Leading Canadian serial entrepreneur and VC Mark Skapinker has tough love for entrepreneurs looking to expand on their big idea:
“If you’re going to succeed in this business, you need to dedicate 24 hours a day for the next five or 10 years of your life,” said Skapinker. “You need to throw absolutely every piece of energy into it so you may as well take on a big idea, because it’s as hard to do a small idea as a big idea.”
Skapinker is a managing partner at Brightspark Ventures, a Canadian venture capital firm focusing on early-stage tech companies. He has been an entrepreneur and seed investor in the Canadian software industry since the inception of the personal computer in the 1980s. Skapinker is on a mission to help grow the best early stage companies in Canada, and pivot the traditional VC model to open new opportunities for individual accredited investors.
In this week’s #StartupPodcast, host Rivers Corbett talks to Mark about new sources of capital and how to give back to the community.
The Startup Canada Podcast Show is a production of Startup Canada, a grassroots, entrepreneur-led movement to bring together, celebrate, and give a voice to Canada’s entrepreneurship community. On the podcast, award-winning entrepreneur host Rivers Corbett speaks with the movers and shakers of Canada’s entrepreneurship community to give a glimpse into the future of business, and share insights on everything from social innovation to the future of work, investing, and why we need to think bigger to take our businesses global. Join Rivers Corbett for new episodes every Tuesday airing at 10 AM ET for lessons, trends, and opportunities in entrepreneurship from Vancouver to Fredericton; and Israel to Peru.
You can find every episode of The Startup Canada Podcast Show at www.startupcan.ca/podcasts/.