On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on the TechTO stage in 2021. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Shawn ↗
In their words
I don't understand how you can be in the position of a supporting actor for a founder as a board member unless you've done it yourself — and to have empathy, and to know what it feels like to not make payroll at the end of the month for yourself because you're taking care of everyone else.
The key success factor is not being right in an early stage startup. It's quickly running experiments and using the data.
Great people with a bad idea can be very successful, because they quickly figure out that that original idea is not so great.
More from TechTO ×1
Around the web ×1
Quick answers
Who is Shawn Abbott?
A co-founder and partner of Inovia Capital, the Canadian venture firm he started with Chris Arsenault in 2007. He works from Calgary and focuses on security and trust infrastructure. Before venture he was CTO and then president of Rainbow Technologies, a publicly traded security company, and founded an encryption-based commerce platform.
How does he think about venture?
As a network business. He told TechTO the one thing that has not changed is that access to founders comes from relationships and reputation, and that the firm's edge is a Canadian core network with partners distributed across the Bay Area, London and Canada.
Why was he on the TechTO stage?
He appeared on Founders & Funding on 2021-06-21 with Andrew McLeod, founder of Certn — the background-check company Inovia backed and whose board Abbott sits on. The show pairs a founder with the investor who made the bet.