48 Hours in the Valley… 31 Days Later

Written by Aidan Nulman, Co-founder and CEO of Winston, Inc. 

Of all of the startup and technology events I attended in 2011, the C100's 48 Hours in the Valley was by far the most valuable. In fact, it was one of the most important "moments" in my company Winston's still-short history (second only to our incubation with The Next 36).

After one month of reflection, I've identified the three key ingredients to my successful experience at 48 Hours. And—surprise, surprise—all of them are about the people.

Winston, has been categorized as ambitious and tenacious since our inception (itself a noteworthy story). The C100's ability to connect the most promising Canadian entrepreneurs—a distinction which our company is still working to live up to—not only to their peers, but to the best mentors and investors the valley has to offer is unparalleled.

So screw the festivities (which were both plentiful and wonderful), the activities (which were both exciting and inspiring), and the scenery (which were beautiful and awesome, in the truest sense of the word). What it really came down to was the people:

1) Our fellow entrepreneurs

Having the opportunity to learn from juggernauts like Jevon MacDonald, Gavin Uhma (GoInstant), and Joseph Fung (TribeHR) was amazing. Their successes so far, and the many more sure to come, were like a guiding light for me. I learned as much watching them work the event as I have from all of the books and articles I've read this year.

2) The mentors

We also got to rub shoulders and learn from people who have "made it through the jungle." I learned a lot from Joel Scott and his experience operating Autonomy all the way to exit. I found what seemed to be a kindred spirit in William Plut—as soon as we sat down, I was asked a solid hour's worth of well-thought-out questions about what and why we're doing, along with recommendations whenever an answer wasn't satisfactory. You know mentors are doing their jobs right when you leave the room feeling both accomplished and with a world of improvement left to go. 

3) The investors

Why are you not surprised. The investors the C100 brought to the room were absolutely top-notch, and a pleasure to talk with. They have a ton to teach, especially when it comes down to pattern recognition. Again, I learned a ton, and now have a number of meetings either already set up or about to be for our first institutional round (which is why I'm not naming names this time…).

3.5) The organizers

Ha! I bet you thought I'd leave them out. To me, the mark of any good event are people who actually give a damn, and the C100 has that in spades. When you talk with Chris Albinson, Anthony Lee, Atlee Clark, Camille Meyers-Jones, Debbie Landa, and Michael Wozniak, you can really feel how much they care… not only for the organization, but for you and your company.

To conclude: I've been to a number of C100 events before. I've always loved the organization, their mission, and everyone involved. With 48 Hours, I stopped seeing the C100 as simply an amazing interest group and started seeing it for what it is: a fantastic resource for every Canadian entrepreneur.

And to every entrepreneur reading this, whether or not you're Canadian, I'll leave you with one piece of advice: when you go to SV, do everything you can to get paraded around town by people you respect. This was my third (and shortest) visit, and it was by far the most productive for this reason.

--Aidan

P.S. In all of the categories above, I've definitely offended someone by leaving them out. For that I'm incredibly sorry, and I owe you a beer.