3 Questions for Propel ICT’s Gillian McCrae
As Atlantic Canada’s startup accelerator, Propel ICT carries the flag for the region’s startup entrepreneurs. They have big goals for the companies who come through their two accelerator programs: they want to launch Atlantic Canada’s first billion-dollar tech company. Propel ICT’s Demo Day is coming up in Moncton on September 22.
We asked Gillian McCrae, Vice President of Propel ICT, three questions:
1. How will the region produce its first billion-dollar startup?
“We need to create an environment that produces great entrepreneurs, and then we will see our first billion-dollar tech company. As a region, we have to provide the necessary ingredients that will allow for entrepreneurs to learn and grow.
“Understanding how billion-dollar companies became the entities they are today and the eco-system around them is key for planning and preparedness. We are competing in a global market and if we learn from the regions that have scaled entrepreneurship successfully we can articulate our big vision.
“Silicon Valley’s fast pace / high urgency to go to market has thousands of early stage founders starting and failing and restarting – and that’s encouraged. We need to foster an environment that produces resilient, determined entrepreneurs and support them in thinking big – very big.
“They also need to be able to articulate their vision and get others excited: we need to be pushing them to build better products, use better business models, encourage them to travel, talk to as many people as possible, get as much feedback as possible, build a great team with experienced people, get serious about sales and focus on revenue to kickstart the financing of their startup.”
2. Why do East Coast startups need to focus sales efforts outside the region?
“Our market is made up of 2.2 million people in a world of over 7 billion people. Sales is the most important skillset – online or in person – that will prove a model, traction, and product-market fit.
“We need to sell outside the region in order to grow, get big and execute on our vision to produce the first billion-dollar company.”
3. What do we need to do to put the East Coast on the global startup map?
“We’ve started already: we’ve seen success, industry leaders have proven their commitment to the startup ecosystem, no matter what part of the region you are from. The passion exists; the creative spaces are open. We have incubators across the region, dedicated leaders and mentors.
“We need to continue on our path to grow and improve collectively so that we can create a region of great entrepreneurs. We need to support them and prepare them to get on a plane and travel extensively, and most importantly welcome them back and share that knowledge with the next cohort of early stage founders. We obviously can’t send everyone on a plane to get deep understanding of the pace and competition, but by acknowledging our gaps we can bring the resources here and continue to iterate and improve so we can scale great entrepreneurs.”