Our latest instalment of #BetaKit1on1 turns from entrepreneurs like Tony Lacavera and Ariel Garten to another player in Canda’s innovation space. Chris Dulny is National Tech Sector Leader at PwC Canada, and has some strong words for how established enterprises can support startups across the nation.
“I think as a Canadian business community we all have to come together,” Dulny says. “I wanna see Canadian organizations that have the wallet to look for disruption in their own backyard, partner, buy, and build with the Canadian startup community.”
That open wallet approach includes the government “not just handing out incentives but really driving money in purchasing power.”
Flipping the perspective, Dulny says that entrepreneurs have to start looking to larger enterprises earlier as partners and customers. “Talk to your customers. Work with a customer. Maybe it’s not looking for funding or an investment, but would they fund the build of a product?”
And if corporations and startups can learn to meet in the middle? “I think Canada – considering where our dollar is today – is that place to be to spawn great innovation and have a chance to build the next unicorn,” Dulny says.