronic display to show “Go Habs Go” (as is customary to support Montréal’s hockey team, the Canadiens). They are looking for seed funding.

Lori Collins finished up the event with a selection of anecdotes from her time at LendingTree, which sold for $750 million 5 years after launch. She puts the success of her team down to guts, vision and bets. Lori told the audience about the passion that all the team members had for freeing people from the tyranny of the big banks. She spoke of the company’s shared vision and values, written on every cubicle wall, and how people took ownership, placed bets and executed on them, and pulled together to create a fun and happy working environment, and how this meant they all came out feeling like winners. She concluded by reminding people to think outside the box, and that shared values are just as important as your vision.

It was great to see such a huge turn out for the event; it served as a reminder of what an active tech community we have in Montréal. From events like Citizen Media Rendezvous, WordCamp and Podcamp earlier this summer through to forthcoming events including Drupalcamp and Bitnorth, not to mention the ongoing meetups organized by groups like Montréal Tech Watch, it’s clear that Montreal has something special to offer entrepreneurs and startups. Could it be the stability of Canadian banks, the grassroots design ethic found here, or the enticement of tax credits, startup investments and special government funds available to enrepreneurs which have generated a sizable pool of money for those that can step up to the mark. What other reasons do you think are key to Montréal’s vibrant startup ecosystem?